although the society disavowed puritans for their doctrines, sometimes i felt i read in the articles an undercurrent of admiration toward them.
in many ways, the wts strove in the same way toward a religion they felt as 'pure' as possible, and in doing so, stripped away all that was human and heartfelt.
but as puritanical as the concept was, there were always those in the various congregations that went the extra mile, either in word or deed.. .
Yes, without a doubt. The Witness concept of absolute truth and the need to get better and better is very appealing to people who are hard wired this way.
I've noticed that too many nutty zealots like this end up as Elders but not so much pioneers. They don't get the same degree of control I guess.
although the society disavowed puritans for their doctrines, sometimes i felt i read in the articles an undercurrent of admiration toward them.
in many ways, the wts strove in the same way toward a religion they felt as 'pure' as possible, and in doing so, stripped away all that was human and heartfelt.
but as puritanical as the concept was, there were always those in the various congregations that went the extra mile, either in word or deed.. .
Welcome Londo 111. I enjoyed your recollections and laughed at most of them.
In the photographic field we use the inverse square rule for lighting of portraits, still life etc. I guess the 'light' reduces at this ratio as you get further from Brooklyn !
He basically said either a person should follow Jehovah to the max or you should follow the world to the max.-
Probably a man adheres to the scripture about needing to be hot or cold in the service of God. Lukewarm or fence-sitting is unacceptable. The JW's who have a propensity for perfectionism are destined to frustration and depression while they struggle to live up to a black and white view of the world.
I posted a comment on another thread re the suicide of my Best Mans son aged about 16 in 1998. The funeral was held at a yacht club and was given by an elder. (My BM is/was also an Elder).
The general thinking remains that a suicide has little regard for the value of God-given life and, therefore has no right to a funeral in a Kingdom Hall.
Some old timers still believe that this action can be construed as coming under the heading 'Unforgiveable Sin'.
...soccer city stadium.. they are selling tickets to go and listen to a gb member talk for about 3 hours.. they price them at r20.00/ $2.40.
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african GB Member
........go and listen to a GB member talk for about 3 Hours.
Are you doing a standup comedy session? I better get my money's worth for R20.00!
when i was in 4th grade, i ended up in a situation involving minor school politics.
they had developed a "student council" which did little more than sell pencils at lunch time for fundraisers.
anyway, i was appointed by the teacher and didn't think much of it as an 8-9 year old.
At a CA about 1985 or thereabouts I was surprised to see my Best Man, his wife and family on the stage recounting their pioneering days in a foreign country.
I was dumbstruck. I'd known them for years. They'd never left NZ and she was pregnant at the time of their wedding.
I had him on about it after the days session and he was very evasive about it. For some reason I just left it.
Much later I found out that this 'fabrication ' is used often. Seemingly, the experience may actually be true but it is acted out for the assembly by hundreds of, erm...actors to give it that live feel.
Just nuts.
i have someone in my family that is a jw and she has engaged me in conversation.
for the record, i consider myself an evangelical christian.
after some debate and research, i backed out of a verse by verse debate and switched the convo to get on some common ground, asking if she believe the bible was the inspired word of god.
So Lana, you want to debate whether your strongly held beliefs are better than her strongly held beliefs ?
Why do there continue to be thousands of different 'Christian' religions in the world ?
"This woman is highly educated and I would consider an intellect."
The world is full of highly intelligent people that adhere to beliefs and practices that are viewed as nutty by others. In fact, a highly educated person has a greater capacity to juggle concepts and abstract thought and come up with a complicated belief and then defend it against all attacks.
Perhaps you just don't need to 'save' your relative.
Best wishes.
hey all i was a witness most of my life in the lansing area of michigan.
i've glanced at online communities like this before but mostly shyed away from them because after leaving the organization i became an atheist.
i'm not ashamed of it by any means, but these forums and websites seem to be mostly filled with folks who are still religious but just don't agree with the governing body's methods.
Welcome itsallwrong. My impression over the years is that remarkably few who leave the Witnesses actually go to another religion or 'church'
I am happy to be labelled agnostic until I can satisfy myself that the Divine is proven scientifically and incontrovertibly, and if so proven, I'm going to decide whether I like him or not
i took an air conditioner window unit out of the window to store it for the season and a couple of air stream direction tabs fell out of the vents.. .
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Wow, they could be, like, voodoo man.
Try burning one and check out what happens over at Brooklyn Heights
one of my other posts mentioned briefly how the c.o.b.e.
of my "former" hall is trying to make it a rule of no football,especially for elders and servants.. of course,as a woman i would never qualify to be a servant,nor do i want to be.
but,i still enjoy watching a bit of the nfl.
I played competitive football (soccer) until I joined the dubs.
I gave the game I loved away. One day my boss asked if I would play for the company team in a Business House league.
I asked a cong. elder if that would be a problem. He replied that if I resumed playing, I would never be considered for the servant body.
I made the second worst decision of my life then. (And, yeah, I was a MS soon after )
what disgusting, sick, intolerant website........ .
http://christwire.org/2009/04/a-real-life-unicorn-women-scientific-picture-evidence/.
Faantastic!
I laughed as much at all the horrified and righteous indignation sent to the site.
The troubling thing is that it's so easy to write a bit of pseudo - science and an enormous number of people don't stop and think; 'is this for real ?'
