prayer topics seem to be the bandwagon of the moment so i'm jumping on!
seriously, has anyone here asked for something specific in prayer and actually gotten what they asked for?
what convinces you that you wouldn't have got it in any case?
Another thing! It disturbs me when people say that god answers prayers 'as he sees fit'. What about the American JW father tht prayed that his pregnant JW daughter be safe and well whilst he went away for a some time. Well, whilst he was away.... she was murdered!! Stabbed to death! Did god 'not see fit' to answer that prayer? No more excuses.
Peace
Lowden
prayer topics seem to be the bandwagon of the moment so i'm jumping on!
seriously, has anyone here asked for something specific in prayer and actually gotten what they asked for?
what convinces you that you wouldn't have got it in any case?
Hey Nicksterlaou
I used to be regular pioneer along with my then wife. We brought up 3 amazing boys in the faith (more me after she left). The kids were interviewed on the circuit and district assembly platforms cos they were such shining examples, life was good, centre of the cong' and all that. I prayed ALOT, then i messed up. Am i convinced of the power of prayer? NO, not at all!!
I'll never forget the American sister being interviewed on the Panorama TV programme about the proliferation of JW paedophiles. Her daughter was regularly molested by a Min Srvant. The elders of course didn't believe her or her daughter. They told her to 'go away, read the bible and PRAY'. She did, prayed and thumbed through her bible so much that she nearly wore it out. But that man never saw justice! If god answered prayers he would have put that poor, poor woman and her precious daughter out of their deeply disturbing misery. They were treated like dogs by the WTS and god stood and watched. That is just one story of thousands that could FILL this board,as well we know.
Peace
Lowden
a six year old girl checks out her book at the library.. the librarian stops before she opens it to stamp it and observes the title which says 'advice for young mothers'.. slightly shocked and very inquisitive, but with a wry smile the librarian asks, 'excuse me dear i hope you don't mind me asking , but why are you interested in this subject, aren't you a little young?'.
'no not at all' says the girl as she waltzes out with the book, 'you can never be too young to start collecting moths'.
peace.
A six year old girl checks out her book at the library.
The librarian stops before she opens it to stamp it and observes the title which says 'Advice for Young Mothers'.
Slightly shocked and very inquisitive, but with a wry smile the librarian asks, 'Excuse me dear i hope you don't mind me asking , but why are you interested in this subject, aren't you a little young?'
'No not at all' says the girl as she waltzes out with the book, 'You can never be too young to start collecting moths'
Peace
Lowden
i see this site gets thousands of postings every day .. from literally thousands of members, mostly ex-dubs, from all over the world.. rather than simply go on moaning and whinging about the big nasty org why don't you all put your efforts into something positive ... do something.. ok - the org is evil .. but it exists ... and simply whining on about it doesn't change that.
with your efforts directed at something positive, you could do wonders for .
.for anything you choose.. hundreds of real charities could do with your support - to help the really needy .
Dodger
I can see where you're coming from i really can, but this site also really helps people that have been truly f**ked up by the org. Lives have been ruined matey and people help each other here. Brave post though.
Peace
Lowden
sorry - i know there's been a few postings on it lately.
i personally was shocked to read of baptisms at such tender ages, and when i mentioned this to a jw, they maintained i was talking rubbish......... anyway.
we've already discussed annulment (a brilliant idea as it has to be null and void due to there being no valid contract with minors (unless in case of necessity), duress and undue influence etc), and they do treat it as a contract as there are penalties if the baptised person breaches it.. so - if a 7 - 16 year old (whose parent(s) were not dubs) wanted to get baptised, i think they'd have a bit of an obstacle.
Yep, it's a tangled one MC. I honestly think it's all to do with building up the numbers so that the 'card' looks good, i really do think it's that simple. If they followed Jesus' example of being baptised at 30 then i'm sure the 'card' would change quite significantly. When a young person is dipped, the psycological hold is soooo much stronger.
Peace
Lowden
sorry - i know there's been a few postings on it lately.
i personally was shocked to read of baptisms at such tender ages, and when i mentioned this to a jw, they maintained i was talking rubbish......... anyway.
we've already discussed annulment (a brilliant idea as it has to be null and void due to there being no valid contract with minors (unless in case of necessity), duress and undue influence etc), and they do treat it as a contract as there are penalties if the baptised person breaches it.. so - if a 7 - 16 year old (whose parent(s) were not dubs) wanted to get baptised, i think they'd have a bit of an obstacle.
Hey MC
Good thread. I think The Dodger has a point though about the age range. The 10 yr old kids who killed Jamie Bulger were 'banged up' for their appalling crime. They were culpable, not their parents, but it's a topic that could run and run. Another angle is that teenagers who go to university very often don't end up doing what they got their degree for. I went to catering college when i left school and qualified as a chef but didn't pursue it. The minds of young people are a fertile ground for other seeds to be planted and so they very often change.
i have my mum coming home tomorrow and stepdad.
got some choices to make, so here they are.
speak to mum about jw's at some point, back to 607, un scandal, lack of love and maybe more... .
Karl (i'll try again shall i?Dunno what happened there)
You're obviously a bright lad and whilst i can sympathise and agree with the other posters, you've got to do this in a measured and loving way too. We would all have our own line of argument/strategy with which to approach our loved ones and each one would affect the next person in a slightly different way. We also have to be careful we don't come across as anti-JW zealots. Personally i think the Mexico/Malawi scandal from the 1960's/70's is a peach of an argument, as detailed in Ray Franz's brilliant CoC. Whatever you do, good luck mate!
Peace to ya
Lowden
i have my mum coming home tomorrow and stepdad.
got some choices to make, so here they are.
speak to mum about jw's at some point, back to 607, un scandal, lack of love and maybe more... .
hehe i hope thats how its spelt.. if you had family members that were elders did you ever notice the paranoia they had????
or maybe its my dad in particular?????.
they things he accused me off was unbelievable, we were never allowed to do anything to ruin his standing as an elder.
Wow Es
Reading stuff like these posts makes me really glad i wasn't brought up in the faith. All fathers (and Mothers) are understandingly protective of their kids, but a little discretion wouldn't go amiss. Thing is, it was often the over-zealous elders that acually ended up covering over stuff that their kids had done wrong. Happy days.
Peace
Lowden
i don't know about other patrs of the world but in the uk, youngsters were expected to refer to older ones as auntie or uncle.
i publicly told my children not to do this, i thought it was reeeeally creepy.
my main reason for this is that i think it creates trust in people that are strangers to the family unit and for some kids, it's part of the grooming process for molestation.
Fleaman
Maybe the reason you never heard of the abuse cases is that it has been kept hush hush for so long. If you never in 30 yrs heard of a case of abuse, you must have had your head in the sand. I was affiliated for 15yrs and heard of quite a few, some of them were friends and that's without the ones that are dealt with by private reproof. The number of paedophiles on the 'books' of the WTS was said by one source to be 25,000 worldwide and even if that's an hysterical exagerration, which it may well be, then even half of that number is too many. I don't want this to turn into a slanging match, but I think you need to do some research before you post such strong minded replies. If other parents are comfortable with their kids referring to adults with the auntie/uncle tag then that's fine, i just know that i, as a parent of 3 great boys have my own personal limits.
Peace
Lowden
