Posts by garyneal

her mother, of course, is still sending 'encouragement' now that she is dedicating her life to jehovah the organization.. but, of course, the tests are coming forward and my wife is trying to 'endure to the end.'.

garyneal

Admittedly I will drag my husband on occassion........to remind the Elders of my 'potential' value to the congregation.

This actually makes me feel sorry for her and sometimes makes me wish things were different. On the one hand, I want her to be truly happy. On the other hand, this is not for me.

21

Jehovah's Witnesses are a sad lot

by garyneal in

jw
friends

my wife is a baptized publisher and i guess everything is going okay for the moment.

i believe that slowly the love bombing is beginning to wane now that she is in.

her mother, of course, is still sending 'encouragement' now that she is dedicating her life to jehovah the organization.. but, of course, the tests are coming forward and my wife is trying to 'endure to the end.'.

garyneal

Leave her be, and let her make her own decisions.

I've already told her she can do what she wants so long as she respects my wishes.

But, make no mistake about it, the more you discourage her, the more some will be telling her to be expecting this persecution, and this persecution comes from.....

That's why I don't even present facts anymore. When the cult personality comes out, I change the subject now. I try to get her as much in her authentic personality as I can.

21

Jehovah's Witnesses are a sad lot

by garyneal in

jw
friends

my wife is a baptized publisher and i guess everything is going okay for the moment.

i believe that slowly the love bombing is beginning to wane now that she is in.

her mother, of course, is still sending 'encouragement' now that she is dedicating her life to jehovah the organization.. but, of course, the tests are coming forward and my wife is trying to 'endure to the end.'.

garyneal

Keep suggesting you will attend a meeting with her if she attends with you.

I'll try but this one is tough sledding with her. Her allegiance to the GB is strong on this one.

21

Jehovah's Witnesses are a sad lot

by garyneal in

jw
friends

my wife is a baptized publisher and i guess everything is going okay for the moment.

i believe that slowly the love bombing is beginning to wane now that she is in.

her mother, of course, is still sending 'encouragement' now that she is dedicating her life to jehovah the organization.. but, of course, the tests are coming forward and my wife is trying to 'endure to the end.'.

garyneal

I think she will lose some of her zeal once the newness wears off......... in fact you can tell her some of the 'classic' FS tricks like leaving a WT/Awake on the dashboard of yall's parked car...... or leaving a tract in the ladies bathroom....

I've already suggested to her that she can count an hour or two leaving tracts in the laundromats in our apartment complex. I don't think she liked me suggesting this.

23

Ok, it's the new world, you've been alive for 30 million years now and you still look 30

by gubberningbody in

jw
friends

someone else, on th other hand is really just 30.. then both of you get invited to a party and the group play scrabble.. won't that be a bit awkward?.

garyneal

I never understood the witness concept of living forever in paradise on earth. I mean, yeah, if anyone's seen Star Tek Insurrection, the Bakhu find a planet inside the 'briar patch' that rejuvinates their bodies and keeps them perpetually young. Given that and their attitudes towards technology and unity and they have indeed achieved the Jehovah's Witnesses hope of living forever in paradise and are quite content with it.

But given how vast space is and how their is so much to learn and do that go beyond petting tigers and farming, I cannot see spending an eternity stuck on planet Earth as 'paradise.' Okay, yeah, I can see how it would be better than what we have now but I also see how it will get boring.

21

Jehovah's Witnesses are a sad lot

by garyneal in

jw
friends

my wife is a baptized publisher and i guess everything is going okay for the moment.

i believe that slowly the love bombing is beginning to wane now that she is in.

her mother, of course, is still sending 'encouragement' now that she is dedicating her life to jehovah the organization.. but, of course, the tests are coming forward and my wife is trying to 'endure to the end.'.

garyneal

My wife is a baptized publisher and I guess everything is going okay for the moment. I believe that slowly the love bombing is beginning to wane now that she is in. Her mother, of course, is still sending 'encouragement' now that she is dedicating her life to Jehovah the organization.

But, of course, the tests are coming forward and my wife is trying to 'endure to the end.'

All my daughter seems to talk about is her birthday party coming up. Of course, my wife will not be attending but she cannot offer much of a good explanation right now. She just says, "Even though I cannot come, does not mean I don't love you." I mean, the party is at Chuck-E-Cheese's and only the 'worldly' people are going. Go, hang out, but don't sing the Happy Birthday song or eat any cake. But she cannot stumble in front of Jehovah her peers now. So she won't go.

I read her Job 1:4 in the Living Translation of the Bible, sure enough it says birthday. Her translation says own day. But the WTS says that birthdays displease Jehovah the Society's elders.

So I am at church in the playground with my daughter after the service where they announce that people can become baptized on Easter Sunday coming up. My daughter, with the word bapt-ti-tize still in her mind inquires about it and I tell her that one day she may decide on what she wants but it is not necessary now. Daddy got baptized in a church and mommy did it in a Kingdom Hall. If you get baptized in a Kingdom Hall like mommy, they will not let you come to church with me anymore and that is why mommy does not come with us. But whatever you do, I will love you all the same.

We spoke of her upcoming birthday and I asked her who she wanted to invite. A neighbor's kid, some kids in her classroom, maybe some kids in church (though she still does not know them that well so I doubt it), and one child who was on her soccer team and goes to mommy's kingdom hall. But I am afraid he can't go. Why? Because people who go to the Kingdom Hall can't have birthday parties. Why? Because they are told not to go by the people at the Kingdom Hall. She's very inquisitive.

I don't see how Jehovah's Witnesses put up with it. Can't allow children to celebrate any holidays while they watch other kids celebrating. No birthdays, either. My wife and sister in law play it down like it is no big thing and that they get stuff all year round (yeah right). In fact, tax time is their 'Christmas time.' Then there is the lack of freedom from attending any church of your choice and their walking on eggshells when it comes to weddings and funerals being conducted at a church.

Then there are those happless parents who have to choose to let their children die by refusing them a blood transfusion. Yeah, sure, they play videos full of propaganda on how 'bloodless' therapies are superior. One question though, if part of the whole 'network of tubes' that take blood out and then put it back in your body as needed are allowed then how is this different than an autologous blood transfusion (which is not allowed)? I'm talking about where in the video they show blood coming out of the patient's body and going into a bag before going back in, not blood circulating around outside the body. This was shown in that blood propaganda video.

Right now, my wife is pretty much doing the whole field serve-us thing on her terms. Even telling the people in her cong, "Oh I can't do it this Saturday and/or Sunday because of (fill in the blank reason)." Granted, most of her reasons are legitimate to me and she still makes it to field serve-us many times. However, I wonder how long the people in her cong will allow this before they begin encouraging pressuring her to put in more time? Even at the expense of being at my daughter's swim classes or other activities we try to plan for on Saturday's.

I just try to assure her that things happen and things come up and that Jehovah understands. Does the congregation understand? If not, then Jehovah's Witnesses are indeed a very sad lot. No freedom to worship God in the best way they can given their individual circumstances. Telling them what jobs they can or cannot take. Disallowing them from throwing birthday parties for their children. Forcing them to make lame excuses to their kids should their unbelieving spouses decide to throw the parties. Finally, in extreme cases, forcing them to feel like they have to choose between saving a child's life or displeasing Jehovah the elder's of the hospital liason committee.

That's not counting the endless crazy set of doctrines that every witness must accept without question. The inability for them to trust their concious or their own instincts on matters. The mindless WT studies where the answers are always in the paragraphs and adding too much of one's own thoughts are discouraged. Children forced to sit through two hours or more of boring meetings. Monotonous kingdom maladies that make even the old hymns at a sleepy baptist church seem lively. Not to mention all the legalism and meddling. I guess if I were a Jehovah's Witness, I'd be a drinking man as beer might be my only escape. That and paxil.

What a sad sad lot.

28

Disfellowshipped People Are A Bad Lot

by garyneal in

jw
friends

a week prior to my wife being baptized she and i discussed the reasons why people are disfellowshipped.

she says that people are disfellowshipped because they simply want to live their lives the way they want to and no longer submit to god's will.

in other words, they want to do something that is immoral and goes against bible principles.

garyneal

Sorry if it has taken me days to finally respond but I wanted to thank everyone for their responses.

sd-7:

I wanted to respond to your post in particular since it seems like you are rejecting the WT teachings as truth for many of the same reasons I am.

Show me the evidence, show me the proof that the teachings of 1914 and the blood issues are indeed true and I would've been getting baptized along with my wife. I guess it is so sad that my wife gives up her freedom to do some of the things she enjoys all for the promises of everlasting life and acceptance amongst her religious peers.

62

Can You Get DFd for Working for the Department of Defense?

by daniel-p in

jw
friends

so, as some of you may be aware, i got a job offer with an agency under the u.s. department of defense.

the other day i told a member of my family, and they nearly went apeshit.. my question: what reprecussions could this reasonably have?

does the wts speak of this in any of their publications?

garyneal

One brother asked if it was ok to deliver cola to the military base that was part of his delivery route and the society said no. He was told to change his route or change his job.

Totally ridiculous! Perhaps he should've asked Elder so and so how he is going to make ends meet. Perhaps elder so and so can offer him another job or line him up with another employer. If that elder wanted to help, he should've done more than said "...Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed." (James 2:16)

Provide some real help and offer some real solutions. Otherwise, buzz off, how many of those same elders would be quick to justify doing things involving defense, politics, and/or the church if they think it is a seemingly small thing.

HYPOCRITES!

Sorry for the rant but this really burns me.

62

Can You Get DFd for Working for the Department of Defense?

by daniel-p in

jw
friends

so, as some of you may be aware, i got a job offer with an agency under the u.s. department of defense.

the other day i told a member of my family, and they nearly went apeshit.. my question: what reprecussions could this reasonably have?

does the wts speak of this in any of their publications?

garyneal

I spoke with my wife concerning this last night. She pointed out that there was a 'brother' in her cong working for NASA. Now while I know that NASA is government funded, I did not really consider them a part of the DoD. Anyway, she went on to point out that she did not think those witnesses married to military men and women who are obviously not witnesses should not be DF'd. After all, we do live in a heavy military area.

Still though, active witnesses cannot be a part of the military due to the whole 'nationalism' thing she says. However, lots of 'brothers' are retired military. This prompted me to pick her brain on the lack of integrity that I see.

"Does that 'brother' collect military retirement?"

"Yes."

"So he is still benefitting from the military. If he is still benefitting, what right does he have to tell a younger brother not to join the military? Shouldn't this younger brother have the benefit as well?"

She tried to explain to me that the retired brother is just 'benefitting' from his past involvement with something that he now knows is wrong. She made many faulty arguments to support their stance. Sorry, but the whole thing wreaks of hypocrisy and a complete lack of integrity. If being in the military is wrong, why continue to receive the benefits of a military pension? Return the money or give it all to the poor.

I know the military pension pays handsomely because my dad is retired Army and his pension pays his new mortgage, which is by no means cheap. Plus I think he has money left over and that's before they factor in the money from his and his wife's jobs. They're set for life.

Needless to say, her cult personality began to surface and I quickly brought the subject back to the original question of the title of this thread. I reassured her that I loved her and let her have her twisted logic on this.