after almost 40 years of being shunned by close family members, it never gets easier.
my own mother is under the spell of the "organization" and won't even write to me.
for a long time i sent her things - cards, news articles of interest, jokes, etc - i finally gave up.
I sent my sister a birthday card I know she doesn't celebrate but it is her 50th which for most would be marked. I didn't sign it as she doesn't see me even when I stand right in front of her.
I feel she is lost in this cult it hurts, it would be nice to have her back.
paragraph 20 out of the article in the sept 2014 study wt about fulltime service says this.... .
"full-time servants age, and so do their parents.
when parents are witnesses, likely their fondest wish is for their children to stay in their assignments.
So as long as you have strength and power you should work first for the organisation. Family relationships mean nothing and if your parents are ill and infirm it is not your priority to look after them. Family relationships have alays been marginalised in the organisation. The paragraph is addressed to those elderly parents telling them to find some other way to arrange care so their children can still slave in the field. To tall these elderly ones they are a burden when they are already feeling vulnerable is extremely cruel.
Not seeing or feeling the love.
i talked to my brother today who is still a practicing jw (i've managed to fade) .
we were talking and suddenly he asked me if i thought satan could read my mind.
and he said "yeah i though the answer was yes and then i found out that satan cant read my mind".
I used to believe that God could read your mind but Satan couldn't. I know it was mad but that is what being in a bat shit crazy religion does to a person.
as a currently serving "awake" elder caught in the web of family, spouse, employer, etc.
etc..... i have often wondered why an elder cannot simply drop back to ministerial servant if he so desired (because of stress, circumstances, health).. on paper a currently serving elder in good standing more than qualifies to be a ms. that is obviously the case by their own hierarchy structure and definitions of qualification.. but...under their current arrangement....theoretically a man could give a district convention talk one week to 10,000 people, step down as an elder the following day due to stress, and not "qualify" to give a 5 min part on the next week's service meeting in front of 50 people.
doesn't make a lot of sense.. so my question is this.....why do you think the wt forces a man to drop all the way "down" to publisher if he no longer wants to serve as an elder?.
To make them easier to control. If it is an all or nothing option then stepping down doesn't look like a positive choice rather a punnishment.
was listening to bbc radio 4 late sunday night, and in a programme about migration, they referenced the "babylonian conquest of jerusalem in 607 b.c.
" which caught my attention.. did they not mean 587 b.c., or did i understand it wrong?.
the link to the programme is below - sorry if you're not in the u.k. as you probably won't be able to listen to bbc programmes.
I sent a complaint as well the more the merrier. Tried to sound calm and balanced rather than crazy like a typical Radio 4 listener.
you would think that what they are exposed to more would wake up and leave, why not?
thoughts..
To become an elder you have to be fairly conditioned in the first place. The requirements that you are regular at meetings and taking the lead in field service over a number of years mean that by the time you get it you are so focused on the requirements and the task that you don't raise your head to look at the bigger picture.
The society is also very good at reinforcing the idea that deletion is shameful and humiliating even if you step down for good reasons there is a slightly sordid feel that you have done something wrong.
Some people who realise TTATT feel that they can make a difference and be a mitigating force for good. This is often misguided but a common misconception.
Whatever the reasons everyone makes their own personal journey.
If they are it will be so more congregations can share fewer halls. They can sell off real estate and reinvest in seaside research facilities.
to all bodies of elders.
re: notification of disfellowshipping or disassociation.
dear brothers:.
It disgusts me that they want to know when I die. I hope to outlive all the elders on my committee. I am free of them what I do and when I shrug off this mortal coil is none of their business.
for cofty et al.... .
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also check out my new blog post: benpogge.blogspot.com!.
are you using a tablet or the mouse?
i think it's wonderful that be all posses creative power of thought, and i think this form of creative manifestation comes most commonley in the form of arts.so many posters have mentiond they are writing a book, but i bet some of you create music or make a wonderful soup.. i ask this because i was reading my old school reports and my art teacher wrote " michael is the post constructive, imaginative pupil i have ever had.
his enthusiasm wonders a bit but on the whole an excellent pupil" ....sadly i think if that statement was true i have rather let my self down with my artistic expression.
still it's never to late and i intend to involve myself in my art again this summer..
I gave up art for a while because being a witness and a mum and working full time meant that I never had time. Now I have restarted my art and thoroughly enjoy it. A day with no creativity in it just doesn't feel right now.
It's never too late.
