Bill's story appeared in the Lincoln Journal Star of Lincoln, NE this morning. It was hard to miss in our paper too. The Society really seems to have put water on a grease fire this time.
Jeff S.
jschwehm
JoinedPosts by jschwehm
-
6
Bill Bowen's Story appears in my local paper today
by BeautifulGarbage inthe title is: "jehovah's witnesses facing expulsion for abuse stance".
the same story that appeared on cnn's website has been run in my local paper, the desert sun(palm springs, ca), along with his picture.
it's on page a11, the first page, on the top, of the second section.
-
-
-
61
How many found the REAL truth from the internet?
by Leander inif it was'nt for the internet i would still be stuck in the endless cycle of drone like meeting attendance and field service.
(technically i'm still in but not for long) i'm really glad that some ex-jws took the time to speak about the real truth.
for the longest time i always thought that what i was taught was correct, i never even felt the need to question it or validate it with actual facts.
-
-
jschwehm
My doubts actually started while I was younger. I remember learning in a World History class in high school that the date for the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians was not 607 BC. I shrugged it off at first. Then while pioneering, I started seeing some inconsistencies in some other teachings when some "new light" came out. I remember showing my father one of them and he said to me "Gee, I hope there are not any more apostates on the Governing Body like there were before" (He was referring to the Ray Franz incident.)
I went to Bethel and saw the politics. It really helped me to see the organizational leaders as humans and not these almost "inspired" leaders that I was taught to follow. While at Bethel I started having discussions with other Bethelites about things and started reading older literature. This created more doubts. By the time I left Bethel, I would say that I still believed that the JWs taught "the truth" but that the organization was becoming corrupt and too political.
I left Bethel and got married and started college. I pretty much threw myself into my schoolwork. However, I started doing some research and started reading the writings of former JWs. The first one I read was Carl Jonnsen's book on the Gentile Times. It was extremely well written and well researched. I was impressed.
By this time, I was having a hard time going from door to door because I could no longer support the nonsense that the JWs teach with regard to the year 1914. Also, during this time, I read books by Ray Franz, Jim Penton, and David Reed.
I shared the information with my wife who became inactive soon thereafter. Once I graduated from college, I went on to graduate school in Arkansas. I was an inactive JW with no intention of really becoming active again but I was still living in what I like to call limbo so as not to offend any JW relatives.
About that time in 1995 the change in the generation of 1914 doctrine occurred and I had just recently gotten online and met people like AF, Ros, and others. They seemed to know about the change before it occurred. I got the article and that was the last straw for me.
My wife and I left the JWs completely within about a year. I received lots of support from my internet ex-JW and internet Christian friends during those very trying years.
I do not think my exit from the JW cult would have happened as quickly or as smoothly if it had not been for the support network that I received via the internet.
Jeff S.
-
17
Pack your bags, you are going on a guilt trip!
by mpatrick in"pack your bags, mom's taking us on a guilt trip"-my favorite youngest brother.
how many of you out there get a regular guilt trip from your parents or anyone for that matter?
i am beginning to think my mom is reigning queen!.
-
-
jschwehm
I know what it is like. I can remember when this couple left the JWs. They became very active and popular in the community since they went back to singing like they had done in the past. The JWs said that Satan was blessing them for leaving the JWs.
Then when some other person left the JWs and went off the deep end into drugs and such, that was an example of how unhappy people become when they leave "the troof".
So, you really cannot win.
Jeff S.
-
44
Daughter Going to College this Fall
by TR inwow.
my first born baby will be going to college in the fall.
she will graduate high school and spokane community college this year with an aa degree.
-
-
jschwehm
Congrats!
Gonzaga is a great school.
Jeff S.
-
39
Who shuns you?
by Dawn inafter reading a number of posts it sounds like most of you have been shunned even by your immediate family members (parents, brothers, sisters)after you were df'd.. i am shunned by my sister-in-law - but she's it out of the entire family.
my uncle, brothers, mother, and father (an elder before he passed away) all continued to associate with me - we even go out to dinners together.. so here's my question - is my family the minority?
i thought that only non-family members had to shun you but family was ok as long as they don't discuss spiritual issues.
-
-
jschwehm
My parents rarely speak to me anymore. I cannot remember the last time I heard from them. My in-laws keep in contact most often. They still visit us and speak to us although we never really talk about religious matters. Sometimes, my mother-in-law will sort of threaten to shun us but a few days later she will behave as if nothing ever happened.
Jeff S.
-
171
WHAT Kingdom Hall did Ya'll go to?
by thewiz ini was looking at another thread.
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/forum/thread.asp?id=24809&site=3.
and was wondering,if i'm not being too forward, what kh did everyone here go to.. i used to go to the cranston kh in ri, usa .
-
-
jschwehm
I attended:
East Metairie Congregation Metairie, Louisiana
Covington Congregation Covington, Louisiana
Dekalb Congregation Brooklyn, New York
Abita Springs Congregation Covington, Louisiana
Jeff S.
-
8
Why two tests for the "other sheep"?
by sleepy inwhy two tests for the "other sheep"?.
i could never understand the reason why the society believed that those destined to live on earth had to go through two tests.. one at armageddon the other at the end of the thousand year reign of christ.. if they have been tested as to loyalty at armageddon why is a further test needed.if armageddon is not a good enought test for christian why have it at all, why not just have the final test?.
also those suppossed to be gong to heaven don't have an test.the get ressurected as perfect beings without going through armageddon or the final test.does that make sense?.
-
-
jschwehm
Sleepy-
Those are excellent questions. It demonstrates how the leadership of the JWs enslaves people and it also demonstrates how JWs are taught that for the "other sheep" Jesus' acts were not enough to save them but they must work for their salvation. The historic Christian church has never taught at two class system of salvation and this whole two class system is just another invention by Rutherford which the current JW leadership continues to hold onto.
Jeff S.
-
15
Are Demons still roaming the bedrooms at Bethel?
by Tanalyst ina couple decades ago a bro.
tells me an experience that he says i must keep top secret.. one of his roomates (he lived in a 4 man bedroom) at nite while in bed would see this green form in the likeness of a man in the room.
if my memory serves me right, another roomate also saw it, some days later.. so my friend asks all the roomates if any received anything religious from anyone.the 1st guy to report these demons remembered he recently had received a letter with some religious pictures.
-
-
jschwehm
As long as the housekeepers and home overseers search the Bethelites' rooms for offending items there will always be little demons in bethel room. ;)
Jeff S.
-
14
My brush with the JW's
by wonderwoman77 inthis last week, i did a short internship in a school system.
we had to do one home visit because the little girl we were going to see has been ill and has not been able to attend her early child program.
she is 3 and has a disease where half of her brain did not form and she does not have a pitutary gland.
-
-
jschwehm
Actually, it was my experience when growing up that when this one elder would give a take on child rearing he would bring up the belt that he used to spank his kids. He would use that as an example of good child rearing. Spanking was encouraged in the congregation that I grew up in.
Jeff S.
-
13
I gave blood for the first time, yesterday.
by jschwehm inmany of you may know that i teach at a small christian liberal arts college in nebraska now.
my pre-med students sponsored a blood drive yesterday and asked me to donate.
so, i donated blood for the first time.
-
-
jschwehm
I got rid of my blood card back in 1996.
Jeff S.