hey folks.
mr. flipper here.
when i was a witness , like a lot of you, remember we'd all scramble around at the end of the month asking each other, ( or your book study conductor would remind you) to turn our time in for field ministry ?
I know for sure kids jump up and down for joy. Finally a day to sleep in or at least be able to watch cartoons. I always wanted to watch cartoons on Saturday mornings like all the other kids were doing when we knocked on their doors
The butt-kissers would definitely continue going d2d making sure to mention it to EVERYONE.
Then there are the sincere hearted people who feel obligated to go d2d so they're not held blood guilty.
hi everyone, i never was baptized but studied for a very long time before i finally got my sanity back and realized that although the individual jws for the most part were good people and doing what they thought was right the org itself was total b.s.
anyway ive been lurking here off and on for a while and figured i would stop being lazy and register.
so hello, i enjoy everyones posts and hope to be around for a while!
Welcome Lynne! Great to have you join us. Be careful...this place is addictive.
did any of your prayers ever get answered while being a jw even if they where small maybe insignificant?
pesonnally i never really needed my prayers to be answered but one time while the co visited us i was going to work with him durining saturady service i get there at 0930 but service started at 0900. i felt i missed my chance to work with him and show i was commited and i wanted to asked him how i can reconcile the fact i did not believe that noah's flood existed globally with the way the society views it.
i left the kingdom hall pissed off thinking i fu*ked things up, so i kinda said to jah well i messed up gettin some clarity to to my quandry.
Nope, me either.
Thought prayers were only answered to those who bragged about it on stage during an assembly part. A ploy to get those in attendance to feel as though they aren't doing enough. Do more and then you'll get your prayers answered. Yeah, right.
Really, does God only answer the prayers of a few chosen? No, that wouldn't be just. Are we not all his children? Absolutely.
one of the biggest tests for me when learning with the jw was why god permitted wickedness, suffering, cruelty ect... they say because of the issue involving jehovah'suniversal soverienty, satans challenge to gods right to rule..gen 3:15. and how we are all involved in this issue (job).
also people will have to know i am jehovah (ezekiel 36:23: 39:7) the sanctification of gods name is placed as the highest importance for the issue of u. s.. i have always had a problem with this, as for me i can't understand how god could allow so much cruelty just to prove satan a liar and through inhereted sin we to are involved in this because adam was our fleshly father.
does this sound egotistical to you, or am i really evil for even thinking that there is something wrong with all this.. so do you see a connection with " why god has allowed wickedness, and the issue of his universal soverienty"..
Ah, yes. The issue of universal sovereignty. Like almighty God himself has to prove anything to anyone! Just imagine if our governments and judicial systems ran things the same way.
Why is it that all of humankind must suffer for millenniums just because a woman, who was perfect, spoke to a serpent (like this happened all the time) and was coerced into eating a fruit. Makes no sense. Why not give us all the same chance Eve had instead of allowing billions of humans to suffer needlessly because of her.
But of course, this wouldn't teach anyone anything. All the universe is watching. God changed his plan and now he has set a time table. After all, this is just a short period of time to God. Right? And compared to forever, this is just a drop in the bucket.
I could never stomach this canned answer.
the hall i was in the last few years was not a bad place.
most of the people were middle class, some had college educations (like the po and his wife); they generally weren't over critical.
of course there were a few elders and publishers that were pains but for the most part the people in that hall were pretty decent.
Interesting topic. I've been in a few different congregations in my life and was treated differently in each one. I often wondered why this was, but it I think it has to do with status.
For example, growing up as an elder's kid and teenager, I always was in the clique. I seemed to know everyone and assemblies were actually fun. Then I "drifted" away and married a "worldly" guy. Shortly after, my husband and I were baptized and started going to a new congregation away from my family. Things were different and we had to build a reputation on our own, but since most people knew my dad, it made things much easier.
However, once we moved to another city where no one knew us it was an entirely different story. It was as though we were the "disgusting thing" to stay away from. We had a very hard time there. Seemed no one wanted to make space for new friends. My husband and children always had to work in service alone together--week after week. Once we asked an elder from a neighboring congregation when their meetings were so we could attend. Hoping our children would be able to meet some other kids. His response to my husband was, "When you become and elder you can come visit when you give a talk". Needless to mention, this is when my meeting attendance started to decline.
I believe the tone of the congregation is set by the BOE. Other factors are whether there is a lot of people moving in and out, or if it is a stale congregation with generations of related and interrelated people attending.
today we just settled a new society in denmark.. silenced witnesses is the name.. the pressrelease and our home page, will come in the air, the 8'th of july.. sincerely manjana.
Congratulations! I wish you and all those you help the very best.
my wife of 35 years and i were talking last night.
i was raised a witness.
she became a witness on her own volition at about 13 years old.
I really feel your pain. Big hugs to you. Anger is such a difficult emotion overcome, especially once it consumes you. This board is a fabulous place to come to because we understand the anger, the rage of feeling as though you sacrificed your whole life for nothing. Always wondering what my life would be like if I were raised "normal". There are so many wonderful and caring people here that want to help you.
I have to agree with Hortensia that there are places to go for help for those of us with little or no money. It really is worth the effort.
the internet is a great tool for learning.
it's also a place where even idiots can get a hearing, attention which they often crave, and often, if their ideas are wacky enough but strongly and coherently presented, they often get followings.
take, david icke for example.. idiots, who wouldn't get as much as a sniff from those who know them, can get all the attention that they want on the net.
I personally do not buy into any of this, but David Icke articulates his conspiracy theories well. However, he loses all credibility with his alien and reptilian beliefs.
Who here actually believes the Illuminati exists?
hey everyone...just to piggyback off of the wedding vs birthdays...something i wanted to say for a while.
ok so we're not allowed to celebrate birthdays but we can have wedding celebrations.
the reason for not having birthdays and most other holidays is the pagan!!!
I think that would be a great question for the readers. However, I doubt it would ever be published. The WTS will probably send your elders a letter stating how you're questioning the society. That's what happened to my daughter.
i thought it might be nice to see some positive things mentioned about jw's.
now, i know mentioning these things may be hard given the experiences here, but i've yet to find a group of people who don't have something positive about them.
if there weren't something positive, no one would ever join.
It's all a front. People who are attracted to the JWs because of their sincerity and kindness will soon find out that it fades after time. Once they get you hooked, reeled in and baptized the wooing ends. You're on your own baby.
Even the sweet elderly who hand out candy to the kids at the meetings will drop you like a hot potato if you leave.
I am trying very hard to think of one good thing, but I just can't. Now that I'm on the outside looking in, I can only see the whole thing as a scam. I just feel sorry for those who haven't realized it yet.
