Posts by Eyebrow

60

Psalm 50: JEHOVAH'S JUDICIAL RULINGS

by You Know in

jw
friends

the 50th psalm is one of jehovah's as-of-yet-unrevealed judicial decisions that will become operative upon his people during the tribulation.

the following is a brief overview of the chapter.. "the divine one, god, jehovah, has himself spoken,.

and he proceeds to call the earth.

Eyebrow

Bottomline:

If I am wrong, and the witnesses are truly God's true religion, then worst case scenario I die after living the life I have chosen to live. No Hell, No Heaven, No Paradise...but also no more regrets.

This is the beauty of FREE WILL.

I don' believe I am wrong, but I stopped worrying about it a few years ago. Now I can live without guilt everytime I accidently slip and let out a swear if I drop a rock on my foot. I don't feel guilty that I allow my son to be in Boy Scouts and play football. I don't worry about celebrating the birth of my children just because the only two people mentioned in the bible happened to be jerks.

I live the life that Jesus describes when he says to treat others as you want to be treated. To not steal, murder, show affection for one another and honor your parents. I don't cheat on my husband or even my taxes. I even try to put the grocery cart in the cart pen at WalMart when I go shopping even if the car is way across the parking lot.

Basically, I do my best to live the life of a good person. Let God judge me...I have no problem with GOD judging me...not a group of humans.

Living and enjoying life to the fullest does not necessarily mean "eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we shall die" it means taking the life we have been given, and truly appreciating it. I don't think spending 5 hours a week studying for the meetings, another 5 or 6 actually at the meetings and another few hours a week in field service is really living. Forget about the hours during the week spent feeling guilty because you can never do enough spiritually.

No thanks.

7

Who/What Preached at Your Funeral?

by Sam Beli in

jw
friends

someone started an interesting thread about what music wed like played at our funeral.

the logical next step is to ask of what the funeral itself would consist.

since becoming an ex-jw i have been wondering what my wife (also now an ex-jw) would do if i preceded her in death.

Eyebrow

My father was not a witness, but my mother had an elder give the talk at his funeral. There was no eulogy about my father or anything like that. It really pissed quite a few of the many non JW relatives off.

My poor mother didn't realize this until a few years after the funeral. I helped her make the funeral home arrangements, but neither one of us had the presence of mind to think about an actual eulogy. Shame on the brothers for not speaking about this with her!

My advice to ANYONE that has a witness relative that will be responsible for the arrangements is to make sure you discuss what you want ahead of time, prefably in writing, and also talk to a non witness relative or friend and give him/her a copy. Let your spouse know that this friend will be there to help with the arrangements because few really have the prescence of mind to deal with these things when the time comes.

I have been to a few witness funerals, and they have not all just consisted of the talk. When my mom dies, I will let the brothers do their talk, but they will have to do it at the KH, or only AFTER she is properly eulogized by her family. This is out of respect for her.

29

Best urban legends, you heard in the org?

by Nicolas in

jw
friends

personnally, i heard a lot of urban legends about the presence of a devil in a house.

it was always the same kind of story about a devil who lived in a house and then the jw arrive and they pray jehovah and suddendly, the demon go away...

Eyebrow

I remember hearing about Smurfs at an assembly in a talk! And of course, Troll dolls were mentioned in the magazine as early as the late '60s, heehee.

Besides Ouija boards (which I will never use...I have heard too many first person accounts by nonJWS), my mom would not buy anything at a yard sale if she noticed anything she considered demonic there. In fact, there are a few people I have heard won't buy furniture from yard sales just in case.

Of course, my mom would not let us eat Mars Bars because the lecithin in it was supposedly from blood, not soy, hahah!

141

JW Kids Leave the Organization: Facts

by Maximus in

jw
friends

the october 1 watchtower 2001 features articles on training children "properly" and dealing with a "prodigal child.

the latest inside u.s. figures reveal that 86% of jw children leave the fold, with some 29% who eventually come back for reasons of family ties, most never "reaching out.

" that means over half leave permanently.

Eyebrow

My experience that was by the time I was 14 years old there were two other teens in the hall that I felt I could trust, because like me they were NOT living a double life. There was another two sons of an elder, but they were snobby to me. Unfortunately, neither one went to my school and I did not have transportation to get to be with them very much.

I agree that most leave not because of beliefs but because they want to have fun. As kids in my family we were discouraged from associating with non Witness kids, even when there was no one else to play with. I made friends secretly in high school around sophmore year because I could not take the lonliness any longer. After a year or so I just stopped going to the meetings because I did not want to lead a double life. However, after about 4 years I came back. I had no doubts the time I was gone that it was The Truth.

It was interesting to note that out of about 15 kids that I grew up with in the truth, only those two that were my age group were still there. (And the two elder's sons.) Many were reproved and came back, baptised, and then disfellowshipped. As a result, many parents of younger kids started to become a lot more restrive of whom they let their kids hang out with, etc.

Growing up we had quite a few acitivies, such as organized rollerskating, talent shows, cook outs, and square dances. Of course, there were several talks over the years about certain dancing, etc., but since these were all family events and well supervised, it was not a problem. These were things that were open to all in the congregation. However, there were a lot more get togethers that were more informal and that I was hardly ever invited to because I was not that popular amongst the double life leading kids.

If my mother had allowed me to participate in sports and other school sponsored activities more I really believe that I would have not been so anxious to find friends anywhere I could. One of my older sisters is studying, and the sister that studies with her allows her two sons to play organized sports because she realizes that they NEED activity. Meetings and field service are NOT enough!

When I finally left as an adult, it was for matters of conscience, not for social reasons. In fact, I miss many of my JW friends. I am not DF'd or Dis Assoc., but that does not change the fact that many view me as bad association. If I started going back to the Hall this Sunday, I could invite several of them over for a visit a few weeks from now and they would come. But I will not lead a double life. I wish that teens would not lead a double life, even though they feel they are forced too. If you parents make you go, then go, but don't answer at the meetings, don't go out in field service, and if you are asked, you should respectfully say that you are here for your parents.
Yes, that is unrealistic for some, but maybe for others their parents will stop making them go.

Max,

I would like to know exactly where you get your figures from. Thanks!

48

!!ONE MORE ELDER FACING WTS EXECUTION !

by exodus in

jw
friends

well, here it is, after almost 20 years 12 of those serving in position of responsibility it comes down to my spiritual execution(jw style).

allow me to explain.

for those who you who still remember me from h20 under the name truthexodus i came to post my experience as an elder of local congregation in nyc area.

Eyebrow

ummm...what is H2O? I thought it was another member. Was it another board? Just curious.

A little note about hidden microphones, etc. In some states you have to be careful because taping audio without the person's consent is illegal. I know in NH it is. So, if any does decide to do that, you may want to check out the laws in your state. I am not saying don't do it, just make sure if you do decide to tape audio you do so with eyes wide open as to what the consequences may be. Just a thought.

As far as You Know's comments about Exodus being an apostate elder. I really did not get the idea that he was spreading apostate ideas. As for stepping down right away, I got the impression that he was searching as earnestly as he could to prove his religion correct. If he had stepped down earlier when he was not so sure, he may have actually ended up stumbling others at that time. From the elders I have known that have stepped down (they were for personal reasons, nothing to do with faith...ie., one had a new baby and a new job and could not balance everything any longer, one had sever illness, etc.) the other elders try to do everything they can to get the brother to stay an elder. This is not always a bad thing...but it can be hard for a brother to step down.

You Know did have a point when he (I am assuming You Know is a he) said that you should not be surprised that you were rebuked. But, it always does, doesn't it, when it happens to us.

Anyway, do not let this experience make you too bitter. That does not do anyone any good. It will be a long time for you to recover from this experience, but I personally would be careful of taking things public so soon. Remember that you want people to listen to the facts, and not just accuse you of holding a grudge.

Good luck to you....and keep us updated on your situation!

12

We don't baptize children, do we?

by Kent in

jw
friends

jehovah's witnesses convene in biloxi .

by christine harvey .

the sun herald .

Eyebrow

Excellent point! And he had a career first as a carpenter....interesting...he didn't start his preaching work until after he had spent years working so he knew how the common man really had to struggle to get by.

When I was in my early 20s I lamented to another JW friend that I was envious of a mutual friend of ours that had been accepted to Bethel. She said, "You know, having someone pick up after you, fix all your meals and do your laundry does not prepare you for the real world." Good point! She is still a JW, but had many good points like that.

64

HELP!!- JT asked to become a MASON!

by JT in

jw
friends

i have been searching the net for some excellent sites on the masons.

this past weekend we went down to nc for a wedding and my wife and i broke the news to our nonjw family that we were no longer involved with jw.

i could not believe the open arm welcome my uncle and aunt were almost in tears- they told us we have seen you come home each yr from the main office in ny and then you got married and you would come home and we wanted to say something about the jw but you seemed to be so well respected by the local jw - whenever we would tell folks that our newphew was up in ny- the jw would get all excited- they told us they thought it was so sad for i only made $90 a month.

Eyebrow

I am not a mason, never played one on tv, and really don't know a whole lot about the organization.

However, I have a couple of general comments about the various posts I have read here on the subject. First, when I was an active JW it was not uncommon for the organization to give the impression that many various other organizations out there were evil because they were mysterious/secret. So, I find it vert predictible that there are so many nonJWs and exJWs here that feel very suspcious of the Masons. Again, I really have no idea to say whether they are or are not, but I think it is important to point out that being in the JW organization teaches you to be suspicious...sometimes when there may be no need to be.

Second, isn't it funny how organizations run by men are the secret ones? I know now that the Masons have their chick order (was it the Eastern Star?) I am curious if they are just as secretive, or if they just don't have anything to really be secretive about because the guys keep everything from the women, heehee.

My best friend in high school was/is a member of her local grange, and here family has been for generations. She took me to a few meetings, and heehee, boy THAT was wierd! While I do not doubt they are benign, I could not help laughing at the secret code books that they have and the meetings that were secret, It just seemed really funny because 80% of the members were over the age of 65, and doing these fairly elaborate marching drills, etc.

Forgive my ramblinb, but I get a kick out of secret groups. No insult to any on either side of the issue is intended. Isn't if funny how adults still need their clubs like when they were 10 year olds?

By the way, as for Wicca, they are peaceful. Why I may not agree with their religion, I have known several in the religion and they were all loving people. They do not worship Satan.
=)

12

We don't baptize children, do we?

by Kent in

jw
friends

jehovah's witnesses convene in biloxi .

by christine harvey .

the sun herald .

Eyebrow

I had a good friend that wanted to get baptised when she was 12 but the elders asked her to wait at least a year because they wanted to be sure she wasn't doing it just to please her parents.

It doesn't necessarily bother me to see kids get baptised, around 11 or 12 and up, depending on the kid's maturity. The average age up her seemed to be between 14 and 18.

6 though...ahhhhh...that is too young! How can they know what is truth when they cannot even do fractions yet?

48

!!ONE MORE ELDER FACING WTS EXECUTION !

by exodus in

jw
friends

well, here it is, after almost 20 years 12 of those serving in position of responsibility it comes down to my spiritual execution(jw style).

allow me to explain.

for those who you who still remember me from h20 under the name truthexodus i came to post my experience as an elder of local congregation in nyc area.

Eyebrow

It is a shame that you were subjected to such behind the back tactics. It is also very bothersome that it appears besides two people you spoke with directly the elders are relying on hersay.

Please keep us updated on your situation. Even if you choose not to go to the last meeting, I am curious as to whether they will try to reach out to you since you are an elder.

Good luck to you, and try to start living your life.

65

What are the most stupid JW rule?

by beroea in

jw
friends

what are the most stupid jw rule?.

what do you consider to be the most stupid rules or tradition of the jw lives?

im thinking about any kind of rule or regulative that only has one answer to the questions why:.

Eyebrow

Wow...how anal.

I remember being told we should not say good luck, gezuntight (I cannot spell!) and other harmless little things.