Terrific article. If history is any indicator (which I think it is) we're going to be in for a rough ride before it gets better. Being a Gen Xer, I put the blame squarely on the Baby Boomer generation. Not that they would ever be willing to take responsibility for ANYTHING.
Doubting Bro
JoinedPosts by Doubting Bro
-
7
From the past, this may be our future...................
by Warlock inhttp://www.financialsense.com/editorials/quinn/2009/0210.html.
i thought you might find this article interesting.. warlock .
-
-
-
21
Catholic Church Revives Indulgences
by leavingwt inin wittenberg, germany, martin luther is turning over in his grave.... according to church teaching, even after sinners are absolved in the confessional and say their our fathers or hail marys as penance, they still face punishment after death, in purgatory, before they can enter heaven.
in exchange for certain prayers, devotions or pilgrimages in special years, a catholic can receive an indulgence, which reduces or erases that punishment instantly, with no formal ceremony or sacrament.. there are partial indulgences, which reduce purgatorial time by a certain number of days or years, and plenary indulgences, which eliminate all of it, until another sin is committed.
you can get one for yourself, or for someone who is dead.
-
-
Doubting Bro
And Ted Jaracz is wondering how to fit this into the JW theology! Maybe if you aux pioneer during the memorial season or help with a quick build? Better yet, "contribute" your estate when you die to the WTS.
-
30
Are most Jehovah's Witnesses zealous,fence sitters,or going thru the motions?
by RULES & REGULATIONS inthere are close to 7 million baptised jehovah's witnesses in the world.
most start off real zealous in meeting attendance and preaching work.
some remain zealous but most cool off sooner or later.
-
-
Doubting Bro
It's so hard to tell because of the way any dissent is handled (i.e. crushed). So, because the only way you can really escape being shunned is to never disagree with anything, most folks keep their true feelings to themselves.
Still, since I currently fall into the going thru the motions category, I think I've become better able to spot them. There are many elders that I know that are in the going through the motions category and several COs as well. Its not what they say, its the body language. The constant meeting in the back during the meeting or shuffling through papers during the meeting. I take note of those who don't sing the songs, ect as well.
Interesting to me is that sometimes you'll have zealous JWs in terms of doing a lot of works who I get the sense are just going through the motions while others who don't do much organizaitonally, maybe are inactive or df'ed, are true believers. Its the strangest religion I've ever seen.
Overall, I think more are going through the motions or fence sitters than are true believers.
-
41
"Faith Based" Government Assistance & Jehovah's Witnesses
by minimus indo jehovah's witnesses take advantage of this assistance???
?.
-
-
Doubting Bro
I don't see how they could qualify since they don't provide any services to the community. The only "service" provided is the delivery of literature which promotes their views of the Bible.
BTW - what ever happend to the case in France. I'm assuming the WTS lost because I never heard the final outcome. If they won, you'd think they'd be bragging about how God saved them once again.
-
11
Needs of the Congregation......"Raise Your Hands Higher!"
by bronzefist in"friends" have lost their jobs......so what.
"friends" are depressed.....so what.
"friends" are being kicked to the curb, because they're not in the clique...so what.. the local needs talk was, raise your hands higher for the wt conductor who will not call on those with names he forgets.
-
-
Doubting Bro
ATJ - You & I had the same pet peeve. My favorite was the "You should come to all the meetings" LN part. But, on TMS/SM averaged about 70% of the pubs and was the lowest attended meeting (even lower than the BS). So, weren't you preaching to the choir?
Actually, the week the LN part was on endurance. Although I disagree with some of the points made about what needed to be endured (in my case, enduring the meetings without screaming is an accomplishment), he also made some philosophical points about focusing on the positive and looking beyond your current problems (again, I'm thinking this too shall pass and not looking at a "paradise earth").So, it certainly wasn't the worst part on the meeting.
I'm suprised they actually still allow the BOE to pick these subjects. I'm sure that will change at some point.
-
39
Was there any particular song or music u were not allowed to listen to because it was inappropriate or it was deemed demonized?
by jetery ini remember there was this heavy metal group called wasp.
some of the witnesses said it stood for we are satans people and that wasnt even true.
stairway to heaven by led zeppelin was a no-no because they said if u played it backwards it talked about worshipping the devil.
-
-
Doubting Bro
Leolaia - Yeah, they were about as "hip" as the Grammy folks! I recall laughing so hard when they gave the Grammy to Jethro Tull for best metal band. It was the first one for that category, wasn't it??
Nowman - exactly. They demonize stuff they don't even know. Of course, my folks also bought into the whole Smurf thing so there you go!
-
39
Was there any particular song or music u were not allowed to listen to because it was inappropriate or it was deemed demonized?
by jetery ini remember there was this heavy metal group called wasp.
some of the witnesses said it stood for we are satans people and that wasnt even true.
stairway to heaven by led zeppelin was a no-no because they said if u played it backwards it talked about worshipping the devil.
-
-
Doubting Bro
I've heard of the AC/DC & KISS acronyms but not the Slayer one (although that's really funny). Also, my parents thought the Grateful Dead was heavy metal?? They were before my time - actually my parents generation. But, they've obviously never heard a Dead song if they think that's metal.
-
24
Moments of Epiphany... and other touchstones in life...
by AK - Jeff inwhen i realized that 1975 was past, and the end appeared no closer than before.when a boe made up of men i had 'served' with for better than a decade were willing to write a letter of 'recommedation' that was character assassination at it's finest, and then defend the lies within with a straight face and no remorse.when i began to notice that many of the 'friends' seemed mentally unstable, in an organization that claimed it offered the greatest hope for mankind and the 'only true brotherhood' of supporter's available.when i saw a 'bible student' who was refused any assistance in her move to another congregation because of her sins before she was ever baptized [she never was in fact].when i was 'allowed' to conduct funerals and weddings that needed a minister, but for people who were too soiled in one way or another for the self-righteous upper-crust elders to touch.
yet they all attended and seemed to rejoice/mourn with all others in attendance.the day in the early 90's when i read a critique of jehovah's witnesses in which the author roundly condemned jw's eschatology regarding the '1914 generation', and in such article stated that they would have to renounce such foolish reasoning soon, before the end of the century to avoid being the 'relgious laughingstock' of the world.the day in 1995 when i saw his predictions come precisely true in the watchtower.when i watched and saw no other jw's bothered by this massive change in position.the months that i compiled a chart in which, using actuarial mortality figures, in which i applied the numbers, age-group by age-group to the 'annointed' from 1941 to 2002, and saw that it was empirically impossible for 8500 to still be alive.the month in which i read ray franz' books, and found myself aware that my life was about to change forever.october 2006, when after 3 years of 'fading' and staying out of sight, i submitted my letter of disassociation, and saw a look of happiness on the face of the friend-elder that took the document, though it meant the end of 20 years of personal friendship with him.the day my cousin - my best friend for 35 years - decided i was unworthy of even a reply to a simple email.the list is longer.
but so theraputic to put in words.
-
-
Doubting Bro
Still_in74,
Here's a link that recently talked about that and has some other links. Basically, new AMDs were sent out as was typical but specifically said that the undersigned would refuse all allogenic blood transfusions (blood from donors), implying that they could have autologus blood (your own donated blood). They were never distributed to the congregation because an urgent letter was received prior to the SM part in which we were told to either destroy or send them back (sorry I can't remember which).
http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/169311/1/An-Essay-on-Blood
-
39
Was there any particular song or music u were not allowed to listen to because it was inappropriate or it was deemed demonized?
by jetery ini remember there was this heavy metal group called wasp.
some of the witnesses said it stood for we are satans people and that wasnt even true.
stairway to heaven by led zeppelin was a no-no because they said if u played it backwards it talked about worshipping the devil.
-
-
Doubting Bro
I remember when I was a little kid (late 70s or early 80s) at a CA they had a huge part on bad music. This was during the backward masking heyday. I remember them playing a song - I think it was "Another one bites the dust" by Queen. Supposedly, it was backmasked to say something like "decide to smoke marijuana". They played it backward at normal speed, and even when they planted the suggestion, no one could make it out. Then they slowed it down real slow and it sort of sounded that way. But, since the mind was looking for the pattern, you wanted to hear it. The crowd ate it up but I thought it was kind of creepy.
Of course, after the program, the lynch mob was in full effect.
I could understand the whole metal thing in some respect but never got the obsession with hating rap. Not all rap was questionable, even by JW standards, but it seemed that was the most vilified type of music.
-
24
Moments of Epiphany... and other touchstones in life...
by AK - Jeff inwhen i realized that 1975 was past, and the end appeared no closer than before.when a boe made up of men i had 'served' with for better than a decade were willing to write a letter of 'recommedation' that was character assassination at it's finest, and then defend the lies within with a straight face and no remorse.when i began to notice that many of the 'friends' seemed mentally unstable, in an organization that claimed it offered the greatest hope for mankind and the 'only true brotherhood' of supporter's available.when i saw a 'bible student' who was refused any assistance in her move to another congregation because of her sins before she was ever baptized [she never was in fact].when i was 'allowed' to conduct funerals and weddings that needed a minister, but for people who were too soiled in one way or another for the self-righteous upper-crust elders to touch.
yet they all attended and seemed to rejoice/mourn with all others in attendance.the day in the early 90's when i read a critique of jehovah's witnesses in which the author roundly condemned jw's eschatology regarding the '1914 generation', and in such article stated that they would have to renounce such foolish reasoning soon, before the end of the century to avoid being the 'relgious laughingstock' of the world.the day in 1995 when i saw his predictions come precisely true in the watchtower.when i watched and saw no other jw's bothered by this massive change in position.the months that i compiled a chart in which, using actuarial mortality figures, in which i applied the numbers, age-group by age-group to the 'annointed' from 1941 to 2002, and saw that it was empirically impossible for 8500 to still be alive.the month in which i read ray franz' books, and found myself aware that my life was about to change forever.october 2006, when after 3 years of 'fading' and staying out of sight, i submitted my letter of disassociation, and saw a look of happiness on the face of the friend-elder that took the document, though it meant the end of 20 years of personal friendship with him.the day my cousin - my best friend for 35 years - decided i was unworthy of even a reply to a simple email.the list is longer.
but so theraputic to put in words.
-
-
Doubting Bro
The moment I found out that the WTS was associated for 9 years with the UN which lead to -
The moment I discovered there is no evidence supporting 607 as the destruction of Jerusalem and that the secular sources the WTS uses selective quotes from to support 607 were taken out of context and actually don't support 607 at all.
The moment I saw what a real BOE meeting was like
The moment the WTS said "fractions" including hemogolbin but the 4 main components aren't. And the moment I tried to explain that position to those who came to me for advice.
The moment I had to send all the blood cards back because of a "typo" when in fact it was a change in GB ruling.
The moment I reconized that the WTS is a cult, one that still controls me to some degree.