i am not going to use any names for this because i don't want to cause potential hurt to anyone.. there was a very nice family in my congregation when i was a teenager.
step-dad, mom, and her 4 kids.
the dad became an elder, had a great business, the mom spent lots of time with the kids.
Thank you all for sharing your painful stories.
A question for "no more kool aid"....how credible is Jerry Bergman?
Seems like I saw some discussion on here a while back that suggested he was somewhat of an charlatan. I don't know anything about the guy, that's just what I remember reading and if I remember correctly I think the criticisms were backed up with some examples and proof.
this song has always been one of my favourites.
wintley phipps tells the history of the song.
very moving.. amazing grace: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmf_24cqqt0&mode=related&search=.
Amazing Grace is one of the best musical compositions of all time.
Even as an agnostic, I am moved by it.
But, I am moved because of the triumph of human spirit and the eternal desire that some of our species have to see us all treated as equals.
It must be remebered that the secular humanists (to the chagrin of many of Christendom's churches) in the 19th Century were at the vanguard of the movement to end slavery and see the concepts in the "Rights of Man" adopted by our society.
"mature" Dubs always referred to the big, summertime district events as "conventions" and the other smaller circuit events as "assemblies" or "special assembly days"
"immature" Dubs didn't make any distinction and would frequently refer to the district event as an "assembly"
listening to the lingo was one of the way's you could ferret out the "spiritual babes" from the those who "understood the deep things of God"
-----------------------------
how about all of those damn servants:
magazine servant
territory servant
literature servant
sound servant
circuit servant
district servant
zone servant
special servant
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After there was a study (can't remember if it was a WT or one of the books in the CBS) about Satan's demons dividing the earth up into territories some of kids used to talk about the:
circuit serpent
district serpent
etc.....you get the idea
it has been a while since i have come here.. i noticed the other day that when i searched for jehovah's witnesses, the first page in google was almost all pro jw pages, or at the very least neutral, stating only non-controversial facts.. it wasn't until page 2 that jwn (is that how this site is reffered to?
or is it still jwd?
) actually showed in the results.. i seem to remember that jwd ranked on first page, as that is how i found it.. is it worth trying to get this site on page 1 for jehovahs witnesses?
There is some semi-sophisticated way to manipulate the search engine so that it will yield the results in a way that is skewed toward the manipulator's interest.
I think the BORG has probably figured that out and may have launched their own internet attack against the ENTERPRISE.
i have been feeling urges to try some volunteer work, to do something with my time to help those less privileged than me.
since i left the jw's, which was quite a few years ago (faded), i've always felt something missing in terms of mingling with a group of people and doing something of a volunteer/charitable nature for others (that's not to say jws do anything charitable really, although some people have been helped to clean up their lives through joining their religion).
i think it would be tremendously fulfilling to try some volunteer work to fill the vacuum of wanting to do kind things for others, something altruistic.
I did a boat load of volunteer legal work as a law student (working as an intern under an attorney/professor) last year helping out people who had no resources to hire attorneys but who none the less needed help.
It was very satisfying. Some of the clients we served would get tears in their eyes when thanking us for the help.
There are all kinds of great organizations that need volunteers.
I haven't done it yet but would like to get involved with Habitat for Humanity. Amnesty International is another great one.
The bottom line is that we are all in this (think big picture) together and whatever you can do to improve the world or bring some relief to another person is far more than any of us did as Dubbies.
it has been a while since i have come here.. i noticed the other day that when i searched for jehovah's witnesses, the first page in google was almost all pro jw pages, or at the very least neutral, stating only non-controversial facts.. it wasn't until page 2 that jwn (is that how this site is reffered to?
or is it still jwd?
) actually showed in the results.. i seem to remember that jwd ranked on first page, as that is how i found it.. is it worth trying to get this site on page 1 for jehovahs witnesses?
Probably "stupid cults"
kinda crazy, but finally being able to get on here almost makes me feel like i have just been released from prison.
i have had the privledge of doing nothing but read so many of your posts(for a solid 7 months i bet)...and i really wanted to say thank you, to the ones here who wear your hearts on your sleeves.. first off, i would like to thank the warden for making all of this possible (kidding simon...thanks for keeping this board going).
secondly, every single one of you regular posters here have been a great source of encouragment...looking at the many posts you have have contributed to the site really shows what dedication actually means.
Welcome...
So let's cut to the chase. What's your gig???
how many people here recognize the jw's as the best organization of christlike people the world has to offer.
but that the organization, a self admitted manly organization, self admited uninspired and self admitted imperfect organization, has gon awry ?.
i am here with that prediciment.
KS,
Glad you stopped by.
My mission is the scientist's mission (and yes I am a scientist--geologist, specifically).
My mission is to find and understand TRUTH and to unwaveringly pursue intellectual honesty no matter where that leads.
After having been baptized for 26 years I too started having concerns about the BORG's teachings and their intellectual honesty. And, like you, I had grown up around the Dubs and ended up getting baptized in my teens.
There is phone-book size summary I could write but I will limit my comments to some of the issues that tipped the scales for me against the BORG.=
One of the main sets of issues is the age of the earth, age of life on it, and the BORG's explanations about the geologic record and the history of life on the earth. Logically, if their teachings were scientifically unsupportable then the whole belief system was built on a house of cards with a string of inseparable vulnerable dominoes... there were implications for the Adam & Eve account, original sin, the Flood account, the need for a redeemer, the need for Armageddon, and the reality of the earth being "restored" to paradisaic conditions.
If you are a scientist, then you should welcome the opportunity to examine the BORG's explanations and interpretations of science. The two following links (from Randy's Freeminds site) offer some resources for very well written considerations of these issues.
--formatting code deleted-- Lady Lee
i do.
i'd rather not be around them..
I too do not live in the same area that I did during my days in Dubdom. Now, I live many states away.
In 10 years I have had only 2 contacts with them. One "contact" if you can call it that, was a tract in my door. The other was an older guy who was working with maybe 6 other people on the street passing out invitations to the Memorial...he rang my doorbell and I just politely refused.
I couldn't care less at this point...they are just a non-issue to me. It might be different if I was still living in the same place.
What is really funny is that whenever I drive past one of the half dozen KHs in this area and see them in the parking lot either before or after meeting, they all look so surreal. It's almost like a clip out of Ozzie and Harriet or better yet "The Lottery"...at the beginning of the flic everything looks normal. They all look the same and they all look so "perfect"....perfectly dressed, perfectly groomed, living in their perfect fantasy. For Christ's sake they even walk the same!!!!
What a frikken' waste of time that was.
would you want or accept a partner that put a god, religion, or religious book ahead of you?
seems a bit like having a partner who puts a drug ahead of me, ie a partner who's an addict.
maybe, if both people have the same god or the same drug addiction.... your thoughts?.
Well that's exactly why the BORG's insane rules about oral sex have ruined lot's of marriages...just to name one of the more obvious outcomes of that attitude.
