Posts by neverendingjourney

45

Did You Know or Know Of "Gay" or Bisexual JWs???

by minimus in

jw
friends

recently, a former witness expressed his opinion to me that he knew more than a few witnesses that were gay.personally, i know of a bisexual ex-elder who was unhappily married for a few years.

now he's "out", pardon the pun, of the organization.

i know of a newly appointed ms who is married to a sister but most people suspect he is gay.

neverendingjourney

There were several red flags that I should have seen right after I got baptized. The elder that was pretty much my mentor was disfellowshipped weeks after I took the plunge. There was no one in the world I respected more than that guy.

There was another guy whom I had a great deal of respect for. He was a young, recently-appointed elder. I believe he was 26 years old. He seemed to be really zealous and took "the truth" really seriously. He wasn't very virile, but not less so than you'd expect from a young man that had spent years suppressing normal sexual desires. A few months after I got baptized he was disfellowshipped. It turns out that he was a homosexual and had begun a relationship with another man. A few years later I saw him at an assembly. He was sitting by himself with his parents. It looked like he was still disfellowshipped. It's sad. He was a good guy. He shouldn't have been ostracized for his sexual preference. He's probably riddled with guilt for having the feelings he does.

I hated how judgmental the gossipy sisters were at my hall, especially the pioneers. They accused everybody, and I mean everybody, of being gay. If you were a young guy that did not have a reputation as a womanizer, they talked about you as possibly being gay. Of course, if you were a womanizer, they'd talk bad about you for not being spiritual. If you were not married at 21 or 22 it must be because you were gay. I became extremely paranoid about people thinking I was gay. When I faded away and moved to a different city my friends picked up on it. It was embarrassing. They're the type of people that couldn't care less if someone thought they were gay. They're all straight, but "gay" is not a death label to them, so they don't care. I've really begun to shed that fear now that I'm inactive. It really is a lot easier living this way, not having to worry so much about what people think about you. A "gay" rumor could spell disaster for you in the Witness world. It shouldn't be that way. Many young, straight JWs that I knew lived in fear of that rumor because it could kill any prospect of finding a good Witness girl to marry.

22

Using School Assignments to Give a Witness

by Mysterious in

jw
friends

anyone remember all the examples of youths being encouraged to work something about the jws into school assignments on abortion, evolution, volunteer work etc?

i remember cheekily ending an essay with "remember the theory of evolution is just that, a theory" in about 8th grade but that was about it.

i did just get a fantastic a grade mark on my philosophy paper on shoudl parents have the right to refuse life saving medical treatment for infants and children too young to decide for themselves.

neverendingjourney

I never felt equipped to be a great critical thinker as a JW something I find essential for debate.

Very true. I wish I had joined a debate team because I didn't have any critical thinking skills at the time. I was very good at being dogmatic and asserting opinions as truths. It's funny because I was cleaning out some stuff the other day and I ran into my old school papers. I couldn't believe how much I sounded like a JW when writing my old assignments. I would make leaps of logic all the time. I wouldn't take into account other possibilities or alternate explanations for things.

Ideologues usually are the best public speakers because they speak with conviction. Critical thinkers come across as wishy washy and tend to give on the one hand on the other hand types of speeches.

22

Using School Assignments to Give a Witness

by Mysterious in

jw
friends

anyone remember all the examples of youths being encouraged to work something about the jws into school assignments on abortion, evolution, volunteer work etc?

i remember cheekily ending an essay with "remember the theory of evolution is just that, a theory" in about 8th grade but that was about it.

i did just get a fantastic a grade mark on my philosophy paper on shoudl parents have the right to refuse life saving medical treatment for infants and children too young to decide for themselves.

neverendingjourney

That reminds me, I wrote a history paper my sophomore year in high school about Jesus. We were allowed to pick any historical figure. This was right around the time that I had begun to pursue the "truth," so I was really, really enthusiastic about it all. The teacher was not happy about the subject, but she allowed me to do it anyway because she had not specifically prohibited using religious figures as a topic. I tried to do about as good a job of giving a witness as possible. I remember I even quoted scriptures in it. The teacher was a smart young woman, most likely an atheist. She clearly had distaste for religion. She was also very professional, though. I think I made an A on the paper. It would have fueled my persecution complex had she given me a bad grade, so I'm glad she didn't.

22

Using School Assignments to Give a Witness

by Mysterious in

jw
friends

anyone remember all the examples of youths being encouraged to work something about the jws into school assignments on abortion, evolution, volunteer work etc?

i remember cheekily ending an essay with "remember the theory of evolution is just that, a theory" in about 8th grade but that was about it.

i did just get a fantastic a grade mark on my philosophy paper on shoudl parents have the right to refuse life saving medical treatment for infants and children too young to decide for themselves.

neverendingjourney

I gave a speech about the role of JWs in securing freedom of religion during my freshman year in college. It was pretty embarrasing as well. The old professor clearly did not like Witnesses, but he held back his critique. I think he had personal experience with Witnesses because most people find JWs to be an interesting curiosity but rarely harbor any ill will towards them. This guy clearly disliked them. He was a professional, however, and gave me a good grade on my speech. He wanted me to join the debate team and/or take his theatre class, but I think he knew it was pointless after my speech.

36

Study ended because he asked too many embarrassing questions.

by bronzefist in

jw
friends

nothing new here just a reminder to those who havent been to hall for awhile.. a workmate just had his study cut off.

there were some things he was being taught that he agreed with (trinity) some he didnt (faithful and discreet slave being a group of old men in ny).

here are a couple of interesting facts:.

neverendingjourney

They have already separated him as a "goat".

The new buzzword is goat-like. That's more in line with the new light Jehovah's people have so generously been provided.

30

God is a Metaphor

by nvrgnbk in

jw
friends

god is a metaphor.

dr. khalid sohail .

being a secular humanist i do not believe in any god or organized religion, but as a poet i am fascinated by all the languages and metaphors human beings have created over the centuries to understand and explain the mysteries of life and nature.

neverendingjourney

There is no doubt in my mind that, from a purely biological perspective, human beings are a scourge on the earth. We might be the single most egotistical and destructive species ever to walk on Earth (viruses are generally not considered to be living life forms). Of course, very little is known about the millions and millions of species that preceded us, but I don't think my analysis is off base. The concept of god has fueled this narrow-mindedness, in my opinion. We have myths that tell us that we are the predominant, special life form for whom the Earth was created. We can rape and pillage it as we please for it was created for us. These beliefs have only helped fuel the destruction of our biosphere. With that in mind, we may very well be an inferior species, from a philosophical perspective. Every other species tends to seek an equilibrium with their surroundings. We seek to destroy and claim as much of the Earth for ourselves as possible with little thought to the consequences that our actions might have on other species.

30

God is a Metaphor

by nvrgnbk in

jw
friends

god is a metaphor.

dr. khalid sohail .

being a secular humanist i do not believe in any god or organized religion, but as a poet i am fascinated by all the languages and metaphors human beings have created over the centuries to understand and explain the mysteries of life and nature.

neverendingjourney

You seem to imply that there's a possibility that other animals may actually be "higher" forms of life. That's an interesting concept. I acknowledge that these are subjective terms. However, if every other species is actually more advanced than our own, I would think they would rise up and prevent us from further depleting the planet of its resources. We, as a species are putting every other species, and the entire planet, in peril. If they were as evolved as I think you are implying they might be, they surely would not stand back and let us continue on our course.

I simply think there is very little evidence to suggest that human beings are not the most intelligent species around. Your argument might work philosophically, but I don't think the scientific evidence supports that. If you disagree, that's fine. I'm not here to change anyone's mind or to convince people that I'm right.

30

God is a Metaphor

by nvrgnbk in

jw
friends

god is a metaphor.

dr. khalid sohail .

being a secular humanist i do not believe in any god or organized religion, but as a poet i am fascinated by all the languages and metaphors human beings have created over the centuries to understand and explain the mysteries of life and nature.

neverendingjourney

I don't think you quite understand what I was saying. Every species does have a desire to survive. That's part of the evolutionary process. But no other species has reached the level of brain developement to be able to appreciate the consequences of death as we have. No other species is able to sit back and ponder the great mysteries of life such as how the universe originated and what happens to us after we die. If/When apes ever reach that level of brain development, I'm sure they'll develop their own set of mythology to answer those questions. The same goes for every other species alive today.

36

Study ended because he asked too many embarrassing questions.

by bronzefist in

jw
friends

nothing new here just a reminder to those who havent been to hall for awhile.. a workmate just had his study cut off.

there were some things he was being taught that he agreed with (trinity) some he didnt (faithful and discreet slave being a group of old men in ny).

here are a couple of interesting facts:.

neverendingjourney

my friend wondered why he was treated so lovingly by everyone when he stared the study, and so coldly when all he did was ask questions.

Answer: Because it's a cult. Cults aren't interested in truth. Cults demand confromity to the teaching of their supreme leader(s), plain and simple.

73

When DID the Jews return?

by Doug Mason in

the wts says that the key date in the jews return from babylon is tishri 1 537 bce.. the wts uses that date to arrive at its incorrect date of 607 bce for the destruction of jerusalem.

in turn, its 607 bce date is used to provide the date of october 1914 ce for christs parousia and the setting up of gods kingdom government.

the wts claims to be the sole representative upon earth of gods kingdom.. the date of the jews return is thus crucial to the watchtower societys (wts) existence and authority.

neverendingjourney

I think this matter is actually pretty simple if you think about. On one hand you have a long line of qualified, disinterested historians who all have reached the conlusion that Jerusalem was first destroyed arond 587 B.C.E. On the other hand you have a bunch of unqualified, interested religious leaders and their sympathizers whose theology rests upon the validity of their 607 B.C.E. date. Hmmmm. Who should I believe? I think the answer is obvious.