Posts by veradico

27

Is the "marking" policy of the Society defunct or still officially used?

by yaddayadda in

in my over 30 years as a jw, i honestly can't recall ever hearing about anyone who was being officially "marked" pursuant to the society's "marking" policy based on 2 thess 3:14. .

in fact, i havn't read anything about their strange "marking" policy in years.

this makes me wonder if the society still has confidence in it and still officially endorses it?

veradico

During the few months my sister and I were still in but our friends had left, I got to hear a marking talk. The talk was given during the congregation's "special needs" portion of the TMS meeting. In the marking talk (given by my uncle, by the way) they mentioned just about everything they knew about what my friends and I were questioning (but they didn't yet know I was part of, and in fact playing a central role in, the questioning). If anyone had been tainted by our apostate thoughts, they would mark and shun us. But everyone else would just be puzzled.

4

undergrad paper on Witnesses

by veradico in

hey everyone!

i don't know whether anyone will find this interesting or not, but, when i was an undergrad, i wrote a paper evaluating jehovah's witnesses.

it provided me with an opportunity to organize my thoughts at that time concerning the religion.

veradico

Classics. But I wrote the paper for the honors program at my college.

4

undergrad paper on Witnesses

by veradico in

hey everyone!

i don't know whether anyone will find this interesting or not, but, when i was an undergrad, i wrote a paper evaluating jehovah's witnesses.

it provided me with an opportunity to organize my thoughts at that time concerning the religion.

veradico

I agree with you about my use of such words as "errors" and "correct." I would be far more cautious and quiet now. However, I might disagree with your tutors about footnotes and appendices (although the context of their advice would be important, of course). I think footnotes and appendices allow one to remain organized and focused in the main text while still indulging the desire to digress. Edgard Foster's use of authorities is more honest than that of Jehovah's Witnesses. Perhaps the word "rejection" was too strong, but I do think his willingness to make arguments from Church authorities is significant. Jehovah's Witnesses give their converts a sense that they adhere to sola scriptura. As you mention, this is not in fact the case, but ordinary Witnesses are not aware of this fact. It would have been a good thing for me to have identified and adhered to a particular methodology. That would be my main criticism of the paper. Some of my arguments assume a humanistic bias (i.e., that everything else should yield to what is good and healthy for humans--and perhaps, in this, I did not go far enough, for, in my anthropocentric perspective, I ignored the rest of the living world), but others assume a theological bias (i.e., that the 'correct' interpretation of scripture and the 'correct' relationship with God is the highest good, to which the human good must sometimes yield). Throughout, I attempted, at the very least, to avoid violating the historical/grammatical methodology. However, I was using this paper as an opportunity to explore and express my feelings about a faith I was still a part of at that time. Also, I was an undergrad. I don't think I even thought about my methodology. Thanks for your thoughts, Slimboyfat!

4

undergrad paper on Witnesses

by veradico in

hey everyone!

i don't know whether anyone will find this interesting or not, but, when i was an undergrad, i wrote a paper evaluating jehovah's witnesses.

it provided me with an opportunity to organize my thoughts at that time concerning the religion.

veradico

Hey everyone! I don't know whether anyone will find this interesting or not, but, when I was an undergrad, I wrote a paper evaluating Jehovah's Witnesses. It provided me with an opportunity to organize my thoughts at that time concerning the religion. Reading Metamorphosis' paper reminded me of my own and gave me the idea of posting it. I'd be interested to get feedback on it although I must admit my perspective has changed since I was an undergrad. http://www.youshare.com/view.php?file=JoyCastro.doc

37

LEECHES?!? LEECHES!?! You gotta be kiddin' !! Ever seen this?

by Open mind in

on my recent "college courses" thread, i got this contribution from veradico and thought it deserved it's own thread.

it was news to me.

this is a partial quote:.

veradico

"However, though leeches parasitically feed on blood in their natural state at present, it would not be proper for a Christian to permit leeches to draw his blood. (Proverbs 30:15)" Ok. They quote Proverbs 30:15, which reports on leeches in a negative light. Therefore, the deranged WT reasoning goes, one might assume they are not kosher and that the Great Jehovah, to use their recent language in the KM, does not "endorse" their non-abstention from blood. Consequently, the he would not want his slaves to promote the leeches' immoral activity. (Because humans are supposed to make sure that animals don't do something Jehovah disapproves of, such as having sex outside of marriage, having sex with multiple partners, having sex with members of one's own sex, murdering other animals, stealing food and other resources from other animals, "telling lies" through the use of false smells, colors, sounds, etc., and generally behaving like animals.) However, the next verse makes it clear that the two, no, three, no, four leech-like things are Sheol, the barren womb, a desert, and fire, all of which are never satisfied. What in the name of all that is sane does that verse have to do with using leeches for medical purposes?

37

LEECHES?!? LEECHES!?! You gotta be kiddin' !! Ever seen this?

by Open mind in

on my recent "college courses" thread, i got this contribution from veradico and thought it deserved it's own thread.

it was news to me.

this is a partial quote:.

veradico

I guess I'll post this half of my response here.... Glad you liked the tidbit about leeches, Open Mind. I find it amusing as well. Of course there are crazier things in the Society's history, but this is one of those bazaar things that is still, as far as I know, current light. The point about feeding snakes live mice is illustrative of one of the major problems I have with the Organization's reasoning. Blood is the symbol of life, so it's wrong to allow something else to consume it to preserve its life. However, a living animal, life itself, can be fed to a snake without violating their rules; likewise, living people are allowed to die for the symbol of life.

60

We've been invited to a JC

by besty in

for those of you don't know our story sweet pea and i stopped attending all meetings quite abruptly about 4 months ago.

since then we have had a few ill-advised conversations with jw friends and family stating our reasons - sometimes in emails.

also sp emailed a new friend on another forum her experiene with going to a new church.

veradico

Even if you DA yourselves, no one will know. The Society changed the announcement. Now all they say is "so-and-so is no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses." Everyone will assume you were disfellowshipped. I wish you all the best. My sister was recently asked to go to a JC because our cousin told our pioneer aunt that my sister thinks Jehovah's Witnesses is one of the most psychologically damaging religions in existence. My sister's tactic was this. She called the elder, told him she would not be able to attend on the day they had arranged, and further told him that she needed the elders to transfer her cards as she was moving to a different town. I don't know whether this will work or not, but moving one's cards has been an effective means in the past for Witnesses to "fade" without being "no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses" -ified. Good luck.

181

OKM 09/07 (english)- Just another brick in the wall...

by metaspy in

jw
friends

ok guys and gals, i (being the assistant to the magazine counter) have acquired the newest okm.. i have uploaded it to imagevenue.com: here.

hopefully that works!.

by the way drew, your translation was very close.

veradico

I liked how certain words are used in the article that would only have a negative connotation to someone initiated into the Jehovah's Witnesses' "pure language." Words like "independent" and "debate." Some have already commented on the use of "associates."

78

Have you ever faked a service report?

by Orgull in

it's only my third day here so, go easy on me.

lol.. seriously, my new doubts have made it harder and harder to go in service.

a few months ago, when a new month rolled around, i realized that i hadn't actually gone in service at all the previous month.

veradico

I only wish I had thought to do it earlier. Only near the end did I put down fake hours, but it was an amazing relief. I was serving as a MS, commuting to college, working, and helping my sister take care of my mom. My friend, whose situation was very similar to mine, refused to put down fake hours when I suggested the idea to him. This was even after he and I stopped believing in the Organization. He agreed that they had no right to demand an account of our time in the ministry and that it was wrong for time slips to be the primary way of judging someone's spirituality, but it still bothered his conscience to lie. I respected that, but it did not change my attitude. I felt that their definition of "sacred service" was arbitrary. The goal should be for every moment of one's life to be "sacred service" to principles like rationality, compassion, creativity, etc. (i.e. all the stuff God is supposed to represent). Not only are 10 hours of formal ministry per month a difficult and almost unreasonably high expectation of ordinary people, but a mere 10 hours of true "sacred service" is an unreasonably low expectation of people who claim to be imitators of Christ.

24

The Kingdumb Melodies

by WTWizard in

one of the things i find distasteful is what the witnesses' taste for music is.

they have the same 225 songs that they had since 1984. and many of those were carried from the previous book.. what i noticed while i was there is that none of the songs are really music.

they are so poorly written and performed that i think whoever was in charge of it just threw it together.

veradico

Let's not forget song #125:

"I know that in this crucial hour

My faith will yet be tested.

Around me swarms the Devil’s crowd

Like bees that were molested.

But I can ever beat them off

Beneath divine protection."

I never could keep a straight face during these verses, and I spent almost all my time keeping a "straight" face.