Welcome. You make many valid points. Great to have you join us. On the disfellowshipping theme-I also feel that it is legitimate to some degree-just not to the degree that some elders have carried it to. Like when they disfellowship very young people without giving them a chance, or in my child's case, accusing her of something she did not do, lying to her, and making her read a scripture that God viewed her as filth, and she would burn in the fire with the devil and his angels. Can you imagine the feeling of worthlessness this can produce? Where was the love and help? At any rate, keep reading here. You will find out more.
Quandry
JoinedPosts by Quandry
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41
Fair minded person with a fair point of view
by keo15929 ini have been one of jehovah's witnesses for about 9 years before i became inactive.
i just had some comments i'd like to make.. i think the reason why i'm inactive now is because i've come to a point in my life where i feel obligated to admit that i just don't know.
at one time i was as fiery and zealous of a witness as anyone could be but i had this nagging feeling that i really didn't know what i was talking about when i was witnessing to people.
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Would you go back if...
by 24k inwhat if the watchtower announced that they are not god's sole channel of spiritual truth?
along with this admission, would come an apology for all of the misleading and damaging predictions and past teachings.
what if they also dumped the disfellowshipping arrangement, as currently practiced, and allowed for respectful disagreement and disent, on issues such as blood transfusions and military service?
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Quandry
Well, really, I don't know. I found several things to admire about Witnesses, obviously that's why I became one. I was happy to find a people who did not go to war. Look at what mankind have done to one another through war. I also would love to live forever in paradise on earth. I love animals and plants, and hate the sickness and suffering I see around us. I still do not beleive in the Trinity. Never did. And please, I could not go back to HELLFIRE. I have seen the hypocrisy of the mainline churches. Was part of Christendom before the Borg.
On the other hand, how did they just get to make up things, like the pyramids determined the dates, and flip flopping on doctrine, and reproving people for reporting the publicly known information that the WTS was a NGO connected to the UN. Yes, what about the 144,000 and the fact that so many are still annointed today. Also, the change in the doctrine about 1914. I know I constantly read in the Awake magazine on the inside cover that they were trying to build confidence in me that the generation that saw these events begin would NOT pass off the scene until all had been fulfilled!!!
All in all, that is why my alias is Quandry--because the indoctrination was so long and so thorough, that it makes my head hurt just to think about it!!
What is your answer?
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Small, but meaningful, moments of joy...
by daystar inin my office building we have a cafeteria that is run by another company.
there is this one mexican woman who has just the most pleasant demeanor, every day.
she greets everyone with a smile and a "how are you today, my friend?".
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Quandry
Thank you, Daystar, and I certainly hope you tell the cafeteria lady how much her attitude helps others. Perhaps it will make her day.
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Stupid Witnesses!
by hamilton_russell ini just got a visit from my jdub cousin.
not seen him for a year or so.. anyway he's telling me that he's selling his house (his first place bought 2 years ago) as the society are telling them all that the end is in sight sooner than they think!
and he said that he's gonna go part time at work cos he loves the aux pioneering he did last month!!!
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Quandry
Just remind him when his money starts to run out and he has no home that, as in 1975, the W.T. never said the end would come, it was just people speculating on dates and they were disobedient for doing that.
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Small, but meaningful, moments of joy...
by daystar inin my office building we have a cafeteria that is run by another company.
there is this one mexican woman who has just the most pleasant demeanor, every day.
she greets everyone with a smile and a "how are you today, my friend?".
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Quandry
Daystar
Thank you so much for sharing your experience. When my teenage daughter was disfellowshipped by harsh, unloving, unmerciful men and accused of things she didn't do, lied to, told God viewed her as filth, and she would burn in the lake of fire with the devil and his angels, well, I wanted to die.My entire family was in this shape for over a year. However, though those who professed to show Godly love did not, there were others that helped us to live.
My boss where I work sends a message to all employees once a week. He includes quotes that are uplifting and encouraging. He never fails to thank us for our work or tell us how he appreciates what we do, and the way we do it. He views us as worthwhile persons. I wrote to him, telling him what had happened to our family. I told him everything, and thanked him for his weekly messages to us. I told him how he had actually helped my family to survive. I felt that he should know what a contribution he had made to our lives. Although he is over many, many people, he personally came to the location that I work at to give me an encouraging letter. He sympathized with my family, and said that he admired us because we still seemed to retain our faith even in the midst of our trials. He deplored what these men had done-he reiterated that they had no right to condemn a child as though they were speaking for God.
I have told my daughter often, in the dark of night, when she told me that she no longer wanted to live because of what these men had done to her, that Jesus died for everyone, and that every person has the right to live.
A few lines from Whitman express this:
"O me, O life of the questions of these recurring
Of the endless trains of the faithless
Of cities filled with the foolish
What good amid these O me, O life?
Answer: That you are here
That life exists and identity
That the powerful play goes on
and you may contribute a verse."
Each one of us is immesurably important--I, for my part, have resolved never to be like those men, but to strive to make the lives of all around me happier, better, if only by a word or small deed.
Thank you to all who posted here with similar thoughts. You also, by being on this forum, have made my life more bearable.
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Question about shunning from someone who has never been a JW....
by whyizit ini wondered, since the jws claim that jesus is their teacher, what evidence do they have of jesus shunning "bad associations"?
it seems to me, from reading the bible, that the religious people of his day really gave him a hard time, because he actually spent the majority of his time with "bad associates", rather than shunning them.
thomas, though he followed jesus, wasn't totally convinced.
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Quandry
This outlook is reasonable. I wonder how it got so far from this that even children who are learning and subject to life's mistakes (as indeed we all are) would be completely shunned-even by family members. Left with no one. Made to feel that they are worthless when they need help the most. Some even thrown out of their homes by parents whose God-given responsibility is to cherish them and support them. And this from an organization that gets "brighter light" constantly.
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Question about shunning from someone who has never been a JW....
by whyizit ini wondered, since the jws claim that jesus is their teacher, what evidence do they have of jesus shunning "bad associations"?
it seems to me, from reading the bible, that the religious people of his day really gave him a hard time, because he actually spent the majority of his time with "bad associates", rather than shunning them.
thomas, though he followed jesus, wasn't totally convinced.
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Quandry
Auld Soul---Oooooops!!!! Technically, you are right. He just struck a very hot recent nerve. I boiled over. Especially with the condescending "sweetie" and "dearie" to posters. All the feelings are still very raw for me. There are a few "men" -and I use the term loosely -that have made my family go through hell. They are still smugly in their positions. They dare to view our family as causing divisions in the congregation because we do not fawn all over them in appreciation for crushing the spiritual life out of a little sheep. Smug and condescending. Does it get more loving than that?
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Question about shunning from someone who has never been a JW....
by whyizit ini wondered, since the jws claim that jesus is their teacher, what evidence do they have of jesus shunning "bad associations"?
it seems to me, from reading the bible, that the religious people of his day really gave him a hard time, because he actually spent the majority of his time with "bad associates", rather than shunning them.
thomas, though he followed jesus, wasn't totally convinced.
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Quandry
What has happened to Gunshy? I was waiting for a reply. Is he shy?
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JW and Home Schooling WHY, WHY, WHY????????
by Wordly Andre ini just heard that my nephew will not be attending high school, instead will be doing home schooling, why do jws pressure their kids into home schooling?
i really do love my nephew he is a bright kid, i think he would do really great in high school, and hopefully attend college, but i was informed yesterday that he will not be going to high school because its not safe, and besides he made the decision not to go.
i am sorry but he should go, i know what they got planned for him, home school and full time service, this is the time of his life where he needs to concentrate on his education, he will end up just like his mother, who also never attended high school, seems that when your totally lost into the society, covering all aspects of your life, that leaves you socially inept, depressed, and have a distorted view of the world.
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Quandry
This is difficult.
The things taught in High School are subjects one needs a degree to teach. If your nephew wants to be a scientist, how will he learn Biology and Chemistry self-taught from a book? How about a foreign language? With no lab or teacher to pronounce, how will he learn? Don't even think about algebra or higher. How, without a teacher who is qualified, will he learn? Who will explain the problem in an understandable way, perhaps knowing different methods of reaching an answer? There is a saying that the student strives to be like his teacher. If one is teaching oneself, this is hardly going to bring about great achievements.
Yes, by all means take him to see your school. He needs some inspiration to see that knowledge is desirable. That he has a mind and should use it. One movie that you could lend him is Dead Poet's Society. Robin Williams plays a teacher that inspires boys to think for themselves and to know that they could make a contribution to the world. His motto-"Seize the Day!"
Why are witnesses so afraid of school? They are afraid that without the constant droning of the parents and the meetings, the child will make no right decisions. They have little faith in what they teach, apparently. I know that many of the youth in High School go to Church and don't get involved in drugs, etc.
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I'm Sorry
by Lo-ru-hamah inyesterday, my mother, sister, son (3 year old) and i were shunned for the first time by someone that it actually hurt to be shunned by.
my little brother, who is still a very active jw, told us that he will never see us again.
he won't speak to us, write us, or communicate with us again.
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Quandry
I am sorry too.
I never took the time to think about the life of the one being shunned. I was so busy being righteous by going to all the meetings, studying, service, etc. I thought hook line and sinker that the one who was disfellowshipped had outright refused to stop the sin they were committing and told the elders that they had not remorse nor intention of changing. I wondered from time to time how it could be that so many blatantly felt that way. Little did I know that sometimes it is at the whim of men who decide people's lives based on their personal feelings----or lack of---that people are df'd. Or the image of the organization, instead of wanting to help the person.
I always felt that the person had to have been worked with repeatedly and just refused to change. Now I know from experience that this is many times wrong.