i was raised a jw and am currently pioneer in a foreign language congregation.
i have been unhappy on and off with my involvement in this religion and am ready to step back again.
growing up i was always active but extremely reserved and a low hour publisher.
Wonderful of you to share. I wish you well. As far as slow exits, many do them. With immediate family already inactive, you might find it not so bad to make a bit faster progress. At least get off that pioneer list ASAP and start working more on a paying job.
The ex-JW, non-JW dating dilema is a problem for many. Some spend time with other ex-JW's to vent and bring their non-JW spouse along to learn.
We would love it if you keep us updated.
just a simple " we are sorry " .
.
Governing Body : "Shame on you if you run ahead of us or read the Bible alone or decide matters with your conscience without consulting Watchtower pubs, and also for not doing your own independent research so you can keep quiet about disagreeing with us until we admit that everyone is to blame for following our lead."
I hope that covers all bases.
hey uk folks, what's going with this story?
was it an unbelieving mate that attacked and elder or something?.
Maybe they will take the Trump road and call it fake news.
https://www.jw.org/en/whats-new/online-convention-donations/.
online donations for conventions.
donations to support the annual conventions of jehovah’s witnesses may now be made online from a number of countries.
Thanks for showing me one more step they are taking in the very direction they criticized "Christendom" for not so long ago.
had lunch with some friends during today's waste of time convention.
they spoke of the rumor floating around that the jws will move away from these big regional conventions and have them at assembly halls and tie them in to kingdom halls.. they seemed to believe it was a pretty reliable source.. i think it would be too good to be true but who knows?.
anyone else heard this rumor?.
Money facts are money facts. When they did not make money from the voluntary donations for food service, they pulled it so fast and told members to bring baloney sandwiches.
If big conventions are not making money, or more money can be made by figuring out how to utilize Assembly Halls and video feeds, they will definitely do this.
It sounds real and true. If not next year, sooner or later.
dear friends, we were so touched by your warm welcome and all of your comments to my ballroom dancing post.
thank you so much for your kindness.. i have more to tell you, but i wanted to share this with you.
we have a son that has been disfellowshipped for 18 years for smoking.
It is so great to read such a good update. Thanks for sharing.
okay simply put i am not of your faith however my faith allows me to learn and study other people's beliefs and faith's.
now i believe at least from what i have seen that you people are humble and respectful, when interacting with me.
and that watchtower book thing u hand out has actually helped me in the past.... taught me that resentment only hurts me and not the person i resented, that was really needed at the time.
If you do sit down with the door-to-door recruiters, ask
"Your governing body says they are spirit-directed. What's the difference between 'inspired' and 'spirit-directed' ?"
"Has your organization ever taught something that turned out wrong? What about what they teach now- could it be wrong?"
"Please explain, using just a Bible, 1914 and the overlapping generation."
"Can Jehovah's Witnesses hold and discuss openly with other Jehovah's Witnesses opinions that differ from Watch Tower doctrine?"
my freedom came with a heavy cost.
i couldn't stand the dishonesty so when my sister went out of town on a trip i told my parents that i no longer wanted to be a jw.
when my sister got back and i told her she was so angry, said she really wanted to slap me, then she ran off sobbing, a few minutes later she deposited every gift i ever gave her in front of my door.. my entire family has turned against me.
Oh my. What a tragedy. I wish there was a way to ease your family rejection pain.
If there is any comfort, it may be to say that you have done the hardest part and will know you were right.
You might want to write to your family members what they won't allow you to say. Stay strong.
few things draw my interest as much as people on this board who talk about the elders, the insidious little toadies who lurk around kingdom halls, the proverbial big fish in little ponds.
it amazes me the terror and the veneration they inspire, as well as the occasional ridicule.
it makes me wonder how they're selected and whether most of them come into the position with a sense of power, entitlement, authority and control, or whether many of them are pretty nice people and that i'm just hearing about the bad apples?
There are 53 distinct types of nuts on the planet. I don't think you will manage to sub-categorize elders into 53 distinct types, but there are all kinds of elders.
Typically, elders are selected by their ability to promote and demonstrate full faith in the corporation of Watchtower. Accepting and using their doctrine on the platform and being willing to do any menial task they ask of you helps.
But it isn't that simple. Some are made elders because their family donates money. Some because they pioneered long enough to impress the other elders, or because they married into the right influential family. While I was made elder for the first reason I list, demonstrating and promoting the corporation, I was made an elder kind of fast because I studied with the elder who wanted to be a huge fish in a small pond, and nothing was more impressive than all his male students making elder quickly.
Being raised a JW, you get there faster if your family already has "men in position" and especially if they hid any of your youthful indiscretions to protect their own positions. If you were converted as an adult, you won't have your youthful indiscretions held against you. So many different paths to elder. Hell, someone who buys a minivan for recruiting every Saturday and gives the C.O. a green handshake every 6 months could get there fast.
i personally would like to see they get the very best but haven't a clue how to do it what are your benevolent words of wisdom, should a person do a deep research on his own a kind of self medication or should they brush up on some psychology,, who should they trust because after you leave you got big trust issues.. i don't know about you but to me it was a real shocker, i was totally into getting their worthless bull shit out of my head.
i choose the self medicate path and did as must research as time would allow,, science was a biggie for me, it was enjoyable learning to get so much bull shit out of my head..
If you were hardcore in your belief then maybe it would be as Jefferson Airplane says in SOMEBODY TO LOVE:
When the truth is found
To be lies
And all the joy
Within you dies
If so, you really need some counseling. Not everyone has the insurance or the income to get counseling, you know- because they gave up going to college or seeking a career because they were seeking Jehovah's favor.
And that's a shame.
My problems stemmed from something beyond just the JW's and I got standard counseling that included getting past my bitterness about Watchtower. Others might need more focused post-cult counseling that the likes of Steve Hassan provide. But I see those types as expensive and/or rare to find, where standard counseling is relatively easy to find and people of different budgets might be able to find some help. Even priests/pastors will give free help, or colleges will sometimes take patients to talk to their grad students. So there is a mix of what people need and what they can get.
If you can't get any of these, ex-Jehovah's Witnesses or similar ex-cult groups would help a bit. People understand with little explaining what you are going through.
