Posts by Doubting Bro

16

To help my cousin..maybe if you used to be an elder..

by hereiam! in

i have a cousin who has been away from the meetings 5 years.

she was baptized only a year before becoming "inactive" and moved to another state.

then after some time she moved back to the area all the family is from, but wouldn't say a word of anything having to do with the religion.

Doubting Bro

As was brought out, the marrying a non-JW (I can't bear to type "outside the truth") is not a judicial matter. The fact that the letter was from 2 elders and not 3 means this is an investigative committee not a judicial one. It sounds like Mom is pushing and now the BOE feels like they at least need to attempt to determine if some JW rule has been violated. Unless they have 2 witnesses to some alleged wrongdoing, they can't move forward. Of course, if she "bites" and confesses to something, then they could go after her judicially if they so choose. The rules say they don't HAVE to but they can. BTW - if they already had 2 witnesses, they likely would have just invited her to a JC. It sounds like they don't have enough to proceed.

I have a feeling that the BOE would like nothing better than to have this person just ignore them so they can say they tried. They don't even know her? I can tell you that those elders likely don't want to met with her anymore than she wants to met with them. She should tell them she knows where the KH is and how to find them if she ever decides to become active again. Then, she should enjoy her life with her new husband!

31

JWs in Ghana disown 5-year-old son for receiving blood transfusion

by brizzzy in

jw
friends

http://www.citifmonline.com/site/news/news/view/5368/1.

so sad.

how can you even hold a 5-year-old accountable for anything, anyways?.

Doubting Bro

insane and sad

9

Interesting article on tax exemptions for churches

by poopsiecakes in

jw
friends

a taxing time for churches and social groups by pete mcmartin, vancouver sunapril 14, 2010 should churches and religious organizations continue to receive automatic tax exemptions?.

should community groups?

a couple of years ago, the little town of gibsons began to ask those questions in earnest.

Doubting Bro

Good for Gibsons. I could never understand why religious organizations were provided tax exemption. Paying taxes no more interfers with freedom of religion than my paying taxes interfers with my freedom of speech. Especially property taxes which are designed to provide local police, fire, roads and other services.

If this catches on, I'm certain that the WTS will institute some sort of minimial community service program and allow folks to count that as service time. If they gave away their cash cow (selling literature) to avoid paying taxes, how much easier would it be to tell the r&F to volunteer at the local food bank or do a community clean up day? I'm actually suprised they haven't already instituted a plan like this. The activity could still be supervised by the elders, start at the KH with a review of the text and prayer, and cost the WTS nothing. Its a no-brainer.

30

If still "in", how do you feel when praying in front of a group despite being in doubt of your beliefs?

by Crisis of Conscience in

jw
friends

it happened to me this weekend.

i'm curently "active" and had some long time friends from a different congregation over for dinner.. we went through the formality of praying before the meal.

normally or rather lately i've been passing it off to someone else.

Doubting Bro

For me, I keep it simple and staightforward for any public praying. If praying at the KH, instead of thanking God for the meeting and spiritual food provided by the FDS, I say thanks for a chance to review your Word. I remember I was asked to open the meeting the first meeting after the Haiti earthquake. So instead of praying for just the JWs that were affected by the quake, I prayed for ALL the victims and survivors. No one ever said anything to me about it.

I do agree that I get much more concerned about what I say in a prayer now. While I'm not 100% sure there's a God that is interested in us, I'm certainly not going to pray for things that I am 100% certain are NOT true such as the WTS being God's organization.

Honestly, I'm not sure many people are listening to a public prayer unless there's something stressful going on.

Dinner at my house with other JWs? A quick thanks for the food, thanks for the fellowship and we're done. My pet peeve was always those 10 minute prayers at a "gathering" when the food is getting cold.

15

THE WITCHTOWER 04/2010: "Is Eating for Christians?", "The Watchtower and April 1st" etc.

by processor in

jw
friends

the new issue of the witchtower is available for download now.. .

is eating for christians?

if yes, which food is suitable?

Doubting Bro

Wow, that's funny and unsettling at the same time!! Your use of quoting snippets of scriptures to fit the insane conclusions is dead on parody. Well done!!

PS - Its unsettling to me because I know that's exactly how the WTS comes up with its conclusions and I still can't believe I was stupid enough to fall for it!!

77

My Dad Died Today

by cantleave in

jw
friends

he has been ill for some time, but it was still unexpected.

he was never a jw and i didn't really have a close relationship with him, since he remarried after my parents divorced.

i reunited with him in the mid 90's after over 10 years of not seeing him.. .

Doubting Bro

So sorry to hear of your loss. Much strength to you & your family

32

I Believe McNabb Is Tired

by snowbird in

he should move over and allow room for michael vick.. did anyone see vick's touchdown pass against dallas in the playoff?.

awesome!.

a little something from vick's bio: .

Doubting Bro

Kolb will be the Eagles starting QB. Vicks best chance to start again is to fill in for Kolb for a few games during the season and hope to be traded.

32

I Believe McNabb Is Tired

by snowbird in

he should move over and allow room for michael vick.. did anyone see vick's touchdown pass against dallas in the playoff?.

awesome!.

a little something from vick's bio: .

Doubting Bro

I think its a good deal for the Redskins. McNabb has gas left in the tank and Campbell probably needs a change of venue.

43

CO visit provides preview of April generation change!

by agent zero in

jw
friends

i thought the april wt's brazen generation doctrine change would barely get an official mention before nor after the two paragraphs that deal with it, but yesterday i went to the circuit overseer's visit and in a talk from a bethel outline, he specifically mentioned the change, and i quote... "the very very very newest information we have available, from the april 15th 2010 watchtower!

" ..reads the infamous paragraphs.. and then, "isn't that wonderful brothers and sisters?

so now we understand that it means that brother russell's life overlapped with brother rutherford's who's life overlapped (he went through them all), so clearly, this means the end is near.".

Doubting Bro

I can confirm this wasn't isolated to one CO. I (unfortunately) listened to this same talk Sunday at the CO visit and while he didn't mention this was a completely new teaching, he spent at least 10 minutes of the last part on Sunday speaking on this subject. A couple of things he mentioned:

Compared the generation mentioned in Matt 24 to the use of the word generation to describe Joseph's brothers

My comment - exactly, a group of brothers would make up a generation even if there was a good bit of age between them but to include parents + kids in a generation is stupid and incorrect. That's like saying I'm in the same generation as my grandmother because we both witnessed 9-11!

Specifically said this "generation doesn't include "new" annointed, only those who became annointed while the "first part" of the generation who saw 1914 was still alive. To illustrate, he said that Franz was the last of that first group and (direct quote) " younger members of the GB whose lives overlapped with Franz were the second group. These ones are in their 60s and 70s now so the time left is short".

My comment - I really think they are trying to set up a senario where 2034 is the new 1975. They know that an end time religion needs a date or you get what the WTS has become, a hollow shell of its former zeal. They can't risk moving the 1914 date and realize the wishy washy generation is all annointed argument didn't motivate anyone. So, they've created a 2 part generation in hopes of rejuvinating the troops. But after the meeting, not one person mentioned that they just heard a major change!

We've talked about how the WTS is at a crossroads. Do they mainstream and try to retain the 2nd and 3rd generation JWs in the West or do they go full bore into wackiness and end up with a smaller but more dedicated and motivated flock. It seems they are choosing door #2.

38

I'm new and wanted to introduce myself

by MarkedFragile in

jw
friends

hello everyone.. i'm new to this forum.

i left the organization several months ago, and am on a new path now.

though i didn't grow up in the organization, i have basically lived a life of pretending to be something i'm not, sheltering my feelings from everyone, and not feeling "enough" to anyone.

Doubting Bro

Welcome!! This board is a great place to vent to folks who know where you're coming from. Know this - it will get better.