this is a question for all, but especially ex-jws who may have transferred their piety over to another religion, and come to believe in another faith:.
is 'truth' regarding the meaning of life something that can ever realistically be obtained by human beings?
what is your idea of what 'truth' is?
"What is truth"
It bothered me when Watchtower publications would criticize Pontius Pilate for being cynical and insincere in asking this question. I remember that even when I was very young I thought it was a good question. I was disappointed that they would always dismiss it rather than take it seriously and try to give an answer.
looking back there were quite a few families that did the "oh we're moving" fade.
they would move to a rural area.
or a state or two away.
I've been thinking of doing this myself. Any suggestions?
i think if they do they will have to make many revisions now that information is so prevalent on the internet.
and with all that is known about dna and how it proves darwin was right i don't see how they could.
but i guess you can never put nothing past the wt and it's crack smoking writers to dig up something ridiculous to blur the lines of reality for the friends, for sure its got to be way harder to write such a book today and keep a straight face..
Probably not a full book that discusses evolution in detail.
For awhile now they have been focusing less on evolution and more on the wonders of creation. This is especially evident in the Was It Designed series of articles and the new DVD The Wonders of Creation Reveal God's Glory. These simply discuss a complex organism or biological mechanism and then say, or strongly imply, that there is no way these things could have come about without an intelligent designer.
my family is in the process of reaching out to establish friendships outside the jw religion.
at some point we will likely be ready to fade into total jw inactivity.
when we do that there will inevitably be numerous well-intentioned attempts to snatch us from the jaws of satan.
Yes! I just watched a couple of seasons of "The Wire" and I think I have several phrases or sentences that would be effective. PM me for details. Better yet, just rent a few episodes, it's great family viewing ;)
Phrases from the Wire? Please don't keep these just between the two of you. If you really don't feel comfortable posting them then please send me a PM.
for example, if he was demoted due to one of his children(who are still under him) being df'd or is no longer "exemplary".. agbm.
I have a few questions about this myself.
Do elders who resign or are removed have to re-qualify as ministerial servants before they can become elders again? When it comes to being reappointed, are former elders who resigned given different consideration than those who were removed?
I have known elders who have stopped serving for various reasons, but I have never heard of someone being demoted to ministerial servant. Is demotion even possible?
i always read h2o, randy's site and anything that might stay current.
i think it was h2o that said they were closing there but another site was opening and it was this one.. i'm curious how you got to find this place..
I followed a link to Freeminds from the Wikipedia article Criticism of Jehovah's Witnesses and then eventually to this site.
there are a few bible verses i'm going to discuss that probably don't bother anyone but me.
in fact, most people, including ex-dubs think they are wonderful verses.
i think they are really, really creepy verses.
All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandmentsit is worth noting that if Jesus could sum up the ENTIRE Law and the Prophets in just 24 words, why was all that other crap written in the first place? We could toss out entire BOOKS of the Bible and not have to be bothered with them at all if God would have just stated those 24 words in the first place.
Jesus' summary of the Law and the Prophets reminds me of Woody Allen's summary of Moby Dick, after speed reading through it in 20 minutes.
He said, "It's about a whale."
trying to fade inevitably involves some compromises.
still, i wonder how far i would be willing to go in order to leave on my own terms and not be disfellowshipped or pushed to disassociate.. at what point would you just give up and let them disfellowship you or send in a letter of disassociation?.
what would you do if someone found your copy of of crisis of conscience?.
Thanks, for your replies so far.
marni mai, it seems like you have sucessfully finished fading, especially if you would have no problem being disfellowshipped or telling the elders to shove it.
wobble, I'm trying to fade as quickly as possible, though still not quite as quickly as I would like. I haven't actually faced any of the scenarios I mentioned, nor do I expect to, but I am interested in how other faders might handle them.
cantleave, I can relate to the financial pressure to stay in and I agree that Witnesses would probably stop doing business with you if you were disfellowshipped. It's amazing that they would illegally discriminate based on religion with little hesitation. Do you think you'll be able to find other non-Witness businesses to work with instead?
trying to fade inevitably involves some compromises.
still, i wonder how far i would be willing to go in order to leave on my own terms and not be disfellowshipped or pushed to disassociate.. at what point would you just give up and let them disfellowship you or send in a letter of disassociation?.
what would you do if someone found your copy of of crisis of conscience?.
Trying to fade inevitably involves some compromises. Still, I wonder how far I would be willing to go in order to leave on my own terms and not be disfellowshipped or pushed to disassociate.
At what point would you just give up and let them disfellowship you or send in a letter of disassociation?
What would you do if someone found your copy of of Crisis of Conscience?
What would you say if an elder confronted you after the meeting with printouts of your postings here and asked if you had indeed written them?
What if a suspicious relative came right out and asked you, "Do you still believe that this is the truth?"
If you faced a judicial committee, whether for apostasy or something else, would you fight the charges, fake repentance, or just let them disfellowship you?
if this has been posted, then i missed it... .
.
"A final but no less important matter to take into consideration is how the community views one's choices. Living arrangements that a Christian judges acceptable but that give rise to unfavorable talk in the community would be a cause for concern. Never do we want our conduct to bring Jehovah's name into disrepute."
What about being, "no part of the world," and not allowing our thinking and conduct to be influenced by it?
It seems that Witnesses are supposed to strictly hold to the dictates of the FDS, but if local customs happen to be more restrictive and repressive then those should be followed as well.
