Hey, remember that David is a recurring fine example for them in the recent WT articles. Had Uriah survived and quit the army, they'd have hunted him down and killed him anyway. My how times have changed. Ha ha!
--sd-7
Posts by sd-7
-
20Just Because Your Sinning Spouse Attends Meetings, They're Better Than You Are???
by itscrap&theyknowit! init's been a long time.. well, i guess i'm gonna have to 'cut the cord' with my family.of course, they are all big sinners in jehovah's borganization, as is my husband.
but, i need to get it together and start attending meetings again!.
because he is the hypocrite and i don't tell them everything that goes on in our marriage, his word holds power over mine.
-
-
-
29
Believe it or not, another brief elder encounter yesterday...
by sd-7 init was another elder from my judicial committee, came up to me after i'd strapped my daughter into the car.
two things that struck me as different were (1) he didn't feel a need to bring a second elder along with him as if something that required two witnesses was going to be said by someone who'd been df'd for two years and 99.9% absent from meetings as well, and (2) he actually seemed genuinely friendly.
he simply asked if i was planning to come to the meetings again anytime soon.
-
-
sd-7
You speak wisdom, EE. I just made a list of all the stuff I'd have to do to get reinstated, just out of curiosity. When it got up to 16 items, I realized just how much hanging with you folks has corrupted me. Joke . But no way. The concessions wouldn't be worth it, really. Kids are experts at knowing something is up, man, and I know it would be all over my face. Besides, I fought too hard and ate too much crap these past few years to just throw it all away by going back. It would show them that their abuse and blackmail are not only effective, but justifiable. Somebody has to fight. Somebody has to take a stand.
The burden is heavy, but the paths leading back are all charred wasteland and old pains and a rage held just beneath the surface. And sorrow, most of all. Wondering what more they can take. Every moment I had to fix everything, I hesitated, for fear of becoming something I didn't like or couldn't respect. I suppose I was wrong.
Even though it's a struggle...well, this song comes to mind...I have to continue.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDefNSe722k
--sd-7
-
23
Where has the the society changed the bible to reflect their teachings?
by loosie ini am having a discussion with a jw who has contacted me on facebook.
we are discussing the changed the wt society made to hte bible.
in short he says he has a hebrew friend and that friend says the nwt is correct and no changes have been made.
-
-
sd-7
Revelation 20:4, 5 (NIV): I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God
Revelation 20:4, 5 (NWT): And I saw thrones, and there were those who sat down on them, and power of judging was given them. Yes, I saw the souls of those executed with the ax for the witness they bore to Jesus and for speaking about God
--One word was changed in this verse, and it changes the entire meaning of the verse, making the ones who have authority to judge and sit on thrones the same as those who were martyred. It puts the anointed in the position of judging themselves! No possible basis in the Greek text can be found for changing the word "And" to the word "Yes". The change clearly reflects their need to give a position to the anointed that doesn't exist at least in the context of these verses.
I learned that from a website myself, was surprised when I verified it and checked the Greek text. Subtle changes like that really get overlooked, but after seeing that one, I stopped using the New World Translation and realized it just can't be trusted.
--sd-7
-
64
Apostasy Trial - Part 4
by RayPublisher inthe second 45 minute video is now online:.
.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zcvocgamqg&feature=youtu.be.
-
-
sd-7
I watched the whole thing. I was riveted. I mean...it was so much like my own committee that I started to feel flashbacks, man. But you handled yourself extremely well. It was very clear that they were trying to get you to answer that $10,000 Question: Do you believe this is God's organization? Do you want to be one of Jehovah's Witnesses? They wanted the answer so they could let the hammer fall. And you were floatin' like a butterfly and stingin' like a bee! Ha ha!
What was troubling to me was when you were talking about your own personal trials with your marriage and all, they said something that sounded like they should have the right to decide who the victim was in your situation. Small wonder how they must handle cases of rape... Suddenly when you have a real and deep problem, "confidentiality" is cited as a reason not to be a support for you during that time. Says a lot about what kind of shepherds they really are (hired men)...
As always, the elders' response when you pointed out obvious contradictions in doctrine and false teachings, was to say they just plain didn't care. "God is using us because this is the truth", "I haven't found anything better", etc. Same things the elders said to me, same exact things. So every other religion is browbeat in the pages of the Watchtower for every mistake they've made since 325 A.D., but Jehovah's Witnesses get a free pass for stuff they said and did for the entire last century. Somehow they are more special.
"Jesus is our Mediator through the faithful slave". I never thought I would hear anyone actually say it. It chills me to the bone. Where in the Bible does it say that association with 'the anointed' is what leads to our relationship with God? A good thing to point out at this point is that twice this year that I can recall, the Society has said that the anointed will help Jesus apply the value of the ransom to our sins during the Thousand Year Reign. How? Where is the scripture that says that? There isn't one. Never has been. It's made up. We have to remember that 'anointed' is actually a translation of the term 'Christ'/'Messiah'. They're saying pretty clearly that they are assistant-Christs, Jesus chose them to help him do what he apparently never did in heaven ONCE FOR ALL TIME with his own blood. Forget Hebrews 9:24-28! Throw it out!
I'm amazed at how well you handled this. The pain of that situation, it just...it's like an emotional memory got triggered inside me, you know? I felt it, like I was there with you. But you know, Jehovah's Witnesses believe they are exclusively God's people, exclusively Christians, exclusively preaching about the Kingdom (all while minimizing Jesus Christ into an archangel and an equal to men who haven't even gone to heaven, who are still on earth --begun ruling as kings much?), etc. It's called 'demand for purity', I think.
I find it, well, cognitive dissonance is the only explanation I can think of, as to the elder saying he was 'hurt' by your letter saying you didn't want to deal with some sort of tribunal/star chamber kind of thing. All while sitting...in a star chamber tribunal...in judgment of you. You know, they read similar opening scriptures to me (I think the one they did for me was Prov. 28:13)--basically, you're already guilty in our eyes, so...just admit it. But oh no! We weren't trying to say you're guilty! We're not trying to intimidate you!
You know, if a person has legitimate doubts about this organization, the judicial committee process really removes all doubt as to the nature of this religion. You no longer wonder if something is wrong, there is no more confusion. Everything that it truly is gets laid bare and exposed for you to see. And that, my friends, is why they do not handle these trials in public. It would be far too dangerous for everyone to see exactly how it really is.
It's an honor to know you, man, and to identify with your experience. I mean, not that I know you personally, just...watching your videos I totally get where you're coming from. I hope you're doing alright with all this. That committee, in my experience, is a very traumatic thing to face.
Oh yeah, those baptism questions:
BEFORE:
*** w567/1p.407pars.20-21WhyOneMustBeBaptized***
20 (1) Have you recognized yourself before Jehovah God as a sinner who needs salvation, and have you acknowledged to him that this salvation proceeds from him the Father through his Son Jesus Christ?
21 (2) On the basis of this faith in God and in his provision for salvation, have you dedicated yourself unreservedly to God to do his will henceforth as he reveals it to you through Jesus Christ and through the Bible under the enlightenment of the holy spirit?
AFTER:
*** w856/1p.30SubjectingOurselvestoJehovahbyDedication***
At the close of the convention baptism talk, the baptism candidates will be in position to answer with depth of understanding and heartfelt appreciation two simple questions that serve to confirm that they recognize the implications of following Christ’s example. The first question is:
On thebasisofthesacrificeofJesusChrist,haveyourepentedofyoursinsanddedicatedyourselftoJehovahtodohiswill?
The second is:
Do youunderstandthatyourdedicationandbaptismidentifyyouasoneofJehovah’sWitnessesinassociationwithGod’sspirit-directedorganization?
Having answered yes to these questions, candidates are in a right heart condition to undergo Christian baptism.
Had to post that here, since it was brought up in your conversation with them. Hope it helps anyone who isn't sure.
--sd-7
-
29
Believe it or not, another brief elder encounter yesterday...
by sd-7 init was another elder from my judicial committee, came up to me after i'd strapped my daughter into the car.
two things that struck me as different were (1) he didn't feel a need to bring a second elder along with him as if something that required two witnesses was going to be said by someone who'd been df'd for two years and 99.9% absent from meetings as well, and (2) he actually seemed genuinely friendly.
he simply asked if i was planning to come to the meetings again anytime soon.
-
-
sd-7
Thanks for the well wishes, everyone. I guess my consistently fatal flaw is the large gap between my intellectual knowledge of facts and my ability to keep my emotions in check and behave based on facts and not emotions. The fact is, the 'good cop' approach is probably a soft spot of mine simply because my general assumption is that none of them care about sd-7 personally (they don't, they can't, I know it, they know it, I know that they know it, they may know that I know it).
When they last did their 'sheep-beating call', last year showing up at my home unexpectedly (my wife let them in, I think), I remember telling them that the judicial committee itself really soured me on the whole thing. It was a rather disturbing side of the organization that I'd never experienced personally before. Their only response to this was to accept it 'as loving discipline from Jehovah'. In the past couple of years, I've thus far failed to see how this is loving discipline from above. If anything, it's been a blessing. As Bob Dylan once said, "I've got nothing, Ma, to live up to." No longer having to double check to see if I remembered to shave or turn in my time or having to stand up nearly the entire meeting to pass the mikes. No more throwing out movies or music in guilt. Not having to deal with those people and their circus of a life.
There was a point in time I knew I was going to leave, I just didn't know how or why exactly. I had hoped it would be bloodless. I'm sorry my wife got caught up in this. I shouldn't have wanted her so much, as everybody but me seemed to have figured out well in advance. We might've been better as a JW couple, but not like this.
I've noticed she's going out in the recruitment work more often now; it seems they've managed to 'reactivate' her. I think maybe that's why this whole thing isn't coincidence. They have to counter my very existence, as someone who stood up and challenged them directly. Whether it's conscious or not, there's a message to that, an honesty apart from it all. I don't know.
I just hate it too much to return, no matter what happened. It would be very dangerous if I ever did, more than I care to consider.
But really. What, maybe hundreds, thousands of people on this site, worldwide? Even with my photo and first name on a thread two years ago, it's unlikely I'll be found out, at least by her. Could be someone else might see, a lurker or something. Though why it would be relevant now, I can't imagine.
But I don't think either of us is planning to leave the marriage. sd-7 has operated under her nose for over 2 years now. There's no reason to think that won't continue. And if I am found out, well, so be it. Beats having an affair or something. There are worse things I could be than sd-7.
Well, I've been thinking that it's an exercise in futility trying to take on a powerful corporation like this. Better to just let it be, try to keep myself together and not end up putting any hopes in anything beyond my own limited freedom.
I'm just a little down today, I guess. Maybe because 'The Avengers' is out and I can't really afford to buy it? Ha! Nah. I'm just worried. But she seems happy, so...why worry? ... Because it's rarely that simple (after all, the emotional low returns when she realizes her husband isn't sharing her 'joy' and will be totally annihilated at the Big A--and what if he lets the kids watch that fairy cartoon or that birthday episode??? They could die too!!). Because one elder talking to me is strange, but two separate elders talking to me is highly unusual. Because when the flames still burn inside, the slightest spark could change everything in an instant in some way I never expected. Because I see myself in my son's face, and I know what that face is like when they destroy its self-esteem.
I'll be fine. Probably just a bit more sleep is needed.
--sd-7
-
19
Studying just for marriage ?
by Pitchess Co-Gen indid you notice that some jw's men and women tried to bring in new people just to marry them ?
i saw this with my brother about the year 2001. he met this girl off some chat line.
he liked her, but it was one big problem; she wasn't a jw.
-
-
sd-7
Well, I certainly was intrigued by the possibility in my younger days. I used to think a cute potential JW who's had a bit of 'worldly' on her was kind of an exciting possibility--they'd not be all uber-zealous and frigid like a born-in (boy was I wrong on that one). To be honest, I started dating my wife a few days shy of a year after she got baptized. I'd been watching her for awhile. Boy, did I catch heck for that! Ironically, now I'm the one on the outside and she's the loyal JW. How's that for spiritual maturity?
--sd-7
-
7
Phrase I hate "Keep in mind how it is viewed in community"
by MC RubberMallet inwhenever the society could not condemn something directly, that phrase was their loophole.
because god's name is most important.
and if one person may be stumbled, don't do it.. hypocrites!.
-
-
sd-7
"Keep in mind how it is viewed in the community" is another way of saying "We just don't want you to do it because we think it will reflect badly on us. And if you even make us think we look bad, we'll make you look bad. Got it?"
--sd-7
-
56
Rutherford's love letter to Hitler
by irondork inhas anyone ever thought to send a copy of rutherford's letter to hitler & declaration of facts to the holocaust museum in washington, d.c.?
they have and entire section dedicated to the jehovah's witness in that museum.
i would hate for tourists to visit the museum and not get the whole story.. i would also assume there are jw displays at other holocaust museums around the world.
-
-
sd-7
This was actually one of the first things I learned about in my research, that declaration (thanks to 4jehovah.org). Not something you'll see in the Proclaimers book, that's for sure. Sounds a lot like Nazi ideals were being endorsed here.
--sd-7
-
9
Any restrictions, reproof, marking, etc means you can't do anything, except get more recruits
by MC RubberMallet ini hated that, no matter what restrictions, you still have to preach, the very thing witnesses hate..
-
-
sd-7
Well, I guess there'd be a significant percentage of people not able to recruit if they barred people from the ministry over conduct. Got to keep an eye on the bottom line, after all.
--sd-7
-
39
What does your avatar/screen name mean?
by Christ Alone insome avatars and screen names are pretty self explanatory, but some...i can't figure out.
i just wanted to know why you chose your particular screen name and/or avatar.
mine is easy enough.
-
-
sd-7
'sd-7' is a reference to the TV show 'Alias', where the main character works for a group called 'SD-6', which she thought was the CIA, but it turned out they were the bad guys, so she started working with the real CIA to bring them down. Same deal with me, I started as a sort of double agent, but it didn't turn out. Also the 'SD' part means 'the Sector that Doesn't Exist'. Which I think is appropriate for my state of being regarded as a non-person by JWs now.
The avatar is the video game character Mega Man (known as Rock Man in Japan), a household robot who, upon seeing the evil Dr. Wily's robots destroying the city, volunteers to be transformed into a super robot and to fight an endless battle to protect mankind and bring Wily to justice. He often questions the rightness of his actions, fighting against his own kind, and is seeking to discover his own humanity. Though he has help, most of his battles are fought alone. No matter what comes, no matter how endless and hopeless and pointless the fight seems, he never gives up, and hopes that one day...he won't have to fight anymore. I can identify with that feeling.
--sd-7