So sorry to hear that. Best wishes for a sucessful surgery and speedy recovery.
Doubting Bro
JoinedPosts by Doubting Bro
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76
Prayers for my daughter, Ali, not a good update
by coffee_black inmy last update on my daughter was so good...but it didn't turn out that way.
she was cleared to go back to work, but with limitations... she couldn't lift more than 10 pounds.
her employer wanted her back but wouldn't agree to the lifting restriction.
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Doubting Bro
good lord, they can't even keep their own definition of generation straight! They only wandered the wilderness for 40 years and Joshua was the leader when they went into Caanan. So, if a generation means people living in the same time period whose lives overlap, how could there have been 2? Because their definition of generation is a lame attempt to continue the 1919 appointment and thus their power structure.
You wonder if folks even read this stuff before its put out?
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May 21, 2011 - The Rapture Cometh!
by Billy the Ex-Bethelite inharold camping has promised that the rapture will be on may 21, 2011.. .
they've put it on this van that "the bible guarantees it", so it must be true!.
after all, would this face lie?.
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Doubting Bro
I saw one of these billboards while driving with my wife the other day. We were making fun of the guarantee and I said that I was going to send them an e-mail on 5-22 when the end doesn't come to ask them what happened. We chuckled and then I said "I'm sure they'll make up some BS answer saying that the end has come invisibly or something"......She got real quite and changed the subject! Isn't it strange that JWs can make fun of others who have crazy teachings or wild predictions but when they do the same thing (overlapping generations, invisible rulership by someone who took control and did nothing) they can't see it for what it is?
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re-enforcing the shunning of immediate family - WT 7-15-11
by undercover injuly 15th wt study edition (regular dumb edition, not the dumber one).
god's rest - have you entered into it?.
subheading, when someone we love leaves jehovah.
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Doubting Bro
My opinion is that this very policy is what causes the overwhelming amount of "apostate" criticism on the web and other places. If they simply let people live with their dignity, family and friendships in tact, the outrage and anger that's found here and other places wouldn't exist. Do a quick search on mainstream religions that don't practice shunning. I just did one on Baptist, Methodist and Catholic. Now, do a search on groups that practice JW-style shunning (LDS,Scientology,Amish). The groups that don't go to the extreme also don't draw near the amount of "recovery" groups. Yes, the Catholics in particular get hammered but thats more of a preist sex scandal than anything else.
I'm not saying that other religious groups don't get heat over doctrine or practices. But, clearly this sort of extreme behavior elicits a more aggressive response from ex-members.
If they really don't want "apostate" criticism, especially powerful testimony over unbelievably harsh treatment even from the person's own family, then this needs to stop.
Yes, as What Now brings out (welcome by the way), this horrible tool is used to keep people like me attending, but think of how many people the JW message has appealed to only to research on the web and find out how badly those who disagree or just want to quit are treated. It's really bad business.
LWT - I was one of those who thought GB 2.0 would make a move toward the mainstream. Clearly I am wrong.
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'Separate the wheat from the chaff' in 2011
by Gorbatchov inthe april 2011 pioneer action of 30 hours is a kind of 'separate the wheat from the chaff'.. think about it: 40 percent of our congregation is pioneering.
the other half of the congregation has something to explain.... i don't report hours for years.
although i'm not "too sensitive" it feels like "standing fully outside the group".
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Doubting Bro
I'm certain Service has a very low opinion of the local elders in general. The old guys I've spoken to up there were usually condescending and sometimes short to the point of being rude. The letters to elders are written in the tone of an old school teacher scolding a class of 1st graders.
I had a CO once who did duty there but he actually didn't think much of the Service Department (which is probably why he was back on the road in his 70s - punishment)!
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Sharing with my wife discussions about my cult...
by garyneal inever since the 20/20 investigation into the independent fundamental baptist churches and the parallels being discussed here concerning them and the witnesses, it became obvious to me that i was once in a cult 20 years ago.
my poison was the ifb's.. i've since joined the facebook page that was seen on the 20/20 investigation and i've participated in one discussion concerning some of the wacky sayings we heard from various ifb pastors over the years.. i shared some of these posts with my wife and i have to wonder, will she ever see some of these things in her cult?.
melissa mae witkowski malan* getting beat in the principals office because someone saw me at my home playing in the snow without wearing a skirt over my snowpants.
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Doubting Bro
gary, they hated the Smurfs too??? They are some trouble causing blue demons!!!!
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'Separate the wheat from the chaff' in 2011
by Gorbatchov inthe april 2011 pioneer action of 30 hours is a kind of 'separate the wheat from the chaff'.. think about it: 40 percent of our congregation is pioneering.
the other half of the congregation has something to explain.... i don't report hours for years.
although i'm not "too sensitive" it feels like "standing fully outside the group".
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Doubting Bro
I agree that it could be a cull (especially for the ms & elders) but just can't understand the reasoning if that's the case. They have such a shortage of ms & elders that you'd think they wouldn't want to risk the loyalty test. But maybe the lack of commitment by some of those guys bothers leadership so much that they'd rather do more with less? I just don't seem them planning things out that far. But, I'll bet every cent I have that Sir82's comment about forcing those who didn't aux pioneer explain to the rest of the body during the Friday evening meeting exactly why they couldn't do it. I sure don't miss those meetings!
Part of me thinks its just an effort to push the numbers up. Maybe they're hoping that the momentum will carry forward into the next several months. Really, I don't see them having enough forthought to actually plan a cull.
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At different stages of your life, what did you lack, that deprived you of fulfillment or completeness?
by miseryloveselders ini don't believe that there is such a thing as a perfect, or an ideal situation.
ideal is the more appropriate word to use, because the word itself denotes a conception, a remote possibility, not a reality.
i'm asking you, in your lifetime, have you ever found complete fulfillment, or felt complete within yourself, and your accomplishments?
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Doubting Bro
Sure, I think everyone does.
When I was a teenager, I didn't have really anyone I could confide in or that I was real close with. I recall attending DCs and CAs really hoping that I'd met other teenagers in the area that I could be friends with only to be disappointed as I once again had to watch the "cool" kids make plans without me. Of course, I was a geek and painfully shy and was probably simply overlooked. I know several of those folks today and it wasn't really them, it was me.
When I was a little older, I really wanted a girl. My previous experience taught me that one wasn't going to fall into my lap. Still, it took several years and actually leaving my hometown before I was able to have a clean slate. I worked on reinventing myself since the super geek role wasn't working out too well for me. Of course, I was still a die hard JW and wouldn't dream of dating a "worldly" girl. I actually think being in the working world helped me tremendously grow from a social viewpoint. Lo and behold I found the love of my life and she brought me a sense of fulfillment (and still does). She rounds me out and showed me something that at one point I though was impossible; that I could be loved just for being me.
Later, she spearheaded the efforts to start a family. I was a bit afraid because I was worried that I would fail as a father and let them down. But I took the leap and now realize that I was deprived of something so special that I can't imagine my life now without them. I learned that while there will likely be times that I'll let them down as an imperfect person will do; the only way I could truly let them down is by not showing them every day how much I love them.
Of course, there are times that I thought I'd be fulfilled by reaching certain goals only to be dissatisfied. Those were things like moving up the corporate ladder (there's always a bigger job), moving up the corporate ladder at the KH (ms was only good for a few years then had to be an elder, then had to try and work hard to get on the service committee, be in circuit admin) or even things like graduating college (which I'm glad I did but I needed that just to pull even with everyone I work with). Obviously, discovering that JWs aren't the truth ripped away a sense that I thought was fulfilled that being that I was part of something bigger, doing God's work.
Sorry for the rambling but your question really caused me to reflect on things that are truly important. We're social animals. We need a connection with others to feel complete. You may say God put it there or evolutionary forces pushed human society together but regardless the fact remains that we need unconditional love to feel complete, to feel human.
What you're experiencing is normal. If you believe the Genesis account, even Adam who was perfect couldn't make it by himself. I think maybe your real issue isn't not having a significant other but the dilemma that no longer believing that the WTS is God's spokesman is causing. You don't want to go after a JW because its not fair to her. After all, she'd think she was bagging an super "spiritual man", an elder, but really be getting someone whose heart isn't in it which I'm certain will cause you eventually to "step down" and will lead to potential problems. On the other hand, you realize the issues that dating a "worldly" woman will cause, leading to at a minimum a disgraceful removal from the BOE and possible sanctions if you act like a normal person.
That, my friend, is the source of your issue. You're in no mans land at the moment. In some ways, I envy your situation. Yes, leaving will cause issues with your parents. But you can fade with likely less damage as someone like me. Rebuilding over a religion is simply not something I deem worth doing given the stakes. Maybe that's the case with you as well, I don't know. Either way, until it's resolved, the connection that you want, that you need, will elude you.
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April "Pioneers" - a large army
by dozy inanecdotally , from my ( rapidly diminishing number of ) jw contacts , it does seem that the april 30 hour pioneer campaign is going well.
some congregations have over 1/2 the publishers on the pioneer list for april , including all the elders & ms. .
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Doubting Bro
CTRU or maybe Rutherford U? Sort of like BYU east? I doubt they're ambitious enough to do that but I've always wondered why they haven't.
On the pioneering, I totally agree with Sir82's take but with a slight twist. They will study the numbers of aux pioneers doing the 50 in the coming months. If that number drops below the running 3-5 year average, I imagine they'd consider moving it to 30 going forward (maybe in the 2012 service year or maybe starting with next April). I believe that the average JW will say, "no sense in aux in other months since I can do it in April at 30". I've actually heard many say they hope this becomes a permanent fixture and several speculate that this is a trial balloon.
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AndersonsInfo
by minimus ini am sick and tired of people putting down posters like the andersons!
they work hard to expose some things we might never have known about.
why some find fault with them, or ray franz before them, or maximus when he was here is beyond me.. be thankful for those that decide to come here and share what they know about this organization.. we get elders who are still in their positions and they share with us a lot of interesting news and perspectives.
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Doubting Bro
cosign.
She was merely informing everyone about what an individual in Australia was pursing against the WTS. I think it's good to know what the WTS is wrestling with on a global basis. It's not like she was saying WTS was going to go belly up as a result.