Doubting Bro

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Posts by Doubting Bro

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  75

  Elder body removed – Watchtower letter

  by Marvin Shilmer in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  elder body removed watchtower letter.

  an elder body was removed last year in california.

  most folks have never seen a watchtower letter breaking this news.

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  Doubting Bro

  Cold blooded!! I've heard of whole BOEs being deleted but never actually saw such a letter. Usually when an elder is deleted or resigns they just send a form letter. I'm marking this to read the other documents.

  Yeah, why would these guys get disappointed? Seriously, if I were a believer and one of those elders, that letter would just rub salt in my wounds and likely make me an unbeliever pretty quickly.

  I'm so glad this is a public document so everyone can see just how vicious the WTS really is. They were deleted because they didn't want to sell the hall, right? Must have missed that part of the Timothy/Titus requirements.

  No way any holy spirit is with the WTS. Just another proof.
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  65

  I walked out of an Elder's Meeting

  by AlmightyDog in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  well here goes... i apologize in advance if this turns into a long and disjointed rant, but i just have to begin typing in order to keep from exploding.

  i realize that what im about to say could seriously jeopardize my anonymity, but i think ive reached the point that i just dont care.

  i want this to be over.. let me explain what caused me to rip up a letter and get up and walk out in the middle of an elders meeting two weekends ago.. our boe has been embroiled in a nasty fight for the past 2 years over a certain brothers business dealings.

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  Doubting Bro

  Wow Almightydog! I missed a few of your opening posts so a belated welcome. If it helps, these sorts of things are really not that uncommon. My first elder's meeting (I was about the same age you are now) involved a shouting match and got very personal between 2 elders. I almost quit right then but labored on for several years more. The more interaction a person has with the inner workings even on a local basis, I think the clearer it becomes that there is no Holy Spirit directing the WT.

  You know, if you want to fade or at least be a bump on a log (like me, I still attend but rarely go in service, never comment, don't even sing or applaude) you have the perfect excuse now. You can say that the BOE has stumbled you and that you're waiting on Jehovah to fix things. Until that time, don't believe you can effectively serve.

  Of course, da'ing is always an option but one with severe consequences if you have a wife and family.

  Whatever you choose, at least you have a place here to vent! Look forward to hearing more from you.

  Edited to add:

  I see that you said others on the BOE believe you're resigning because of the situation only. Use that to your advantage if you want to fade. Let them do the talking to the CO for you. That way, you can avoid revealing your true feelings if that's what you want to do.
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  94

  Another Elder

  by burnedout in

  1. jw
  2. experiences
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  Doubting Bro

  Burnedout - Greetings from another burned out ex-elder!! Your story also sound similar to mine. I'm in the same spot as Bluebrother - warming a seat from time to time, but mentally I'm free and what a relief.

  Enjoy your family and the reduction of stress in your life. Look foward to hearing more from you.
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  50

  Resigned

  by Franklin Massey in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i finally resigned as an elder.

  my conscience wouldn't allow me to continue.

  i've battled for years trying to reconcile the fallacies of the wt society with my own personal beliefs.

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  Doubting Bro

  FM - Congrats on the decision. I can tell you that anyone who has been in your position can totally relate to what you went through. I know it felt like the weight of the world was off my shoulders when I finally resigned. Brace yourself on being treated much differently by members of the local congregation. Your wife may be treated differently as well. I never believed that would be the case until I went through it myself.
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  77

  DC 2011 Strange omission from the releases

  by JWFreak in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  there are 3 really basic releases for the dc this year.

  revised vol 1 of young people ask.................hmmm lot of work in that one.

  new brochure.

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  Doubting Bro

  JWF - Great to see you posting again. Hope all is well. We really appreciate your contributions!!!

  I agree that it's very odd that they had a book written but couldn't get final sign off and that the GB is fairly split. I wonder if that's why they haven't put any more on yet? If there's that big of a split between them, they likely wouldn't be able to agree on additional members.

  Do you have any idea as to who is allied with whom? I know Loshe is hard core but really not sure as to the others. Any insight you can share?
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  20

  Is May 21st the Judgement Day?

  by witnessofjesus in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  what you need to know about date setting by dr. h.l.

  willmington .

  no doubt one of the most anticipated day thus far in this century was friday, april 29, when william and kate were married at westminster abbey in london.

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  Doubting Bro

  I will say this, Camping got his insane message out to the masses much better than the WT has!! Ironically many JWs that I've spoken to about this have made fun of Camping and his group. Sort of like Lars above.

  Uh, pot meet kettle

  BTW - love the list of unfulfilled predictions!! The more things change, the more they stay the same.
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  23

  How Do I 'Come Out' To My Kids?

  by headisspinning in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  those of you who have been following my story know that i just 'came out' to my family about being finished with the religion.. does anyone have advice on how to explain this to the kids?

  their ages are 9 & 14 and they are very smart and fully grasp all the issues.. they are living with their father who has brainwashed them.

  so this is very touchy.. should i just keep being a good mom and just lay low?

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  Doubting Bro

  Scully - That may be the best written piece of advice I've ever seen. Headisspinning, I also think forcing your ex to abide by what the courts have mandated is your biggest issue at the moment.

  Kids at those ages certainly grasp what's going on. I think the indirect method of questioning and getting them to think for themselves is probably the best course. Obviously if they ask directly what your stance is you can tell them the truth, that you used to believe that way but after you really investigated the religion, you now think differently. Maybe give them one example and then drop it for the time being. The older one you could likely have a more indepth conversation with but remember how you reacted the first time the blinders came off. They could react the same way.

  Whatever you do, don't flood them with everything at once. If they really believe, they likely can't handle it.

  Of course, if one of my parents told me that I didn't have to go to meetings, etc at 14, I would have jumped for joy. I didn't really start beliving hard core until later.
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  50

  Couple of questions for the Christians here - CO's talk mentioned some things that I want to understand

  by Doubting Bro in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is a question for all the christians on the board.

  i sat through the first co talk last night which was basically a plea to not give up preaching.

  one of his main points was that no one else had "the truth" and every other person that claims to be christian is in error.

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  Doubting Bro

  jgnat - Thanks for the links. It's interesting because it sounds like the CO was somewhat right in that there is one group that teaches Adams motivation for eating the fruit was to go to heaven. Leave it to a religion with a similar background as JWs to come up with this one. The answer???

  Mormonism

  Mormonism believes that The Fall was part of a plan thought up by God so that His children could get into Heaven.

  Mormons say that when Adam ate from the Tree of Knowledge it was not wrong, but was just a "demotion", like going from one good job to another, less good job. Before eating the fruit, Adam could never die. Because he could never die, he could never go to heaven. Eating the fruit made it so that Adam could die, so that later he could go to heaven. It also made it so that Adam and Eve could have children, so that everyone would have a chance to live, die, and go to heaven. Mormons say that if one follows the Plan of Salvation, that person can go to heaven.

  Now, the fact that many don't accept LDS as being mainstream Christianity and I know there are those that say they're not Christian at all makes this even better. Talk about a broad brush!! I can't wait to use this!!
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  50

  Couple of questions for the Christians here - CO's talk mentioned some things that I want to understand

  by Doubting Bro in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is a question for all the christians on the board.

  i sat through the first co talk last night which was basically a plea to not give up preaching.

  one of his main points was that no one else had "the truth" and every other person that claims to be christian is in error.

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  Doubting Bro

  jgant - you're dead on with your assessment that to the WT sin=imperfection. So let me ask, is the thought that Adam had no idea that he could choose to be separate from God and that the tree (whether symbolic or literal) gave him the knowledge that he could decide he didn't need God any longer? I believe the WTS doesn't really get into details on why the tree was named this way but rather focuses on the act of defying God's specific instructions. In other words, there wasn't necessarily anything special about the tree, it was the fact they disobeyed.

  I appreciate your other responses as well!

  james woods - yeah, it was wacky. I think what he was really saying is that in essence, that's what the churches teach. Not that they have a specific creed that spells it out. In thinking about it, I believe he was using WT "logic" to show how "far from the truth" mainstream Christians are.
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  50

  Couple of questions for the Christians here - CO's talk mentioned some things that I want to understand

  by Doubting Bro in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is a question for all the christians on the board.

  i sat through the first co talk last night which was basically a plea to not give up preaching.

  one of his main points was that no one else had "the truth" and every other person that claims to be christian is in error.

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  Doubting Bro

  Terry - I believe you've misread my questions. I'm specifically asking what mainstream Christians teach on a particular subject because I believe the CO to have misrepresented their views. I wasn't arguing the validity of such beliefs. I want to understand so that I can point out to my wife that the CO is misrepresenting other's beliefs which I'm hoping will spark discussions on other things that the WTS and its reps misrepresent.

  My presupposition is that the CO is either lying out right or being disingenious when speaking on the subject of what others believe.

  tenyearsafter - exactly. using half truths to support a position is their MO.