Posts by Doubting Bro

29

Upset & Need to Vent to Compassionate Ears

by FreeGirl2006 in

jw
friends

i am so grateful to have a place where my experiences being treated like one of the walking dead can be understood and empathized with.. i was opening my mail last night and there was a bill from local hospital.

i opened it a bit confused because i have not been in a hospital in 2 years.

it was a detailed bill for my stepson.

Doubting Bro

FreeGirl,

I'm so sorry to hear about your situation. It never ceases to amaze me how callous some people can be.

37

Did you stop singing the songs BEFORE you stopped going to meetings?

by zack in

jw
friends

after i found out the truth abouth the troof, i could not--- i mean physically could not---- sing a note of a jw song at a meeting.. this was way before i decided to make a plan and a final break.

this happen to anyone?.

Doubting Bro

I actually lip-synch them sometimes. Other times I just keep my head in the song book. You're right, I never noticed some of the words before but its all part of the brain washing and I just can't do it anymore.

43

Is It Impossible To Reach A Devout JW ???

by minimus in

jw
friends

i wonder.

a very typcal witness may see the obvious negatives that jws know they have.

they might acknowledge that there's often a lack of love, that the elders can be demanding, that "new light" can change long cherished beliefs in an instant.......but still they cling on and resist any sort of intellectual discussion as to why the witnesses are off soooooo many times.....what gives??

Doubting Bro

I think its impossible to reach a devout JW on your own. They have to either 1) have serious doctrinal doubts that they have either developed on their own or have maybe read on the internet by themselves or 2) they have to experience the dark side of the borg either getting screwed by the elders or having a bad personal experience of some kind.

For myself, I could debate until the cows came home but there is no way anyone could have reached me. Thats because I wasn't really listening to the other side, I was thinking about what I was going to say next. Also, I dismissed the person as being misguided. I do think that maybe an ex-JW or a fader who I had a lot of respect for could have reached me but that's it.

For me, reading this site and a few others allowed me the ability to really question the society without fear of being judged. Of course, when you look at the stuff rationally, it just blows up!

15

Recovering from Surgery.... Missing St Patricks Day........

by AK - Jeff in

i had 'outpatient' surgery yesterday - not to be confused with 'minor' surgery in today's world.

if, after coming out of it, you still have a pulse, and can go pee, they will send you home.

i am having limited pain today - but feel pretty good.

Doubting Bro

Hey Jeff,

I'll raise a glass of stout in your direction!! Hope you're feeling better soon.

21

Jehovah's Witnesses have no clergy-laity division - Right or Wrong?

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

is this really true?.

http://www.jw-media.org/beliefs/membership.htm.

organizationfollowing the model of first-century christianity, jehovah's witnesses have no clergy-laity division.

Doubting Bro

There absolutely is a clergy-laity division. Even within the clergy, there is a division among the lay preachers (local elders) and the CO/DO/higher up Bethelites/GB.

I agree with the author of this article. Probably the single worse development in Christianity is the clergy. Power corrupts and unfortunately when you give folks the ability to decide who will gain eternal life and who will suffer either eternal death or punishment in the afterlife (and certainly the elders in JC situations are deciding exactly that in their minds) they will ALWAYS as a group abuse it.

I'm sure there are plenty of caring clergy/elders/whatever you want to call them, but I sincerely believe they are in the minority.

While the Bible through Pauls letters does clearly indicate that older men would shepard the flock, these folks were not to be masters over anyones faith and were really supposed to fill a mentoring role as well as being able to provide assistance in times of crises. What we have today is pretty far from this in my opinion.

288

Did the heavenly calling cease in 1935? Not anymore!

by AnnOMaly in

watch out for the questions from readers in the may 1st 2007 watchtower.

"when does the calling of christians to a heavenly hope cease?

" it's a good'un.. included are the statements:.

Doubting Bro

This is a great thread and you guys have done an outstanding job of breaking this down. Its taken me several days to really abosorb what this means because I believe this to be a huge change and part of a series of changes coming up in the next few years.

Here's my 2 cents:

Issues

1) Clearly as most have pointed out, this is cover for the fact that many of the GB were born after 1935 and many on the GB have one foot in the grave and one on a banana peel.

2) The number of annointed hasn't moved for quite a while, meanwhile the older ones are dying off at an even faster rate. The replacement theory just doesn't hold any water.

3) The 1935 date is tied to the Great Tribulation since it is expected that some annointed would still be on earth. Yet, they're dying off and the only "replacement" annointed don't generate much respect because many are nut jobs. They need to make sure that there are some folks that can be viewed as legit in order to keep up this portion of the theology. Of course, as we all know, they can change stuff at will.

4) Having the FDS doctrine include all members of annointed is ridiculous since they never conferred with anyone outside of Bethel and due to #3.

What to do:

1) This is the first step. Dropping the 1935 fixes a major time problem. Now, there is no need to explain why so many of the GB are replacements. You can just make sure that the current practice of getting those who are the helpers to the GB declaring themselves annointed, which isn't a big deal.

2) The instructions for submitting the number of Memorial partakers are included in the March KM BUT I do think they will not report the "partakers" since that number is going to shoot up this year.

3) Next step, I agree with the posters who say that the 144k will be changed to be a symbolic number (as most Bible commentators think). Again, they will do the same thing they did with dropping the 1935 end of the annointing call and put it in a QFR and act like its not that big of a deal. They will emphasize that its still a very limited number.

4) Next (maybe not in this order), they will clarify that the Faithful & Discreet Slave is actually the GB and not the total of all annointed on earth at any point in history. This way, their power can be strengthened and subject to none who may want to pull some sort of power play as a newly annointed.

5) No need to drop 1914 yet (they can continue to infer that since Noah preached for 120 years they have at least until 2034). Plus, they need the 1914 date and the 1919 date to continue declaring authority. I know many don't believe that the average JW puts much stock into that and while you're probably right, that's not who the GB is looking to control. There are plenty of the higher-ups, branch, district, circuit overseers, even rank & file elders who ARE very much aware of these dates and accept the GBs authority because of it. If the GB were to lose those folks, the religion as we know it would come unraveled. They can't risk it.

The thing that gets me the most is that the theology changes without any fanfare and no apologies. And, it changes not because there is some new, better explaination, but because the previous theory didn't pan out and they really have no choice. Its sick when you think about it. To me, its this sort of thing that really shows me that Gods spirit is not with the organziation.

22

Reflections on my path to fading

by OnTheWayOut in

jw
friends

i recently posted the progress of my fade.

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/130346/1.ashx.

a recent face-to-face meeting with a jwd poster, ak-jeff, caused me to reflect on how i arrived at .

Doubting Bro

Thanks bro. I understood exactly where you are coming from.

Can I stop the org from destroying my family? I just don't know, but I'll fight to my last breath.

Some days I think this place is the only thing keeping me sane! You hang in there too!

152

Does Knowing the Truth Make you a Happier person?

by gumby in

many of us who were once jehovah's witnesses had a measure of happiness in our lives.

for me, i had a hope in the future, i had answers as to why we are all here, i believed in a loving god who looked after me and cared about me, i had answers to all of lifes big questions.. when i found out the truth about the witnesses, i was lost in a great big world and now had no answers other than the fact that what i once believed was "the truth" in actuality wasn't the truth.i now had to start all over in my search for truth.

for me, it wasn't long before i found what i thought was the truth since i always believed in the bible.

Doubting Bro

Big Tex,

If I learned nothing else from that hateful little sect, it is to NOT judge others.

Truer words were never spoken.

I'm so ashamed for having judged others before. But, as you (and Jesus) said, we are in no position to do that.

33

JWs: "YOU must pray, then, this way: 'Our Father...'"

by AuldSoul in

matthew 6:9 "you must pray, then, this way: our father in the heavens, let your name be sanctified.

'" (nwt).

we know the bible shows jesus praying to his father, but who is our father?.

Doubting Bro

AuldSoul,

In this weeks bookstudy, I actually brought this point of in a round about way. The Rev book commented that Jesus was the only one directly resurrected as a spirit person by Jehovah. All the rest of the annointed would be actually resurrected by Jesus. I took advantage of this by commenting on this very scripture. I said this is why Christians call Jesus "Eternal Father" because he would resurrect EVERYONE whether in heaven or on earth.

The fact is that Jesus is way underemphasized by the WTS.

152

Does Knowing the Truth Make you a Happier person?

by gumby in

many of us who were once jehovah's witnesses had a measure of happiness in our lives.

for me, i had a hope in the future, i had answers as to why we are all here, i believed in a loving god who looked after me and cared about me, i had answers to all of lifes big questions.. when i found out the truth about the witnesses, i was lost in a great big world and now had no answers other than the fact that what i once believed was "the truth" in actuality wasn't the truth.i now had to start all over in my search for truth.

for me, it wasn't long before i found what i thought was the truth since i always believed in the bible.

Doubting Bro

Gumby,

I haven't interacted much with you but I've been following your story. I understand your motivation for getting reinstated because family is the most important thing we have. Keeping them can bring a measure of happiness.

However, I don't think understanding the truth about the truth has made me happy at all. In some ways, I wish I was still ignorant. But, in other ways, I'm glad I know. I guess it just depends on the day!! I am glad I don't waste as much time as I once did slaving for the GB. I'm at the stage where I'm really not sure of what God's plan is but you know what, I can't change it even if I did know.

So, I've resolved to be the best person I can. To love my wife, my child, my neighbors (whoever they may be) and try to live by the Sermon on the Mount.

This place is great to vent and without it, I'd probably go nuts. So, continue posting and blowing off steam!!