it's your decision to make.
it would be as wrong of this community to insist everyone donate blood as it is of the cult to insist otherwise.
.
here is something to think about:
do you have a problem being an organ doner? most people don't, and i think the WBTS says organs are "a concience matter".
do you have a problem being a tissue doner? most people don't, after all, tissue is practically an organ.
well, blood is classified as a tissue. BLOOD IS CLASSIFIED AS A TISSUE.
why wait until we are dead to donate tissue?
SB
it seems to me that they're slowly dismantling the date theology that ties the end times to this period in history.
first, they updated the generation teaching to mean a figurative generation, thus removing the possibility in the near future when all who were alive in 1914 are dead.
then, they abandoned 1935 so the annointed will never die off, and prove their belief that the annointed will see armageddon wrong.
my prediction: there will be an entire year of assembly programs around the world about keeping the faith despite changing doctrine, "as the light gets brighter". Then, the 1914 bomb will drop, and those w/o faith in the ever brightening blinding light will be DF'ed, and the "strong of faith" will get promoted in the congregation and then the new recruits will know nothing of the1914 scandal. it will be thrown in the pile w/all the other failed years that are explained away.
i have been a lurker for the last year...finally got the courage to post.
i guess you could say that i have successfully completed a "fade", although that was not my initial intent.
due to my being in an "unscriptural" separation for a number of months, (that, combined with my paranoia, hence, the alias) i have been forced to go underground.
Hi Bourne,
I don't post much anymore, but today I'm on a kick. :) Welcome to the forum, I hope you are able to be subtly "inactive", it sounds like it's working out for you. I look forward to reading about your future experiences.
SB
just wanted to share something with you all.
about a month ago i call my very active jw father and ask him a few questions about an awake article (the famous one oct 8 1968) and about the "obedience and submission" article and to call me back and give me some information.. well he did not call back and friday my sister in law calls me and tells me that some jw are saying i am an apostate.
i ask were did they get that from ( because i have not talk to any jw about my findings, except my dad) and to my surprise she said my dad.
weird, i havn't posted on this forum for months, and the reason i signed on today is b/c at the last assembly some "sisters" approached my mom crying, saying they heard i was apostate. my mom made up a reason to avoid embarassment, something like, "no no, she left because someone stumbled her, but she still loves jehovah".this seemed to console them she said. but i thought, "what? who is so quick to label me apostate, when no one talks to me anymore?". simply not going to "meetings", and giving no viable explanation, leaves the jw's dumb founded. they are so used to being handed an explanation for everything that baffles them, that when there is no explanation for someone's actions, they are handed a label to explain it all. (if that scentence makes any sense...).
what i have found helpful w/angry family, is to prove to them i am a better person than have ever been. they don't need to know my reasons for leaving the wt; all they need to know is that i love them. kill them w/kindness, it really does work. it doesn't work on all my former "best friends" and "brothers and sisters", but it seems to work w/family. but i am lucky i guess, b/c my mom was never baptized, she's just a four decade "study", so she's a little more liberal, i mean, "weak" :), and my sister knows how to be just fake enough to spend an hour or two w/me a month. (in secret of course).
anyways, i'm rambling. i hope a little empathy helped. :)
SB
today at the watchtower study,they said that marriage counselors encourage folks who are having issues to divorce..is that the stupidist thing that youve ever heard?
like,how many of them have gone to marriage counseling lately?.also the thing about the man being the head,the decision maker,that aint'jus' aint'a settin' right w/me...so,i assume if i get reinstated,i cant be an elder?like,because i dont have a penis?..um,hello,its 2007!!
!
This is no different to the HLC members who attend hospitals to help Witnesses follow Watchtower suicide doctrines on no blood transfusions even on pain of death
Isn't there some law, that if your actions directly influence someone's suicide, then you can be held responsible for their death? Doesn't it stand to reason that Liasion comittees that visit patients in the hospital and "help them remain steadfast in their beliefs", would be influencing someone's suicide? JW's are right in one respect, this world is messed up, but they just don't see that they are helping mess it up!
a couple of years ago a couple of elders, who are nice guys and are long time friends, came over to see me and invite me to the memorial.
after listening to them, i asked them a question.
i asked why in 1 cor.
i have wondered why jesus didn't have observers join him as well. the last memorial i went to, was last year. and i was astounded at how much emphasis they put on explaining who drinks the wine and why, instead of focusing on jesus. i guess they just don't want the wrong people drinking the wine, so as not to cause drama at the memorial.
i've thought about going, just to down the wine and leave. but i guess that would be disrespectful. :)
SB
i was the good little christian girl.
except for one brief blip on the radar, i dated only "brothers" and only with the view to marriage.
frankly, the attitude of the single brothers made me almost despise men.
if and when I ever find another woman, Im gonna have to be honest up front and let her know of my background.
Junction Guy,
This statement makes it sound like being a JW in your past is something you are afraid to tell someone you might be interested in. I too felt this way. i would ge anxiety whenever someone would ask me about my past - i felt embarassed that i had no friends to bring to parties or hang out with. when i met my current boyfriend, i was still going to bookstudy every now and then to appease my JW roomate, until i could move out. my boyfriend (before we were dating) would ask me what i was doing tuesday, and i became secretive. i would just say, "nothing, i just can't do anything on tuesdays". finally, i told him, and i was so scared to do it. i thought for sure he wouldn't want to hang out w/me anymore. his response - laughter. and i would say 99.9 percent of "wordly" people, view it as something interesting in your past, and will view you as a strong person for taking a stand for what you feel is right/wrong. your past shouldn't weaken you - coming out of a cult is a strength building experience. it's like if someone is raped and then is ashamed to tell anyone they might get close to. and we all know rape victims are not to blame for the rape.
So my advice to you, is be as confident as hell when you talk abou your past. start talking about it w/people that don't matter to you - aquaintnces at work, etc. practice getting over that initial anxiety. say happy birthday to people, ask them if they did anything for easter. it gets way easy.
you will see that our WE as victims care more and worry more about the perception of our background as JW's, than anyone else ever will, by far.
Good Luck!
SB
i was the good little christian girl.
except for one brief blip on the radar, i dated only "brothers" and only with the view to marriage.
frankly, the attitude of the single brothers made me almost despise men.
I couldn't agree w/this more. i got lucky and found the love of my life, on my first try in dating a "wordly" man. we took things slow - we were best friends before we even kissed. now we live together, and i couldn't be happier. he is patient, honest, and giving. there are no personality shows to please "friends". there are no rules to live by simply for social graces.
my sister is coming home in a few months - she's been zelously pioneering in another country for the past year. i am now preparing to be shunned, seeing as how i am a drifter, but my sister is a strong gossiping member of the org. nothing like car group gossip to catch everyone up on what the "inactive" members of your family are up to, followed by a pitiful shake of the head, and a "that's so sad, she was so faithful!".
i am still faithful, to the person who loves me unconditionally. i even told him the other day, that i must be lucky. all the married women in my former religion said they hated sex, but i like it. so i must be lucky. :) or - take out the religous sex rules, and then you can really find out what the person you are with wants/needs. have a "no one is watching" mentality. sorry - is this too personal? i think it's a reality though, for anyone leaving the org.
i went to my dad's house for christmas.
it was the first christmas we celebrated together since i was 5 years old.
it was my kid's and [freedomloverr's] very first christmas ever.. .
what a horrible conversation! i really like how you kept mentioning "natural affection". nice JW "buzz word" to catch their attention. You sound like a very normal person, i really empathize with your family dividing like that. and good for you for not letting your kids go to her house w/o you! she would try to indoctrinate them for sure, feeling it was her godly duty.
SB
this news story came out today and i was surprised that we haven't had a lively discussion about it.
it brought to mind some of the ideas we discussed on the "is circumcision child abuse?
" thread.. ashley is now 9 years old.
i can understand this, but it still bothers me. there are plenty of severely handycap people who's bodies have developed naturally, and they are "fine". it's like this family got to a certain point and they didn't want to accept the new physical challenges of having a handicap daughter. and i agree with the "what if it was a boy?" question! i don't think it's right to create a "non-gender", no matter what the circumstances. there is medicine to relieve cramps. and honestly, how big did they think her boobs were giong to get?
