Posts by zarco

29

Second Russian Court Rules Against Jehovah's Witnesses

by Kenneson in

"altai court condemns jehovah's witnesses for 'extremism' ".

http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=16505&size=a.

zarco

This is a tough situation on many fronts. The WTS organization is full of flawed extreme policies that harm its members. The court ruling will further harm the members of the WTS. If the ruling could impact those responsible – the GB and their assistants – then at least the universal principle of reaping and sowing would make the decision at least somewhat palatable. But having the individual brothers and sisters in Russia suffer the consequences is just wrong.

It is also ironic that a totalitarian government (slight exaggeration) is censuring another totalitarian organization (no exaggeration).

The history of court victories in the US early in the WTS history has emboldened the current legal department to be in a hurry to the courtroom. If the WTS is really interested in opening up Russia to its religion it should have used diplomatic approaches highlighting the benefits and responsibilities that come to nations deemed “most favored nations” to allow open and free commerce. The principles that come with MFN status would protect their flawed religion. The arrogance of the legal boys got in the way in this situation

zarco

19

Is Fantasy Destroying The Watchtower?

by metatron in

jw
friends

all religions involve a measure of fantasy.

we all need some fantasy and seek it out in movies, novels, video games or other forms of entertainment.

danger arises when fantasy dominates our lives and pushes practical matters out of the way.. when the watchtower was 'young' as an organization, it attracted a large number of people who were accustomed to hard work and dealing with the practical challenges of economic depression and war.

zarco

"If you are a young person, you also need to face the fact that you will never grow old in this present system of things. Why not? Because all the evidence in fulfillment of Bible prophecy indicates that this corrupt system of things is due to end in a few years. Of the generation that observed the beginning of the 'last days' in 1914, Jesus foretold: 'This generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur' (Matt. 24:34). Therefore, as a young person, you will never fulfill any career that this system offers" (22 May 1969 Awake !, p. 15).

Leolaia - I remember that quote so vividly. A few years later - after 1975 - we were young people trying to figure out what to do with our lives and the 1969 Awake article was a centerpiece of conversation. I don't think the quote registered at the time it was published, but looking back what horrid advice the WT gave young people.

About three years ago a family with a high school aged son visited us. They were weighing a few options about what training to provide him after high school. He was a highly intelligent young man. They also separately discussed the matter with a their circuit overseer - the circuit overseer had made the statement to them that the WTS stance on education has always been balanced. In my discussion with the family, I quoted the 1969 Awake from memory and they did not believe me. We finally were able to dig up the exact quote and they became angry at me. They have not come back to visit, in fact I think they view us as apostate (we may be a bit too forward with our view of higher education).

zarco

30

To all the newbies: How I've have adapted to life outside the Org

by tooktheredpill in

i havent been active in the forum for some time, but i keep reading your comments every few weeks.

ive noticed that there are many new members.

welcome to jwd!!!

zarco

tooktheredpill and finding my way -

Welcome! May you have continued peace and happiness.

best

86

"THE SPIRIT THAT NOW OPERATES IN THE SONS OF DISOBEDIENCE"

by mrsjones5 in

jw
friends

.

zarco

Listing some proud men these banded together against Moses.

You are right, proud men of the WTS have banded against the greater Moses by rejecting the Christ and elevating themselves to that position.

Yahweh then spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said 'Get away from this community; stand away, and touch nothing that belongs to them

You are right, one must stand away from those who stand against the very power of god by teaching false doctrines, standing where Christ should stand, incurring bloodguilt for flawed doctrines. Most on this board have followed such admonition and have stepped away from this apostate organization.

The spirit is indeed acting within the "sons of disobedience" and those "SODs" are not us they are them.

zarco

37

Ex-Elders Outnumber Elders In My KH; what does that suggest to you?

by Room 215 in

jw
friends

right now, the number of ex- elders (either resigned, pushed out or df'd) outnumber the present elders; what does this suggest to you?

.

zarco

treadnh20 - it is interesting that most elders are failures in secular matters. If the smart ones continue to step aside, the WTS will be left with a bunch of folks who serve because it is the only authority they will ever have. That is really a dangerous situation, stupid and power hungry is not the best of combinations.

ATJ - I forgot how little the WTS values elders. AlanF told me that one time - when i was a little full of myself - and it was hard for me to accept, but it is certainly true. I know you spent more than your fair share in the field service and in your assignment you probably had some "success", but as you note in the western world, door to door service is probably counterproductive.

32

Other Points From the Annual Meeting

by jabberwock in

jw
friends

i realize that the latest clarification of the generation teaching has been discussed quite a bit on this thread.. but i think that there are at least two other important points from the annual meeting that have been, for the most part, overlooked:.

1. the weeds of matthew 13 are not the churches of christendom, but apostates.. 2. showing love to our neighbors involves more than just the preaching work.

(thanks for mentioning this rubadub).

zarco

I think that the application of Matthew 13 will change depending on the point that the WTS wants to emphasize. Afterall, in their view Christendom is apostate as are those no longer in the "truth". At the last elders school they made the point that an apostate is not just one who stands against the "truth", rather one who is no longer in the "truth".

Regarding showing love, it seems that some on the GB are trying to emphasize doing good works. Someday soon, the tax-exempt status of the WTS will be called into question and it will be important that the WTS have a record of doing good works that benefit the community to support its charitable and tax-exempt status.

Thanks for emphasizing some of the subtle points.

zarco

37

Ex-Elders Outnumber Elders In My KH; what does that suggest to you?

by Room 215 in

jw
friends

right now, the number of ex- elders (either resigned, pushed out or df'd) outnumber the present elders; what does this suggest to you?

.

zarco

I think that most of the good elders end up realizing that they do not have the training, skills, deep bible knowledge to be spiritual leaders. They are not provided training on how to provide real assistance to depressed ones, in cases of severe depression they do not have qualified professionals that they can recommend and rely upon. They are not trained to show real love by feeding the hungry, comforting the sick, helping with life skills and leading thinking on caring for the environment and their communities. Rather, they are hampered by the lack of training from the WT – both spiritual training and social/life training to do anything meaningful. The only training they get is how to follow flawed procedures.

Would you stick with such a job?

52

Comments from an elder judt returning from Elders' School

by Room 215 in

jw
friends

a good friend and long-time elder just back from patterson, asked me what i thought is he most prevalent problem elders are facing today....told him i had no idea.... he said "pornography" by far the most vexing problem for them... hard to believe, no?.

zarco

This is typical of the WT to treat a symptom and not address the real problem. Why is it that elders might be using porn? That is the question that they should answer. In my opinion, people with well balanced, meaningful lives usually do not rely upon short cuts to satisfaction – pornography, alcohol, gambling, etc. The WT system does not produce well balanced people with meaningful work and lives. There are some who achieve this through their own efforts without any help from the WT. Since the WT system produces such people, almost all communication from them will be symptom focused. Stop this, do that, without any regard to the root causes of the behaviors.

39

Did you get drunk/take drugs as a witness?

by wouldacouldashoulda in

jw
friends

smoked.

got drunk.

taken drugs (non medicinal).

zarco

While a Witness, no smkoing, no drugs and sipped a little bit of wine. As a turbo-fader, no smkoing, no drugs and sip a little bit of wine.

51

Everything About Being An Elder is Weird (my misc rambling memories of being an elder)

by AllTimeJeff in

for any brother who is a jehovah's witness, the goal is put before them to reach out for the privilege of being an elder.

i can only speak for myself, but being born into the religion, i wanted to be an elder since i was 5. i would have much rather wanted to be a doctor or engineer, but those are the breaks..... i'll skip the part about what it takes to reach out, all the crap you have to put up with as a ministerial servant to get appointed, and go straight to the reality.. i know many elders who sincerely just wanted to be shepherds.

i did want the spotlight.

zarco

ATJ -

Well written, thanks for describing what it is really like to "serve". Your post brings back strong memories. Like you, I read as much as I could about mental illness and how to help. Another elder and I ended up as the go to guys for mental illness and neither of us were qualified to really help. I did handle a pretty egregious child abuse case and did DF the father without two witnesses - he did not appeal. We also encouraged the victim to go to the police and she did so. So at least with my limited training, I have a clear conscience that I did my best to protect those who needed it.

Sadly, it was also important to me to climb the corporate ladder and I was rewarded for it - if you can call it that - with disctrict level assignments and temporarary assignments at the big house. I was a young person in 1975 and never believed it to be the truth since then. For a long time though, I was of the opinion that it was God's organization that just turned apostate, so I stuck with it for many years. Since we did not completely believe, we hedged our bets and pushed the limits (education, business, travel) and enjoyed life along the way.

Being an elder certainly is not in the best interests of children or for a marriage. Trying to stick with something that you know is false or apostate is tough on the soul. I did finally step aside and it is one of my best decisions ever. I fear losing friendships since we are in turbo fade. We have not lost the few friends that we want to keep..... yet.

zarco