jws believe 1914 was a turning point with jesus' invisible reign, and the first world war started in 1914.. what order did it actually happen?.
did they think armageddon would be in 1914, then when it came and went they changed their mind and said it was jesus' invisible reign?
or did the war happen and only after they decided to say 1914 was a special year for them?
Unbaptized:
What about following no organization? Have you given that a thought? Why do you feel you have to choose to follow the one you perceive to have the least amount of flaws? By your own admission, the JW religion is flawed as well. Why submit yourself to it then?
i was raised as a witness and have been miserable for my entire existence.
i have hated every moment of it.
after about 10 years of struggling, i decided 2 years ago that i was done w/ the charade and wasn't going to return to the meetings.
I'm sorry to hear about your sister. She's defending her way of life, her hope for the future. It's natural for her to get defensive when confronted with the possibility that her beliefs and hopes might not be real. Facing the prospect of living out your life without the hope of everlasting life in a paradise Earth is something most of us spent years resisting. Reality eventually sets in and we go through the motions until we are able to cope with our new understanding of the world. Maybe your sister will get to that point some day. Maybe she won't. It's out of your hands. You have our support.
Welcome to the forum. We hope to hear more from you in the future.
i was recently informed that i have the legal right to have my baptism nullified.
but apparently there is a time limit on it.
i have to do this before i turn 19. if i succeed, they will announce at a meeting that i was never a jehovahs witness, and i will not be disfellowshiped or disassociated.. i should also point out that i was baptised at age 9.
Lore:
I don't want to discourage you. I got baptized as a teenager myself, and I would love to undo my baptism. However, the legal definition of a contract is: an agreement between two or more parties creating obligations that are enforceable or otherwise recognizable at law. The law does not recognize baptism vows as a contract. The courts don't step in to enforce religious promises. Baptism is not legally binding, so far as I know. Therefore, an argument that the baptism "contract" is voidable because you entered into it as a minor is unlikely to work. I doubt you'll be able to get relief from the courts. They tend to let religious organizations set up and enforce their own rules as long as they don't violate any secular laws. Anyhow, good luck in your efforts. Keep us posted.
it seems over the years, the organization has done 360's on several topics.
do you think they will ever go mainstream with their beliefs.
for example, college is good, blood is a conscience decision (without punishment), ect....... .
Neverendingjourney: Here's the option I'd bet on:
tighten the reigns, have a great purge, and continue as a smaller, cultish religion
I tend to agree with you, Gopher. Everything I've heard about the new GB members seems to suggest that they are even more hardline that the old schoolers, except maybe Jaracz, the boss, himself. The Bethel culture seems to lead to the advancement of hardcore company men who have given their lives to advance JW dogma. If that's true, I don't see why they would decide to change course, even if membership starts to go down.
it seems over the years, the organization has done 360's on several topics.
do you think they will ever go mainstream with their beliefs.
for example, college is good, blood is a conscience decision (without punishment), ect....... .
They will have to change the way the operate soon or they will become extinct. In my opinion, they are in a static intermediate position right now. They're able to maintain the status quo, but this will not last long. There will come a point in time when they won't be able to either scare their members into remaining in the fold or recruit sufficient amounts of new members to prevent a shrinking of their total numbers. In the next ten to fifteen years they will have to decide whether they want to mainstream their religion to retain their members or tighten the reigns, have a great purge, and continue as a smaller, cultish religion. Time will tell.
i was recently informed that i have the legal right to have my baptism nullified.
but apparently there is a time limit on it.
i have to do this before i turn 19. if i succeed, they will announce at a meeting that i was never a jehovahs witness, and i will not be disfellowshiped or disassociated.. i should also point out that i was baptised at age 9.
I'm not 18, but I wasn't my baptism undone as well. Let us know if you have any success.
well, for some reason, my sister in law- a faithful dub googled me and tracked me to this site.
i don't know if she is lurking on here, but, if she is, i'd like everyone to give her a hello, and a big, warm welcome.
so, hi becky!!!!!!
My 2 cents: If posters wish to remain anonymous (as I do) never, ever give anyone your real name, especially in private messages. Also, resist the temptation of giving out overly-specific details about your personal life that people can use to positively identify you.
well, for some reason, my sister in law- a faithful dub googled me and tracked me to this site.
i don't know if she is lurking on here, but, if she is, i'd like everyone to give her a hello, and a big, warm welcome.
so, hi becky!!!!!!
I think she's been lurking on JWD. She probably read a couple of your posts and suspected it was you. Besides, there is a very simple way of confirming your identity: your wife uses an actual picture of herself as her avatar.
note to admins: this jwd account may be deleted after this post.
i have created this temp account as a further attempt to remain anonymous with this posting.
an internal resource has revealed that the following has been discussed at jw hq: .
Could there be a mole among us?
You got me. I'm a mole. Responding to an unsubstantiated rumor posted by first-time poster was the tell-tale sign. You deserve a medal, Sherlock Holmes.
By the way, I need each and everyone's name, the name of the last congregation you attended and baptism date. Pronto!
note to admins: this jwd account may be deleted after this post.
i have created this temp account as a further attempt to remain anonymous with this posting.
an internal resource has revealed that the following has been discussed at jw hq: .
There's no possible way that this could be implemented. Think about it, there are almost 100,000 congregations worldwide. The society would have to think of 100,000 ways to say the same thing in their letters to the bodies of elders worldwide in order to have each letter be distinct. How many man hours would that require? And they would have to do the same thing for every single letter that gets sent out.
Even if the society decided to follow through with this, how would you determine which elder leaked the information? Couldn't the elders simply deny having done it or claim that the letter was stolen from the congregation archives. The foul odor coming from that rumor is suffocating. I wouldn't pay any attention to it.
