Posts by StephaneLaliberte

63

Thanks WTBS for changing the Kingdom Songs, you freed me!

by StephaneLaliberte in

yesterday, i saw a picture of a family signing kingdom melodies together.

it made me realize a fact that i am somewhat ashamed to admit:.

for over a decade, i have been aware of the false prophecies, the deceptive statements, the lack of scriptural support for many core practices and other issues with the witnesses.

StephaneLaliberte

WTWizard: I doubt that the ones in charge desired to cause harm to all those (and mostly everyone), who had emotional connections to the old songs. However, that’s what happened. The culprits: Human weakness and the environment of unconditional submission fostered by the Watchtower.

Most people agree that the changes brought to the kingdom songs (aside for some new songs), were not improvements. This can only mean that the people who directed these changes were part of the few who thought otherwise, yet, were surrounded by people who obviously did not tell them their real opinions and feelings.

There is nothing worst for a boss then to be surrounded by YES men. Unfortunately, the WTBS continually prints that faithful Christians humbly accept the authority without questioning it. This results in actions that don’t take into account the impact these will have on the individuals. The KMs change is one of their best examples.

As bad as they were, those old songs still bring back memories of relatives who are now long gone

TD: I am totally with you on that one. One of my immediate family members has passed away. Back then, I would sing a song with her (No. 4 about the resurrection) and we would know it by heart. Then, these imbeciles decided to change the lyrics and even part of the musical arrangement! When I noticed this at the KH, I felt like they were attempting to kill a memory of my loved one. That’s all I have left now, memories, and they were trying to take it away! I felt utterly broken that day.

63

Thanks WTBS for changing the Kingdom Songs, you freed me!

by StephaneLaliberte in

yesterday, i saw a picture of a family signing kingdom melodies together.

it made me realize a fact that i am somewhat ashamed to admit:.

for over a decade, i have been aware of the false prophecies, the deceptive statements, the lack of scriptural support for many core practices and other issues with the witnesses.

StephaneLaliberte

Yesterday, I saw a picture of a family signing kingdom melodies together. It made me realize a fact that I am somewhat ashamed to admit:

For over a decade, I have been aware of the false prophecies, the deceptive statements, the lack of scriptural support for many core practices and other issues with the Witnesses. Yet, I would find various excuses for all of these.

As I was raised in the truth, I had associated some of my best family memories to various theocratic activities. As a result, some kingdom songs could bring back nostalgic memories of my family happily going on a road trip, or being united in worship at an assembly, etc. I even recall deliberately not signing at some meetings so as to hear everyone else and bath myself in nostalgia. Sometimes, I would even cry over it.

Thanks to the WTBS though, this all came to an abrupt end when some of my favorite kingdom songs were changed. There are some songs in there that, to me, were classic. Would it make sense to change the lyrics and melody of a classic like the Beetles’ “Yesterday”?

I felt violated and angry that they would change things so much without asking anyone about it. And it was then, and only then that I stopped finding stupid excuses for every bad things they were doing.

So there you have it: It was not the heroic power of my willful mind that brought me out, but the simple severing of a strong emotional tie lead by the change in the kingdom melodies. - I'm a week week man.

11

A friend gets his last check from a JW company.....

by problemaddict in

so basically he is a subcontractor for a company that owes him money, and has been paying him very poorly for his service.

(industry wide problem).

so he e mails them a venting e mail, saying he will no longer take work, giving them a date he expects the pay to be cut or he leins properties etc.... he gets a response, they go back and forth, and the last response they send the check and at the bottom post a scripture (he didn't remember which one) with the phrase "and we will continue to serve our god jehovah".

StephaneLaliberte

In my own experience, my success rate in dealing with witnesses has largely been the same with that of non-witnesses. - I've had people fraudulently take money from me and some others gave me better deals then I would ever had expected.

The core difference however is what you can do about it when you get a raw deal: In the world, you have courts and in the congregation, you get elders.

My personal experience so far has shown me that people are much more afraid of the worldly courts then the brothers. One main reason is that I have seen the following quote be overly used:

(1 Corinthians 6:7, 8) 7 […] Why not rather let yourselves be wronged? Why do you not rather let yourselves be defrauded?

It’s like a free ticket to saying: Yes, you’re a victim! But we don’t have the balls to call out the bad witnesses so we ask you to keep being a victim, but for the glory of Jehovah’s Organization!

12

Interesting fact in the NNWT

by piztjw in

i was perusing the index of bible words in the back of the nnwt and found it interesting that the name jesus has only one scripture listed.

the title christ has five.

the name satan has twelve.

StephaneLaliberte

Thanks the searcher... Marked.

28

JW's Never Closed the Door On A Russian King of the North

by scotoma in

jw
friends

king of the north.

union, the "king of the south" can be none other than the rival non-communist bloc, under the .

so who is the king of the north now?

StephaneLaliberte

I would not under estimate the russians. Hitler did that and so did Napoleon and we know how that ended.

19

As a JW, What statements made you "stop thinking?"

by Faithful Witness in

thought-stopping platitudes, like "we are in the last days!

"jehovah's witnesses are the only ones with the truth...".

what statements or claims did you use, or hear, that made you feel comforted by the fact that you were part of jehovah's organization?.

StephaneLaliberte

JWs are the only one truely promoting pure worship as they keeping the congregation pure through disfellowshipping.
We live in a spiritual paradise
JWs are the only one bearing the fruits: No one else preaches like they do!
JWs are the only ones preaching truths such as : No hell fire, no Trinity and an earthly paradise.
JWs are of the few willing to die for their beliefs
JWs don't go to war unlike all other religions

22

My conversation with my mother in law.

by StephaneLaliberte in

my wife and i recently took the decision to fade out progressively and we are now in the stage where we no longer assist to our meetings.

in this process, we have told the truth to our respective parents but have not forced ourselves upon them; meaning that: we will talk about it when you want to.

as a result, my mother in-law already had some conversations with my wife on why we no longer went, but never brought up the subject with me, at least, up until yesterday.. she was telling us that a good deal of people miss us at the meeting and i answered that i missed them also.

StephaneLaliberte

Thanks Aroq,

Thats what I love about comming here. Often, I see people arguing and bringing forward points and arguments and truely listening to one another. With a JW, you always have the yes, but.... and they go on trying to prove their points.

18

A startling example of a JW ignoring evidence

by Pyramid God in

i happen to work with my father, and today we got into another debate about the origin of life.

during the debate, while rebutting a lot of creationist canards, he said that mutations are always harmful to an organism.. .

after he left i sent him a quick email with a link to talk origins on the subject of mutations.

StephaneLaliberte

Explaining and debating faith takes time. Not everyone has time - at the same time. What I mean is that perhaps this man took a serious amount of time to review his beliefs a few years back and then, went on to live accordingly. As time goes by, questions and doubts will arise and he will once more need to take a serious amount of time to review his beliefs once more. The fact that these periods do not happen when YOU ask a question does not make them ignorant. It simply means that at this time in his life, he needs to focus on work and other things.

Point is: don't give up on him, simply make yourself lovable, show respect and when his next "self-questioning" period commes along, just be available.

22

My conversation with my mother in law.

by StephaneLaliberte in

my wife and i recently took the decision to fade out progressively and we are now in the stage where we no longer assist to our meetings.

in this process, we have told the truth to our respective parents but have not forced ourselves upon them; meaning that: we will talk about it when you want to.

as a result, my mother in-law already had some conversations with my wife on why we no longer went, but never brought up the subject with me, at least, up until yesterday.. she was telling us that a good deal of people miss us at the meeting and i answered that i missed them also.

StephaneLaliberte

Aroq, actions that I take now may have a ripple effect on people I love around me. This love makes me accountable to them and unfortunately, to the very authority to which they submit, the JW congregation. As a result, though inactive, I must pretend that I only need a break and have nothing against the teachings! This makes me look spiritually weak, but not apostate.

Expressing publically that I no longer believe the doctrines would cause my disfellowshipping and my loved ones would require time and energy to review their own beliefs and motives. Unfortunately, for some, I can tell they already have challenges that would make it to much to handle right now.

This is why, I must remain silent until the train passes and then, take a stand. At least, I have great hope that this will inevitably happen in a few years from now. At that time, I will purposefully request shepherding calls and go out in a blaze of glory. Some of these elders have been my friends and I find it very difficult to bit my tongue. But my love for my friends and family outweighs my desire to set these self-righteous men straight - at least, for now.

22

My conversation with my mother in law.

by StephaneLaliberte in

my wife and i recently took the decision to fade out progressively and we are now in the stage where we no longer assist to our meetings.

in this process, we have told the truth to our respective parents but have not forced ourselves upon them; meaning that: we will talk about it when you want to.

as a result, my mother in-law already had some conversations with my wife on why we no longer went, but never brought up the subject with me, at least, up until yesterday.. she was telling us that a good deal of people miss us at the meeting and i answered that i missed them also.

StephaneLaliberte

Thanks for all the comments.

JunkYardDog, the fact that my wife is with me on this makes my life a whole lot easier. And yet, I feel we are still both under a great amount of stress as we are not entirely free. As long as we are not D/A, we have some accountability to the Witnesses and our friends who still are. As a result, we are not entirely free to speak out minds or to live our lives as we would truly whish.

I believe we will be able to do so in the long run, perhaps in another few years, but until then, we must take great caution in anything we say and do publically and this in itself is a solid load on our mutual shoulders.

At least, the fact that we can bear this load together makes it much easier.

ThomasCovenant, I believe a great deal of JWs clap their hands or say Amen without asking themselves: “Do I agree with this?”.

KateWild: We told our parents our beliefs as they are the very reasons why we do not get disfellowshipped. If they decide to go tell the elders, then so be it. However, I’m not the type to go out without a fight; they would have to face me, in a JC - twice! Yes, when I'll have a JC, I will automatically request an appeal. I doubt that my mother in law realy wants to go through this process.