Posts by sparky1

42

Told My Parents Yesterday That I Don't Want to Be a JW

by Saethydd in

i wasn't entirely sure what to expect when i made the decision to tell my parents how i really feel, but i was prepared for the worst, fortunately, it didn't come to that.

after i told them i didn't want to go to the meetings anymore it led to a long talk with them.

they made a number of irksome and woefully uninformed statements but at least they were not aggressive and have said that they won't force me to move out over this, though, i can tell they are hoping they can convince me to "accept the truth," as long as i still live with them.

sparky1

Congratulations ..............you have shown great courage at such a young age. May your life be filled with success and much happiness.

My advice is to ignore shadow's comment. Rather, you look and search for the meaning of your life. To quote Viktor Frankl:

"For the meaning of life differs from man to man, from day to day and from hour to hour. What matters, therefore, is not the meaning of life in general but rather the specific meaning of a person's life at a given moment." (No mention of God or religion. And Viktor Frankl was a pious Jew.)

6

Have you ever wondered why the confession of sins is encouraged ?

by Chook in

it's because we don't need a hierarchy structure without this guilt trip.

now my sins for this week are .... no i'm telling you unless you promise to forgive me..

sparky1

Three words: CONTROL, CONTROL, CONTROL!

80

Are there any ex-missionaries here??

by fulano in

i have been a missionary in the dominican republic for almost 10 years and i was wondering if there were any ex-missionaries on this forum.. i am back in my country now for 3 years and totally inactive.. what i noticed in those missionary-years was the lack of spiritual interest among the missionaries.. discussions were about rooms, cars and greater responsibilities, the bad territory.

and the local c.o.s and d.os.. was this only in the dr or are there other experiences??.

ere other experiences?

sparky1

I never held the position of Missionary but I have been in the Missionary position.

82

How Far Up The Ladder Did You Go In JW Land?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i pretty much did it all.

vacation pioneered as a youngster and became a regular pioneer out of school.

i became a ms then an elder.....the organization pushes you to be somebody within the confines of their realm.

sparky1

"Were You Ever an elder?"....................no, my conscience would not let me continue as a fraud. As I said in my post, "I changed congregations and refused any appointments."

82

How Far Up The Ladder Did You Go In JW Land?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i pretty much did it all.

vacation pioneered as a youngster and became a regular pioneer out of school.

i became a ms then an elder.....the organization pushes you to be somebody within the confines of their realm.

sparky1

Quit school and started Pioneering at 16 years old. (Long and sad story, it was 1972) Went to 'serve' in a congregation with no Elders and only 2 Ministerial Servants. The Circuit Overseer wanted to have me stay in this congregation and he checked with the Service Department to see if I could be appointed a Ministerial Servant at 17 years old. They said that under the circumstances it would be approved. He then asked if I could be appointed an Elder at 18 years old. They didn't see a problem with this but said under the circumstances the Governing Body would have to directly approve. This caused a major rift between me and my pioneer partner because neither the Circuit Overseer nor the congregation was interested in appointing him to anything. I wanted to go to Bethel so the 'position carrot' did not sway me. I moved back to my old hall and pioneered from there. When I applied for Bethel service, my cover letter from the new Circuit Overseer and from the congregation really blew up my 'ego'! The letters both stated that I would probably only stay at Bethel for 4 years and then be recommended for the 'Circuit work'. For Christ's sake, I wasn't even a Ministerial Servant yet. At any rate, I became a Bethelite and a Ministerial Servant. 1975 came and went and I had a return of my 'crisis of faith' (I never believed any of it anyway but was persuaded to put my nose to the grindstone and when 1975 came all my doubts would be answered) and had a 'nervous breakdown' while at Bethel. I went back to my home congregation and was immediately appointed a Ministerial Servant. From there I was asked to become the congregation secretary so that the next time the Circuit Overseer came around, I could be appointed an Elder. It was all too much for me and I changed congregations and refused any appointments. By 1980 I took the looooooong fade route. As I look back on my personal history, I see that I was a victim of 'pseudo-maturity' and was pressured by family and my Jehovah's Witness peers to take part in a lifestyle I really did not want.

15

Funeral plan ?

by Chook in

to all you young and old alike what would you have as a farewell party from this earth , would you party with friends months before or would you go out quietly and rather have input into the wake.

i have heard of these duck hunters who put their ashes in shotgun shells.

.

sparky1

I'm with Magnum, too. A 'good' death that involves being out in Nature. When the time comes, my plan is to hurl myself over Niagara Falls late at night so that no one knows it happened and no one will waste time and money looking for me.

No funeral for me. If people can't know me while I am alive, I certainly don't want anyone to pretend to know me when I'm dead.

44

Lot's Wife - Connect the dots - JW.org

by Funchback in

yay!

now kids can help draw lot's wife getting destroyed.. .

sparky1

Jehovah's Witnesses do not have the 'market' cornered on fu@king up the minds and hearts of little children. How about this creative gem that some religious nut dreamed up for the indoctrination of their children. It is a moral crime that God intoxicated religious zealots are allowed to perpetuate this poison onto their naive and socially constrained offspring.

31

Have Jehovah's Witnesses Become Boring?

by David_Jay in

okay, that new video about 1975 has got people talking, and yes, the child abuse cases will always require us to remain vigilant...but after my having left in the late 1980s/early 1990s, it seems all the real "exciting" stuff is gone.

when i left the witnesses were still preaching that the "generation that was old enough to understand the events of 1914" will not pass away before armageddon comes.

no blood cards were our badges (not that stupid jw logo) and that card meant what it said, "no blood"!

sparky1

" I used to say that Jehovah's Witnesses were the thinkingest people on the planet. After further consideration, I have concluded that we are now the boringest people on the planet."

8

Jw church's use of titles, how many can you think of ?

by Chook in

gb member , branch overseers, do ( obsolete ) , co , elder , ms , publisher, unbaptised publisher , school overseers, coordinator of body ect ect ect .

.

i think jws would win gold on clergy laity class distinctions..

sparky1

Bethel Elder (obsolete)

I kid you not, when I was a Bethelite in the mid 70's, I remember two brothers discussing who had more power in the Organization: A Bethel Elder or a Circuit Overseer?

44

Lot's Wife - Connect the dots - JW.org

by Funchback in

yay!

now kids can help draw lot's wife getting destroyed.. .

sparky1

Connect..........the..........dots! Yeah right, Lots daughters are getting ready to connect with something.

I am trying to wrap my head around this. Jehovah destroys Sodom because of the sexual immorality of the inhabitants. His wife looks back, perhaps because she misses her home and other relatives and she is destroyed. Yet his daughters get their father drunk, he willingly gets drunk and then they both have incestuous sexual intercourse with him. If I was a child, I might draw this conclusion: 'If you are immoral and don't worship Jehovah, you will be destroyed. If you are immoral and worship Jehovah, there will be no consequences.' Connect the dots, children.