Posts by jschwehm

8

Have any Ex JWs married person of another faith?

by Stacey in

jw
friends

i'm just curious to see how this has worked out for people.

has anyone married a christian?

catholic?

jschwehm

Hi Stacey:

I do not think you actually have to join the Catholic Church in order to be married in it. I would talk to his priest about that. However, you can go through the Rite of Christian Initiation (RCIA) program which is a class that teaches you about the Catholic faith. That is the normal way someone joins the Catholic Church. I know some have taken the (RCIA) classes without actually joining so as to learn more about the faith and then they have gotten married in the Church. There are a variety of options opened to you. I sent you a private message with more info.

Jeff Schwehm

18

Vicki Boer, Watchtower Society and Money

by jschwehm in

jw
friends

i think the decision by the judge to force vicki to pay the society's legal fees even though she won the case is just fundamentally unfair.

this lady was hurt by her father and the society obviously did something that at the very, very, least was not helpful in her case.

it would seem to me that if the jws really are the christians they claim to be, that they would not be seeking to send this legal bill to someone who has already been through so much.

jschwehm

Hi Sword:

Obviously you do not understand the details of the case. The Society wants Vicki to pay THEIR legal fees for defending themselves against the lawsuit filed against them by Vicki. To my knowledge, Vicki never asked the Society to pay her legal fees. The Society wants Vicki to pay THEIR legal fees despite the fact that the judge ruled that the JW elders had screwed up the way they handled her abuse case. In addition, the Society has said publicly, if I am not mistaken, that their intent is not to revictimize those who have been molested by going after them in this way. The fact that they petitioned the court to have the judge force Vicki to pay THEIR legal fees just demonstrates how unchristian, uncaring, and unloving your religious leaders are.

Jeff S.

84

tink's first major break-up

by tinkerbell82 in

i'm officially single.

i don't know how to feel exactly.

thank you to everyone who has been so sweet and kind and supportive of me, you have no idea how much it's meant to me.

jschwehm

Hi Tink:

I guess your break-up means that you are growing as a person and your needs are not being met in this relationship at this time. While all break-ups have pain associated with them, there is also something exciting about the new possibilities that will come to you because of your choice to move on. In time, things will get better and because of your friends on this board in some sense they already have.

Jeff S.

18

Vicki Boer, Watchtower Society and Money

by jschwehm in

jw
friends

i think the decision by the judge to force vicki to pay the society's legal fees even though she won the case is just fundamentally unfair.

this lady was hurt by her father and the society obviously did something that at the very, very, least was not helpful in her case.

it would seem to me that if the jws really are the christians they claim to be, that they would not be seeking to send this legal bill to someone who has already been through so much.

jschwehm

I hope you are right Cygnus. But having that ruling stand and putting those leins on her assets if she has any would be a great way to intimidate others who might want to come forward.

Jeff S.

P.S. It is good to hear from you again.

18

Vicki Boer, Watchtower Society and Money

by jschwehm in

jw
friends

i think the decision by the judge to force vicki to pay the society's legal fees even though she won the case is just fundamentally unfair.

this lady was hurt by her father and the society obviously did something that at the very, very, least was not helpful in her case.

it would seem to me that if the jws really are the christians they claim to be, that they would not be seeking to send this legal bill to someone who has already been through so much.

jschwehm

I think the decision by the judge to force Vicki to pay the Society's legal fees even though she won the case is just fundamentally unfair.

This lady was hurt by her father and the Society obviously did something that at the very, very, least was not helpful in her case.

It would seem to me that if the JWs really are the Christians they claim to be, that they would not be seeking to send this legal bill to someone who has already been through so much. It seems to me that the Christian thing to do would be to forgive this debt afterall what do they think Jesus would do in this situation?

But, I guess the JWs really do not ask themselves questions like those...at least the leaders do not seem to. Maybe the Society needs to put its money where their mouth is. I doubt that they will but I would hope they would. This is a case where the JW leaders could really demonstrate the "love" that they claim they have for others that they say no other religion has.

Jeff S.

10

Getting Over it.

by shamus in

i just wanted to let everyone know that i want to get on with my life and my feeling sorry formyself additude.

i am going to learn from the past, and press ahead.

this may have come to some of you... how did you get tired of living out the past and getting on with life after the dubs?.

jschwehm

Hi:

I would say that the greatest way to "get over it" is to deal with those issues from our past in a productive way. And then, building ourselves up. I would say that I did this by getting a college education after leaving the JWs and then rebuilding my belief system. In addition, years of therapy helped me to put much of my past into perspective and assisted me with a plan for rebuilding myself for the future. I hope this made sense.

Jeff S.

9

soulless souls

by zen nudist in

many years ago --around 1984-6-- my youngest brother asked me why i would waste my time persuing a religion which only promised that a copy of me would inhabit paradise if i died now.. at the time the full impact of his question escaped me... .

years later in a spiritual time of crisis that question reared its head and bit me hard... it suddenly made sense.. jws teach that the soul is you, all of you, alive or dead.

there is no immortal soul for the jw, only an impersonal spirit which animates the body and like electricity is cut off and symbolically returns to god who gave it.

jschwehm

One of the interesting things is that when the JWs talk about the resurrection of the anointed ones they will say things like 'the life pattern of the anointed Christian is taken up into heaven and given a spiritual body at the moment of their death'. Or when talking about Jesus coming to earth they will say that God took the "life pattern" of Jesus and put it into Mary's womb. What is this "life pattern"? It sounds a lot like an immaterial "soul" to me. Another thing too is that for a Christian who believes in the immortality of the soul, everytime a new human being is conceived the entire universe changes because that new soul will live for all eternity. Hopefully, that new soul will choose to reach its full eternal potential by wanting live forever in the presence of God but souls can choose to reject God.

Also, think about this...a husband and wife actually get to participate with God in an act of creation when they conceive through the sexual act. As God creates the soul because of an act of love, a husband and wife get to create through the grace of God a body for that soul through an act of love also.

Unfortunately, we as humans often misuse this beautiful gift of sex from God...but that is another topic.

Jeff S.

43

Special Assembly Day report 2003/2004

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

2003/2004 special assembly day report.

theme: serving jehovah with a complete heart.

brief note: no new light this year, but a couple of new changes i have not seen before.

jschwehm

I remember when I was a JW how we were taught that the "least of these my brothers" in the parable of the sheep and the goats was not the poor but was those of the anointed who were in charge of doing the preaching work. Therefore, the number one priority of Christians according to the Watchtower Society was to help with selling magazines and converting people to the JWs. So, with this primary interpretation of this scripture it makes sense that the JWs' would view helping people in need with suspicion because it takes away time, effort, and money from their real goal which is to sell magazines, find converts, and perpetuate the cult.

Jeff S.

20

Do All Men Think That Watching TV is a Togetherness Activity?

by Swan in

just curious about something that i am trying to understand in my marriage.

when i am not at work i am usually home.

my husband is home all day due to being retired due to a work disability.

jschwehm

Hi:

I know that my wife and I have had that discussion at times. What we have done is we have started reading together. We take turns reading to each other. It has drawn us closer and it is a nice relaxing togetherness activity.

Jeff S.

34

What are you doing for Halloween?

by iiz2cool in

jw
friends

what are you doing for halloween?

since leaving the jw's, has anyone gone out to halloween parties?

do you dress up in a costume?

jschwehm

I will be 36 on Halloween so I think my wife will probably take me out to dinner that nite.

Jeff S.