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).
Posts by DB
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23Dissfellowshiped 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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8
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.
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8
What was the drama about this year?
by dedalus ini'm asking because my jw dad is in it.
all i know is that he's playing a bible character, but i'm wondering what bible scenario is being enacted.
in a gesture of support and mutual tolerance, i was planning to go see him perform, cheer him on, that sort of thing.
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DB
dedalus, it was about Korah, Dathan, and Abiram (the main focus being on Korah) and the rebellion against Moses reported in Numbers.
Indeed the postings by Losing are most helpful here, as he (she) took extensive notes, and mase some very funny comments to punctuate those notes.
Anyway, the genital piercing took place last year, as the drama depicted the incident with Eleazar taking action to stop the scourge that resulted when the Israelites committed fornication on the palins of Moab.
One comment that I will make: back then, in Moses' time, Moses was UNQUESTIONABLY the one used by God. How do we know? By means of the miracles that God empowered him to perform. The Israelites doubted his selection by God until several miracles clearly established that Moses was the one God was using.
Today, we are being asked to put that same kind of faith in an organization that cannot substantiate its claims in the same way that Moses could. So while, in my mind, Korah had no reason to question Moses' authority, the parallel made to our modern day does not quite hold up. There is no one on earth today that merits that type of unquestioned loyalty; no one performing great miracles and acting in accordance with God's will to the degree that Moses did.
So, in my mind, the parallel can be made in a LOOSE manner, perhaps in a very qualified way, but not as emphatically as it is made in this year's drama.
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27
Why are JW women so loyal to the Borg?
by beroea inwhy are jw women so loyal to the borg?.
during the last 12 year i have been doing a lot of research about mainly the chronology of jw about the year 1914. my family are still in and very active and i serve still as elder.
my research has make me dropped the whole chronology about the year 1914 and also the authorities of dfs/gb.
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DB
OB, I must agree. For women, it seems that, in general, the puting down of roots and feeling of security may indeed be a major factor.
Also, what you said about being angry at your husband for missing a meeting struck a cord with me. Lately, I find myself going to some meetings without my wife (long story), but I noticed that it was easy to get irritated at her if she did not wish to go. And I began thinking, why? Why should I be irritated? That attitude is not Christian, and yet, because I was afraid of what others would say/think, I found myself getting irritated.
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CyberSex
by DreamMaster incybersex: real or fantasy!.
i would like to tell you good people a story and when i'm finished i would appreciate your honest opinion as i know you wouldn't give me anything less.
my wife and i have been fighting about a situation which recently arose in our home.
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DB
On my previous post, I was not saying that cyber sex was right or wrong. I did state that meeting a person outside the marriage and having sex for real would be wrong. Other than that, I simply raised a question, and the purpose of my post was to simply try to briefly explain WHY some people might choose to use engage in cyber sex.
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51
CyberSex
by DreamMaster incybersex: real or fantasy!.
i would like to tell you good people a story and when i'm finished i would appreciate your honest opinion as i know you wouldn't give me anything less.
my wife and i have been fighting about a situation which recently arose in our home.
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DB
I read a Poll recently, posted on Excite, in which 98% of the respondants said that Cyber-sex was cheating.
At times, though, I think the problem is that husbands and wives do not relate to each other well enough with regard to sex. Some people, for example are into dominance/submission type of stuff, but their spouse may not be. So they go online to explore that part of their sexuality. Many married men are bisexually curious and may go on line to explore that area of their sexuality.
My question is, when a person has such feelings about their own sexuality, is it always wrong to explore such via porn or cyber-sex?
I think it is wrong if it leads to an actual meeting/affair. But some people have these feeling as little or no outlet for them, and I think they satisfy such curiosities via cyber porn/sex.