Posts by Cindi

62

Having a guilty conscience and maybe I should go back to JW

by hambeak in

i have read the new wt and am thinking of going back.

i believe a lot of the teachings and i see what is going on .

i just feel a lot of confusion right now.

Cindi_67

Ham:

I can understand you wanting to go back, about being confused, lost. I confess, I too find myself feeling the same way. I have actually attended a few meetings, maybe 3 and I don't feel anything different, I don't feel anything amazing happening to me. If I find that Sunday's talk interesting in the beginning, there is always something that takes that away, some unrelated illustration in the part of the "brother", to make you get the point, etc.

We really like for you to tell us what is it you read that made you want to go back, but like you said you are going back out of guilt. "Guilt" is the key word. You shouldn't be doing anything out of guilt, but out of love for what you believe, out of desire to follow what you are taught because you believe in it 100%.

I have felt that I need to be there, because I still feel that JW's could be the only ones God uses today to spread his word to others and that other religions are no better, besides nobody is perfect, and even the Organization is not perfect. There are a lot of errors, and of course the fact that you can't do things for yourself it's what makes it hard to want to be there. Peter told Jesus once: Who will we go to? You have sayings of everlasting life. And that's when they couldn't understand some of Jesus' teachings. I am not trying to either encourage you nor discourage you from going back, but analyze first the real reasons why you are doing it.

I still can't find myself starting to go, because right now it's not what I feel, but I wanted to tell you I've been there.

4

Response to NBC rewritten?

by erandir in

did anyone else notice that the response from www.jw-media.org to nbc's child abuse accusation has been rewritten?.

does anyone have a copy of the before article to compare it with what they have now?.

thanks.. here's a quick link to the article:.

Cindi_67

They are proud to say that in 100 years only 11 elders have been sued. How about the unreported, unsued cases? Those, of course they do not mention. Three of these cases included the Watchtower and apparently were won. But all of you who have suffered at the hands of pedophiles, print this out, so in case they threaten with df because you decide to go the authorities, you can use this letter to tell them the Society itself said, "WE DO NOT SILENCE VICTIMES. OUR MEMBERS HAVE AN ABSOLUTE RIGHT TO REPORT THIS HORRIBLE CRIME TO THE AUTHORITIES." If they dfship you, then you have the right to sue.

29

Destroy any JW's faith that they are the only true religion in 5 easy steps

by Must obey! in

try this on the next jw you meet:.

1. ask the jw what religious group jesus selected in 1919 to be his faithful and discreet slave organisation?

the jw will answer: "pastor russell & the bible students"good!!.

Cindi_67

If the JW quibbles about 'new light' and the organisation of today having things more accurate than the bible students of 1919, then bring out how the Society has changed a lot since, say, the 1940's, for example, smoking was allowed back then and disfellowshipping was way more lenient and their was no blood policy and what were divorceable sex acts were different, etc. Then ask the JW "Was it Jehovah's organisation back in the 1940's"? Of course they will say yes. So all you have to do is ask them to apply the same perspective today and allow for the possibility that perhaps Jehovah is not very concerned about all these relatively minor errors so long as any group has got the main doctrines right? The JW may feel that only they have got the main doctrines right, but when they learn that there are still thousands of Bible Students who still believe JW's main doctrines, they often pause and think.....

I agree with you there. JW's have gotten so interested in the small things, in telling you what is "appropriate" in matters of personal decision that they make you feel that if you don't follow those "suggestions" then you must be "spiritually weak". Their focus is in things that should not be a priority in considering the extent of someone's spirituality.

As I've said, it is quite easy to show that C T Russell must have been an "evil slave" then if those slaves were already in operation while he was still alive because there are many quotes where Russell was ideologically opposed to most things Rutherford changed in the organisation. To think that Russell could have been an evil slave is anathema to every JW, and the point can have a powerful effect on their thinking.

This other point you bring out is good also.

Don't get offended by others post contradicting your approach, actually it is good because you are experiencing what you may encounter with other JW's if you were to use this one all the time. It gives you practice to try convince them using other approaches.

20

WTS response to 9/11

by Robert7 in

jw
friends

i'm sure this has been discussed in length, but i'm a newbie :).

one item that really shocked me, back when i believed this was 'the truth' was the lack of response to the 9/11 attacks.

as all of us, we were really shocked and really were looking for comfort at the meeting (school/service meeting).

Cindi_67

Then how much is true about the story that a lot of people that fled and happened to be near Bethel got food and a place to rest?

I don't mean to defend but, I suppose that after seeing how many people were running towards the building there had to be a point where they had to close the doors.

I do know that after the fact, I heard, some brothers and sisters went to ground zero and in the middle of the chaos they were trying to preach. That I don't get. I understand you want to bring some relief or try to make some sense of that terrible day, but to want to preach!!! Short of being fanatic.

I don't think they don't care. They just think that missing a meeting or even mentioning the situation, the meeting is not the place because is not within the "program" for that meeting. And of course you don't pray to Jehovah for worldly people.

7

As I approach my 40's ...

by Ancient One in

once i passed 35 and as i approach my 40s i find that i'm really starting to enjoy myself and being true to myself, way more than teenagers even though they would like everybody to think otherwise.

for example, one of the first things to go into oblivion was being concerned what people think about me.

it is really easy to shake off unhealthy relationships with people as if they never were instead of toiling and desperately trying to make them work (i'm not talking only about intimate relationships but any).

Cindi_67

Ancient:

I think it happens to more people than we think. I was molested when I was about 4 years old. I never told my mother, and I grew up thinking that doing what others want you to do was the way to have them love you. I was a crowd pleaser, never a leader always a follower. Had many unfortunate relationships but inside myself I wanted to do what was right. I grew up within the JW's, and, as you know, there you have to do what your are "counseled" and have to think about what others think, instead of doing what you feel is right. I always did that; never questioned any of the teachings, just went with the flow.

At the Hall I had a few friends, we were a nice group of teenagers. The ones who were baptized will get the better attention, so I got baptized. After that the ones that enrolled to become pioneers will get all the Theocratic Ministry School assignments and the Service Meeting presentations, so I became a pioneer. Always to be part of the group.

I came to my senses right on my late 30's. I took off that mask I wore my entire life, and said no more. No more keeping my mouth shut when I didn't like something, learned to say NO when I didn't feel like doing something and stopped with the nonsense of believing just to please others. Now I am 40, still struggling, because it is not easy to shake off years of conditioning and teachings that have always been the only thing I have known. But I feel a lot better than I used to. I went through depression and a lot of guilt, but it's gotten better.

So yes, most people feel better about themselves after the mid 30's, experience and getting tired of the same old crap. We are still young but mature enough to plainly give a crap.

Great post. I needed that.

23

Abrahams wife Sarah was actually his half sister

by evergreen in

reading through genesis has been an eyeopener for me.

i was surprised to read in chapter 20 that sarah was in fact abrahams half sister.

in verse 12 of this chapter, it mentions how abraham and sarah both had the same father, but different mothers.

Cindi_67

In all this I see a pattern, that when it came to accomplish Jehovah's purpose, it didn't matter how it just had to be done.

In Tamar's case her husband wouldn't want to give her offspring, so she took it upon herself to disguise as a prostitute to sleep with Judah. Judah didn't mind sleeping with a prostitute. The Bible doesn't say he was punished or repriminded for that. But because she got pregnant by Judah, the descendant was kept within the family.

Lot's daughters lost their husbands and they needed descendants for their father, so it was OK to get him drunk and sleep with him. No problem with him getting drunk there.

There is another issue I don't understand about Israel's time. In Judges 19 there is the account of a Levite that gave his concubine and the man giving him lodging that night offered his daughter to a pack of perverts wanting to have sex with the Levite. Apparently it was customary of that time to offer their own daughters to strangers to have sex with them in order to protect their visitors. Lot did the same thing with his daughters. But the Bible doesn't say Jehovah was against that either.

I don't know, but I think that Jehovah, allows things to happen, it doesn't matter what it is, when it comes to fulfill his purposes. That is why sometimes I rather don't read the Bible, because it does make you think and decreases ones faith in him. On the other hand, I think that that is why religion should not be so judgmental and stop trying to condition other people's conscience into doing or not doing some things. Yes, the Bible was inspired by him, but the Organization cannot say they are the only ones capable of interpreting the Bible and explaining them to others because what is written there is what God WANTED us to know, and does not contain all his plans for us.

3

Anybody here from Florida? Daytona Beach- Sanford areas?

by Cindi_67 in

jw
friends

is there anybody here from areas between daytona beach and sanford in florida?

Cindi_67

Is there anybody here from areas between Daytona Beach and Sanford in Florida?

36

common objections to celebrating Christmas

by lovelylil in

i wanted to post this research i did that helped convince my husband a few years back that it was o.k.

to celebrate christmas, despite the objections he was taught by the watchtower.

hopefully this will help others out there ease their conscience about this particular day.

Cindi_67

What are good reasons not to observe Christmas ? I have not been observing it for more than 30 years ! And I am glad because of that depite so many inconveniences and troubles I was able to endure and will endure to the very end. God Yahweh would not allow a person that celebrates Christmas like nations of the darkness to teach what I am teaching about the Bible and soon coming end of the world.The understanding of the Bible is my assurance I am right with God and have a good reason to hope for eternal life .
Using Santa Claus is a mockery of God Yahweh who alone is good as Jesus taught.How good it is that the time is so near that celebrations of the Christmas in a form as we see it today will be rooted out of the face of the earth .

Ok, who are you? Are u a witness trying to preach to us? A lurker? Careful your congregation doesn't find out you are here!!!!!

8

Balanced!!!

by barbar in

the witnesses often talked about being balanced, but usually that meant do less of what you wanted and more "theocratic" things.

in fact if you spent 100% of your waking time in the ministry you would probably be viewed as a balanced person.. come to think of it witnesses are very unbalanced or extreme in their views.. any examples of how they are unbalanced?.

.

Cindi_67

I knew a sister that will forward the part of the dead ancestors talking with Mulan in the Disney movie "MULAN". She has a son. One day she went to visit me with him and my daughter was listening to the BackStreet Boys and she said she didn't want him listening to "romantic music" because her son was going to Bethel (at the time he was about 12 years old) and she didn't want him exposed to that music.

36

common objections to celebrating Christmas

by lovelylil in

i wanted to post this research i did that helped convince my husband a few years back that it was o.k.

to celebrate christmas, despite the objections he was taught by the watchtower.

hopefully this will help others out there ease their conscience about this particular day.

Cindi_67

Whether an object is an idol or not primarily depends on how it is viewed……….. the fact that various creatures, plants and heavenly bodies—all part of God’s creative works—have been and still are being given veneration would not in itself make them unacceptable for decorative or ornamental purposes. Many things that were at one time worshiped by the ancients have lost their idolatrous significance and are generally regarded as being merely ornamental.
*** w72 5/15 p. 295
What should be a Christian’s attitude toward shapes and designs that have at some time or place been connected with false religion?............. So the Christian needs to be primarily concerned about what? Not what a certain symbol or design possibly meant thousands of years ago or how it might be thought of on the other side of the world, but what it means now to most people where he lives…………With so many different designs having been used in false worship, if a person went to the trouble and took the time he might find an undesirable connection with almost every design he sees around him. But why do that? Would it not be needlessly upsetting? And is that the best use of one’s time and attention? g76 12/22 p. 15

In a more recent article of this magazines, I bet the Society will add: "However, will it be appropriate for a Christian to use any type of ornament that will bother the conscience of their brothers? We have to be careful not to make our brother stumble, remember we are responsible to Jehovah for our actions.

Target words: However; appropriate; conscience; stumble. The use of these words will make it inapropriate to just follow our conscience and do what our "trained ~~by the Society's~~ conscience dictates.

Cindi_67

Posts by Cindi_67