Well, the proof is in the pudding, or so they say. What I mean is, how many young people are actually taking full-time service seriously? How many are really considering Bethel service? Not many, at least from my area. Over the past ten years, our congregation has had no Bethel applicants, and about two young people entering the full-time pioneer ranks. Most young people who graduate high school are now finding full-time jobs and/or going to college. So all the parts from the platform, all the KM and WT articles, and all the Convetion/Assembly parts do not seem to be really taken seriously by the majority of Witnesses when this subject matter comes up for consideration. We all sit through these parts, even comment on them, and then, lo and behold, our young people (and their parents, who have heard all this stuff before, and most of whom never went out and got a decent education) just figure the heck with it. And it's easy to see why.
Posts by DB
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37My first time "storming" out!!
by lookingnow22 ini "stormed" out of a meeting for the first time in my life tonight.
well, i really just walked really fast, but inside myself i was storming.
anybody catch some of the insolent comments made in the 6/01km?
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28
hi from a newbie!
by Princess inhi everyone, i have been "lurking" for a week or so and thought i'd join the fun.
i am a third generation jw who was determined not to make my kids the fourth!
my husband and i left almost five years ago and have never looked back and as a result have never been happier.. just a quick summary of the past thirteen years.... i never went to college (never even considered it) and was married two weeks after graduating from high school.
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DB
Welcome Princess!
BTW, Mulan was a very funny movie!
Glad to see you are doing well. Two weeks ago, our Bookstudy conductor said that people who leave the organization always end up with messed up lives. Seems you are proving that statement wrong.
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Is there any JW's on here?
by Devilman iniam trying to work out how many of u are proper witnesses?
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DB
I am a JW, have been baptized almost 30 years. I am currently in good standing in the congregation. Of course, if it were "known" in my congregation that I frequented this site, that 'standing' might not be considered 'good' any longer.
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latest WT thoughts for the day
by truman inthe august 1 wt arrived in my mailbox today.
i eagerly ripped off the wrapper in anticipation of fresh spiritual gems.
i was not disappointed.
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DB
Tru, I recieved my WT in the mail today also, and noted the statements you highlight.
Particularly, the statement that "he...does not harbor private ideas when it comes to Bible understanding". That one really struck me. While I can see why stating personal opinions from the platform or stongly advocating such ideas could affect a congregagtion's unity (meetings, in my view, would become debate forums...though they probably would be far more interesting, LOL), I had always figured that having some private ideas was okay. I guess not, according to the WTS. Disturbing indeed.
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Dissfellowshiped Watchtower
by cornish inas it was considered back in 1995 that due to not holding to the society's view of the literal generation of 1914,i had disasociated myself,now all jehovah,s witnesses dont believe this anymore,are they all appostate for rejecting this important truth,that i had apparently sinned so much in rejecting?????????
?
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DB
It seems to me that many witnesses have their own thoughts on certain matters. But, they generally keep such to themselves. A bussy of mine and I sometimes discuss such "thoughts", for example, neither one of us believe that ONLY JWs will survive the Armageddon war. We both feel that God is a bit too broad-minded for that. Also, we talk about how District Convention attendance is strictly optional (but don't let anyone hear you say that), because there is no evidence that first-century Christians held such conventions, and that the Law of Moses is not applicable to Christians. Also, there is no evidence that Christians have to meet for 5 meetings per week. However, we do not mention such thinking to others, for fear of reprisal, true, but also because, in our view, it would simply cause dissention and debate in the congregation (of course, some might view that as a good thing).
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JUSTICE #10 - What you say will be Twisted
by Amazing ina lawyer once told me, "everything you say can and will be twisted against you in a court of law.".
a situation came up that recalled yet another act of jw justice.
another person commented to me regarding the above, "no doubt this little axiom more than applies in judicial committee meetings too.
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DB
Amazing, another good post. However, as a guy who sat on a few committees myself, I think we really did try to effect justice, at least to some degree. The case you mention here, however, may indeed illustrate that elders often mis handle matters, and that sometimes, with the org's way of having talks given around the time certain announcements are made, false impressions can be created. Truly sad.
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JUSTICE #11 - Control Them with FEAR!
by Amazing inas long as you control a person with guilt and fear, you control them forever!
on one judicial committee i served, we had a young 25 year old man meet with us.
he requested the meeting, as is the case almost 100% of the time when it involves the secret 'sin.'.
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DB
Amazing, this post really hits home. For years, my wife felt the need to supress her sexual responses with me. Why? She told me that is was because I was an elder, and thus I might feel that she was shameful in her sexual expressions toward me. Also, I felt pressure to restrict my expression toward her sexually because I was afraid that she might view me as an elder and husband with a bit of a dirty mind.
As far as masturbation is concerned, again, I agree with your post, and btw, a married witness friend and I were discussing some stuff recently and he quipped "and sometimes, you just have to take care of yourself" in reference to sex. I was relieved to see that someone besides me felt the same way.
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WT June 1, 2001
by Defender inthe wt june 1, 2001 issue contains the article "if god is for us who will be against us?".
in this article the wt talks about identifying the marks of those having god's backing.
in paragraph 6 it quotes jesus words found in mathew 7:15,16 where he says that "be on the watch for false prophets that come to you in sheep's covering, but inside they are ravenous wolves.
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DB
This post by Defender highlights one of the reasons that I frequent this site. I like hearing both sides of an argument before reaching a conclusion. Good post!
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Rev. 19:1
by mpatrick ini was wondering how revelation 19:1 is explained .
"after this i heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven ....... how do jw's explain this since they teach the great crowd is going to be on the earth.
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DB
The Witnesses explain this scripture in their book Reasoning From The Scriptures. I do not have the book with me at the moment, so I have no page number to give you at this time.
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28
Hi, I'm New!
by Ashley inmy name is ashley and i'm 17 years old.
i'm from abbotsford b.c., canada (an hour out of vancouver).
i have blond hair and blues eyes, thin, 5'5.
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DB
Hi Ashley, and welcome!
I am also new to this forum, having been here about two weeks. I am currently a Witness and have been active for nearly 30 years (I am in my early 40's).
Some of the replies to your post have rightly cautioned you that this site may not be what you think. Thus far, after having read postings on this site for several months before joining, I would say that, indeed, there are some excellent lines of thought going on here concerning matters seldom raised in conversations with Witnesses, often out of fear of being thought of as spiritually weak or disloyal. Personally, I like to consider more than one side of an argument before drawing conclusions, and you will find here that indeed there are viewpoints presented that are at times at variance to the WTBS's teachings. You will find others that agree with the views of the WTBS. Whatever the case, my advice would be try to be open-minded when you spend time posting or reading items in this site.