DB

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Posts by DB

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  23

  I'm new here

  by konkreetgurl in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hey everybody, i'm a christian, but i'm not a jehovah's witness and i recently made friends with one, i know little to nothing about this religion and i would like to know more, can anyone help me out by way of how it is different from say, an evangelical free christian church?

  and what sort of theology and doctrine jw's go by and such, i'd really appreciate it, thank you

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  DB

  Hi konkreetgurl, welcome! Hopefully, you will find some answers to your questions here, and while some posts are very anti-jw, most are pretty insightful...and that's coming from an active jw.

  And I agree that it's best not to tell your jw friend that you visit here. He/she will automatically classify the info here as not worthy of your consideration.

  Rather than actually being a cult, some experts consider the jws a "high control group". Whatever the case, your interest in this site is much appreciated. I hope you derive some benefit by visiting here. Best wishes!
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  27

  Kind of Depressed, Looking for Someone to Talk to

  by Reborn2002 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  some of you on this board know me, or at least part of my story, very likely most of you do not.. i am a 21 yr old male from chicago who finally mustered the courage to da myself roughly 6 months ago.

  being a 3rd-generation jw, my grandfather was an elder 45 years, so this developed a reputation and precedence for me that i would one day be a co.. or go to bethel.

  such high expectations, which i am happy i never fulfilled.

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  DB

  Reborn, I can understand how you feel. I also noticed how your family attacked you personally instead of considering the evidence you had to present.
  Hang in there, and as severla of the posters here mentioned, you will find friends and love in your life.
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  21

  Did The Generation Change Silence Apostates?

  by Englishman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  here is a paragraph from the1997 august 1st.watchtower re the generation change:.

  "recently, 'the faithful and discreet slave' has helped us to refine our understanding of the term 'generation' used at matthew 24:34 and of the timing of the judgment of 'the sheep' and 'the goats' mentioned at matthew 25:31-46, as well as of our view toward certain types of civilian service.

  no doubt some apostates would have been delighted if many of jehovah's witnesses had stuck rigidly to the previous understanding of such subjects and refused to progress.

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  DB

  Gumby, I agree, it does appear indeed that the loyalty referred to hear is to the FDS, although they, of course, would have jws believe that the loyalty is to God.

  And in the 5 yrs since that article was published, what has occured? The figures show decreases in many lands now. Many jws have been missing meetings on a regular basis. Many are still confused over the whole generation teaching in the first place and know that the "refinement" was simply a ruse to make the FDS appear progressive in its understanding of the Bible when indeed it was simply wrong, period. Many jws feel, I am sure, that in effect, the rug was pulled out under them, since they were taught for so many years to believe that the end would arrive within a certain time frame. They built their lives around such teachings, and then, oops! it turns out that "refinement" was needed.
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  15

  Let me introduce myself

  by blindfool in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ok, todays the day i introduce myself.

  i've been reading.

  as a "lurker" for a couple of months.

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  DB

  Welcome blindfool (odd screen name, you hardly seem like a blind fool, instead, you are checking things out for yourself). I read your story with interest; I'll look forward to hearing more from you. You started out here the same way I did - some months of lurking, them entering the fray, lol. Welcome!
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  92

  How many hours are falsely reported?

  by badboy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in the january 1 issue of each year, they harp on about how many hours the jws did last year etc etc.. how many hours are possibly falsely reported?.

  discuss,please

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  DB

  Counting time and RVs by the Society's standard would mean not counting break time and not counting an RV unless you talk to the same person on the return call and 'advance' the truth somewhat. I doubt that many jws adhere to such standards, however. Over the years I have noticed many taking long breaks (once, up to an hour) and also noticed pioneers who spent a good part of the day running errands and taking breaks.

  I could never blame them. If I had to find a way to put 90 (now 70) months in "real" service in each month, I would have never been able to do it, and I doubt that many pioneers can either, given the nature of the work. Also, for many jws, including myself, the coffee break is often the highlight of the morning in service.

  I also think about secular employment in comparison - when you take a break, you still get paid for that break, unless it's your lunch break (in many cases). I could never understand why the Society did not want jws to count break time. I guess they figure the bros and sis's would do what would probably come natural - spend the better part of the service period on break.
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  34

  Tough Question for ExElders...

  by Xena in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  with a friend suddenly confronted with the prospect of being disfellowshiped recently it got me wondering about how an elder feels the first time he disfellowships someone.. the first time you disfellowshiped someone was there regret?

  sadness?

  or a sense of justice?.

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  DB

  I had served on several JCs, and disliked doing it each time. I felt regrets and also that I was not really qualified to sit in judgement or another person. My imperfections weighed heavily on my mind each time I sat to judge the weaknesses of another person.

  After one sister was df'd, I felt awful the following day. She had a husband who had been a pain in her neck for years and who himself had been df'd, then reinstated. I had trouble blaming her for falling for another guy after being married to a guy like him. Another sister was a good friend of mine, and she was a single woman nearing the age of 30 who looked for a mate and waited and waited for a brother, but then she got involved sexually with a non-witness. To be honest, I felt terrible about having to df a woman who simply had natural urges and was lonely and simply could not hold out any longer.

  Another dfing I really disliked was of a woman who had been smoking. No one in the cong. even knew her. I felt that consideration of the matter should have been held until she possibly would become active again. It was like we just hunted her down and df'd her. I regret not speaking up to the other elders on that one and being more vocal in my misgivings about what we were doing.

  Here's an odd thing, though...when I was an elder, in a strange way, part of me wanted an announcement to be made, part of me sort of looked forward to "shocking" the cong. I don't know why. It was like I wanted them to be aware that we were busy making the cong. safe for them, like we were heroic in some way. I hate that I felt that way! To this day, I regret it deeply.

  Good post, Xena!
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  11

  ~Safegaurd Yourselves~

  by terafera in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i got this in an email today...it was a forward from a sister.

  she doesnt talk to me, but sends 'uplifting' emails.

  i guess i'm not good enough to talk to, but only to upbuild!

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  DB

  Hi Tera,

  Interesting post. I receive things like this via e-mail on occasion from my fellow jws. The x-mas music thing seems way over the top, LOL, and the rest of it seems like someone is trying to make their own proverbs or pithy sayings out of things common to the jw experience.

  ;) ;) ;) DB
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  27

  how many JW on this site

  by happy man in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the name of the site, jehovas vittness.com?.

  well sure we must have permission to say what we fell here, cant understan that ex say that this is ther site,.

  havent they red the heading.

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  DB

  Hi happy, I am a jw also. Baptized nearly 29 yrs. I'm not sure if that makes me a lucky guy or not.

  I come here for various reasons, one of which is to read up on subject matter that is almost never discussed among active jws for fear of reprisal, or at the very least for fear of appearing "spiritually weak", or appearing to have a "bad attitude".

  Sometimes, I think we have not come all that far at all from the days of the mid-century Inquisitions.
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  6

  Kaiser Permanente

  by joelbear in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  anyone here have any experience with them an a health provider.

  i'm thinking of switching to them.. thanks.

  joel

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  DB

  Joel, I do know someone who works there for them, but I have no idea about their level of effectiveness as a health care provider. If you have any questions, you can e-mail me at [email protected]
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  10

  My Story

  by DINKY in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  after years of hard drug use, my boyfriend (now husband) and i finally quit when i got pregnant.

  i went strictly to "marijuana maintenance.

  " while staying home with my new baby, a witness started calling on me and eventually offered me a bible study.

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  DB

  Hi Dinky, and welcome. I was saddened after reading your story. Certainly, you should have received more assistance. As larc says, the elders are not really able to handle such issues effectively. When I served as an elder, I was not trained to handle such problems effectively.

  Basically, the elders are more or less conditioned to believe that when someone is attending meetings, everything is fine; and yet they obviously missed the fact that not all was well with you despite the fact that you were at the meetings. Also, they are conditioned to tell people that more meetings, field service, etc. will be the cure-all. Hence, they seldom if ever are able or willing to help people to really overcome problems. And, the fact that they more or less ignored you for such a long preiod of time is sad indeed, though it does not surprise me at all.