Posts by spanteach

13

Why I don't want to associate with pioneers

by JimmyPage in

jw
friends

sometimes i get flak for not having more "spiritual" associates.

the reason i don't really care for pioneers is that whatever interests or hobbies they have get replaced by the whole pioneering thing.

they become less like normal people and become more a clone of what a good dub "should" be.

spanteach

Ah, yes, the self-righteous pioneers who think only of field circus (great expression that I've now adopted) and "spiritual" matters. This was the final straw that made me leave for good. Here I was, trying to do what I felt I was supposed to be doing, having "good association" and instead I was constantly pressured to FT pioneer. I don't feel the need to do what everyone else is doing just because they're doing it. Isn't that what the WT guarded against anyway? Peer pressure? I guess it's okay in the context of you giving up your personal preferences, isn't it?

One hugely self-righteous pioneer would want to listen to "worldly" music in field circus, but would find a problem with EVERY song we played. Queen's Bicycle Race had the line "I say God, give me a choice." That was bad and not something a Christian should listen to because we know there's only one true God, so the song was changed. Then LoveShack by the B-52s came on. We were rockin' and rollin' until the line that says "wearin' next to nothin' cuz it's hot as an oven." Oh no, we're almost naked, that's bad. Um, did you HEAR what LoveShack is about??? People are having sex!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But you have a problem because they're wearing tiny clothes due to the heat??

39

Do you feel reading through the bible in the past has benefited you at all?

by Hope4Others in

putting the doctrine aside do you feel it has given you any advantages?

case in point my son posts on university sites and often the topic about the bible.

and god come up.

spanteach

As a Witness, we were taught that women should not teach the congregation, according to the apostle Paul. I decided to read through the accounts of the first-century Christians after Jesus' return to heaven, so I began with the book of Acts.

I'll never forget coming across Paul's words in one of his letters to the congregations. He basically said "I don't always know what I'm talking about." That gave me food for thought regarding some of the doctrines we'd been taught, including about women teaching the congregations (even though Hope4others, you said "aside from the doctrines") and was another nail in the coffin for me that caused me to eventually leave.

So in short, yes reading the Bible helped me.

25

simple question about popularity

by dippydo in

jw
friends

hi everyone, this is only my second post under this name but i'm not actually new, just couldnt remember my password under my other name as havnt been on the board for a very long time, hey i've even had a bible study in the time i've been away.. anyway, my question is, do you think their is a pecking order within the congregation,not so much overseer, elder, common publisher etc, more as in, one particular family being popular, everyone sucking up to them, them looking down their noses at the meer mortals who perhaps cant afford to pioneer or live in a palace, etc etc..

spanteach

LMAO oh, Diamondblue. That break-down of a congregation is sadly accurate but it made me laugh. Especially that bit about

They clean windows for a living with their dad and wouldnt know what the real job market was like at all. ALL the sisters in the hall hope to be married at some point to one of these lads (any one of them will do) and they ensure that they are invited to social events (like the usual barn dances and elder sponsored and attended bowling trips).

I'm crying from so much laughter.

digderidoo mentioned cliques....yeah, I was in about 6 or 7 different congregations in my life and they ALL had cliques. It was usually due to families in the congregation intermarrying over a time span of 20 years or so, which made 80% of the congregation related. How can a newcomer, Sister Single-Parent or Brother Unbelieving-Mate possibly compete with that??

28

Mr. Flipper's Conversation over Coffee w/ JW Daughter - Mixed Results

by flipper in

jw
friends

it is truly amazing the varied emotions i've felt since my jw daughter has been talking to me after not talking to me for 9 months .

" i replied, " i haven't said anything about the witnesses today .

she had told me an elder from my area had given a talk in her congregation 30 miles away , and she told him i have issues with the child abuse scandal.

spanteach

SPANTEACH- I'd gladly adopt you sis ! LOL! If I wasn't in California I'd take you to coffee ! Peace.

Yay! I shall start calling you "Dad." Um...even though I don't really know you

Thinking more about it now, the shunning thing probably was another nail in the coffin as far as my leaving "the truth." When I was in my early 20s, my father just stopped short of forbidding me to have anything to do with my older sister, because he viewed her as an "apostate." She left the religion and started having her own viewpoints, celebrated holidays, voted, etc. So in the truest sense of the word, yes, she was an apostate in that she's left. But the bottom line is, she's still my sister and I refused to stop speaking to her.

And guess what? In the last two years, after years of ignoring his children because they weren't doing what he thought they should, my dad has reconnected with both of my older sisters. But my sisters are naturally VERY suspicious. One of them jokingly said "are they (our parents) dying? Is that why they're suddenly speaking to us?" Funny, but sad.

FlipperDad, I hope that you and your daughter are able to peacefully resolve things without having to deal with years of not speaking to each other. It would be very unfortunate if that happened.

28

Mr. Flipper's Conversation over Coffee w/ JW Daughter - Mixed Results

by flipper in

jw
friends

it is truly amazing the varied emotions i've felt since my jw daughter has been talking to me after not talking to me for 9 months .

" i replied, " i haven't said anything about the witnesses today .

she had told me an elder from my area had given a talk in her congregation 30 miles away , and she told him i have issues with the child abuse scandal.

spanteach

Mr. Flipper, will you be my new dad? We could bask together in father-daughter non-going-to-meetingness. And I love coffee!! A friend gave me a coffee grinder and French press for my pagan birthday :D

17

anyone else feel inadequate

by 46&2 in

over the past 10 years ive tried coming back to the truth only to find myself back in the world doing silly things again and again.

i am onnce again determined to come back to the truth but feel that i am beyond redemption.

i feel ashamed going to talk to the elders cause they have dealt with me on two other occasions once being disfellowshipped 10 years ago and reproved two years ago.

spanteach

constantly, week after week, year after year, remind you of how much more you should/could be doing, they constantly force feed guilt on you.

For the longest time, I thought the problem was with me. I guess that's the point of it all, isn't it? You're not doing enough and (unspoken) you therefore are never deserving of Jehovah's unconditional love. And if you're not spending every waking moment talking, thinking, and doing theocratic things, you'll be destroyed at Armageddon.

What a way to live.

12

Retraining our WT-controlled minds - THE GAME 2

by Lady Lee in

i thought this might be a good way to help many of us to see the absurdity of some of the wts/jw rules "principles" .

women can't wear pants to meetings or service or i've heard even to go clean the hall.. what scriptures would the elders use to get a jw to conform.

you don't need to quote whatt he scripture and i certainly have no desire to do that but if you have the quotes handy feel free to post them.. the rule principle.

spanteach

Mega, how about a nice formal mother-of-the-bride pants suit? Cybil Shephard used to wear them all the time for red carpet arrivals and she looked nice. I agree about the dress code. Like the world will end if I don't have a skirt on. I remember the shock on my mother's face when I wore a skirt out in field service and she could see the bottom half of my knee-caps.

41

They Push You In,,,,Then Punish You If You Go!

by new boy in

they brag about the fact that they the don' t baptize their babies because "how can a baby 'know' what religion it wants to believe in the rest of it's life!".

but a 14 year old does?.....they put so much presure on their children to get dunked, that if your not baptize by 18 years old there is something really "wrong" with you.. so the poor kid does it, just to get everyone off their backs.

legally a minor can't be held to a contract if they are under 18 years old and why?

spanteach

It's just my personal opinion, but I think it's the responsibility of the parents guide their child's lives in the early years, religion included. But I think any steps the child makes toward any particular path should be THEIR decision, not the parents. And they shouldn't be punished if their parents don't agree with the path.

41

They Push You In,,,,Then Punish You If You Go!

by new boy in

they brag about the fact that they the don' t baptize their babies because "how can a baby 'know' what religion it wants to believe in the rest of it's life!".

but a 14 year old does?.....they put so much presure on their children to get dunked, that if your not baptize by 18 years old there is something really "wrong" with you.. so the poor kid does it, just to get everyone off their backs.

legally a minor can't be held to a contract if they are under 18 years old and why?

spanteach

The year leading up to my baptism, my dad would point out various ones around my age who were already baptized and why wasn't I baptized as I surely knew more of the truth than they did. So....it's a contest? I wish I'd had the guts to stand up to him and say what I now feel. But alas, I was a teenager who had no one in my corner and I didn't have the strength I have now.

Because my dad was an elder at the time, he was the one to "study" with me. But because he was the King of Inconsistency, I think he studied with me a total of three times. Way to go, dad!

41

They Push You In,,,,Then Punish You If You Go!

by new boy in

they brag about the fact that they the don' t baptize their babies because "how can a baby 'know' what religion it wants to believe in the rest of it's life!".

but a 14 year old does?.....they put so much presure on their children to get dunked, that if your not baptize by 18 years old there is something really "wrong" with you.. so the poor kid does it, just to get everyone off their backs.

legally a minor can't be held to a contract if they are under 18 years old and why?

spanteach

I was 14 when I was baptized. Just like someone mentioned earlier, my parents would never have dreamed of allowing me to enter into a marital contract. Yet I was forcibly coerced into dedicating my life to God? This doesn't make sense.

Then when I'd left, I got the same "but you made a dedication to Jehovah" speech. The bottom line is, if I was going to be held accountable in later life then the dedication should have been my decision and mine alone.