@Hermit.
You have a gift for words. Thanks so much for telling us about your experiences growing up in the JW religion. (I can't wait for the next installment : - )
you know what, i think that i really enjoy telling my story to you guys after all.
yesterday while i was going through the events of part 2 tears were rolling down my face at some point but tonight i'm just smiling.
thank you all for your support, i appreciate it.
@Hermit.
You have a gift for words. Thanks so much for telling us about your experiences growing up in the JW religion. (I can't wait for the next installment : - )
in this jc the couple accused of apostasy, lay down some inconvenient and incontestable truths about the organization's teachings that leave the elders speechless - as far as them mustering any efforts to refute them.
oh and by the way, do you remember what geoffrey jackson said at the australian royal commission when he was asked about an inactive jw being called to account if the elders stopped by and find him celebrating the holiday?
don't worry if you've forgotten because the couple mentions it to the elders, you know, seeing as it's the very same reason why they're being accused of apostasy, thus proving geoffrey jackson's statements to be false!.
This jc put the elders in a situation where they obviously wanted more time to check upwards in the chain of command.
But without threatening legal action the elders are held to abide by wt policy or else be found to be negligent in their duty to keep the congregation clean.
I too feel that less doctrine talk and more legal action may have yielded different results, and avoided being branded as DFed apostates.
i read on a jw forum that jw's came in for disapproval if they drove either sports cars or 2-door cars.
the reasoning was that a driver couldn't easily take fellow dubbies out preaching in such a vehicle.
was that ever official policy or just local nonsense from a grumpy po?.
It most certainly is one of those unwritten JW religion rules.
If you didn't buy a 4-door car you were talked about in the congregation rumor mill and tagged as selfish and materialistic.
It was one of the things my first PO counseled me about: Get rid of my 2-door '73 Dodge Charger muscle car V8 and get a newer and more fuel efficient 4-door--He was quite approving when I traded it in for a Ford Escort.
jehovah's witnesses do not provide a dignified resignation process for members who wish to resign/quit being a jehovah's witnesses.you are not given any good choices.
you can either: disassociate yourself,fade,become inactive or move to another city/state/country where you won't be bothered or found out.. if you quit your job/employment, stop attending a book club or bowling league,or quit a lawn service company, newspaper delivery service,you wouldn't see your employer or friends sending out a written notice to anyone to stop all association with you or have little contact.you would sue them for slander.you have a right to quit any association or contract (when it expires or doesn't meet the terms any longer) whenever you wish.. what would you like to see the watchtower society implement that would give you a dignified way to leave/stop being a jehovah's witness?.
Here's a few of my ideas for change proposal.
The shunning practice makes them a cult more than any other doctrine.
They need to get rid of it.
The blood issue is another one. Makes the JW religion a definitely harmful cult.
They need to get rid of that also.
Stop misogynistic practices. It's the 21st century not the 11th.
The no-beards attitude--Get rid of that, and do it yesterday! It's over-the-top proof of their controlling and micro-managing people's lives.
Reporting time is abused by publishers and a form of abuse by elders.
Elders judge publishers by what number of hours and placements are reported--reports which at times have little relation to the actual hours spent in doing field service or to the amount of publications placed. Gotta get rid of that.
When they actually print a retraction on no-beards-policy, misogynistic practices, no-blood, and no shunning, that'll be the day, then we'd clearly see the end of the WT/JW 0rganization.
this was how it was described to me yesterday by a brother who has been there for some 40 years.
"everyone is about gone; the governing body is set to leave within 2 months; the kitchen and laundry personnel are gone and i have to fend for myself now.".
"also the aggravation of 4 to 5 business men in suits with clipboards daily checking out the watchtower properties.
I'm sure the GB 7 and their 30 helpers don't have to do their own laundry and fend for their own food.
(from Pinterest) Lunchtime at Brooklyn Bethel. Guests (and former Bethelites) Ed and Alice Spears
hello.
i have a question about the number of publishers reported on the yearbook.
i was wondering if this number refers only to the number of publishers baptized or to the overall number of publisher(baptized & not baptized).
me personally.....i think....if it was meant to be mixed ...it would come in the bottle that way.. that said...bacardi gold.
i'm not jw, so i see this all standing up and very clear from an outsider perspective (i am still seeking my path).
i joined the blog a few weeks ago.
i dated a divorced jw (jw from birth) for a couple of years recently.
@WireRider
The Catholic Inquisition killed thousands. Mistreated thousands more with physical and mental torture. Yet... The Catholic Church is still around generations after.
Despite Protestants fighting to their deaths against the Catholic Church, they've managed to still be around.
If such an evil institution that burnt people to death and tortured false confessions out of people could survive the centuries--what makes you think any cult, especially not as crazy violent as the Catholic Church was, can't survive, and even thrive despite opposition and reform?
Armstrong's Church of God went through an epiphany of sorts and left behind their cultish ways to become Grace Communion International, yet there are a dozen or more offshoots still holding on to Armstrong's crazy cultish ideas (in many ways very similar to WT doctrines).
How can any of your ideas to have ex-JW's band together and reform or fight the JW.0rganization succeed where there's obvious examples of very toxic religious institutions continuing to exist and thrive?
At most your ideas are born of a feeling of frustration, sadly this feeling wont change much.
a source tells me the following: .
for shropshire uk by the name of anthony manning has been removed and judicially reproved.
portishead congregation in north somerset is being merged or disbanded on sept 1st 2015 due to "aging elders, poor attendance, decrepit kingdom hall and landslip" - of course the suspicion is wt just wants to sell the hall off.
from the january study edition second study article paragraph 10:.
we can use the memorial season as an opportunity to look through our wardrobe, our movie and music collections, perhaps even the material stored on our computers, smartphones, and tablets.if i were going to a place where jesus would be present, would i feel uncomfortable wearing this clothing?if i did wear it, would it be obvious to all that i am a follower of christ jesus?would jesus be entertained by watching this movie or by listening to this music?
if he borrowed my cell phone or tablet, would i be embarrassed by what he saw there?as you consider the subject matter of a video game, ask yourself: would i find it difficult to explain to jesus why i enjoy playing it?
Sounds like the rabbinic pharisees having their little children search out the house for leaven.
Searching out and destroying Chametz (Leaven) during the Passover Season.