i didn't want to read to much before putting up my story.
some time in the late 80's i heard from my parents that my brother now a jw.
my family had been through some ups and downs so it wasn't that big a suprise.
Welcome Marty!
I, too, came in from "the world" in my early 20's. I have to admit that my time in the organization did serve a purpose at that phase of my life. It did help me make some changes in myself. But eventually I started to realize some things were wrong so I got out.
i've been playing around with this strategy for awhile.
how could i crack the defenses and get a jw to read crisis of conscience, captive to a concept, etc., or just some reasoning points in general on blood, 1914, the history of the wt organization?
i want to help my brothers and sisters, i am still inside for a while longer and feel like i need to do something more tangible.. so i was thinking that if a flash drive was "accidentally" left on the ground in the parking lot.
Most JWs will not even know what the flashdrive is because they don't have computers. They might think it's part of a keychain, or a handle from some kind of machine lever. Or a mushroom.
But even the few who would know what it is, I think they'd just give it to an elder or MS to put in the lost and found. The elders and MS might be suspicious, since no one normally brings a flashdrive to the Hall. They will most likely think it was dropped by an "outsider".
okay, before you fly off the handle--i wrote a blog on how my research proves jw's are a cult (no, i haven't read the cult book yet).
somebody linked their own findings onto my site saying the opposite.
their evidence is erroneous and as i don't have time to point this out i thought i would let you all do it for me.. www.epages.wordpress.com.
The WT has published articles in their defense. However, one thing they never mention is that with this religion, members are "not allowed" to read/investigate literature from other religions. There is constant cousel not to talk to apostates, not to view their websites, not to read their literature. And not just apostates but other religions. You never hear of JW's reading "Daily Word" from the Unity Church, or even "worldly philosophies" like books on positive thinking. You would think their stand would be, "Go ahead and read literature form other religions and you'll see their error, and you'll see that we have the truth." No, instead their view is, "Do not read it....you could be led astray..."
so i went to my sister's wedding this past sunday, which happened to be smack dab in the middle of a church service.
my all faithful husband told me it was a dfing offense and that he was obligated to tell the elders that i was going to a church.
i really could care less about the actual act of being df it is the fact that my husband felt the need to "turn me in".
When I was a very prominent MS - gave the "special talk" and so on - it was well known that I went to churches on occassions for relatives' weddings, funerals, etc.
It is "allowed" becuase you are just an observer. You are not "worshipping" there. You are not joining in their prayer or other practices, or embracing their beliefs. Merely being present is equivaltent to standing during the pledge to the flag and not putting your hand on your heart and not reciting the pledge.
startfragment.
so a brother wants to fade, but would rather not explain his reasons.
lets say he grows a nice beard or goatee.
frigginconfused, you're right.
I moved to a different circuit and immediately grew a goatee. (I can grow a full beard in less than a week.) No one in the new congregation said anything about it. It's as if they didn't even notice it. An elder and a MS invited me out in service with them, and I went. The householders seemed to notice that I looked "different" from the usual JW's but overall nothing was said or done about it. Then after a few months I simply disappeared. Now, JWs from both congregations see my facebook photos with the goatee but still contact me. I notice that some of their "friends" are people who had disappeared before I did.
does anybody here do any volunteer work?
i mean real volunteer work.
not the jw "knock on doors and annoy people" kind of volunteer work.
I was not raised as a JW. As a teen I volunteered during the summer to tutor younger students in Reading and Math. After becoming a JW I volunteered in the local Emergency Room and in an animal shelter. After being appointed I volunteered in the prison system to be a spiritual advisor to death row inmates, along with ministers from a variety of religions. After leaving the JW's I still do many of these things plus I joined the Civil Air Patrol, and I participate in fundraisers for cancer research.
i was wondering what changes have you seen with assemblies now.compared to assemblies in the 1950's..
Remember all the "counsel" we'd review at the Service Meeting before the distrct conventions? It would cover: don't save seats, conduct/attrie at the motels, conduct during the sessions, and so on. They always stressed "Do not save seats, except for those in your own car group." Well several times I'd arrive there early and be one of the first individuals to get in the doors at 8AM. I would actually RUN into the area - and I would see the entire front row and most aisle seats already covered with Watchtowers! That proved that the workers, who were allowed in before 8AM, were the ones saving the seats. The elderly and disabled were already S.O.L. before the doors even opened.
interesting points from this week's wt study (dec 15 2010 study edition):.
par 12: "do i encourage my children not to view the song between the theocratic ministry school and the service meeting or the one between the public talk and the watchtower study as a sort of intermission,an opportunity for them to leave their seats unnecessarily, perhaps just to stretch their legs?".
why do they have to make such a big deal out of everything?
Par 11: "i f you were thrown into prison, how many of our Kingdom songs would you be able to sing from memory?"
No one gets "thrown" into prison; you get "escorted" into prison. You walk in, handcuffed, with an officer on either side of you.
interesting points from this week's wt study (dec 15 2010 study edition):.
par 12: "do i encourage my children not to view the song between the theocratic ministry school and the service meeting or the one between the public talk and the watchtower study as a sort of intermission,an opportunity for them to leave their seats unnecessarily, perhaps just to stretch their legs?".
why do they have to make such a big deal out of everything?
Interesting. They expect children to sit like stautes for 2 hours. Yet when I was a MS, I and some other MS would go in the back and take naps during the meeting. We'd cover for each other. For example, if one brother had the last part on the service meeting, he'd go sleep in the back room and someone would go wake him up in time for him to give his part. I was the one who started that arrangement in my congregation. The brother on the sound system would sit and work on the accounts report or literature order while the meeting was going on. I would sometimes sit in the audience and write letters to not-at-homes and count the time, not paying attention to the meeting until it was my turn to go up and give my part.
this was the last song of the service meeting this week.
the new version sounds like a death march anthem.
the melody has changed and i think the words have also.. i truly used to like that song and it was one of the first song's i could sing as a kid.
saltyoldlady, I agree with you. I am a muscian and I loved the songs in the brown book. When sung correctly (which unfortunately was difficult) they had feeling and passion. As soon as I got the new songbook and started looking thru it (and playing them on my piano in order to learn them) my first thought was that all the new ones were written by one person. I thought of the scripture where Jesus said that his sheep flee from the voice of a stranger. It was as if the organization abruptly got taken over by some other religion. The songs are more like chants. Lifeless, shallow, without much feeling. I felt "stumbled".
