i just noticed this today when i was replying to another thread.
the new elders handbook doesn't even mention the word birthday, even though there's a big detailed chapter on offences requiring a judicial committee.. is it possible that celebrating birthdays is officially, according to the 'law', allowed?
i can see this being the case, where technically you're allowed to, but you would just get judged like crazy..
I just noticed this today when I was replying to another thread. The new elders handbook doesn't even mention the word birthday, even though there's a big detailed chapter on offences requiring a judicial committee.
Is it possible that celebrating birthdays is officially, according to the 'law', allowed? I can see this being the case, where technically you're allowed to, but you would just get judged like crazy.
i've always wondered this, and with the holidays coming up, why does the watchtower only pick on certain things, and leave other things to question, or to the conscience?.
Here's something interesting. The new elder's manual has a list of DF'd offences, but doesn't even MENTION the word "birthday". Is this not officially a Judicial Committee matter?
Also, the new Elders manual says you can get DF'd for "celebrating false religious holidays. Not all holidays directly involve false religion and require judicial action". So what about Thanksgiving, Valentines Day, 4th of July, etc? May have 'pagan' origins, but no false relition.
that satan is the evil alter ego of god?
that god has some sort of split personality.
that would explain the mass killings of people while still saying that he is a god of love.
I had a similar thought... what if God is actually Satan (wolf in sheep's clothing) and Statan is God (misrepresented). This would be like in the movie Faceoff. So people are actually worshipping the wrong god, and are actually worshipping Satan...
I brought this up a number of years ago in a service car group, as I love to just brainstorm and come up with crazy ideas, and they did NOT like it.
trinkets like these make me want to .
when you carry the bible, satan gets a headache; when you open it, he collapses; when he sees you reading it he faints; when he sees you are living what you read, he flees!!
and when you are about to re-post this message, he will try and discourage you ... i defeated him!!
WHEN you carry the bible, satan gets a headache; when you open it, he collapses; When he sees you reading it he faints; when he sees you are LIVING WHAT YOU READ, he flees!! and when you are about to re-post this message, he will try and discourage you ... I defeated him!!
If Satan can be so easily defeated, why are JW's SOOO afraid of him?
while it is not possible for me to claim that the following are axioms in the objective sense, they are a glimpse into demonstrating how far from reality the governing body keeps its adherents.
once a member of jehovahs witnesses, we suddenly develop a sense of authority since we have the truth.
we become experts in the bible, on religion, upon anything we study about.
Knowledge and education are good.
There are rarely any absolutes. We are in a constant state of education and knowledge gathering, and it is important and healthy to always consider all facts and question what you know, in all areas of life. Worst case you confirm what you already know, best case you learn something new, and improve upon what you know.
Any time someone tells you they have the truth, or they say not to question anything (this is beyond religion, including areas like politics) then run away. They are lying, delusional, or both.
i've got one!.
you don't have to wait in long xmas lines at the store to buy xmas presents.
as a matter of fact, you don't have to buy a damn thing!.
Now let's be real... with all the negativity on this board, being a JW didn't TOTALLY suck. You had easy access to some really good friends, albeit conditional. A lot of our old friends were truly great people whom we still have yet to meet the equivilent after leaving.
Otherwise I hated service, meetings, studying, etc... so that's probably the only major good thing I can think of :)
i don't post much, so most of you don't know me.
i live in nc near oompa, and he has become a good friend with my wife and i over the last few years.. so as an update, my wife visited oompa today!
he's recovering, but has a long recovery to go.
Actually he said he's coming home today!!! Wow. He said that he's been improving faster than anyone including himself had thought. He's still in pain, but this is a huge step forward!
been thinking about this and curious about what makes us all come to the decisions we came to in our fade/exiting the jw organization.. i think for myself having been born-in & raised a jw my doubts about the generation doctrine had simmered for years within me quietly and by the time i finally left in 2003 i had reached my breaking point.
also seeing unjust treatment of rank & file witness ( myself included ) just propelled me into my decision even quicker.
so - one day after meeting with 3 elders in a back room before a meeting and seeing their judgmental aggression towards me - i just told myself " enough is enough ".
For me rather quickly. In December 2007 my mind broke free, and I finally realized the lies. My wife arranged for a shepherding call so the elders could address my concerns. She thought that would do much good. The irony was they had literally ZERO answers besides "they're imperfect men" and "wait on Jehovah" and "it's the truth". That actually made an impact on my wife, but it took a few months. The brothers never really approached me again, besides an occasional "how's it going" after a Sunday meeting.
In the mean time I only attended Sunday meetings to keep the wife happy, but that lasted only a few months. My last meeting was the Sunday in early 2008 where they announced the cancellation of the book study.
By May 2008 my wife was out for good too.
As with reasons, my only goal was to not get DF'd. This was only for my mother and my mother-in-law. By not getting DF'd it would make associating with them much easier. I also wanted to exit slow enough to get my wife out too, which it did!
i don't post much, so most of you don't know me.
i live in nc near oompa, and he has become a good friend with my wife and i over the last few years.. so as an update, my wife visited oompa today!
he's recovering, but has a long recovery to go.
BTTT, for all our OOMPA fans!
i don't post much, so most of you don't know me.
i live in nc near oompa, and he has become a good friend with my wife and i over the last few years.. so as an update, my wife visited oompa today!
he's recovering, but has a long recovery to go.
Thanks everyone for your kind words to Oompa. I'll let him know that you all care, and that he should read what you are all saying!
