Yes you have all been very kind in your responses and I have lots to consider, I am going to the memorial (birth allowing) to get a balanced view of both sides but will mainly be in new mum nappy-mode for the next few months so won't be making any drastic changes to my life :)
Posts by reniaa
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383Thinking of becoming a Witness again and my reasons for doing so :(
by reniaa ini've been a faded jw for 10 years i left because of my failed first marriage, i'm no hypocrite and realised i had left completely so i embraced the world and dived in, only christmas and birthdays i could not get into, they were too foreign to me having never celebrated them, like if i suddenly tried to do ramadan or something like that.. 1/ all the criticisms of the people in the truth you say on here, i've found in the world, warts and all only in the world nothing holds them back from being utterly horrible to you.. 2/ i got stabbed by a worldly boyfriend, i got married 2 times of my own choosing to men outside the truth, the first smoked and was an alcoholic, the second gambled every penny we had and defrauded me out of money after we separated, 2 divorces later i am currently pregnant and a single mum since current boyfriend decided kids was to much of a responsibility and he needed his freedom and i was 'too selfish to expect him to give up his life'.. 3/ parents-in-law!
i have been shunned by them as equal to anything you accuse witness families of and for the silliest of reasons, i had a disabled son and his grandparents said they wanted nothing to do with him because they didn't want to become attached in case he died.. 4/ i miss the honest friendships of the truth, i had friends of all ages from 14 to 80 years old and they genuinely cared for me, many trying to keep me in the faith a long time after i left but i was determined to fade so moved away completely, but i find friendships in the world so shallow in comparison and very hard to sustain :( i've never been a drinker and sometimes thats what friendship means you being a companion for them to goto pub with.. 5/ my recent boyfriend was in a christian religion, i thought why not find out about it, harvest churches if you ever heard of them, unfortunately it still hasn't stop him leaving me pregnant and alone and when i said to him how does he clear that with god, he replies "as long as i repent it doesn't matter" it's like he has a "get out of jail free card" for any wrong-doing in the bible, this is so alien to me and my witness trained conscience.. 6/ i recently out of frustration tried looking into atheism and joined their forums, it wasn't fun, they are as bombastic and arrogant as their religious counterparts can be from any religion, they make a religion out of not believing in god, it's very weird they talk of saving people from believing in god and offer nothing to replace it.
they said to me "be happy you are in reality now and enjoy it" and i thought "well if this is reality i've had enough of it".
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383
Thinking of becoming a Witness again and my reasons for doing so :(
by reniaa ini've been a faded jw for 10 years i left because of my failed first marriage, i'm no hypocrite and realised i had left completely so i embraced the world and dived in, only christmas and birthdays i could not get into, they were too foreign to me having never celebrated them, like if i suddenly tried to do ramadan or something like that.. 1/ all the criticisms of the people in the truth you say on here, i've found in the world, warts and all only in the world nothing holds them back from being utterly horrible to you.. 2/ i got stabbed by a worldly boyfriend, i got married 2 times of my own choosing to men outside the truth, the first smoked and was an alcoholic, the second gambled every penny we had and defrauded me out of money after we separated, 2 divorces later i am currently pregnant and a single mum since current boyfriend decided kids was to much of a responsibility and he needed his freedom and i was 'too selfish to expect him to give up his life'.. 3/ parents-in-law!
i have been shunned by them as equal to anything you accuse witness families of and for the silliest of reasons, i had a disabled son and his grandparents said they wanted nothing to do with him because they didn't want to become attached in case he died.. 4/ i miss the honest friendships of the truth, i had friends of all ages from 14 to 80 years old and they genuinely cared for me, many trying to keep me in the faith a long time after i left but i was determined to fade so moved away completely, but i find friendships in the world so shallow in comparison and very hard to sustain :( i've never been a drinker and sometimes thats what friendship means you being a companion for them to goto pub with.. 5/ my recent boyfriend was in a christian religion, i thought why not find out about it, harvest churches if you ever heard of them, unfortunately it still hasn't stop him leaving me pregnant and alone and when i said to him how does he clear that with god, he replies "as long as i repent it doesn't matter" it's like he has a "get out of jail free card" for any wrong-doing in the bible, this is so alien to me and my witness trained conscience.. 6/ i recently out of frustration tried looking into atheism and joined their forums, it wasn't fun, they are as bombastic and arrogant as their religious counterparts can be from any religion, they make a religion out of not believing in god, it's very weird they talk of saving people from believing in god and offer nothing to replace it.
they said to me "be happy you are in reality now and enjoy it" and i thought "well if this is reality i've had enough of it".
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reniaa
I hope so jgnat :) and your replies were good too, I think with your partner trying to get reinstated you probably know better than most were my thoughts are at atm :) but I am a questioner as you noticed and will not accept people saying "don't do it because JW's are bad people" I think I would need more than that lol
To the guy posting below you i'm a bit rusty on the "End of days teaching, paradise earth" teachings of JW's it has been 10 years and in reading the bible again i'm only upto Judges atm :) but you make a good point I will certainly be exploring that eventually. they are not the only Christian faith who think we are living in the "times of the end" atm though, there are quite a few at my last research.
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24
Jehovah's Witnesses - A Hijacked Religion
by B_Deserter inthe more and more i read about the history of the witnesses, the more i don't see them as one in the same as charles t. russell's religion.
i think the religious movement from 1874 to 1916 was completely different than the one from 1918 to now.
rutherford is the real founder of jehovah's witnesses.
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reniaa
I find this thread difficult because I couldn't see any religious leader looking good under this kind of examination! Joseph Smith leader of mormons was gun toting one that died in a gun battle he liked having multiple wives, L Ron hubbard founder of dianetics later called scientology did it for a bet saying founding a religion was the way to make money, he spent most of his later life avoiding tax collectors on his boat, name any pope and you will find a very human person with failings behind the so-called divine office.
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383
Thinking of becoming a Witness again and my reasons for doing so :(
by reniaa ini've been a faded jw for 10 years i left because of my failed first marriage, i'm no hypocrite and realised i had left completely so i embraced the world and dived in, only christmas and birthdays i could not get into, they were too foreign to me having never celebrated them, like if i suddenly tried to do ramadan or something like that.. 1/ all the criticisms of the people in the truth you say on here, i've found in the world, warts and all only in the world nothing holds them back from being utterly horrible to you.. 2/ i got stabbed by a worldly boyfriend, i got married 2 times of my own choosing to men outside the truth, the first smoked and was an alcoholic, the second gambled every penny we had and defrauded me out of money after we separated, 2 divorces later i am currently pregnant and a single mum since current boyfriend decided kids was to much of a responsibility and he needed his freedom and i was 'too selfish to expect him to give up his life'.. 3/ parents-in-law!
i have been shunned by them as equal to anything you accuse witness families of and for the silliest of reasons, i had a disabled son and his grandparents said they wanted nothing to do with him because they didn't want to become attached in case he died.. 4/ i miss the honest friendships of the truth, i had friends of all ages from 14 to 80 years old and they genuinely cared for me, many trying to keep me in the faith a long time after i left but i was determined to fade so moved away completely, but i find friendships in the world so shallow in comparison and very hard to sustain :( i've never been a drinker and sometimes thats what friendship means you being a companion for them to goto pub with.. 5/ my recent boyfriend was in a christian religion, i thought why not find out about it, harvest churches if you ever heard of them, unfortunately it still hasn't stop him leaving me pregnant and alone and when i said to him how does he clear that with god, he replies "as long as i repent it doesn't matter" it's like he has a "get out of jail free card" for any wrong-doing in the bible, this is so alien to me and my witness trained conscience.. 6/ i recently out of frustration tried looking into atheism and joined their forums, it wasn't fun, they are as bombastic and arrogant as their religious counterparts can be from any religion, they make a religion out of not believing in god, it's very weird they talk of saving people from believing in god and offer nothing to replace it.
they said to me "be happy you are in reality now and enjoy it" and i thought "well if this is reality i've had enough of it".
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reniaa
I think I find everyone comments fair and well thought out accept possibly sinis's yours have me wondering if I said the same things were done by witnesses you say 'those terrible people' but because I say they happenned from people not witnesses you say 'it's my fault' hmmm.
Other posters are right and I am up-front in my feelings of temptation to go back to JW's atm but i'm not jumping head first because i'm suspecting my motives after recent unhappinesses, so hense why my sister said post on here and get some real info.
For those that mention trying other christian faiths, I have certainly tried but I just can't get past the Cross 3=1 thing I researched and researched it, it just isn't biblical. One thing I will say is I love the bible :) I just find christianity cannot live upto it :( even ghandi saw this and he didn't believe in God!
“If Christians would really live according to the teachings of Christ, as found in the Bible, all of India would be Christian today.” Mahatma Gandhi quotes Thank you again everyone, your interesting informative replies have been thought provoking.
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383
Thinking of becoming a Witness again and my reasons for doing so :(
by reniaa ini've been a faded jw for 10 years i left because of my failed first marriage, i'm no hypocrite and realised i had left completely so i embraced the world and dived in, only christmas and birthdays i could not get into, they were too foreign to me having never celebrated them, like if i suddenly tried to do ramadan or something like that.. 1/ all the criticisms of the people in the truth you say on here, i've found in the world, warts and all only in the world nothing holds them back from being utterly horrible to you.. 2/ i got stabbed by a worldly boyfriend, i got married 2 times of my own choosing to men outside the truth, the first smoked and was an alcoholic, the second gambled every penny we had and defrauded me out of money after we separated, 2 divorces later i am currently pregnant and a single mum since current boyfriend decided kids was to much of a responsibility and he needed his freedom and i was 'too selfish to expect him to give up his life'.. 3/ parents-in-law!
i have been shunned by them as equal to anything you accuse witness families of and for the silliest of reasons, i had a disabled son and his grandparents said they wanted nothing to do with him because they didn't want to become attached in case he died.. 4/ i miss the honest friendships of the truth, i had friends of all ages from 14 to 80 years old and they genuinely cared for me, many trying to keep me in the faith a long time after i left but i was determined to fade so moved away completely, but i find friendships in the world so shallow in comparison and very hard to sustain :( i've never been a drinker and sometimes thats what friendship means you being a companion for them to goto pub with.. 5/ my recent boyfriend was in a christian religion, i thought why not find out about it, harvest churches if you ever heard of them, unfortunately it still hasn't stop him leaving me pregnant and alone and when i said to him how does he clear that with god, he replies "as long as i repent it doesn't matter" it's like he has a "get out of jail free card" for any wrong-doing in the bible, this is so alien to me and my witness trained conscience.. 6/ i recently out of frustration tried looking into atheism and joined their forums, it wasn't fun, they are as bombastic and arrogant as their religious counterparts can be from any religion, they make a religion out of not believing in god, it's very weird they talk of saving people from believing in god and offer nothing to replace it.
they said to me "be happy you are in reality now and enjoy it" and i thought "well if this is reality i've had enough of it".
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reniaa
Questions for you...one way
If anything your scriptures show that paul lived and breathed preaching he went into a city preached openly then onto peoples homes who were interested sent out followers who also preached everywhere, if anything door to door work is too narrow, is more what your arguement is pointing out?
The christians in the past took preaching seriously hense why christianity is so widespread now?
Paul probably did more hours preaching in a week than most auxillery pioneers did in a month, and the scriptures do show preaching wasn't just the mileu of the leaders elders etc?
When paul couldn't preach he wrote letters instead. So a certain amount of flexibilty in preaching is shown in getting the message to people.
Once gentiles were allowed into the faith only preaching in synogues wouldn't have allowed for them too?
what is so different from preaching house to house that makes it so wrong than preaching in the streets, as you say houses and going to peoples homes is allowed, Most Christian faiths I've researched now think only talking to family and friends is enough and I think that is just not backed up by Paul's example?
I will research your info though,
Thank you one way
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383
Thinking of becoming a Witness again and my reasons for doing so :(
by reniaa ini've been a faded jw for 10 years i left because of my failed first marriage, i'm no hypocrite and realised i had left completely so i embraced the world and dived in, only christmas and birthdays i could not get into, they were too foreign to me having never celebrated them, like if i suddenly tried to do ramadan or something like that.. 1/ all the criticisms of the people in the truth you say on here, i've found in the world, warts and all only in the world nothing holds them back from being utterly horrible to you.. 2/ i got stabbed by a worldly boyfriend, i got married 2 times of my own choosing to men outside the truth, the first smoked and was an alcoholic, the second gambled every penny we had and defrauded me out of money after we separated, 2 divorces later i am currently pregnant and a single mum since current boyfriend decided kids was to much of a responsibility and he needed his freedom and i was 'too selfish to expect him to give up his life'.. 3/ parents-in-law!
i have been shunned by them as equal to anything you accuse witness families of and for the silliest of reasons, i had a disabled son and his grandparents said they wanted nothing to do with him because they didn't want to become attached in case he died.. 4/ i miss the honest friendships of the truth, i had friends of all ages from 14 to 80 years old and they genuinely cared for me, many trying to keep me in the faith a long time after i left but i was determined to fade so moved away completely, but i find friendships in the world so shallow in comparison and very hard to sustain :( i've never been a drinker and sometimes thats what friendship means you being a companion for them to goto pub with.. 5/ my recent boyfriend was in a christian religion, i thought why not find out about it, harvest churches if you ever heard of them, unfortunately it still hasn't stop him leaving me pregnant and alone and when i said to him how does he clear that with god, he replies "as long as i repent it doesn't matter" it's like he has a "get out of jail free card" for any wrong-doing in the bible, this is so alien to me and my witness trained conscience.. 6/ i recently out of frustration tried looking into atheism and joined their forums, it wasn't fun, they are as bombastic and arrogant as their religious counterparts can be from any religion, they make a religion out of not believing in god, it's very weird they talk of saving people from believing in god and offer nothing to replace it.
they said to me "be happy you are in reality now and enjoy it" and i thought "well if this is reality i've had enough of it".
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reniaa
what about mathew's words
<< Matthew 10:14 >>
New American Standard Bible(©1995)
"Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet.King James Bible
And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.that does seem to indicate talking to people in their homes, a\nd by your own admittance he did send them out preaching, and using private homes your saying after they are 'Converted' but surely it's in asimilar setting as a study talking to those who are interested. Hmmm would we even have christianity if the ones in the past hadn't took jesus's preach the word scriptures seriously?
No I don't think your conclusions can justify only preaching to family and friends. Jesus obviously ment it further afield than that and his followers took it that way travelling from town to town, it's what paul and most of the desciples were doing through most of the new testiment, saying might be just temples and street is nit picking when homes are mentioned too.
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58
Have you gained more than lost?
by compound complex ingreetings, my friends:.
the above question is not in regard to one's weight.
that would be a rude question .... in terms of your jw experience, have the losses you've suffered been offset by the good you've gained?.
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reniaa
I'm sorry but atm I think I've lost more than I've gained after 10 years away, there is no utopia outside of JW's it's a hard world and in looking at other faiths and a lot of them exhibit same failings as witnesses that alot have mentioned so far :(
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383
Thinking of becoming a Witness again and my reasons for doing so :(
by reniaa ini've been a faded jw for 10 years i left because of my failed first marriage, i'm no hypocrite and realised i had left completely so i embraced the world and dived in, only christmas and birthdays i could not get into, they were too foreign to me having never celebrated them, like if i suddenly tried to do ramadan or something like that.. 1/ all the criticisms of the people in the truth you say on here, i've found in the world, warts and all only in the world nothing holds them back from being utterly horrible to you.. 2/ i got stabbed by a worldly boyfriend, i got married 2 times of my own choosing to men outside the truth, the first smoked and was an alcoholic, the second gambled every penny we had and defrauded me out of money after we separated, 2 divorces later i am currently pregnant and a single mum since current boyfriend decided kids was to much of a responsibility and he needed his freedom and i was 'too selfish to expect him to give up his life'.. 3/ parents-in-law!
i have been shunned by them as equal to anything you accuse witness families of and for the silliest of reasons, i had a disabled son and his grandparents said they wanted nothing to do with him because they didn't want to become attached in case he died.. 4/ i miss the honest friendships of the truth, i had friends of all ages from 14 to 80 years old and they genuinely cared for me, many trying to keep me in the faith a long time after i left but i was determined to fade so moved away completely, but i find friendships in the world so shallow in comparison and very hard to sustain :( i've never been a drinker and sometimes thats what friendship means you being a companion for them to goto pub with.. 5/ my recent boyfriend was in a christian religion, i thought why not find out about it, harvest churches if you ever heard of them, unfortunately it still hasn't stop him leaving me pregnant and alone and when i said to him how does he clear that with god, he replies "as long as i repent it doesn't matter" it's like he has a "get out of jail free card" for any wrong-doing in the bible, this is so alien to me and my witness trained conscience.. 6/ i recently out of frustration tried looking into atheism and joined their forums, it wasn't fun, they are as bombastic and arrogant as their religious counterparts can be from any religion, they make a religion out of not believing in god, it's very weird they talk of saving people from believing in god and offer nothing to replace it.
they said to me "be happy you are in reality now and enjoy it" and i thought "well if this is reality i've had enough of it".
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reniaa
From what you said on the DF situation, the witnesses are still being very and overly strict on it, it's a shame although I can see why you can't just pat someone on the back and say all is forgiven, If you did that you'd be back to my ex-partners religion and their 'Get out of jail free' repentance card that has allowed him to justify abandoning me and our child with a little prayer and repentance. Still it does sound foolish and self-defeating to disfellowship those who have already been away years and would do nothing to help them,
lol I think I think to much.
I want to give my children an awareness of God but not of a Cross to kiss and worship?
oo what a quandary i'm in and would I be even in it if I'd found a good partner who had stood by me and our children?
Sorry all I have is questions :)
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383
Thinking of becoming a Witness again and my reasons for doing so :(
by reniaa ini've been a faded jw for 10 years i left because of my failed first marriage, i'm no hypocrite and realised i had left completely so i embraced the world and dived in, only christmas and birthdays i could not get into, they were too foreign to me having never celebrated them, like if i suddenly tried to do ramadan or something like that.. 1/ all the criticisms of the people in the truth you say on here, i've found in the world, warts and all only in the world nothing holds them back from being utterly horrible to you.. 2/ i got stabbed by a worldly boyfriend, i got married 2 times of my own choosing to men outside the truth, the first smoked and was an alcoholic, the second gambled every penny we had and defrauded me out of money after we separated, 2 divorces later i am currently pregnant and a single mum since current boyfriend decided kids was to much of a responsibility and he needed his freedom and i was 'too selfish to expect him to give up his life'.. 3/ parents-in-law!
i have been shunned by them as equal to anything you accuse witness families of and for the silliest of reasons, i had a disabled son and his grandparents said they wanted nothing to do with him because they didn't want to become attached in case he died.. 4/ i miss the honest friendships of the truth, i had friends of all ages from 14 to 80 years old and they genuinely cared for me, many trying to keep me in the faith a long time after i left but i was determined to fade so moved away completely, but i find friendships in the world so shallow in comparison and very hard to sustain :( i've never been a drinker and sometimes thats what friendship means you being a companion for them to goto pub with.. 5/ my recent boyfriend was in a christian religion, i thought why not find out about it, harvest churches if you ever heard of them, unfortunately it still hasn't stop him leaving me pregnant and alone and when i said to him how does he clear that with god, he replies "as long as i repent it doesn't matter" it's like he has a "get out of jail free card" for any wrong-doing in the bible, this is so alien to me and my witness trained conscience.. 6/ i recently out of frustration tried looking into atheism and joined their forums, it wasn't fun, they are as bombastic and arrogant as their religious counterparts can be from any religion, they make a religion out of not believing in god, it's very weird they talk of saving people from believing in god and offer nothing to replace it.
they said to me "be happy you are in reality now and enjoy it" and i thought "well if this is reality i've had enough of it".
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reniaa
hi jgnat :) I do read the bible a lot, Twelve tribes of israel and allowing gentiles become christians by peter as reasons to have more than one christian faith, I've been thinking on your words not sure those work because even though there were twelve tribes they were all still jews and had to follow the bible laws strictly and the governing body/elders of each tribe still had to answer to moses and the levi priests who themselves were the one group held responsible for the whole spiritual well being of the jews. And once gentiles became christians they had to follow it the same as any jew practising it. What really lets down the thought of all christian faiths leads to God is the diversity of what they believe a lot of which simply isn't from bible origin. Does a faith have to be answerable to God if they preach or practise something non-biblical?
hi jenlet, If i am to believe in christianity and the bible, I don't think I can do it alolne, the bible does show that from israelites onwards it prefers us to do is as a group, so from that point I have to pick one that stands out 'Best of a bad lot' as you say, difficult one! especially when It comes to the Cross 3=1 thing which is really the major hurdle for any witness I think when crossing over to another Christian faith, it's certainly proved the biggest stumbling block for me, even if you say the witnesses are wrong, I have a friend from atheist forum who was an ancient language expert mostly greek and he confirmed what the witnesses said that the word use is stauros - stake not cross but also not 'torture' stake either just 'stake' in the bible, then the 3=1 thing we go from one God from jews to that.....has anyone else had problems with this when looking at other Christian faiths?
I will admit one definate thing in favour of JW's is I've always applauded the 'Door to Door' work even now, jesus set the example and it's very definately biblical, much better than just preaching to friends and family who may feel browbeaten by family members always trying to convert them, 'Door to door' preaching is simple and honest, it's sad that more Christian faiths don't do it. But you are right I couldn't preach anything now on the doors unless I fully believed in what I was preaching inc the blood issues.
I would never spread lies to make friends, I don't think my main reason for going back is to make friends, I admit it is part of it but I couldn't go back unless I could fully believe again or at least enough to see it as the nearest expression of what jesus wanted his christian followers to practise.
I hope you guys don't mind me exploring my faith etc with you?
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383
Thinking of becoming a Witness again and my reasons for doing so :(
by reniaa ini've been a faded jw for 10 years i left because of my failed first marriage, i'm no hypocrite and realised i had left completely so i embraced the world and dived in, only christmas and birthdays i could not get into, they were too foreign to me having never celebrated them, like if i suddenly tried to do ramadan or something like that.. 1/ all the criticisms of the people in the truth you say on here, i've found in the world, warts and all only in the world nothing holds them back from being utterly horrible to you.. 2/ i got stabbed by a worldly boyfriend, i got married 2 times of my own choosing to men outside the truth, the first smoked and was an alcoholic, the second gambled every penny we had and defrauded me out of money after we separated, 2 divorces later i am currently pregnant and a single mum since current boyfriend decided kids was to much of a responsibility and he needed his freedom and i was 'too selfish to expect him to give up his life'.. 3/ parents-in-law!
i have been shunned by them as equal to anything you accuse witness families of and for the silliest of reasons, i had a disabled son and his grandparents said they wanted nothing to do with him because they didn't want to become attached in case he died.. 4/ i miss the honest friendships of the truth, i had friends of all ages from 14 to 80 years old and they genuinely cared for me, many trying to keep me in the faith a long time after i left but i was determined to fade so moved away completely, but i find friendships in the world so shallow in comparison and very hard to sustain :( i've never been a drinker and sometimes thats what friendship means you being a companion for them to goto pub with.. 5/ my recent boyfriend was in a christian religion, i thought why not find out about it, harvest churches if you ever heard of them, unfortunately it still hasn't stop him leaving me pregnant and alone and when i said to him how does he clear that with god, he replies "as long as i repent it doesn't matter" it's like he has a "get out of jail free card" for any wrong-doing in the bible, this is so alien to me and my witness trained conscience.. 6/ i recently out of frustration tried looking into atheism and joined their forums, it wasn't fun, they are as bombastic and arrogant as their religious counterparts can be from any religion, they make a religion out of not believing in god, it's very weird they talk of saving people from believing in god and offer nothing to replace it.
they said to me "be happy you are in reality now and enjoy it" and i thought "well if this is reality i've had enough of it".
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reniaa
In my defense I shouldn't have used 'worldly' in my original post, It was unthinking, I certainly don't use it in my everyday life, I was just trying to find a way of expressing my dissilutionment with the unfettered free life of living without religion in the last 10 years, that it seems to have come at a heavy price?
Am I at fault for all my mistakes? that seems a harsh judgement even if I am a bad person-picker surely some blame can be put on the current practise of people being encouraged to go after money and self-indulgence. Would I have been treated so badly if my partners felt some guilt over their actions towards me?
