Having read "Crisis of Conscience", I'd say that if the Holy Spirit can't straighten out the governing body, what hope does it have with all the elders and MS's?
Hope you are enjoying posting and I look forward to your story.
Retro
i have been thinking a lot about how once someone is appointed in the in hall....such as a ms or elder...how many people always make such comments as: "well jehovah has appointed him so we have to deal with it" or "even jehovah uses wicked people in his organization"..how can people believe this??
i do not understand how holy spirit can be apart of such beliefs.
i know of a brother in our hall right now that has committed fornication, never telling anyone about it.
Having read "Crisis of Conscience", I'd say that if the Holy Spirit can't straighten out the governing body, what hope does it have with all the elders and MS's?
Hope you are enjoying posting and I look forward to your story.
Retro
i find it to be frankly disrespectful.
im a father, if my kids were to call me by my first name id find that wierd.
we address judges with "your honor" and various other titles, so why on earth would we call the almighty god by his first name?
Thank all, it's very educational on this site (well, sometimes )
My rather simple thought was that when my jw friends kept saying "Jehovah God", it sounded like God needed them to remind him of his name!
It was one of the 2 reasons why they discontinued the "Bible" study, that I wouldn't use it. They told me it must please God as it was the most commonly accepted pronounciation in the world. . . Yet who did they say ruled the world ?
Retro
i think i may have reached another crossroads.
the most tolerant woman in the world and i were discussing it last night.
i've seen my loss of faith like a relationship breakup, i've done the gut wrenching fear bit and i've been heavily invested in the anger and angst phase where i've sought out people who believed as strongly as i once did and challenged them (like an ex-lover calling up for a shouting match.
Qcmbr, I'll miss you, but dree your own wierd! It matters less what we believe than what we do.
Keep evolving, Retro
carpenters - yesterday once more.
i love this song.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0orogjusbg.
.
All the Japanese people have my prayers, Possible-san.
Stay well!
Retro
which is what a dub said to me today.
i would like to come back to him with evidence that they are not.
does anyone have any helpful links they could post to refute this?.
the wt did, however, claim that the number of eartquakes was increasing for many decades. A good source is the "earthquakes" heading on jwfacts.
Their retraction was so well hidden that many jws atill believe it. My visitors did.
Retro
i received a phone call from my mother (who is still a jw, but very accepting of me still as her loving son, even though i was disfellowshiped for questioning the oranization and choosing the bible over the watchtower at that time).
she makes normal talk, just regular stuff pertaining to situations of ours.
about me coming to visit, and or her coming.
Voices,
I've done the despair and depression thing, several times. and a main reason was that my parents constantly compared us as kids and judged (you'll never be as good at this as x).
Therapy is hard. It's difficult to face the truth about ourselves, and change is probably hardest of all. But these things are real, and lead to a real, better life.
You are no more a sinner than anyone else. If you are still religious, you know that the Bible teaches this too; if not, sin is a useless concept anyway!
You are a person whom life has given the insight and motivation to pursue a hard path that will lead to better things. Use it, work through it and I wish you all happiness.
Retro
1) i think it's ridiculous to tell anyone when and how to use something they paid for ( computers and internet service ).
2) i think it's ridiculous to tell married couples how to act in the bedroom.
3) i think it's ridiculous to tell people what kinda cars they should buy ( 4 door for fieldservice ).
That adults send their small children to strangers with pamphlets because they fear rejection.
That studying is equated to underlining supplied material and giving answers reword what was just read.
That a CO can tell an audience that the jws could rebuild Haiti faster than all the relief crews and everyone applauds.
condemn the adulterers too.
may 21, 2010. from jill carroll, houston religion expert and author.
this weeks' news brought us the story of a catholic elementary school rescinding the acceptance of a child because his parents are lesbians.
Cut n pastes are boring. that leaves the title and the last sentence.
So, the title. "Condemn the Adulterers too"? Christianity is about condemnation? Not necessarily.
Does it escape anyone's notice that Jehovah's Witnesses maintain this consistency regarding divorce and remarriage? They do
By "maintain consistency", you mean that they condemn? Yes, it does seem so.
do you think that jw are more stressed out than worldly people.
like feeling that they are not doing enought to please jehovah, not doing enought field service and not attending enought meeting etc.
if this is the case on top of most jw suffer from depression.
Some critics reference bias or scientifically flawed studies as evidence of higher levels of mental illness amongst Jehovah's Witnesses in comparison with contemporary society and attempt to identify reasons why this could be the case
The link on "critics" goes to jwfacts! Well done, Spade! But now you need to refute it.
The Mental Health of Jehovah's Witnesses by John Spencer is widely quoted though the findings are dubious. This found that in the 3 year period from 1971 to and including 1973, 7,546 inpatients were admitted to the West Australian Mental Health Service Psychiatric Hospitals, of which 50 were active Witnesses. This represents a rate of 2.54/1000 for the general population and 4.17/1000 for Jehovah's Witnesses.
That's a worry, considering that jws are discouraged from seeking professional help. True happiness is found in more meetings, more study, more field service, isn't it?
Psychiatric and psychological evaluations don't ask about or include religion in their assessments. A legitimate psychiatric hospital doesn't maintain religious beliefs in their patient records. Some studies were conducted while Jehovah's Witnesses were being persecuted by the secular authorities in the 1940's. This can hardly be deemed scientifically accurate or non-bias
Any reference for what psychological evaluations do or don't include, or just "take my word for it"? The Spencer study was conducted in the 1970s, not the 1940s, so the second sentence is irrelevant.
Retro
how many of the ten commandments... does the wbt$ break everyday?...
the wbt$ has set themselves up as spokesman for god..jesus is out of a job..in watchtower world..the wbt$=god.
all images are forbidden in watchtower world..except the watchtower image... the wbt$ gods name jehovah,is a 14th century catholic translation mistake... the wbt$ doesn`t like jw`s to take sundays off..screw the sabbath... .
Surely Moses would have faced a JC if he came up with one suggestion counter to the prevailing "light", let alone 10!