hi, new member here, but i've lurked for a while.. for obvious reasons, i won't give too many details about myself, but i thought i'd share my story of what might in the end have been the easiest fade in recorded history.
it's going to be a wall of text, and i'm writing it mostly for myself to get it out of my system, but it is, of course, a pretty open forum, so any comments and most questions are welcome.. here goes:.
what made me realize ttatt was legalism.
Thank you for your story.
It was legalism that turned me from inactive, while I didn't believe to downright apostate.
I was OK having differing beliefs, it was when I realized I wasn't allowed to share them that I changed.
To me it was NOT OK to say it is fine if you believe something, just don't tell others.
there's a study article "make sure of the more important things", and in no uncertain terms the article makes clear that "jehovah's organization" is the most important thing.
the term "organization" or "jehovah's organization" is used a whopping 24 times in the article, including a subheading titled: "follow the example of jehovah's organization".
i thought organizations were entities, but that sort of subheading makes it seem like the organization is one giant person whose example we can follow.
This didn't get any love in the other thread I posted it in, but it seems important to me.
Same Article as above.
14 In like manner, the great crowd fully
supports the work of Christ’s anointed
brothers who are still on earth and
who are taking the lead in the organization
today. (Read Zechariah 8:23.)
Zechariah says this:
23 “This is what Jehovah of armies has said, ‘It will be in those days that ten men * out of all the languages * of the nations + will take hold, + yes, they will actually take hold of the skirt of a man * who is a Jew, *+ saying: “We will go with YOU people, + for we have heard [that] God * is with YOU people.”’” +
So is the great crowd trying to sneak into the kingdom now? Being "let" in by the annointed? Begging to be let in?
i thought that we could just fade away peacefully, but i guess my mother told my sister that we no longer wanted to be jehovah's witnesses so now all hell is breaking loose.. .
it's a relief tho.
i feel really sad and upset also, because my mom lives with my sister and now has been forbidden from contacting me or vice versa.
Family is not sacred in the organization. See some of my last two posts for examples.
You can't make people see what they don't want to. I preferr the path of least resistance and have made my way out.
could this have any bearing on current changes at brooklyn?.
As long as the sharks have freakin' lasers, I'm in.
there is anonther topic about the new organizational sheet of the jw organisation.. it's nice to see the gb (=fds) on top of the earthly part of it.
read some interesting information about the.
severe disorder they must have:.
@Sir82, remeber all the articles that talk about 'divine protection"? It applies to the group not to the individual . Jehovah values the "group" over individuals.
Should that be of any suprise since they stamp out all trace of individuality ?
this caught my eye.
14 In like manner, the great crowd fully
supports the work of Christ’s anointed
brothers who are still on earth and
who are taking the lead in the organization
today. (Read Zechariah 8:23.)
Zechariah says this:
23 “This is what Jehovah of armies has said, ‘It will be in those days that ten men * out of all the languages * of the nations + will take hold, + yes, they will actually take hold of the skirt of a man * who is a Jew, *+ saying: “We will go with YOU people, + for we have heard [that] God * is with YOU people.”’” +
So is the great crowd trying to sneak into the kingdom now? Be "let" in by the annointed?
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Preparing a talk, (and doing a good job) is a lot of work, the point here is the statement " present the assigned information" There is not an orgional thought in any talk, only orgional delivery.
i've been out for a few years now, but when i was in, we frequently had to purchase "vehicle parking passes" several weeks before the start of our district assembly (depending on the coliseum or stadium being rented at the time).
it was usually $5.00 and you were given a 10" x 4" (or so) card with the assembly title/theme printed on.
according to the instructions from a branch letter that was read out loud (usually at the end of the service meeting), this card had to be placed on the right side of your dashboard such that the dub parking attendants can easily see it as you drive through the parking entrance.
I remember paying for the Macon, Ga parking, but that was more than 15 years ago.
i wanted to share some news from a family friend (he is my wt mole - still an elder, hates the shenanigans, but is still hanging on for all the reasons often discussed on this site) i know the various rumors have been discussed on here, and unfortunately the rumor about the conventions being eliminated weren't true!
(what a burden on the jw community - financial hardship for a good portion of them, guilting people into actually quitting their job to attend, physically exhausting for many, etc...etc......).
anyway, he told me that the district convention is being moved to 11 weekends at the jw-owned circuit assembly hall, and they are no longer planning on renting stadiums/large facilities in our area (northern ohio/southern michigan).
I have always heard, atleast about a few assembly halls that I know of, that they are already too busy, I don't see how they can handle more usage.
But that would be a good execuse to build more.
this just post on their website:.
.
http://www.jw.org/en/news/by-region/americas/united-states/video-clip-hurricane-sandy-relief/.
