Posts by StephaneLaliberte

i've read a number of posts in the brief couple of years i've been on jwn of those that were brave enough to go to university whilst being a jw.. clearly this is a small fraction of those that wanted to go but couldn't or had the grades to go but accepted pioneering instead.. for those that did go to uni despite all the advice and pressure, why did you go?

what was the response when you broke the news?

how did it affect your relationships?

StephaneLaliberte

I went to university in the 90s and actually had a very good reputation in the kingdom hall. Yes, there were jealous, talks and comments discouraging university, but I kept a good standing in the congregation by auxiliary pioneering every now and then.

As for my experience over there, well, I have to admit that I didn’t like the overall attitude of the kids that went along with me… they had this “we’re better than the rest” attitude and I hated it.

There is one thing I can say though: I had the luxury of living with my parents at the time and didn’t see much difference between this or high school. So, I didn’t really understand what the big deal was. On the other hand, if I hadn’t lived with my parents, I’m not sure I would have remained a virgin. Yes, I was spiritual, but I was still a man. If I didn’t have to report home everyday… well, I wouldn’t have resisted.

That being said, I can’t transpose MY experience onto others. So, if a kid goes out of the city to university, I won’t judge. But I can understand why the Org is counseling against it in that perspective alone.

4

Broadcast bethel video conference in France and its colonies.

by StephaneLaliberte in

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StephaneLaliberte

Yesterday, I assisted to a video conference that was broadcasted throughout France and its colonies. Here are my observations:

Intro: The meeting was called a short “special assembly" that was broadcasted to our hall. The brother that presided the meeting explained that the broadcast was attended by more then 140 000 people in their respective halls and assembly complexes. The broadcast covered France, French Polynesia, St-Peter and Miquelon and other places.

Watchtower study: After a kingdom melody and a prayer, there was a 30 minutes talk based on the current watchtower.

Small 30 min talk: This talk was mainly reporting the various different numbers achieved by the organization such as memorial attendance, pioneers, baptisms, etc. There were some experiences about bible studies and the special program for preaching in the street. The talk then concluded by saying that these reports were proofs that Jehovah’s blessing is on the organization.

Special Talk: After a kingdom melody, there was a one hour talk given by William Malenfant who is in charge of the writing department in Brooklyn. Though I have not taken notes, I can share the details that did make an impression on me.

Only a few men:

The brother stressed the idea that Jehovah has used only a few people to teach his people, explaining that there was a governing body directing and overseeing the preaching work in the first century. Also, that there were only 8 Jews that wrote the Greek scriptures, only 8! That everything we know about Christianity has come to us through the writings of these 8 men.

Worshipping the God you know:

Referring to the conversation that Jesus had with the Samaritan (John 4). Explaining that the Samaritan only believed in the writings of Moses, they did not know God for they did not know how he had brought about his will using the people of Israel. He then made the link to our times explaining how the JWs worship Jehovah understanding that hell, purgatory and immortality of the soul are false teachings and the truth concerning the 144 000. Because of this fact, the witnesses alone worship a god that they know while all others are not worshipping God. Since their description of God is false, then, they are worshipping something that does not exists and thereby, do not worship God.

True understanding only through the slave:

The brother voiced the following idea (I’m paraphrasing): You would not know God if he had not been revealed to you by the faithful slave. From reading the bible alone, would you have come to these understandings? Would you have started going door to door preaching the good news all by yourself? Of course not! These teachings had to be brought to you. We must display our appreciation for this privilege by working with the faithful slave in accomplishing Jehovah’s will.

Only organization to do Jehovah’s will: The brother then went on asking rhetorical questions: Who preaches the name of Jehovah throughout the earth? Who conducts the preaching work? Who displays the love described by Jesus concerning his true disciples? At every questions, he paused with a smile conveying the feeling that it was obviously the JWs.

The slave uses the bible:

Raising his bible in the air and tapping it repeatedly, the brother said: Everything the governing body teaches is found in the bible. The slave does not make up anything. Everything that is thought is taken from the bible, from Jehovah’s word and simply prepared to be served to Jehovah’s people.

True display of love:

He used examples about JWs who risked their lives in Rwanda and Burundi to protect their fellow witnesses. He also stressed the idea that witnesses are there where there are catastrophes.

I don’t have the time to review these points one by one, but I must admit that this talk left me profoundly uncomfortable questioning how one person can say all of these things in so little time and not wonder about his accountability to God.

21

Baptized

by nibbled in

how old were you when you were baptized?.

.

i was 12 years old..

StephaneLaliberte

For fear of being identified, I won't say... however, I can tell you I was too young and that it was against my fathers whishes. Its just that I was nagging him just about everyday about it, so he cave in.

37

Visited Beth Sarim today

by exwhyzee in

my sister in law has been shunned by the family since she da'd herself at the age of 18 and moved out of the house.

i always insisted that my wife keep in contact with her and made sure she knew she had a soft place to land,with us, should she need it.

even at the risk of it getting us in hot water with the pioneer,elder,bethelite family members there was no way we were going to let her disappear into the wild blue yonder on her own.

StephaneLaliberte

I think that JWs who realy want to do a pilgrimage should not only visit bethel, but also places such as Beth-Sarim and the burial place of Charles Taze Russell.

I'm an active JW, and I know about theses things. In that sense, I feel empowered to the fact that I remain one ... for the time being ... in full knowledge of the context and everything around it.

20

New Videos for Teens

by Christ Alone in

i'm not sure if anyone posted these or not, or even if these are new.

i just saw them for the first time on the jw.org site.

it looks like they are slowly building up their online material.

StephaneLaliberte

EUSTACE: Your comment really made me laught.

WTWizard, your right that we should be concerned about privacy, text while driving and other things. However, these issues are also addressed in external media such as tv Ads and in school. What these channels usualy don't say is that you can simply spend too much time on your device and you can put yourself in awefull situation by texting things to people you would normally not say. Since I think the purpose of the video was not to cover everything, but to cover an aspect that usualy don't get to much attention, I think it was a good video.

20

New Videos for Teens

by Christ Alone in

i'm not sure if anyone posted these or not, or even if these are new.

i just saw them for the first time on the jw.org site.

it looks like they are slowly building up their online material.

StephaneLaliberte

Concerning the teen video, I think they are totally right. Especially where they talk about the fact that you can text things you wouldn't say. There is a lot of flirt in the Witnesses because of that.

20

New Videos for Teens

by Christ Alone in

i'm not sure if anyone posted these or not, or even if these are new.

i just saw them for the first time on the jw.org site.

it looks like they are slowly building up their online material.

StephaneLaliberte

I think the Bully one is well done “technically” and I think they almost got it. For example:

Don’t walk to school alone
Label your belongings and don’t take money or expensive thing with you to school
Tell an adult (parents, teacher or trusted adult)
Shine a spotlight on their actions

Yeah, it’s all good.

YET to tell a kid to act confident and to use humor, you can’t teach that to a kid; especially if they are scared. As for avoiding places where bulling might happen… well, I agree if it is occasional. However, if the kid always avoids a park some other favorite place, then, that’s not right; they need learn how to face their problems, not running away.

If my kid gets bullied, I will invest in recording devices and call the cops, plain and simple. That’s why I pay my taxes.