i am a da'd dub circa 1993 (born in).
i have been an extremely successful business owner over the years but about 6 months ago augered in from about 60k feet.
my jw parents have been aware of my situation.
Hi Scary, Yes I was baptised in '71. DF'd in '80, re-instated '83 for family reasons. DA'd for purely PO'd reasons and held fast because of this site.
I'm old enough to no better but... I live my life on the edge. When I get on a rollercoaster I ask if the construction is complete.... on the way down.
Asilentone, The old man gave up on that a long time ago (and YES it's a bad idea). He was sincere in my mind. He is not a smoke and mirrors U
s'r. Straight from the hip Matt Dillon style.
i am a da'd dub circa 1993 (born in).
i have been an extremely successful business owner over the years but about 6 months ago augered in from about 60k feet.
my jw parents have been aware of my situation.
I am a DA'd dub circa 1993 (born in). I have been an extremely successful business owner over the years but about 6 months ago augered in from about 60k feet. My JW parents have been aware of my situation. My father has been an elder since 1972 in VERY conservative congo's. He's been the PO of his congo now for a long time and it is VERY conservative as well. I got a call tonight from Dad. He wanted me to know that if I needed a roof over my head or food to eat I was welcome in his home. He knows my lifestyle and is not JW certified by ANY means. Umm.... this sounds different from what i've heard recently on this site (which I have found to be the source of the latest info). Is my Dad a renegade elder or did something change recently?
this afternoon i was just trolling the internet, and i went onto the official jw website just to look around.. well, some of the pictures / articles were quite amazing in their sheer ignorance of facts.. one of the most amazing ones for me, (it actually made me laugh out loud while shaking my head in disbelief) is titled: .
have you ever wondered .
.how should a christian view drunkenness?.
Agree. Heavy drinking was the norm. My favorite example is this: Traveling back from a trip to Bethel circa 1974. I was planning on going there to work and went on the tour. On the way back on the plane (100% JW tour plane) they had a raffle for a very expensive bottle of wine. I didn't win (I was 17) but the stewardess announced that it was the first time they had 100% participation in the raffle.
part 1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1r1hsrqmj8 .
part 2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=immfkdykmky .
part 3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7jiu0gpufu.
Holy cr@p! Very interesting perspective. Since my departure I've become increasingly suspect of ALL organized religion. After I learned that the "Gospels" were written long after "Jesus" was gone and none of them actually knew him, I've been suspect. Thanks for the vids!
for example someone with piercings,tattoos,beard etc?.
I knew a sister that carried a Derringer pistol in her boot. I didn't find out until after I was out. I used to set the mic's for the TMS so I sat up front. I remember her doing talk 3/4 wearing boots. Didn't know she was packing then.
i have been drinking heavily my entire adult life with the exception of about two very happy years and i feel it is now time to try and put it down (again).
it's hard, though, as there is no one to impress except myself.
last time i quit, at least i worked with some sober people whom i found much more relatable with a clear mind and that provided at least a little more inspiration to continue.
I too quit the "truth" and turned to heavy drink (and smoking, coke, meth, morphine...okay just about everything). I've been to rehab three times. Twice the judge made me. Once a wife made me. Did AA and all the rest. In the end it was up to me to decide to live or not. The only thing that worked for me was to replace the old habit with a pleasurable activity that did not allow the old. For instance I really wanted to quit cigs for good. I replaced that with mountain climbing. There's no way you can climb mountains on a regular basis and smoke. I quit 2 1/2 packs a day cold turkey and haven't had one since 1996. Pick something your passionate about and get involved with it. Drinking, when out of control, wastes a whole lot of time among other things. I always ponder a quote from the Chief in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". He was talking about his fathers drinking. Paraphrase: "One day I looked at him drinking out of that bottle and I realized the bottle was drinking out of him".
i have been raised a jehovah's witness and when i was 25 years old i decided to try and discover things for myself.
something just was not sitting right with me.
i had been a publisher since i was 4 years old and i gave my first talk when i was 6 years old.
Welcome to the board Safire. Your story struck because it's a lot like mine. The difference is that I started questioning things at around 17. My questioning was actually sparked by my unrelenting passion for all things JW. In high school I had the opportunity to build some of my own classes. I made one up of studying all the major world religions (with the intent of showing why JW's are the true one). The teacher that had to approve my curriculum noticed that 90% of the studies was on "Christian" religion and 10% others. I unabashedly told him that I knew all about "pagan" religion (I didn't) and they really didn't count. Wisely he made me divide it 50/50. It was an amazing experience to learn about how Hindus, Muslims, Buddhist, etc. lived. The real eye opener for me (as a future full time pioneer) is the suddenly the numbers didn't work. Matt 24: 14 saying that the good news had to preached through out... There's no way that the comparatively few JW's could possibly reach all these people. Besides that their frame of reference is completely different. A lot of good people are going to die through no fault of their own. That was just the start of my questioning.
I too left the org but I was only 21. I did come back and get reinstated ENTIRELY for same reason as you. To be back with my family. It did not last because after I learned so many things that are wrong with the way the organization operated I could not stand the hypocrisy in my life any longer. Anyway, you will get a lot of support and help here. Again, welcome!
i am just wondering about what the usual method for jw's to tell you to get the heck out of their life until you shape up and come back to jah routine?.
one more question- let's say someone decided to go back but were possibly df'd, da'd or even just rumored to be an apostate, now they come back and they sit in the back and generally get treated like crap until the elders say their 'time out' is over.
can the family talk to them while they are in the dog house so to speak or do they have to wait until the elders give the ok?
I've always been curious about this. It seems to be different per locality and even congregation. I was DF'd in '80, re-instated '83 and DA'd '93. In that time my parents have flip-flopped. My dad has been an elder/PO since '72 in VERY conservative congo's. They took me in back in the early '80's when I totally augered in drugs and what not. They always check up on me (I talk to them at least every couple of weeks). Whenever I go to their house there is always a gin and tonic made for me... although nothing to eat. I think it's the "do not break bread" thing. But gin's ok. Both of my parents have been to my houses over the years. BUT... there have been changes from time to time that I'm sure are attributable to doctrinal changes or pressure. My dad actually called me recently to apologize for not being very friendly when I visited them.
so, after 3 and a bit winters in canada i finally invested in a set of winter tires.
up till now i've had a good set of all-seasons (goodyear assurance tripletred) and they have been very good even coping with a sudden calgary freeze last winter that saw accordian buses sliding back down the hill we were on (scary!
) and general chaos on the roads.. but, driving on the deerfoot on solid polished sheets of black-ice in rush-hour traffic is not nice and you could feel the car getting more than a little vague at times.
Thanks for the advice. I usually go to Les Schwab and tell them I want studded tires and I want to see nothing but sparks and cement dust. Unfortunately it is hell on the roads. I'm going to give these a try.
BTW. I spent the winter in Calgary back in '98. That's where I learned that the old saying "it's too cold to snow" is BS. I realized this when I went to cross a street, 40 below and I could barely see the streetlight through the snow that was moving horizontally. I was impressed with the way Calgary handles it. I guess you either get tough (and smart) or die.
disfellowshipping versus shunning.
the point of this commentary will be to show that the watchtower society's shunning doctrine does not adhere to the bible.
further, an understanding of congregational practices of first-century christians in the jewish culture is necessary for a proper understanding of the scriptures on this matter.. the primary scripture for consideration is:.
Wow, man... I understand your anger. Your first sentence is relating JW doctrine with the Bible. They do NOT relate. Don't let it consume you as a person or it will kill you. Put the lights up enjoy the season. Your relatives are just adapting to the latest whipsaw doctrine. I've been dealing with it for 30 years (my Father has been an elder since ~'72). The rules have changed recently as near as I can tell. My Mom takes my calls but Dad is always busy. Wasn't that way this summer.
