although i have seen many things in the wt literature that have astounded me.......these are some of the things i have never come across.
i read them last night in a book i am reading : - "awakening of a jehovah's witness" by diane wilson.
oh, how i laughed............ .
I remember reading in Faith in the March how Macmillan had to go into the prisons where JWs were being held and tell them it was ok to have injections. The way it was written it appeared that they had misinterpreted something the had read. From your article it looked like they had it bang on.
It is laughable how we all believed they were god's spokesmen when in fact even in the beginning they were men with hang ups and odd ideas.
hitching is also a paranormalist, an advocate of psychic evolution.... [hitching's book] earth magic is a wild, extremely entertaining and thoroughly psychic interpretation of megalithic structures.... hitching also includes in his scheme cosmic cataclysms, atlantis, pyramidology, dowsing, esp, miraculous healing, and astrology.
creation/evolution newsletter, 7, no.
5, pp.
He is quoted extenisvely in the Cretion book. One example chapter 4 pg 41 para 12. There are a list of references at the back of the book which I am far too lazy to look through extensively but will get hubby to do the research when he comes in.
one of the themes i think about every now and again is that of the nature of belief, the purpose of religion, and the presense of truth.. specifically, do the differences between spiritual beliefs really matter?
meaning that, if every religion is just an amalgamation of different combinations of mysticisms, does it really matter if we are protestants, catholics, quakers, mormons, muslims, pagans, jews, or even jehovah's witnesses?
further, does it really matter whether we believe in god or not?
We should have the right to believe whatever we want so long as our beliefs do not infringe on the rights of others. As soon as a belief system interferes with the rights of others then the form of religon becomes a problem. That is why cults are so dangerous since it is more about control than worship. Whether God is real to someone and how they interpret their spiritual need should be very much a personal choice.
It could be said that early Catholicism and Protestantism behaved in a cult like way since in centuries gone by people were controled by these faiths and died because of failure to conform to a specific belief system. These religons have matured so that the congregation is free to leave without censure. Perhaps todays cults can learn a thing or two from this.
my wife was raised in an ultra hardcore jw family, and together with me served faithfully for many years to hojovah..... now, due to my apostate influence educational efforts she:.
went to a jw meeting only maybe 5 times in past year (just for the public talk)was not present at service meeting for almost 2 yearsmissed most conventionsdoesnt object our son going to birthday partiesdoesnt object christmass decorations in our housepacks christmass gifts in christmass wrapping paperread crisis of consciene and basicly agrees with the bookagrees, that most jw policies are unbiblical and falsewas not in house to house service for several yearsand so and so.... actually i do not find on her and her behaviour anything what makes normally a person a jw... but she still believes she is one!.
its kind a schizophrenia for her, she doesnt know what her position is.... .
It is a mental thing. If she was baptised then in her head she is a witness forever until such time as she is Df'd or Da'd.
Ask her if she was filling in a form and was asked to enter her religion what would she put in the box now.
If she says JW ask her which of the doctrines and beliefs that make them different from other christian faiths does she agree with?
If she says none then she is a Christian possibly but is not a specific faith.
If she identifies a couple of key doctrines you can then ask. If someone in the hall was to criticise any part of the JW doctrine would the elders consider they were in good standing? What is likely to happen to such a one?
If someone is DF'd or DA'd are they a JW?
No they are not. So if you do not believe everything then you are no longer a JW. After all Jesus said that thoughts equate to actions so failure to believe is enough to break the link with the old religon.
Talk about the positives you have experienced not following JW doctrine and reinforce that you follow your own moral code without the need to be policed by men.
Hope this helps.
i knew of a handful (which is too many) that were molested by a jehovah's witness.
it was not typical in my experience.
what about you???.
Yes, they told their wife it wasn't their fault that she had seduced him. It later turned out he had had numerous affairs and was a serial offender. JC punnished them both.
i had a brother.
his name was jon.. jon was a sweet, super sensitive guy.
also, a very tortured soul.
It is sad. Your brother knew you loved him, he understood shunning. It doesn't alter the regret you feel and the sadness. Your brother sounds like a great person and you have come a long way yourself since then. The greatest thing is you know that you have grown and learnt. If you had time over again you would do things differently because you are your true self and no longer a cult member.
Thank you for sharing this with the board.
my dad woke up about 3 years ago and said nothing.
my sister woke up about a year ago.
my mom about a month ago, myself shortly after.
The bad news is that you may loose you current JW friends. IT is not because you are a bad person, it is because that is the way it works. You may even have done it to others yourself in the past. There is no malice it is just because it is the way it is done in this organisation.
The good news and believe me it is good news, is that you are only 14 you have an opportunity to live a full life without limits. In ordinary lives people make new friends as they move through different phases of their life, there are school friends, college friends, University friends, Work collegues, people you meet through clubs and sports. In the organisation we let many opportunities pass us by because we are told that these people can not be real friends but that is not true. You are soon about to embark on a new phase of your life new friendship opportunities will be there for you. Be aware of them and embrace them.
Regarding old relationships, who knows what will happen to these ones in the future. It is never pleasant to be shunned but if you stay approachable and friendly they may look for you in the future when and if they have doubts. If you are not baptised yet people may be wary of you but will also feel a bit sorry for you. Be prepared to be their friend always after all to shun or not is their choice. You can respect someones point of view you don't have to agree with it.
When I was your age my father moved for work many times and I had to make new friends every two years or so. It is possible. Set yourself goals, do things that allow you to meet new people and be friendly and approachable. You have made a start already. Use the board to vent that too is helpful. And talk to your family about how they can help you adjust.
i thought of this while looking at the falling iguana's thread, and decided to give it its own thread.. christmas night, my younger son's significant other made cayenne hot chocolate.
she just threw some peppers into it as she was stirring, then took them out.
interesting stuff, when you took a sip, you got the chocolate, the cayenne didn't kick in for a second or so.
chilli and chocolate yum. We had some crisps that flavour during the summer it does make the eyes water.
....then why do they not have the time of their services listed??.
so much for their boast about the preaching work in all lands.. .
Several things come to mind, firstly I thought witnesses were not allowed in Iraq so if meeting places are in the country they would be discreet about it. Secondly the picture clearly is of a chapel complete with crucifix, it is unlikely that JWs would share a facility that displayed the crucifix and was used by other denominations. Presumably the chapel is used by the military and if JWs are present in this country they would have other meeting places already established elsewhere. Methodists, Baptists, moonies and scientologists also don't appear.
It looks like there are alot of denominations but in fact there are not since some are day time services and some are evening.
I assume that this is not the only religious building in the whole of the country so let's not get too paranoid here. JWs are a bad religon but the picture is just a picture of a church in Iraq that the Mormons have borrowed.
http://www.pharmabiz.com/article/detnews.asp?articleid=53437§ionid=.
hospitals group, rectifies complex heart deformity of infant.
friday, january 08, 2010 08:00 ist .
I'd like to know the reason why PURPLESOFA posted this thread.
Why not? This is afterall a JW discussion board. I hate to see anyone die for the stupid beliefs imposed by the GB so it is good to know that there are some dedicated surgeons who can perform successful operations even when given the most difficult criteria to work within.
