this was taken off the jw-media website
conscience
jehovah's witnesses avoid making rules and regulations beyond those provided in the scriptures, and they do not follow traditions that contradict bible teachings.
It's just as Ray Franz pointed out in the "Witnesses of Jehovah" movie refering to Jesus words in Matthew where, refering to the Religious leaders of His day, it says that they have made the word of God null and void by their traditions.
Well said! The bulk of the JW teachings are based on THEIR traditions.
i wish i got this book years ago.
ray franz is so loving and kind and he just is so strong i am to pg 100 now.
help me understand the mess that went on in ny i need to order the next book by him.
Yes, "Crisis" is an excellent book! I couldnt put it down either. I thought that the most surprising chapter was "Double Standards". It's a real eye opener. Many of the Watchtower Society's rules are based on their "Do as we say and NOT as we do" policies.
I just picked up Franz's sequel book, "In search of Christian Freedom." I just started reading it though and I'm only on Chapter 1.
do they have the right to stick something through your door ?.
came home to find some non-prophet litter-at-ya inside the house, shoved through a wee gap in the door.. it's like they just entered uninvited as they pleased for themselves - i wonder if i have grounds for legal complaint for such rudeness and contempt of other people's privacy.. maybe we could shove propaganda through the door down at their hall .
.
I recall that when I was a witness, we had very creative elders. We were told that, "Yes, you can put the Watchtowers and Awakes! through the mailslots, unless the mailslot had U.S. Mail stamped on it! Because, of course, the JW magazines were NOT U.S. mail."
I also recall them telling us that it was ok to leave the mags somewhere between the doors, if there was a screen door for instance. Just make sure that they were not visable from the street, just as Parakeet mentioned above.
If it were not for slipping magazines through the mailslots, my placements on my field service slip would have been zero on many occasions!
i have been a loooong time lurker on this board.
i want to get in on the action now!!
i was a jw for nearly 25 years.
Welcome Zil, I'm a newbie also! So glad to hear that you escaped too!
i was born with believeing parents, so automatically, i assumed that there was a god because my parents told me so.. when i was young, i prayed before going to bed and said thank-you for all that i had.. later in life, i realized that what i had came from my parents, not necessarily god.. today, i still believe in god, but i wonder if he cares.. there is something worse than no god.
it's a god that doesn't care and doesn't answer prayers.. when you look at the world as a whole, and see all the suffereing and injustice, you don't ask yourself if there is a god, you just wonder if he cares.. .
Don't give up on God just because the JWs let you down.
That's been tough for me to do. I was born into the JWs and I was associated with them for over twenty years, till I was about 23. I left them almost 20 years ago, but I never considered joining another religion. So the only God that I've ever known was Jehovah God, of the JW religion.
While I still tend to believe in something higher, possibly a supreme being, I'm not convinced that any ONE religion on earth can explain who or what that being is. And if they cant explain the who or what, they certainly cant say well, "This is God's master plan."
There are just too many religions, non-Christian as well as Christian and too many Bible translations and interpretations. And there are too many wars and hatred / bigotry in the name of religion.
Has anyone ever asked themselves these questions: If there really is a God that cares about us, wouldnt he have ensured that we would all be following the same loving and peaceful path to him? And why would a perfect God have allowed all the religious confusion that we have on the earth today?
we met on myspace in an ex jw forum there, i gave him this link so he could meet more people who have experienced what he has.
so lets give him a warm welcome!.
welcome to the board thecoolerking!!!!
Thanks everyone for your welcome messages! I'm glad to be here. I hope I can contribute some useful information to the board.
oh, Stillajwexelder, you are correct! Steve McQueen from The Great Escape. I love motorcycles and I consider my disassociation from the JWs to be my Great Escape!
are you angry that you ever got involved in this religion??
depressed??
confused??
An emotion that I have felt is also a sense of relief. And a new sense of freedom and happiness. I no longer feel that I have to stress myself out, trying to live up to the impossible standards set forth by the JW religion.
A friend told me about this forum. I recently joined to read about what others have gone through and also to share my experiences with ex-JWs as well. I'm looking forward to spending more time on here, I think that it will help me alot. Sometimes we all need to vent and get things "off our chest". It's tough for people who were not directly involved in the JWs to understand the emotional pain that many of us have experienced.
And thanks to everyone for your "Welcome" messages to me. It's great to be here with others that understand...
another example of the wts's loaded language that i actually find quite offensive.. the expression 'following a worldly course' is banded about, often in a similar context to that below, taken from the watchtower of may 1973 (convention review):.
the next oldest, a son, told how he also at one time wanted to go to college and follow a worldly course.
but his father sat down and reviewed the scriptures with him.. so, what is 'following a worldly course'?
Ah, now it all makes sense! That's why my entire congregation was icy cold to me when I said that I was going to college. I took their cold shoulders to mean, "There's the door." So I left and never went back.
My decision to further my education was influenced by my father (a non-witness). Fortunately for me,"I had explained to dad that I wanted to go to college and follow a worldly course. And my father sat me down and reviewed the realities of life to me."
are you angry that you ever got involved in this religion??
depressed??
confused??
The funny thing is that I felt guilty for years after leaving the JWs. I had been born and raised into it. That was all that I knew. They had deeply ingrained their teachings and philosophies into me. I left on my own in my early 20s, due mostly to the icy cold way I was treated within my congregation, all because I had decided to go to college. The elders were furious with me. How could I even consider a secular education? There was so much more that I should be doing, like knocking on strangers doors and preaching for 200 hours a month!
Once I left the JWs my guilt continued for years. A few times I actually considered attending a local Kingdom Hall. But for some reason I just couldnt do it and I never went back. Still that awful guilt remained and I was actually suicidal when I reached my 30s. I had turned my back on "God's only TRUE organization" and now I was doomed. How could I ever have God's approval again?
Then someone mentioned a book that was written by an ex-JW, one that had been a member of the governing body. Once I read "Crisis of Conscience" my eyes were opened to the REAL truths of the Watchtower Society. I eagerly sought out other info from books and the web. Eventually my guilt turned to frustration and anger. You mean these were the people that I had felt so guilty about leaving? I felt as if they had stolen my childhood and filled me with years of unnecessary pain and anxiety.
Although at times now I still get angry at the Watchtower Society, I'm just thankful that I left when I did and that I finally found "The Truth" outside "The Organization".
Great shots of the game Funchback! Good job! I'm new to the site, but I'm a long time EAGLES fan.
"Fly Eagles fly, on the road to victory...E-A-G-L-E-S"
