Posts by Brother Jeramy

146

Why I remain one of Jehovah's Witnesses

by Brother Jeramy in

allow me to begin with a clarification: when i say i am one of jehovah's witnesses, i don't mean that i am an advocate of the watchtower society or a devotee of some of its more controversial false teachings.

i mean that i am a christian, a disciple of jesus christ dedicated to jehovah god, and who remains in union with my brothers and sisters who make up the family of faith that globally refers to itself as jehovah's witnesses.

some totally understand the distinction between the family of brothers and sisters and the corporate organization known as the watchtower society (wts).

Brother Jeramy

Brock Talon, you wrote . . .

So, the individual German was either part of the solution, or they were part of the problem

This is a woefully broad oversimplification of a complex history, and is an affront to the truth of what happened in Germany and to the German people under Nazi rule. Yes, many Germans were indeed part of the problem. Yes, many Germans were indeed part of the solution. Some Germans were both (like Oskar Schindler, who was a member of the Nazi party and part of its manufacturing apparatus while at the same time a secret savior to hundreds of Jewish people). But most Germans were in fact captive, stuck, immobilized. Neither part of the problem or part of the solution. Such is the nature of captivity under a fascist regime during war time.

But as regards the "Nazi:WTS" analogy, your re-write of it is a clearly motivated reconstruction made to suit a broad anti-WTS and anti-JW formula. A telling factor revealing your motivation is your choice use of the phrase "innocent" Germans to analogously contrast your perception of "complicit" JWs. It demonstrates the inflexible two-dimensional "either/or" rule you employ (which, by example, is a rule Oskar Schindler could never fit into, considering he operated under a "both/and" process; both "not innocent" and "innocent"), which is unsustainable as a method of examining the multidimensional complexities that attend any human community (which Oskar Schindler does fit into), JWs or otherwise. It simply doesn't work, and as such your motivated reconstruction of the "Nazi:WTS" analogy, and thereby all the points you attempt to make by it, ultimately fails.

As such I refer you back to the analogy I presented yesterday.

You also wrote the following . . .

JWs are not similarly kept anywhere, except in their own minds, and choose to remain of their own free will (like you).

JWs DO HAVE to feed the WTS new victims or they are not in good standing (like you).

JWS DO give their money voluntarily, at minimum in literature purchases that funds the WTS machine (like you.)

JWs DO NOT work against the WTS and try to save anyone from it (like you.)

JWs don't hate the WTS and actually defend its teachings in private (like you on this board.)
(Emphasis mine)

In each of your statements quoted above, you punctuated them with "(like you)," clearly inferring that you somehow have an insight into the nature of my personal, social, financial, and congregational standing and activities as they relate to Jehovah's Witnesses and the WTS. For you to draw such inferences is wildly presumptuous, to say nothing of blatantly arrogant (especially in that you manufacture those inferences in an attempt to pigeonhole me into your broad and oversimplified anti-JW construct). In reality, you know nothing whatsoever about the nature of my personal, social, financial, or congregational standing and activities.

146

Why I remain one of Jehovah's Witnesses

by Brother Jeramy in

allow me to begin with a clarification: when i say i am one of jehovah's witnesses, i don't mean that i am an advocate of the watchtower society or a devotee of some of its more controversial false teachings.

i mean that i am a christian, a disciple of jesus christ dedicated to jehovah god, and who remains in union with my brothers and sisters who make up the family of faith that globally refers to itself as jehovah's witnesses.

some totally understand the distinction between the family of brothers and sisters and the corporate organization known as the watchtower society (wts).

Brother Jeramy

bellasmile, thanks for your kind and wise words, which, as it turns out, are among the only kind and wise words that have been given in response here. With a couple exceptions, the vast majority of responses have been, shall we say, less than civil. Toxic, in fact.

You made a great point when you wrote the following:

I know if someone truly "knew" in their own heart and are at peace with leaving they would not be here trying to hate on someone else's views.

True indeed.

146

Why I remain one of Jehovah's Witnesses

by Brother Jeramy in

allow me to begin with a clarification: when i say i am one of jehovah's witnesses, i don't mean that i am an advocate of the watchtower society or a devotee of some of its more controversial false teachings.

i mean that i am a christian, a disciple of jesus christ dedicated to jehovah god, and who remains in union with my brothers and sisters who make up the family of faith that globally refers to itself as jehovah's witnesses.

some totally understand the distinction between the family of brothers and sisters and the corporate organization known as the watchtower society (wts).

Brother Jeramy

dubstepped, you wrote . . .

The OP lost me as soon as I saw that he couldn't spell "Jeremy".

My name is, in fact, spelled Jeramy (with an "a" before the "m"). It's not an entirely uncommon spelling.

146

Why I remain one of Jehovah's Witnesses

by Brother Jeramy in

allow me to begin with a clarification: when i say i am one of jehovah's witnesses, i don't mean that i am an advocate of the watchtower society or a devotee of some of its more controversial false teachings.

i mean that i am a christian, a disciple of jesus christ dedicated to jehovah god, and who remains in union with my brothers and sisters who make up the family of faith that globally refers to itself as jehovah's witnesses.

some totally understand the distinction between the family of brothers and sisters and the corporate organization known as the watchtower society (wts).

Brother Jeramy

Miss Behaving, your analogy about the Nazis would almost be apropos were it not for your error in making the Nazi government analogous to all Jehovah's Witnesses.

The more accurate analogy would be: the Nazi government is analogous to the "Watchtower Society" where the German people are analogous to "Jehovah's Witnesses."

The Nazi party steamrolled the German nation in its legal rise to power and then with its later authoritarian domination of the German people. Though the Nazi party intimidated citizens to join (since it had outlawed all other political parties), a great many Germans were not members of it, nor supported its fascist ideology or condoned its control of the German people. It's true, many Germans who opposed the Nazis (dissidents) were either sent to concentration camps or executed. Most other Germans submitted out of fear. Yet other Germans, swayed by the Nazi ideology, joined the party and embraced its agenda.

And there were then other German citizens who, remaining in Germany, engaged in secret activities to oppose and undermine the Nazi regime.

Yet while many Germans escaped Nazi control by leaving Germany, the vast majority of Germans remained. It was their home, and they loved their home and their people. Though Germany was poisoned by the Nazis, that didn't make Germany or the German people "all bad."

The Nazi party may have controlled Germany, but it did not define Germany. To be a German was not the same as being a Nazi, no matter whether the Nazi government did good (such as in the economic revitalization, which you mentioned) or bad (such as in its atrocities in war and the Holocaust).

And though the Nazis were finally defeated, the German people remained.

And so in this way, and to again realign your analogy, the Nazi government is analogous to the "Watchtower Society" where the German people are analogous to "Jehovah's Witnesses."

146

Why I remain one of Jehovah's Witnesses

by Brother Jeramy in

allow me to begin with a clarification: when i say i am one of jehovah's witnesses, i don't mean that i am an advocate of the watchtower society or a devotee of some of its more controversial false teachings.

i mean that i am a christian, a disciple of jesus christ dedicated to jehovah god, and who remains in union with my brothers and sisters who make up the family of faith that globally refers to itself as jehovah's witnesses.

some totally understand the distinction between the family of brothers and sisters and the corporate organization known as the watchtower society (wts).

Brother Jeramy

Allow me to begin with a clarification: when I say I am one of Jehovah's Witnesses, I don't mean that I am an advocate of the Watchtower Society or a devotee of some of its more controversial false teachings. I mean that I am a Christian, a disciple of Jesus Christ dedicated to Jehovah God, and who remains in union with my brothers and sisters who make up the Family of Faith that globally refers to itself as Jehovah's Witnesses.

Some totally understand the distinction between the Family of brothers and sisters and the corporate organization known as the Watchtower Society (WTS). Some don't see the distinction. And yet others don't want to admit the distinction because they're too invested in bitterness and the broad-stroaked negativity such bitterness inspires. To such ones, the WTS and all Jehovah's Witnesses are one and the same "organization," and that it is bad, all bad.

But they are quite simply wrong.

Generalizations are easy and convenient. They give place to negative and reactionary impulses, and permit scapegoating, whereby one can lay the abundance of blame upon something or someone as the cause of all their problems.

Of course, nothing is really ever that easy or simple. Life and people are far too complex to attempt fitting into easy generalized categories.

And so why do I remain one of Jehovah's Witnesses?

A member of this forum posed the following question to me a couple days ago . . .

So why are you engaging in the preaching work and still an "active" WT if you know it's all wrong.

Here's how I answered:

For starters, the preaching work is a commission from Christ, not the Watchtower Society.

Secondly, I'm not an active "WT," by which I mean that while I am a Christian witness of Jehovah, I am not an advocate of the Watchtower Society that has unrightfully imposed itself as an authority over the Family of my brothers and sisters.

Thirdly, it's not all wrong.

When Jesus was on Earth he preached to the nation of Israel, which had been poisoned by the hypocrisy and bad practices of some (though not all) of the religious leaders. And many of the people were misled, which is why John the Baptizer gathered them to repentance in preparation for Jesus. Yet poisoned as Israel was, it was not "all wrong." What Jesus sought was repentance, not retreat.

And so in a similar way I have chosen to remain with my brothers and sisters, in spite of the poison of the "religious leaders" (i.e., the Watchtower Society and the many elders who bow to it).

Because it's not all wrong.

For me it's about choosing to exist in the tension. Others choose to fade or leave, and I fully understand this and I will not criticize such ones, many of whom have endured terrible injustices at the hands of elders and others. I cannot blame them for fleeing to safety. At the same time, the experience of such ones is not universal. Not all Kingdom Halls have bad elders. Not all Jehovah's Witnesses have experienced the injustices that others have. While the Family as a whole has systemic issues that affect it, those issues are not equally felt across all congregations.

In my case, I also know I am not alone, and that there are a great many others of my brothers and sisters -- a good number of them on here -- who also choose to remain and exist in the tension in spite of doubts, misgivings, struggles, and pains. Because, as with God's people Israel, we see in the Family a convincing embrace of Truth (such as the Kingdom, the Oneness of Jehovah, the promise of resurrection to life on Earth and transformation of the world, etc.) and evidence of the "fruit of the spirit," in spite of the distortions borne of the "poison" of hypocrisy and falsehood that has harmed the Family (though not fully overtaken it).

Those immersed in bitterness and negativity will insist that people like me are "Watchtower apologists," or that we are "cult members" or "liars" or "hypocrites" or "blinded" or "misguided" or "brainwashed." Again, easy and convenient generalizations that are, ultimately, untrue. One poster on another thread even insisted recently that all Jehovah's Witnesses are accomplices in a criminal organization and its criminal enterprise. An absurd notion, to be sure.

But the fact is, I and many like me stay for a rather simple reason. We love and trust Jehovah, and we love our Family. In spite of its current dark issues.

59

'Anointeds' Do you know any and if so what are they like ?

by Introvert 2 in

would like to hear about any experiences anyone has had with the so called ' anointed ' .

Brother Jeramy

Thank you Introvert 2. And glad we can encourage one another.

There are many who have left their congregations for several different reasons. Some leave because of abusive elder bodies. Others leave because of doubts about the Watchtower Society. Some leave for both reasons. Others fade and exist quietly on the edges in order to maintain family cohesion. All of it is understandable. When there is an injustice, it is natural to want to flee from it.

But while there are systemic issues mainly linked to false teachings by the Watchtower Society, this doesn't blanket the entire Family as "bad." And again, just as the religious leaders in Jesus' day didn't get it all wrong, the WTS similarly doesn't get it all wrong. But that nonetheless does not make either of them virtuous or qualified to be shepherds of "Christ's flock." Such is the complex nature and resulting tensions that attend human imperfection.

The Truth remains the Truth, which is not the property of the WTS but is sourced in Jesus Christ the Son of God. And part of the Truth includes teachings (such as the Kingdom, the Oneness of Jehovah, the resurrection to life on Earth, the transformation of the world, etc.) and behaviors (such as love, kindness, joy, etc.) that, by and large, I have found adhered to with remarkable dedication and unity by the vast majority of Witnesses.

59

'Anointeds' Do you know any and if so what are they like ?

by Introvert 2 in

would like to hear about any experiences anyone has had with the so called ' anointed ' .

Brother Jeramy

notsurewheretogo, you asked . . .

So why are you engaging in the preaching work and still an "active" WT if you know it's all wrong.

For starters, the preaching work is a commission from Christ, not the Watchtower Society.

Secondly, I'm not an active "WT," by which I mean that while I am a Christian witness of Jehovah, I am not an advocate of the Watchtower Society that has unrightfully imposed itself as an authority over the Family of my brothers and sisters.

Thirdly, it's not all wrong.

When Jesus was on Earth he preached to the nation of Israel, which had been poisoned by the hypocrisy and bad practices of some (though not all) of the religious leaders. And many of the people were misled, which is why John the Baptizer gathered them to repentance in preparation for Jesus. Yet poisoned as Israel was, it was not "all wrong."

And so in a similar way I have chosen to remain with my brothers and sisters, in spite of the poison of the "religious leaders" (i.e., the Watchtower Society and the elders who bow to it).

33

I wonder if you can be spiritual and religious at the same time??

by Deltawave in

ok again i would like to apologise as i did come across preachy.

i am not going to debate whether or not i am a bk as you have your opinions either way.

what i was trying to write though was my thoughts and feelings which i hope don't offend anyone on this forum.

Brother Jeramy

I've always thought of spirituality as being akin to gardening, whereas religion is akin to farming. Different yet at the same time related. Can one be spiritual and religious at the same time? Sure. Why not.

59

'Anointeds' Do you know any and if so what are they like ?

by Introvert 2 in

would like to hear about any experiences anyone has had with the so called ' anointed ' .

Brother Jeramy

truthseeker 100, you asked . . .

Brother Jeramy you said on another post that you are still an active witness. Do you still go in field service? And if you do aren't you afraid of indoctrinating others with certain aspects of the JW religion that you don't agree with? I ask respectively?

Yes, I still engage in the preaching work. As for being afraid of "indoctrinating others with certain aspects of the JW religion," I would say no. For starters, I trust Jehovah and Christ, and the guidance of the holy spirit. Also, I keep my method of witnessing and sharing the Good News very simple. I do not offer literature that advances the doctrines of the Watchtower Society, however when moments arise where literature offerings cannot be avoided I make sure to quickly return to Scripture after showing a householder any literature, at which point I always point out the passages that encourage readers to "test the inspired statements" and "examine the Scriptures" carefully to make sure that what they are hearing from us is true. In all of this, I make sure to always tell the Good News of God's Kingdom.

62

Well, I asked a question and his answer blew me away

by Lost his mind in

first time, been lurking for years, but i asked my husband who has been studying for 20 plus years if he has ever questioned those that were "teaching" him.

blew my mind.

i ask him all the questions that you have asked yourself, but he will not ask them.

Brother Jeramy

Giordano, you wrote . . .

She's on here venting and the only thing you can contribute is that maybe her husband isn't the only source of their problems.........How insightful. Indeed there may be other issues however it is not up to us to speculate we can only deal with what she has told us.

Yes. And indeed indeed. And exactly. We can only deal with what she told us on this open discussion forum. But let the fact not be lost on us that her husband, whom Lost his mind has openly castigated here for no other expressed reason than that he remains unquestioning of Watchtower Society doctrine (very problematic, to be sure), isn't here to defend himself. She posted a "rant," as she put it, and offered several complaints. It was in light of those complaints, and their tone, that I offered my own comments free of anger, animosity, or contempt (which is far more than can be said of others here who have responded to my comments, including the latest from Lost his mind).

You further wrote . . .

You are not a trusted person on this site and what Flipper and Outlaw are telling you is that you are going to be vocally blocked, chastised and criticizes trying to justify the JW unenlightened view point about marriage and submissiveness.

I see. So basically I've been "marked," and you, flipper, and OUTLAW are the "judicial committee" who not only have the pulse on every member's trust meter, but are also self-appointed to guard against my "unenlightened viewpoint" (read: apostasy) about whatever it is I decide to discuss here as if there is only one type of opinion permitted in this forum, according to you. Does all that sound just a tad familiar?

(By the way, not a single thing I wrote had anything even remotely to do with "marriage and submissiveness." Not by a long shot. I can absolutely guarantee you that if it had been a man stating the exact same things as Lost his mind stated, my remarks would have been identical to those I gave to her.)

You further wrote . . .

When you reach a point when you can be totally honest with us about your motives for being here you may gain a little credibility.

Again, thanks for pointing out that you've appointed yourself this site's arbiter of trustworthiness and credibility, and for thereby appointing me to a probationary status akin to "unbaptized publisher." As for my motives for being here, they are my own and they shall remain my own. In fact, this site per its actual administrator(s) welcomes, invites, and ensures anonymity as a matter of course. Allow me to refresh your memory from the introduction on the front page of jehovahs-witness.com . . .

We're an independent community site offering support for both current and former Jehovah's Witnesses and anyone else who has been affected by the beliefs, doctrines and practices of the Jehovah's Witness religion as governed by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society (WTB&TS).

We are not affiliated with the WTB&TS in any way and we take your privacy and security very seriously doing our utmost to protect your identity and provide a friendly, tolerant and informative environment where you can ask questions, share information and make new friends. Membership is completely free and anonymous so why not join today! (emphasis mine)

On that note . . .

Blessings.

BROTHER JERAMY