can someone pls help.
is mothers day (& fathers day) celebrated by the jw's?
if it is not, can you provide a scriptural reason for the decision.
I am really beginning to believe my friend is not a very "serious" JW. She either was never baptized, or is on her way out. She wished everybody a happy Mother's Day and told me her children gave her flowers.
This really surprised me, as I thought celebrating Mother's Day in any shape or form was a big no/no for JW's. Right?
i have been studying with the jw's for several years.
they have been pressuring me to become one of them, but something seems to be holding me back, instinct maybe?
i agree a lot of their teaching are good, and i'm sure are the truth but here are a few of the things that bother me: jw's use the scripture hebrews 10:25 not forsaking the gathering of yourselves together...... to justify their meetings.
Bchapp, follow your heart and your inner feelings. I am not a JW and never will be one.
You do not need "to wait on Jehovah to receive understanding of the bible". "Right now you still have the freedom" to go get a Bible, pick it up, and read it - by yourself. You, yourself have the ability to understand the bible "in your own way". You can handle it on your own. I am sure you are a very bright and intelligent person. Also read the other material the other posters have provided to you - "at the moment you are still free" to be able to do, think and read whatever you want without repercussions. You have the power to call the shots with yourself!
i recently started dating my neighbor.
a couple of nights into the late night talks, he told me the reason he hasn't dated in awhile is beacuse he is a witness.
i was surprised, but okay with it.
Do not put your life on hold for somebody.
If this person truly loves you, he will leave the JW - you had mentioned he was not always a JW. But he needs to leave for the right reasons, he must want to; otherwise you will have the Watchtower wall always between you.
I certainly would not give up my freedom for him. If he does not leave the JW, this means he is putting the JW before you and he - and that is the way it will always be. I have never been a JW, and I would not ever give up my freedom and own identity for anybody. I have a friend who is a JW (am unsure of her involvement; I am also a woman). I know this is a different situation than a romantic relationship; but some of the principles are the same.
For instance, I like my friend for the person she is. If she ever said to me, "The only way we can really be friends is if you become a JW." (Inside this would really bother me). But I would reply to her, "If the only way you would consider me a friend is to join your religion, then you do not truly like me for myself, therefore you are not a true friend. I believe in to each their own, but if becoming a JW is certain criteria for whether or not you can be my friend or not makes me sad. I am not into any form of organized religion and I know for certain the JW religion is not for me, so please do not be offended for my refusal to become a JW. In all honesty, it would not workout. If you ever find you need a true friend and can accept me for myself, I will be around, take care ."
Please really think your situation out, before you act.
just in from fox news, cardinal law is being forced to testify in court in the charges against the arch diocese.
he must appear on wednesday, may 8th.
no depostion for him.
I too am Catholic (non-practicing). And I fully agree with Yerusalym. I feel Cardinal Law should also be held accountable for all that has happened with the pedophile priests he has moved around - fully knowing that these priests will committ the act again. He is just as guilty as those priests who committed the crime. I feel he should also be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. My husband (who is also a non-practicing Catholic) feels the same as I. So what if he is a Cardinal - he allowed it to continue. If the Cardinal had been an "average joe off the street", he would have been hauled into jail very quickly I am sure.
the relating to non-jw's thread made me think a lot about myself and where i am and what im doing now.
i have to figure out where im going wrong!
has anyone had similar experiences to me as far as relationships with non-witnesses are concerned?.
Hello Mattie. I am a worldly person who has became friends with a JW woman (I am a woman also). I do not know her status. We have become friends over the past three years; it has taken a while because she seems to have some of the socializing issues I have read in your posts and those of others. My friend confides in me with her personal problems (not the religion yet). If she ever starts to discuss the religion, I would be glad to listen to her. Friendships can take time.
Darkhorse
i don't know if anyone has said this before, but i wanted to say a big thank you to all of you non-jw's who have put up with us and stayed with us and helped us out so much.. i know offhand: jerome, detective, and hawkaw.
i know there are many many more of you, but please step up here and take a very well-deserved bow and get a very well-deserved hand from me and from others..
salute!!!!!
I am part of the NJW club too. Never have been a JW; have "zero" intentions of ever becoming one.
DH
my best friend is a jw but she can't do anything outside of school with me.
it's really hard cuz she gets jealous when i do things with our other friends outside of school.
we invite her but she's never allowed to go.
I have a JW friend also, just curious - it was mentioned you can keep in touch by sending cards, etc. Can / would a JW call a "worldly" friend on the phone if the person gave the JW permission to do so?
do they "mystically manipulate"people joining them?.
im inclined to say they dont.. they are almost unique in this.. practically every cult ive joined, i could recite a litany of manipulation techniques applied to me during my joining process.. the dubs study with people, systematically, unemotionally.. noone else does this in my experience.. people who join the dubs join under "intellectual conviction".. do you agree with this view or not??.
im most curious to hear opinions on this.
Hi again Bona. Thank you for the reply.
I can understand how somebody could get involved with the JW's if they are unaware of the "real deal" when you become a baptized witness. Up until a few years ago when I met the woman I befriended, I thought the JW's were only the people who came door-to-door trying to convert you - but I was uneducated to their beliefs and customs. I saw my friend leaving the local KH one day. It had been rumored she did not observe holidays, and I wondered what kind of religion she was in. I figured she was JW, it was on a Sunday, she was leaving the hall, had a dress on and her two children were also "appropriately attired" to attend the hall. She looked very uncomfortable that I saw her leaving the hall; but we both never brought it up.
I checked out JW's on the internet - wow! was I shocked at what I was reading. My friend was very, very hard to get to know; she has been confiding in me quite a bit now regarding personal matters (not religion). I do not think she attends the Hall very much now because we are both at the same place on Sunday mornings - not church. I do not hide from her that I do not go to church - it is pretty obvious. Especially on Easter Sunday, when she asked me what I was going to do that morning, and I told her - wasn't church as I did not have my Easter finest on. I am not into organized religion (am a non-practicing Catholic - have been for many years because I did not agree and still did not agree with their rules; found many things hypocritical). I figured I would be better off doing my own thing; to each their own.
I have had bad circumstances in my past when I was much younger, where not being educated to the JW's probably would have lead me to allow them to start trying the conversion tactics. I think like you, after a while I would not have gone the entire route and been baptized, only because I never bought the Catholic rules either. But who's to say, at a vulnerable point in life, what one would do.
do they "mystically manipulate"people joining them?.
im inclined to say they dont.. they are almost unique in this.. practically every cult ive joined, i could recite a litany of manipulation techniques applied to me during my joining process.. the dubs study with people, systematically, unemotionally.. noone else does this in my experience.. people who join the dubs join under "intellectual conviction".. do you agree with this view or not??.
im most curious to hear opinions on this.
Bona Dea, from reading some of the comments from you post, you were not originally a JW, correct? I am not a JW, but am educating myself because of somebody I have befriend who is JW (do not know her status, but I believe she is one of the on the fence types).
"I can remember reading an article that they had brought to me about saying "bless you" and "good luck". I had never thought of things the way the articles had presented them. Over a period of time, I began to feel guilty when I said these things...like I might actually be offending God or something. Eventually, I made a conscious effort to quit saying them altogether.
I also had a picture of Christ nailed to the cross (an antique) hanging on my wall. Even after we had covered the whole cross/stake thing...and I had became convinced through our thorough research of scripture (of course, with the aide of their bible based publications ), that Jesus had indeed died on a stake and not a cross...the picture remained on my wall.
One day while studying, a subtle comment was dropped. The conversation went something like...
jw's: "if I have some candles with snowmen and snowflakes on them, decorating my home in the winter...granted it doesn't really mean I believe in celebrating Christmas...BUT what would someone else think if they came into my home and saw them?"
Their eyes then moved to my picture on the wall. I laughed and said,
me: "Well I suppose I should take that down. I'm just so attached to it. I never really thought about it that way..."
Then some little remark was made like..."we're not telling you what to do...just something to think about." Then the seed was planted. The picture, of course, came down. I mean, if I was really a good christian I definitely wouldn't want to stumble someone by keeping this picture on my wall... "
How and why did you get involved with the JW's? Were you ever baptized. Looks like they used a subtle type of power of suggestion on you.
i was at the hospital all day with my best friend, mattie.
she had a biopsy on her colon this morning.
they are looking for cancer, seeing they can't seem to find anything else causing her problem.
My thoughts and prayers (I don't pray much) are with the both of you. You sound like a true friend which is very rare and priceless and happens not too often in a lifetime.
