it strikes me that as witnesses most can find many faults with the world and reasons why they want to be no part of it.. things are often exagerated or demonised in the witneses eyes.. does the same thing happen in reverse when you leave the org?.
do we blow things up out of proportion to how they really are?.
are we really that much happier as people than we were in the org?.
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Practicing Jehovah's Witnesses can be categorized at three levels.
One: Orthodox . . . Mostly non-religious following strict party line.
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Two: Conservative . . . Sort of religious, following party line but more human and tolerant that the orthodox.
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Three: Liberal . . . both religious and secular. Liberals are open to questioning and do not see the Watch Tower Corporation as a divinely directed company. They are aware of problems, hope for change, and many lead double lives.
gb
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it strikes me that as witnesses most can find many faults with the world and reasons why they want to be no part of it.. things are often exagerated or demonised in the witneses eyes.. does the same thing happen in reverse when you leave the org?.
do we blow things up out of proportion to how they really are?.
are we really that much happier as people than we were in the org?.
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It would be like suggesting that to have a satisfactory diet and eating life one would always need to be "full". Happy is the full of eating.
A more objective approach would to be to examine comfortable. Am I comfortable now? Yes! Was I comfortable as a practicing Witness?
No! I did not like the rote rituals nor did I like having to silently witness children being hit, pinched, and poked and worse.
Or satisfaction. Can I experience satisfaction now? Yes! Was I satisfied as a practicing Witness? No! Things like relaxation, hobbies, and trips were deferred to some abstract future date while I lived in the shadow of impending doom.
Am I honest and ethical now? Yes! Was I honest and ethical as a practicing Witness? No! I solicited funds for the group leaders while trying to hide who I represented. I used unethical recruiting practices such as withholding my identity or my affiliation as well as certain important facts from new recruits.
So, in my opinion, it is more objective to ask, Was I more comfortable, satisfied, and ethical as a practicing Witness?
Thanks for the posts, Happy spring.
Life is better!
gb
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hi everyone, i too have been lurking for a few weeks and thought it was time i made myself known.
i am not a jw but i am married to a man who is from a multi-generational family of jw's (although he has not been to meetings since he was old enough to object).
although i have never had any direct involvement with the organisation itself, i find my life is constantly infulenced by these people who judge, shun and avoid my husband and i (i guess they don't want to mix with "worldy people" such as us).
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Judith_01
I was not critiquing your typing. I like your typing. Actually, I read "very".
In certain circles it is rumored that I just might not be a theist.
In that context, I attempted applying wit when you wrote "God" and I asked "Who?".
Thanks for your posts. Welcome to the board.
gb
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hi everyone, i too have been lurking for a few weeks and thought it was time i made myself known.
i am not a jw but i am married to a man who is from a multi-generational family of jw's (although he has not been to meetings since he was old enough to object).
although i have never had any direct involvement with the organisation itself, i find my life is constantly infulenced by these people who judge, shun and avoid my husband and i (i guess they don't want to mix with "worldy people" such as us).
Judith_01 You wrote: < . . how many have questioned the every existance of God himself>
Who?
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it appears there are a few misconceptions when it comes to the reporting of child abuse.
the federal law child abuse prevention and treatment act (capta)(jan. 1996 version), 42 u.s.c.
failure to report can result in civil liability.
Jehovah's Witnesses have sure changed a LOT since the 1940's when they argued with dedication they were not even a religion and that religion represented "superstition and demonism" and claimed that "God and religion are diametrically opposed." *
Now they are a religion and they are demanding that their agents be awarded clergy legal rights. So all along, they were a religion and the Witnesses were clergy after all. What? God's Corporation was a religion and didn't even know it? Yeah right!
That anybody takes these idiots seriously is still beyond me.
Glad you are trying to influence them to change Bill and also glad you are helping to publicize their crimes. I can't yet appreciate your presentation position as one of them. I most likely am not aware of all the facts. I do appreciate your courage and your decision to aid your credibility and not be anonymous.
I was not sexually abused by them. I was physically abused by them and I was a witness to horrendous physical abuse of Witness children. The people I respect most are those who publicly reject the Watch Tower Corporation and all of their agents and who refuse to be associated with that whole group.
Clergy my ass . . .
gb
* THEOCRATIC AID TO KINGDOM PUBLISHERS WTB&TS 1945 p. 205 - 206
i have just finished reading watchtower of aug 15th 1968.
( i was still there then) i couldnt believe what i'm reading & i qoute.
"are we to assume from this study that the battle of armageddon will be over by the autumn of 1975 & the longed looked for thousand year reign of christ will begin by then?
Leander, You wrote:
<. . . she asked me why was I looking for mistakes that the WTS had made.>
Why were you?
I was just wondering too . . .
gb
hi friends,.
i've read the thread "how many left over the un issue?".
i know ginosko, he is the elder, a very good friend of mine, i told you about when i wrote the threads about the un and my congregation.
Hi caballoSentado
I hope you do not leave. How will you serve God if you are not a Jehovah's Witness?
I was a much better person as a Witness. When I was a Witness, I judged people with righteous judgement. Now I just accept people and kinda like most everybody who treats me good.
When I was a Witness, I shunned people for no other reason than I was told to do so by someone I didn't even like. Now I only shun people who shun and snub me and others important to me.
When I was a Witness, I encouraged people to refuse medical treatment that required blood support and some of those people died. Now I encourage people to receive the best medical treatment available.
When I was a Witness, I did not educate myself nor work for financial success, present or future. Now I have a fine education, a good job and a retirement plan.
Glad you are happy as a Witness. They need you. Best wishes.
gb
By the way, your question was an insult to anyone with a brain.
i have come to the conclusion that so many of the society's doctrines are not scriptural (both major and minor ones) that i can no longer cal it "the truth".
i still go to congregation meetings, but i can't see myself going for much longer - a bit of a crisis of conscience.
however, there seems to be one piece of seemingly logical advice from the elders that i cannot come to terms with despite what i have found.. even amongst the elders that have spoken to me there seems to be some who do not accept the entire body of doctrines of the society, yet because they see the fruitage of matthew 7:17, 20 being expressed within the congregation and not elsewhere they stay and advise me to stay too.
Hi stevieb1
Bottom line is . . . . Do you want to be a Witness?
If the answer is yes, then no doctrine error could make you leave because you have the hope they will someday change to fit your perceptions.
If the answer is no . . . Then no doctrine, argument, logic, reason, or threat could make you stay.
I kicked the Kingdom Hall door on the way out and did not even think of looking for justification for staying or for leaving either. I did not want to be a Witness and I still don't.
I think it sucks that I have to either suck up to some idiot in an IBM business suit who sold his soul . . . that I have to support the latest insanity from headquarters or be at war with the whole whacky group. But that being the only choice . . . I chose war.
There is ample justification for staying as well as for leaving. For the true believer, no proof is needed. For the skeptic, no amount of proof is sufficient.
I think you will stay and if you do leave, you will go back.
Best wishes either way,
gb
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i've been out of the jws for some time now, seven years.
like many of you, i left a lot of acquaintances, friends, and family behind.. the acquaintances were fairly easy to let go, the friends very hard, and the family, well, near impossible, at least up until now.
that she should listen to both sides of the story without fear and make her own decision.
Gary wrote:
"I quit giving them opportunities to shun me. I have contempt for them and their religion. I do not have blanket forgiveness in escrow waiting for them to stop over and pick it up someday. They got a heck of a lot of making up to do to ever get anywhere near me again."
sKally Wrote:
I'm curious, are you still thinking and feeling what you stated here?
Hi sKally,
Yes! They are at zero and digging. If the shunners and snubbers ever want a connection with me they need to start by making personal application to me and then make amends. If they are still an agent for the Watch Tower Corporation, I am not interested in any connection with them.
I don't expect any to ever try to make amends with me on my terms. If they quit being agents for the Corporation I will see that as a good first step. I am not holding my breath at all.
Evil is as evil does and evil loves company. It takes character and virtue to admit a mistake and reform. I doubt my agent relatives have either character or virtue. Their lack of character and virtue is why they are agents of foolishness in the first place.
gb
it's a shame , but its probably true, i bet there are more ex-witnesses (those who are dis'ed or dont go anymore)who still believe its the truth than those who don't.. what do you think?
I don't know that I "believed" it all as a walkaway but I do know I feared some of it was true. I had kept enough learned harmful attitudes and behaviors working in my life to make problems.
The fear that the world would end stayed with me long after I left. Many of the Watch Tower Corporation's teachings were presented to me to accept without proof. That fact made their claims difficult initially for me to disprove.
Another problem was the layered and fluid doctrinal package. I was not even really sure what I did believe as a Witness. Try to reduce the Revelation book to one paragraph. Or the blood medical guidelines.
In the end I went back and read the Watch Tower Corporation's publications starting with Three Worlds and all through Rutherford's rule. I studies word for word the Let God Be True book. That was the recruiting book as well as the study book in the 50's when I was indoctrinated.
After I learned the doctrines, I set about challenging them all with reality and facts.
That was where I did find out the right to question policy is not a policy but a teaching. When I initially had questions I asked the various Witnesses I knew and they dodged, lied and actually ran away from me.
Their behaviors actually convinced me they were practicing lying and deception by choice. And the teachings? They just melted like butter in the sun.
gb
