at the last dc i will ever attend in 09' some elder was called up to do the morning prayer.
i dont recall him being introduced as a co or anything thats why i say elder.. he starts off slowly and 20 seconds in i realize this is his moment of glory, giving a prayer at the dc and he is going to take his sweet time.
i know the closing prayers are like at least 5 or 10 minutes, but this guy is going to kick off the morning with a long rambling diatribe..... so part way in he gets to the "slave" and he starts naming them off one by one.....ya know thanks for splane, pierce, barr, loesch....so on and so on....til he gets through them all.
And prayers are no longer than 5 minutes
What JW world do you live in?
"Slave" means 144000
Tell me one anointed member outside of the GB that has ever been consulted on WT doctrine? For all intents and purposes faithful slave=GB
They wont say it publicly because they don't have a scriptural leg to stand on. But their actions prove it, so that is all that matters.
how do you overcome this?
i just got done reading isocf and toward the end ray warns against bitterness.
i guess i just can't agree with that.
Yeah nancy I'd be really bitter if I was still knocking on doors and getting hyped up for the regional sales manager visit. Looking back I secretly resented all the stuff I had to do for them, but you can't say that because like you said "we are all the happiest people" on earth. What a load of bull!
Maybe its just part of the process of transforming from a robot into a real human where you are allowed to be bitter, sad, happy, elated, depressed, whatever you actually feel from day to day when dealing with life!
at the last dc i will ever attend in 09' some elder was called up to do the morning prayer.
i dont recall him being introduced as a co or anything thats why i say elder.. he starts off slowly and 20 seconds in i realize this is his moment of glory, giving a prayer at the dc and he is going to take his sweet time.
i know the closing prayers are like at least 5 or 10 minutes, but this guy is going to kick off the morning with a long rambling diatribe..... so part way in he gets to the "slave" and he starts naming them off one by one.....ya know thanks for splane, pierce, barr, loesch....so on and so on....til he gets through them all.
At the last DC I will ever attend in 09' some elder was called up to do the morning prayer. I dont recall him being introduced as a CO or anything thats why I say elder.
He starts off slowly and 20 seconds in I realize this is his moment of glory, giving a prayer at the DC and he is going to take his sweet time. I know the closing prayers are like at least 5 or 10 minutes, but this guy is going to kick off the morning with a long rambling diatribe....
So part way in he gets to the "slave" and he starts NAMING THEM OFF ONE BY ONE.....ya know thanks for Splane, Pierce, Barr, Loesch....so on and so on....til he gets through them all. Then he says "Thanks for their wives, for supporting them.....except for "so and so" (whichever one isn't married, I can't remember which one that is)
I know most active witnesses couldn't name but two or three GB members at any given time. Looks like this guy really did his homework for the opening prayer...
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Sorry you are having a hard time...I've been a little upset over the past few days as well. That generation overlap thing is really a doozy.
A quick bit of advice, you might want to quiet down your "apostate" comments, especially to your friend. If you trust your husband that is a different matter. That is unless you want some visits from your elders and possible JC for apostasy. Never underestimate how quickly they will turn on you if they think you are going against the "slave"
That being said, it sounds like you are happier when you are not going to the meetings. If your husband isn't upset about you not going, then dont go. Don't protest if he still wants to go, just let him and see how he reacts after a short time. You never know, he might slowly follow you right out the door.
how do you overcome this?
i just got done reading isocf and toward the end ray warns against bitterness.
i guess i just can't agree with that.
Thank you scarred, Gary, and gubberning.
Shelby, I dont WANT to be bitter, I just am. Like gubbering said, feelings are feelings, they are hard to change from the logical view. I know its a waste of time, so thus I want to rid myself of the feeling. It probably is more of a time thing than logically deciding not to be bitter. I try to take the 'good' that came from my JW experience and not always dwell on the bad. Thanks for the kind words, you have given me some things to think about in trying to truly put it all behind me.
I certainly havent been hurt to the extent that others have, so I am thankful I escaped without too many scars. But on the other hand I think of these kids getting dunked right now in their early teens and what is going to happen to them down the road if/when they figure it out and lose their families.
I am amazed though at people like Ray who gave them everything, his whole life -blood, sweat and tears, and yet was able to speak in such kind ways in his books about the men that did that to him.
my wife and i da'ed ourselves two years ago.
she left because she felt there was no forward momentum in the congregation.. me: because i really started to notice the lack of love and concern amoungst "true christians".
we have gotten to the point now where we will say hello to any jw's we run into, but the total avoidance thing is starting to get somewhat creepy to me.. example : my wife was in target several weeks ago, put her items on the belt and was getting ready to checkout.
It hasn't happened much to me, but I am resolved to not cower or avoid any witnesses I come across. A few times a have been greeted back by a quick hello but nothing more. I hope to catch them off guard if possible, to stand tall and simply greet them. If they act in the way you have described then that is on them. Hopefully others around such as their children, or the Target checker in your case will take note of the ridiculous behavior and it will make them think. I have talked to dozens of my co-workers and told them how I am no longer spoken to because of my stance and they are now warned as to what the witnesses really represent.
This article from Garybuss talks about how it is part of their worship. It also shows how you have to be a participant for the shunning to work. If you make it difficult for them by smiling at them, greeting them, or just not avoiding them, it causes cognitive dissonance for them. They have to reduce that by either justifying it, or on the other hand starting to think logically. While few will do the latter, its better to at least force them into the situation so that they at least feel uncomfortable.
hey, i discovered this older quote from reexamine.org.
i could not believe how serious it was about what a family .
member was not allowed to do with a disfellowshipped .
Gary,
What did they say about that?
how do you overcome this?
i just got done reading isocf and toward the end ray warns against bitterness.
i guess i just can't agree with that.
How do you overcome this? I just got done reading ISOCF and toward the end Ray warns against bitterness. I guess I just can't agree with that. I was born into this joke of a religion and it took away everything a normal child should experience. Why shouldnt I be bitter? Its not like I can't function day to day, but when I see this stuff they are spouting about the overlap and how everyone is just lapping it up like liquid chocolate, it pisses me off...Of course I was "one of them" back in 95 and because I was asleep at the switch (brainwashed) I didnt notice a damn thing.
Then I hear that a couple of teens from my old congo got baptized last week. One is thirteen and one is fourteen. Another (former) friend of mine has a daughter getting dunked later this month. I think she is twelve or thirteen. Personally I consider it criminal how this org brainwashes them into a lifetime commitment when they can't drive, vote, drink, own property....etc....
Thanks for listening.
she asked me why god didn't step in to stop tragedies.
for example, recently twin baby girls were attacked in their cots while their parents were down stairs.
both suffered life changing injuries.. my daughter knows a couple who have waited years for a baby and eventually had i.v.f.
brotherdan,
i was where you were a year ago. I dumped the witnesses like a hot potato when I realized how far off track they were from the bible. It took about another three months, but then I dropped the bible once I realized how far off it was from rational thinking. See Numbers 31 if you have any further questions, the part where God kills all the non-virgin women and the young males makes a lot of sense.
apologies if this is old news.
.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giol10a6fvw&feature=related.
Years from now, when this current light comes back to bite them in the butt, they'll be able to latch on to the word USUALLY and say: ah, well, in this case, it actually didn't mean that....someday their own words are going to SINK THEM!!!
If it were that easy, they would have been long gone....If they are able to re-define the dictionary definition of "generation" without a whimper of protest from the R&F, then they can pretty much do anything. They have replaced the bible with the "slave" and its working.
