BonaFide

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Posts by BonaFide

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  17

  The Watch Tower will implode

  by Hiddenwindow in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i honestly believe that the watch tower's insistence in silencing disent will eventually destroy it.

  no one knows at this point how many doubters and closet apostates are still inside.

  and the wt itself is unable to identify most of them.

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  BonaFide

  Very interesting idea. It does seem to me that this general feeling of "awareness" that JW's are not right, is becoming more pervasive.

  Or maybe that's just my hopeful thinking, and almost all Witnesses are faithful to the death.

  BF
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  11

  Why aren't JW's exposed in the news on 60 Minutes?

  by BonaFide in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i know we had the dateline show a few years ago, but what about recently?.

  seems to me that with about a million members in the us, and all the strange policies like blood transfusions, informing authorities re child molestation, disfellowshipping, that it would be a big story.

  especially with so many witnesses that are depressed, or suicidal, or with the broken marriages, or children that die or those that are shunned.

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  BonaFide

  I know we had the Dateline show a few years ago, but what about recently?

  Seems to me that with about a million members in the US, and all the strange policies like blood transfusions, informing authorities re child molestation, disfellowshipping, that it would be a big story. Especially with so many Witnesses that are depressed, or suicidal, or with the broken marriages, or children that die or those that are shunned.

  Like one of those multi-episode news specials on CNN. Why don't they have those shows about JW's?

  I guess Witnesses are not a big deal in the world of today.

  BF
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  18

  Do Jehovah's Witnesses take responsibility for anything?

  by BonaFide in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  now that i am opening my eyes more and more, i am starting to realize that jw's don't see the need to take responsibility for anything.. like in the wt for this week, if a jw marriage fails, they can say it was because they didnt pray enough, or preach together enough.. if an elder gives counsel about anything, then if it seems to work for the person, then he accepts the praise or says it came from jehovah.. but if things don't work out, then the elder will blame the person for not following the counsel right.

  or he will tell them to wait on jehovah.. or if there is a wrong teaching, it is never really wrong, it is only the light getting brighter.. it doesnt really matter what happens in a persons life, it is never the fault of jw's or teachings or decisions.

  they will say that jehovah is allowing this test, or that the person didnt follow the counsel, or that jehovah is doing things in a special way, or that we don't know yet why that happened, but we will.. for a person that has a comfortable life, and things going pretty well, and they never ask the elders for help, often they think that is jehovah's blessing.. but if something big goes wrong, and the elders give bad advice, or they punish someone and call it "help" and they mess up a persons life, it completely doesnt matter to them.

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  BonaFide

  Now that I am opening my eyes more and more, I am starting to realize that JW's don't see the need to take responsibility for anything.

  Like in the WT for this week, if a JW marriage fails, they can say it was because they didnt pray enough, or preach together enough.

  If an elder gives counsel about anything, then if it seems to work for the person, then he accepts the praise or says it came from Jehovah.

  But if things don't work out, then the elder will blame the person for not following the counsel right. Or he will tell them to wait on Jehovah.

  Or if there is a wrong teaching, it is never really wrong, it is only the light getting brighter.

  It doesnt really matter what happens in a persons life, it is never the fault of JW's or teachings or decisions. They will say that Jehovah is allowing this test, or that the person didnt follow the counsel, or that Jehovah is doing things in a special way, or that we don't know yet why that happened, but we will.

  For a person that has a comfortable life, and things going pretty well, and they never ask the elders for help, often they think that is Jehovah's blessing.

  But if something big goes wrong, and the elders give bad advice, or they punish someone and call it "help" and they mess up a persons life, it completely doesnt matter to them.

  They say that Jehovah will fix everything, so if we are upset now, or hurt now, that is our fault. We need to wait on Jehovah. The child molestation issues, the blood issues, family break-ups, depression, lack of skills to find good work, its never ever, the fault of the organizationn

  How many people I have read on this forum that are suffering because of some policy or decision.

  And all of it is thrown back in their face.

  BF
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  25

  The two reasons Witnesses think they are the Truth

  by BonaFide in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have had several conversations over the past few years with brothers that i know that are elders, c.o.

  's, and bethelites.

  one thing almost all of them have said:.

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  BonaFide

  I have had several conversations over the past few years with brothers that I know that are elders, C.O.'s, and Bethelites.

  One thing almost all of them have said:

  "You know, the Organization changes, and our understanding changes. But TWO things make me still believe. One, only JW's earthwide consistently don't go to war, and two, we are the ones doing the preaching work of Matthew 24:14."

  So, all the teaching changes, and organizational changes are not a big deal, at least to these brothers that I have known for years.

  So, am I right? Is that what those of you that are Witnesses think? That nothing else really matters except those two things?

  BF
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  46

  Have you met Governing Body members?

  by BonaFide in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  brother jaracz taught one day of my mts class, the very last day.

  when i was in bethel i met brother schroeder, brother sydlik, barr, barry.

  i said hi to brother franz once as a kid.. the new ones?

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  BonaFide

  What gets me after reading your posts is how so many of us came to the same conclusions.

  But that is looking back now. When i actually met them I thought they were so special, no matter what they said or did, I made it significant.

  Now I can see they are just like everyone else, except they think they are God's channel.

  BF
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  46

  Have you met Governing Body members?

  by BonaFide in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  brother jaracz taught one day of my mts class, the very last day.

  when i was in bethel i met brother schroeder, brother sydlik, barr, barry.

  i said hi to brother franz once as a kid.. the new ones?

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  BonaFide

  Brother Jaracz taught one day of my MTS class, the very last day. When I was in Bethel I met brother Schroeder, brother Sydlik, Barr, Barry. I said hi to brother Franz once as a kid.

  The new ones? I have met brother Losch briefly after a convention, and brother Lett also. I read the threads about them knowing or now knowing they are not the truth. I personally think they force themselves to believe it. That's what I did, and it worked for years.

  That's about it.

  And you?

  BF
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  21

  My Ex-Gilead Witness Sister Calls Me For the 1st Time in 5 Years

  by flipper in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i think she was put up to it by my mother, but perhaps not.

  she had some major back surgery- and although she has been extremely critical of me fading from the witnesses, i called her and left a message the other day to say my wife and i were thinking of her and wished her a speedy recovery.

  she was pleasant, authentic, and genuinely happy that i was showing concern for her !

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  BonaFide

  People change. I know I did. I used to defend Witnesses no matter what. I used to preach extra hours above my pioneer service. I gave talks about how almost everyone could pioneer.

  I treated my disassociated brother badly. Now I am trying to be fair and kind to everyone, and the only ones treating me bad are my Witness family and some friends.

  But I think you are right, as more and more time goes by, and the constant talks about the end being near getting old, more and more may start realizing at least some things.

  BF
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  16

  Are most JWs really disfellowshipped for sexual reasons?

  by JimmyPage in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  that's the claim they always make.

  but is that just a cover for the fact that most are now waking up to the b.s?

  or that when people do wake up to the b.s.

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  BonaFide

  I probably have a record for serving on committees. In the country I served in, almost every young person gets involved in something sexual. The married ones too, at least the husbands. I remember getting instructions for the circuit assembly that we needed to interview a long-time elder in our circuit who had a long, happy marriage. We had to borrow another elder from another circuit, because all the 43 elders in our circuit had either been unfaithful in the past, or had been married too recently. And since there are so few elders in each congregation, the CO often has to serve on the committee. Or find qualified brothers to do it. Sounds strange now.

  But yes, where I served, most JC's are formed for sexual sins. I tried to be fair, or what I thought was fair. I never disfellowshipped young couples. I did disfellowship older brothers or sisters who took advantage of inexperienced ones. It's hard to be on a JC and be a missionary, because the local brothers tend to defer to your opinion.

  I did serve on one where a brother was accused of murder though. Very, very interesting.

  I will say though, that each JC is so different. You never know what the other elders are going to say. Some use the Flock book a lot, some ask to pray several times. Some have their own ways of being chairman. I always hated the ones who asked the person, "How would you feel if we disfellowshipped you?"

  You never know what to expect from your fellow elders. Some love details, some don't. Some follow the guidelines, some don't. It's crazy how I thought it was all Holy Spirit.

  Once the Branch told me to be "very careful" about disfellowshipping a brother in my circuit for smoking. So I took that to mean not to disfellowship him. Turns out he had bought land and donated it to build a Kingdom Hall, and then built himself a house on the same property. Problem with the title deed. What a mess. They finally met with him, the branch sent out reps, and they worked out a compromise.

  I heard they disfellowshipped him a year later.

  BF
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  2

  How Jehovah's Witnesses view themselves

  by BonaFide in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  situation:.

  you are inactive or disfellowshipped or disassociated.

  your family won't talk to you hardly, or at all.. your view: your family is being unkind, ridiculous and cruel.

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  BonaFide

  Situation:

  You are inactive or disfellowshipped or disassociated. Your family won't talk to you hardly, or at all.

  YOUR view: Your family is being unkind, ridiculous and cruel. They are YOUR FAMILY and they should be there for you no matter what.

  THEIR view: They love you, but they cannot contact you or have association with you because they want you to survive Armageddon. It's like surgery, it hurts, but it is necessary.

  Another situation:

  Someone you know dies. They are a Witness. The funeral is at the Kingdom Hall. You attend.

  YOUR view: You miss the person who died. You remember how great of a person they were. Their sense of humor, their generosity. You want to talk about them. You respect their views, but a funeral is to mourn them, and to celebrate their life.

  THEIR view: We as individuals are not the most important thing. But Jehovah loves his servants. So a funeral mostly to bring praise to Jehovah and to bring real comfort to the bereaved by talkin about the resurrection to earth under Christ's Kingdom.

  Another situation:

  There is a change in one of the teachings in the WT. The old teaching has been around for a long time, and Witnesses have been preaching it for years, but now the teaching has changed.

  YOUR view: False teachings mean false prophets, and God does not make mistakes.

  THEIR view: Jehovah is leading his Organization and the light is getting brighter. We could not stand it if the light was too bright too soon. So truth is revealed gradually. If it seems to change back and forth, that is like a boat that is "tacking" that is, it changes course a lot, but still gets to its destination. And we shouldnt worry too much about changes, we should appreiciate what we get from the Faithful and Discreet Slave.

  The point is, JW's don't view themselves as being mean or cruel. I don't know why some on this forum think that Witnesses are mean to them ON PURPOSE. My family does not consider itself to be mean to me. They say they love me, and THEY BELIEVE IT. They think that avoiding me is the best way to help me.

  They really believe that.

  There doesnt seem to be any reasoning that works, any plea for mercy or reasonableness. When that brother died at the assembly, and they didnt have a defribrilator, and they waitied for an appointed elder to call 911 because others are not supposed to, and my family said, "Well, its great that he died at the assembly, the best place to die."

  I knew at that point that nothing, absolutely nothing is as important as the Organization.

  BF
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  42

  Is my life reaching to a dead end?I need a way out...

  by justhuman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just don't know what to do...it seems that i have been carrying this burden since i was born.

  and the burden is to be raised and live for 33 years in the most mind destructive cult the watchtower.

  after i have been disfellowshiped 2 years ago(yes my wife turned me to the "loving"elders for apostasy)i left home.

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  BonaFide

  I have an idea for you. It is not too pretty but you may want to do it.

  Get yourself reinstated. Go back to enough meetings and say you will be loyal to the organization. Act happy and really get into it. Say you have been "snatched out of the fire."

  I know some will disagree with me, but if you want your family and kids, that may be the only way for now.

  I am still a practicing JW. I worked with the C.O. last week in service. I comment and give talks.

  Since I brought up a few inconsistencies with my family about the WT,they treated me very bad. So now I am pretending to believe. I put service time in, I comment.

  It works to a certain extent.

  In your situation, just remember that no reasoning with them will work. The bottom line is, "The Organization is right, and Jehovah is running things." So if you want your family back, you can wait until the Organization falls apart, or you can get back in it and pretend.

  There are some on this forum who are practicing Witnesses, but who know its not the truth.

  BF