Posts by Shepherd Book

16

I Come Bearing Gifts! Part 1 of 3

by Shepherd Book in

i realize this is not my first post, but id like to introduce myself.

my name is shepherd book.

so i wrote to the watchtower society.. .

Shepherd Book

Thanks. Yeah, evidently "God is not unrighteous so as to remember my works", but the Society is.

16

I Come Bearing Gifts! Part 1 of 3

by Shepherd Book in

i realize this is not my first post, but id like to introduce myself.

my name is shepherd book.

so i wrote to the watchtower society.. .

Greetings! I realize this is not my first post, but I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Shepherd Book. I was born into a 3rd generation Witness family. I am a very studious person by nature, and I loved studying about God and the bible. I joined the Ministry School before entering Kindergarten and I was baptized before entering Junior High. I got a job when I was 15 years old so that I could save up enough money to buy a car to use as a pioneer. When I was 16 years old, I became a regular pioneer and, within a year, I was appointed Ministerial Servant. Not only was I the youngest Ministerial Servant in the circuit, I was actually the youngest person the Circuit Overseer had ever recommended to be appointed as such. Within nine years, I had eleven parts on the assembly/convention, including a talk.

Soon after graduating (I graduated early so I had more time to pioneer), I went on a bus trip to Bethel. On the bus trip, I met a girl that I eventually fell in love with. We began dating about a year later. After marrying my girlfriend, I was at a meeting where the Circuit Overseer made an interesting suggestion. He said that some in the audience undoubtedly feel as though they don’t learn anything new at the meetings. They are so studious, and so well-learned in the Watchtower publications, that they are frequently bored with the average lessons. He suggested that if we feel this way, we should make it our aim to make studying interesting again. He suggested we make it our aim to learn absolutely everything we can about one particular bible subject.

This was an amazing moment for me. I felt as though the Circuit Overseer was speaking directly to me. My mind reeled as I tried to think of a bible topic in which I would love to become an expert. It was the CO himself who offered the suggestion that persons like me try to learn everything they could about Noah’s Flood.

So I did.

Needless to say, the Society’s literature did not answer all the questions that came up, and as I researched encyclopedias trying to find the answers, I was continually discouraged by the information I uncovered. I asked some of the elders about my concerns, but they either didn’t understand the concepts, or they just said to “wait on Jehovah”. So I wrote to the Watchtower Society.

Then they wrote me back.

Then I wrote them back.

Then they wrote me back.

And now I am here.

I have shared this information sparingly up until now. One person I shared this information with shared his story with the Infidel Guy. His story his here: http://www.ryansutter.net/audio/igshow_09062006.mp3 and here: http://www.talkorigins.org/origins/postmonth/mar04.html . Another person I shared this with was an inactive Witness who decided this past spring, for the first time, to not bother with the Memorial. Another guy told me that he had always figured the Society had ready-made answers to these questions, but that now he knew they had no idea what they were talking about. Another person I shared this with was my wife (her name is There Are Four Lights, and she’s posted here, too), and she’s not a Witness anymore, either.

I wasn’t going to make these letters available in a public forum, but, as you’ll see in the final letter I sent them, the Watchtower Society’s unresponsiveness is an implicit authorization for me to do so.

You can read the letters here: http://www.watchtowerLetters.com .

Enjoy!

20

This is the argument my dad used to justify "new light"

by marmot in

i was talking with my dad the other week and i revealed my doubts (well, not doubts really, conviction) that noah's flood didn't cover the earth.

he tried the usual, first he printed up all the stuff on the flood that he could find on the wt cd (even though i told him that i already read everything the society has ever written about the flood) and when that failed to convince me he brought out the ol' trust in jehovah(tm) line .

plus, he said that since i was so enamored with science to disprove the flood i should consider how science doesn't have the same position on certain subjects compared to the past and that it's based on progressive understanding.

Shepherd Book

Tell your Dad that scientists don't claim to be inspired by God, so it's understandable if they make errors. Can the same be said of the Watchtower Society? What CD-ROM references did he provide you to "prove" the Flood was real? I have been in correspondence with the Society about their misuse of secular sources...maybe your Dad would like to see the original source material?

7

REQUEST: Letters of reply from the Watchtower?

by inkling in

i have been pondering wether or not there is any value in gathering some of .

my more pointed thoughts into a letter to the governing body.

imagine these to be "questions from readers" style criticism, edited and.

Shepherd Book

Not only were most of my questions ignored, but the Society spent the majority of their reply letter defending a position I never questioned. Weird. Judging from what Oompa and others have said, I think it is safe to assume your letter and the Society's reply to it will end up in the hands of the local elders. If the Society ever forwarded details of our correspondence to my local body of elders, they never said anything. In one congregation that I attended for years, some of my relatives were elders, and I'm sure one of them would have approached me and said something if they felt there was a concern. Oompa - I'd be interested in learning the nature/topic of your letter(s) to the Society. If you're willing to share, go ahead and PM me if you don't want to post it on the WWW.

140

Share one or two interesting things about you we probably didn't know

by Gopher in

jw
friends

we have such an interesting group of people from around the world on this board.

it might be interesting to have a thread where you discuss a hobby, something interesting that happened in the past, somewhere you've been, etc.. not deep, dark confessions - just interesting stuff.. .

* i have travelled into all 48 american states that are not named alaska or hawaii.. * for the past few years, i have had a slight walking impairment due to a form of arthritis known as ankylosing spondylitis.

Shepherd Book

*I was once interviewed on a nationally broadcasted television show.

*I was appointed Ministerial Servant at 17 years of age.

7

REQUEST: Letters of reply from the Watchtower?

by inkling in

i have been pondering wether or not there is any value in gathering some of .

my more pointed thoughts into a letter to the governing body.

imagine these to be "questions from readers" style criticism, edited and.

Shepherd Book

I have written to the Watchtower Society many times. Except for my most recent letter, they have always replied (they still may reply to my most recent letter...not sure).

Yes, if you phrase things tactfully, like you're just trying to find answers, then it is my experience that they reply. A couple of times they answered my questions satisfactorily. A couple of times, they directed me to Watchtower publications where they felt my questions could be anwered (which, of course, was not the cae, as I had already looked up all that info prior to penning the letters). In one letter, I concluded by making a list of my specific questions and they completely ignored 80% of the questions, and provided very poor answers to the remianing 20%. Even so, their letter was amicable; they did not seem to wish me any ill-will, although they did suggest I stop asking questions on the particular topic I was addressing. And, as I said, my most recent letter (sent ~2 months ago) has not been replied to at all.

It is my plan to post all the letters for public viewing at some point in the near future.

9

feeling for the edges of apostasy

by inkling in

jw
friends

no matter where at the end of this journey i actually end up spiritually andphilosophically, one thing i am sure is that family ties are worth fighting for.

i distinctly want to avoid being disfellowshiped for any reason, if at all possible.

and, (since i am not about to go on a hedonistic crime spree) my biggest riskof being disfellowshiped is on the grounds of "apostasy", i am assuming.

Shepherd Book

I was recently contacted by an elder who wanted to meet with me on charges of apostasy. I asked him if I could think about it for a few days and promised to contact him either way (whether I wanted to meet with him or not). If you're faced with a similar situation, find out what the nature of the meeting is. If they indicate it's supposed to be a "Sheperding Call", then politely decline. If they indicate it's judicial (or could devolve into judicial), then tell them you want to think about it for a few days. Maybe tell them you want to meditate on it or pray about it, if that gets them off your back.

10

Help needed: your experiences of the internet and JWism

by ppunk in

i am hoping some of you will find a few moments of time to reply to this request for help.

i am researching the impact of the internet on people's journey out of jwism.

i invite everyone to write anything from a sentence to a couple of paragraphs (or more, if desired) relating how the internet has affected your exit.

Shepherd Book

The impact of the internet on my journey out of JWism was virtually nil. I purposely prohibited myself from researching the Organization and the bible online, as I suspected that, should I decide to leave the JWs, my family would ask me if I left beause of the internet. They seem to think information on the internet is inherently worse than information found in other mediums.

My suspicions were correct - I have been accused of losing my faith due to the internet.

24

For those hoping to reform the Watchtower

by drew sagan in

jw
friends

there have been a number of posts discussing reform in the watchtower, mostly revolving around a letter on this thread.

i just wanted to put my two cents in on this issue.

because i am not attached to any of the main doctrines and teachings of the jws, i feel no personal need to reform them.

Shepherd Book

Drew,

Thanks for your response. Yes, I think reform from inside would be very difficult, perhaps impossible. I personally kept holding out hope that they would relax their silly rules (e.g., facial hair, neckties, dresses, reporting time) and update some of their 'scientific' and historical teachings (e.g., global Noachian flood, blood transfusions, 607). Alas, they never budged.

24

For those hoping to reform the Watchtower

by drew sagan in

jw
friends

there have been a number of posts discussing reform in the watchtower, mostly revolving around a letter on this thread.

i just wanted to put my two cents in on this issue.

because i am not attached to any of the main doctrines and teachings of the jws, i feel no personal need to reform them.

Shepherd Book

Interesting read; I enjoyed hearing your thoughts on the matter.

So, what if there is no desire to "reform"? I mean, what if I just want to put stuff out there (via internet, in all likelihood) for informational purposes? Do you think that would be fruitless?

The reason why I ask is because I am strongly considering posting some correspondence I've had with WT and some phone conversations I had with an elder. I don't think this will be earth-shattering stuff, but when I was a Wtiness information was tightly controlled and filtered. So my reasoning is just that I now believe in freedom of information - if I have contact with the WT or their representatives, I would like to make it known to the largest audience possible. But if no one thinks it will do any good...I don't know...