Posts by Confuzzled

74

I need answers to so MANY questions.....

by Confuzzled in

jw
friends

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Confuzzled

No he hasn't, but he claims the system of beliefs has brought him a level of peace. He is a police officer (YES! I did point out your not supposed to be! He claims they changed things for cops to get baptized), and his hectic life, doing things in the past he is not proud of, evidently the system brings him peace. He says he loves the peaceful people (but it doesn't seem peaceful at all), and that it has kept him from doing wrong. He does put others before himself, often at a cost to himself personally and finacially. He has one brother who is baptized and I believe his mother is. He wants to throw his life into it. That's why, he claims, he can't answer any questions I ask, because he simply doesn't know.

13

Question About Tithing

by Confuzzled in

some of you may have read my post about my lasped jw boyfriend, and his pressure on me to consider to convert eventually (i'm not going too!

) but i still would like to better understand the church and watch tower society better so i can understand this mindset he has.

he makes much to do about the lack of an offering plate, and "the 2 boxes, one for the church, the other for the needy, nobody is put on the spot to donate".

Confuzzled

Some of you may have read my post about my lasped JW boyfriend, and his pressure on me to consider to convert eventually (I'm not going too!) but I still would like to better understand the church and Watch Tower Society better so I can understand this mindset he has. He makes much to do about the lack of an offering plate, and "The 2 boxes, one for the church, the other for the needy, nobody is put on the spot to donate". But I drive past Kingdom Hall and it's neatly manicured and landscaped property, and I know they give away lots of material that needs to be paid for somehow, and the pictures I have seen of Bethel facilites, I'll even admit they look like a resorts. I know due to my research , that JW are in a lot of impoverished areas, but somebody is paying for all this.

74

I need answers to so MANY questions.....

by Confuzzled in

jw
friends

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Confuzzled

Text messages after hang up:

Me: Quit tryin 2court me in2 this, it isnt goin 2work

Him: Im not but I jus really wish u would talk 2some1 who can answer ur ?

Me: M I goin 2get honest answrs

Him: ur info u got off intrnet how u know thos arnt jus rumors

Me: I don know but mayb ill look in2 talkin prof of religion 1st

Him: need talk some1 who lives the faith not some1 thinks they know

I feel like I'm beating a dead horse. I never told you guys about drunken nights and pre-martial sex, or a bunch of other private but VERY hypocritical activities. He's 10 yrs older then me and has quite a past. I think he's settling down and assessing his life. I failed to mention this has come up before, he goes to meeting for 4-6 weeks with his mother, then falls out of it, then feels guilty and goes back again. I'm actually at fault for this relapse! I made the mistake of telling him after he had a bad day of doing a lot of thankless work for a whole bunch of ungrateful relatives, that I thought the Bible said to be all things to all men, and he liked the verse. He thanked me for inspiring him to pick up the Bible again! Everynight he wants to compare a verse out of his to mine, and although a lot of the verse are nearly identical, his just sounds like poor English to me.

74

I need answers to so MANY questions.....

by Confuzzled in

jw
friends

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Confuzzled

I told him that the whole idea amounted to me going through my entire life knowing the sky is blue, and then having him come along and tell me that no it's not, it's neon pink, with zebra stripes. Or that I've known I've been white my entire life but you come along and tell me I'm really asian. I also told him that every part of me is telling me "No". His response was something along the lines of, "Almost everybody feels that way at first". Then again he suggested I talk to somebody, because "He doesn't have any answers." But then asked me to explain to him how Jesus could be God if he spoke to his father. I told him I didn't have an answer for him, I'm no Bible scolar either, it's a mystery of faith, and he's like, thats your explanation? I said I simply didn't know. We fought again, he hung up on me after I said, how do you as smart as you are, buy into this?

He has no interest in even going to Mass with me because we have female deacons and Chalice ministers and Acolytes (To which I asked him if I was going to hell because I mixed the Precious Blood and Holy Water and lit candles from ages 8-15, me a heathen woman, he says he didn't know!

I feel like I'm arguing with a rock.

15

WHY DO ELDERS LABEL THOSE EXPOSING ERROR AS APOSTATES?

by Fernando in

first topic posted - sorry if it is a bit too long.. why do elders accept this absurd teaching of demons: "anyone rejecting what is not of god, is rejecting god"???.

evidence that these elders - not their victims - are apostates (wolves, weeds, the man of lawlessness, the antichrist, practicers of spiritism).

having gone through extreme adversity and consequently deep spiritual waters our family has come to understand apostasy to fundamentally mean the following:.

Confuzzled

Wow...I come from a religion where our filthy laundry is aired in public, and debated, and discussed openly at Bible study. As an Episcopalian our "Gay Marriage" and "Ordaining Women" issues can be seen on CNN (side bar, my own Reverend has said flat he with leave the cloth if forced to grant gay marriages). Questions and debate lead to better understanding, and growth, and the the Bible specifically demands Christians seek Wisdom. I can't imagine not being able to speak my mind, or not being able to ask "Why?".

74

I need answers to so MANY questions.....

by Confuzzled in

jw
friends

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Confuzzled

Thank you all very much! I realize this system of beliefs is diametrically opposed to almost every I have always held in truth. I did a little perusing of SilentLambs.com and I know about the sexual abuse, it is no better then the Catholic situation, but I'm a she-wolf with my daughter and she is not allowed to be alone with males (i.e. I normally don't leave her alone with males, especially single males that I don't know, I have a 50 something, single, never had a real relationship with a woman, uncle who I don't allow her much contact with because I just don't know, ect.)

You all have been very helpful. The only thing that really even had me considering this was that the simple lifestyle of Bible worship and the traditional role of wmen in the family was very appealing.

All that being said, I'm pretty smart and my b*ll sh*t meter is off the charts on this one, and I have a rebellious spirit and heart. To quote my step-mother "I give you living a lie about a month before your jumping on tables calling everybody a self-righteous pompous ass, or a hypocrite. You'll be storming out of meetings, or if you don't do that, hiding your iPod up your sleeve like a kid."

74

I need answers to so MANY questions.....

by Confuzzled in

jw
friends

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Confuzzled

Oh, to Satanus, I was witha former cocaine addict for 10 years (I'm 28). he relapsed ONCE, got sick, felt like an a**, never did it again. I'd rather a coke addict!

74

I need answers to so MANY questions.....

by Confuzzled in

jw
friends

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Confuzzled

Thank you all, you all have been very helpful. I'm considering all your advice. No, he is not baptized but desires to be. He does not not attend Kingdom Hall regularly, but does when he runs into his mother or her friends. He has told me that all are welcome to go to the Hall, even me, tattoos and all, and that the only scrutinized members are those who are baptized. Just to let you know, I have an 8 year old daughter, baptized Episcopal, and if this is something I choose to partake of (No, I haven't decided yet! Don't get the idea! The cons are out weighing the pros!), she will attend Mass with my fathe. O have specific questions I'd like answered so in time I will post individual threads. I understand those who think I may be a lurker with alterior motives, but trust me, I'm not!

74

I need answers to so MANY questions.....

by Confuzzled in

jw
friends

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Confuzzled

No, I'm just some girl from Jesey who is not getting any straight answers from the one JW I know, other then a girl who was raised JW and is now an Agnostic, and another woman who got disfellowshipped because she had a child out of wedlock, after 25 years of faithful service, who wouldn't tell me anything other then "My own mother won't see me or my son, what do you think I'm going to tell you?"

Yes this is someone who I would consider marrying. He wants so badly to be good and humble, and does everything for everybody. This is the one glaring aspect that drives a wedge between us.

74

I need answers to so MANY questions.....

by Confuzzled in

jw
friends

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Confuzzled

Hi. I guess this is the place to get some objective answers, so here goes!

I’m a lapsed Episcopalian, I go to Mass occasionally, but my views on God and life are based on my very laid back religion. I’m not an expert on it, but being an Epicopalian in my point of view means, “Do good, don’t be mean, love everybody, read your Bible, discuss, question, meditate, think, think, think, your relationship with the Lord is your private business, don’t judge because who are you to know the mind of God, ask to be forgiven, take communion, go and sin no more.” Also growing up within my own religion, one of the things I loved the most was the feeling that we didn’t believe that the Lord was as angry or not understanding as other religions (or at least the impression that I always got, remember I am no expert in the tenants of being an Episcopalian), and that the Bible was pretty cut and dry. It doesn’t take a genius or a degree in Theology to get the basic gist of what to do, what not to do, if you don’t follow those fairly simple rules on life, there will be consquences.

The man I love is what I would describe at a “lapse Jehovah’s Witness”, although he does not even consider himself worthy of the title of JW (I hope that it is not a sign of disrespect, but I’m shortening it JW for time’s sake!). His mother is one, and all his views on God are based on those beliefs. He is older, settling down, and has picked up his Bible again, and the arguments have started. He wants to be with a woman who will follow him into this whole heartedly, and every fiber of my being is screaming “NO!”.

At one point, my desire was to be an Anthropologist, so originally when this first came up, I decided to do some research. So naturally, I went to trusty Google. I typed in JW’s, and all I got was Cult this, sexual abuse, that, JW’s hit every single marker for being a cult……OK, I’ve heard that all my life, there was a Kingdom Hall near to where I grew up, and my parents always told me to tell the JW’s politely that came to the door “I’m sorry, but we are not in the market for a new religion, have a nice day.” They were a cult, I’ve always known that. So I looked more into it and it frankly, made me angry. These uneducated (or men with little to no knowledge) twisted the Bible to their own means. They, in my mind, rejected My Jesus, my Cross, My Bible, and some of the simplest tenants of the foundations of basically every Christian faith. You can’t interpret the Bible with out the help of a magazine?? Where did they get the idea of Jesus being Michael the Arch-Angel?? How many times can you change doctorines? Ok , so God, they thought lived in the Pleilades star system, but now they don’t believe that! Where did they get that in the first place? They name Jehovah was inserted over 200 times in the new Testament in places it didn’t even translate too. BTW why does your Bible sound like mine, but very disjointed and fragmented in places? Is it true the 144,000 are not Jewish people, but a select few (when I asked the man I’m seeing how they pick the “anointed ones, his response was, “Oh, they just know. I’ve met a few, they are unbelievable people). If they are so good and blessed among other men, why did one of the Governing Body get charged with sexual misconduct Theocratic Warfare, how can you justify that? ???????!!!!!??????

Over angry tears, I argue almost every night. He says he doesn’t have the answers, wants me to talk to somebody who can answer my questions, but my Father does not want them in the house (he goes to church every Sunday), then said he would give them my number, I said don’t you dare. I asked him to take me to church with him, he said no, people would think we were engaged, I could go with his mother (who I haven’t met yet) and I said no, I will only go with him. He said he will make arrangements to take me to a Kingdom Hall in my area, to talk to someone who has answers for me, but the critical articles of the faith say that such questions like I have will be taken in offense or not answered, or be subject to “Theocratic Warfare”. I need hardcore answers before I decide to change my life.

I don’t know……So much of it seems like brain-washing. Now do not get me wrong, I have great respect for these clean living, Bible studying, church attending people. But then the illogical aspects of it just leave me confused. I’m sorry my first post was so rambling and poorly conceived LOL! I’m hoping coming here will help me understand better! I know I haven’t exactly formed a specific question, but I guess what I really want to know in the short term is, do you think I’ll get any answers or will I get blown off?