Posts by Doubting Bro

20

My wife says she's never read where JW's are to submit to FDS and GB

by zack in

jw
friends

i have to give her credit that at least she is willing to discuss the misgivings i have with the wts.

up to this point i have not.

openly stated my disbelief in the jw theology and thinks some of my attitude is just the libertarian streak in me.

Doubting Bro

Zack,

I think that's a pretty common reaction. My wife said the exact same thing. She also said that 607/1914 isn't important and that the JW theology isn't based on chronology at all. That's because she knows she can't win a debate about the date Jerusalem was destroyed. I also got the, "your too smart for your own good" and "you think too deeply" remarks. She actually said we should just have faith, but when I said we critize others for saying that very same thing, she just gave up.

I think what you're experiencing is the cult programming. Its pretty scary to see an otherwise bright intelligent person go into JW mode.

122

new watchtower mag arrangement

by shadowofbathory in

jw
friends

the latest from brooklyn ( my mate in upper management ) i thought id share.. .

the watchtower is remaining bi monthly.

instead of both monthly offerings sharing same formats there is a change coming into action soon.

Doubting Bro

If this is true, which I have no reason to believe it is not, then I think it gives us insight as to the financial straits the WTS is in. I also agree that Awake will either be eliminated or the WT for the public will be merged with the Awake so that only 1 journal will be distributed each month.

Not sure if they really think they can keep their wacked out ideas from apostates and the like since there are several people just here that would qualify to receive them and would be more than happy to share the ~~crap~~ spiritual feast.

The internet distribution is a great idea to cut costs and would likely be welcomed by the r&f, at least in the West. It would cut their cuts even further.

108

How Far Up The "Ranks" Did You Go In The Organization?

by minimus in

jw
friends

at age 18, i was a regular pioneer.

at 20, a ministerial servant.

at 24 an elder.

Doubting Bro

Welcome I'mfreenow! Quite a resume you have there! Look forward to hearing more of your story.

For me:

MS - 7 years

Elder - 10 years

Secretary - 4 years

TMS - 2 years

WT conductor - 1 year

CA & DC parts

Headed a DC department & CA department

Aux pioneered more times than I care to admit.

66

JW Discussion Forum Poll

by zarco in

jw
friends

as some of you know i am an active jw in search of the truth and i see many good and bad things in the organization i am interested in knowing the following from forum.

which of the following statements best describe your belief -.

1 - the wtbts is jehovahs channel and i believe what it teaches me (i had to ask:).

Doubting Bro

I think we're still in the "Great Apostacy" and that the restoration of true Christianity hasn't yet occurred. It seems to me that every single religion has multiple skeltons in its closet (WTS included) and simply couldn't met with Jesus approval. Despite the problems that religion has, I do think God has used various religions for His purpose and JWs could be included in that. However, when Jesus returns (I still believe he will return at some point although that idea is becoming increasingly hard for me to believe) to judge his "house" or all organizations that claim to be followers of Christ, he'll separate the bad apples (in most cases leadership).

41

Question for Elders or Ex-Elders re: Marriage

by mya in

i was what you call "born into the truth.

i'm not practicing the religion now and i was never baptized.

my fiance is baptist, we care having his pastor whom i very much like marry us.

Doubting Bro

Minimus,

We posted at the same time and I agree with your statement. If the local BOE gets the COs support, they can sack whoever they want. And, if this is a pet peeve of the CO or of someone on the body who is close with the CO, they can do whatever they want.

Just curious, how did that "unjust" action by even WTS standards effect your friend? I ask because I recently saw this same situation play out, only the daughter in question was baptized. The effect on the parents was that they quit going to meetings. Not sure how long that will last, but this is a couple that special pioneered in the 1970s and are somewhat connected.

41

Question for Elders or Ex-Elders re: Marriage

by mya in

i was what you call "born into the truth.

i'm not practicing the religion now and i was never baptized.

my fiance is baptist, we care having his pastor whom i very much like marry us.

Doubting Bro

I'm not disagreeing that some BOEs would take the stance that minimus & blondie are suggesting. But, I don't believe that to be the current "written" policy. I put written in quotes because the last direction elders got from WTS was read to us via the CO and handwritten in our Flock books.

I think the term the WTS uses is tacit support. That attendance alone gives implied support for the marriage to the unbeliever even if the parent objects. I remember a few years ago that CO reading a letter at a circuit assembly BOE meeting that we needed to make notes in the margin of our Flock book regarding this subject. However, I'm pretty certain that it was speaking specifically about someone who was baptized getting married to someone "wordly" as they say.

For all the command and control tactics Patterson engages in, many times their edicts are applied inconsistantly. Especially when theres a chance of being harder than what the GB has outlined. And generally, if the BOE (with the COs blessing) moved to have him removed, sucessful appeals are few and far between (in my experience).

41

Question for Elders or Ex-Elders re: Marriage

by mya in

i was what you call "born into the truth.

i'm not practicing the religion now and i was never baptized.

my fiance is baptist, we care having his pastor whom i very much like marry us.

Doubting Bro

I agree with Zarco, both on the WT rules and the insanity of them!

Mya, if you were never baptized, then its a conscience matter and your father shouldn't be deleted according to WT rules. Now, he may feel like he can't go because its in a church.

If you were baptized and are now inactive/df'ed/da'ed and he went to the wedding, he would likely be removed. If he participates at all (even buying flowers), he will be removed.

Mya, I'm really sorry you're facing this situation. Its a shame what this "religion" does to people to make them put their kids in second place.

29

Shunned by the congregation for not performing

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

as many of you know, i am a witness who still attends for the sake of my wife.

my meeting attendance has dropped to about 50% and i make maybe 1 hour a month in field service, although i report more than this to keep the elder's off my back.. after several months of this, the result has been noticeable.. those who used to be friendly and greet me no longer do so.

some even avoid me.

Doubting Bro

Truthseeker,

I can relate. Its been about a month or so since I "stepped aside" as an elder and the congregation (who wasn't very social with us anyway) has basically dropped us like a hot potato. Even my wife, who is still a commenting, somewhat zealous JW is starting to feel the isolation. Like you, I never thought I treated folks like that, if they were friends, they were friends no matter how many meetings I saw them at. To experience it first hand really is the icing on the cake, isn't it?

12

Is the WTS/JWs a cult? evaluated on different scales

by Lady Lee in

is the wts/jws a cult?.

since we had no jwd today i was busy.

odenoted where the wts meets the criteria red text are my comments.

Doubting Bro

Lady Lee,

Thanks so much for putting this together. I've been struggling over whether the WTS is really a cult or just another religion. It seems that many religions fit into these definitions. I work with someone whom I would describe as a evangelical fundamentalist and many times, its like talking to another JW. Not necessarily the doctrine, which is different, but the attitude is exactly the same. As an experiment, I described my conversation with him with some JW "friends", leaving out the fact that the person I was referring to was not a JW. They agreed with his pretty narrow minded stance and when they asked me what congregation he went to, I told them he was a Baptist. The shock on their face was great. Of course, they immediately critized him as being unreasonable and Pharisaical even though a few minutes earlier they were agreeing.

So, I while this research is VERY helpful, I don't think that JWs have the market cornered on being cult-like. Of course, the big difference is the blood doctrine and how many people have gotten hurt over it, which I do think pushes them from being a somewhat harmless cult to a dangerous one.

25

What do elders talk about behind closed doors?

by JH in

just about every time i went to the kingdom hall, i used to see a few elders gather in the 2nd school and close the door and stay there maybe 10 or 15 minutes.

oh, what they were doing seemed so important... .

what the heck do they talk about behind these closed doors?.

Doubting Bro

In some congregations, there is the occasional, chiwawa like elder who will call meetings for whatever may pop into his head. He is typically hated... lol

I just laughed out loud at my desk!! We had one elder who was always calling meetings about the dumbest things. Finally, half the body refused to come to meetings that agendas weren't handed out in advance. It only took one boycott for the PO to tell him that he would add his concern to the agenda of the quarterly meeting. As ATJ indicates, most elders hate those meeting (especially the ones that come after the TMS/SM which make for some very pissed off wives!). The main purpose was always some congregation matter that couldn't wait for the quarterly meeting. Letters or the need for JCs were the two most frequent reasons.

The politics usually were done in private and not at the hall. I was asked to participate in a few sackings because one person didn't like the other. I usually tried to stay out of that crap by distancing myself from personal relationships with the other elders. Or at least, not having one on one time with them because it would always seem to come up.

Now, sometimes the meetings would go longer because we were just chatting about general stuff, but usually none of us wanted to be there and so there would be a stampede towards the door. Each BOE is different.