nothing feeds a starving person quite like a watchtower.. .
Thanks for that correction, GL Tirebiter. You are absolutely right to say others "were not allowed to" help me. Of course, most were completely unaware of my situation and perhaps they would have helped had they known. That's something I suppose I won't ever find out.
I also want to thank all of you for allowing me to share my experience. It is all part of the healing process and putting the WTS behind me, and I appreciate your kindness in allowing me to express myself here.
Quendi
nothing feeds a starving person quite like a watchtower.. .
You've got to admire the "Christian love" among Jehovah's Witnesses. I have a personal experience I'd like to relate that has a bearing on this topic.
I was disfellowshipped in 2005 and have not returned. I made up my mind to stay out in June 2010. Prior to that, I was making every effort to get reinstated. In July 2009, I lost my job and my apartment and had nowhere to go. So I appealed to a brother who had maintained contact with me evern after my disfellowshipping to let me stay with him. I also suffer from Type II diabetes, and unknown to me the disease was getting out of control. This brother took me in, but because of the WTS policy about the df'd, we kept my presence in his home a secret from his congregation as well as my own. However, I did let the elders on my judicial committee know about my situation.
By fall 2009, my diabetes had reached a critical stage. The brother I was living with took me to his doctor and paid for all the treatment. Thanks to his timely action, I was able to get my diabetes under control although the doctor told me I was only days away from slipping into a diabetic coma and possibly dying. Now I made all this known to my judicial committee, telling them I was ill, unemployed, homeless, and jobless. I wasn't drawing unemployment insurance at that time either. What was their warm and loving reaction? They didn't give a damn, but only criticized my spotty meeting attendance!
The Witness I lived with and I both realized we couldn't forever keep our arrangement secret so I moved out. Fortunately for me, I had always cultivated good friendships among non-Witnesses despite WTS injunctions against this. My economic situation is still bad as I am still unemployed. But my so-called "worldly friends" have provided food and shelter as I continue to look for a job. Aside from the Witness who initially helped me, not a single local Witness has inquired about me. Of course, since I'm df'd I didn't expect any locals to do so, but I thought that the elders would at least inquire about my spiritual and physical health. Not one of them has done so. I last spoke to them in June and have no plans to do so again.
As for the Witness who originally aided me, he got furious when I told him I could not in good conscience return to the organization. I thanked him for all he had done for me and told him I wanted to remain his friend. I will say here that he himself had been df'd years ago and I stood by him all the years he was out, never cutting him off. I had hoped he would continue to do the same for me, but I suppose WTS theology has proved stronger than our friendship. That's too bad.
My point is I would be living on the street now if it weren't for "worldly people". So I never use the phrase "worldly people" anymore. They helped me when so-called Christians would not. I made it a point to tell my judicial committee this as well. They were furious, but couldn't say anything in rebuttal. I asked them, "Why is it that you say I am still one of Jehovah's sheep, but don't even inquire about my circumstances or even offer a little help?" The silence that followed that question was deafening. And it's not like they don't know how to reach me as I gave them my cellphone number.
My case is different from the young woman who is the subject of this thread. But I think the overlying principle is still the same. The organization does not promote true Christian love even toward those who show an interest in its religion. And if you have been disciplined or expelled but still need help, you can forget about that. But I have learned some valuable lessons from this experience. I don't have much in a material way, but I contribute what I can to charitable organizations whether they are religious or not. I have seen that all of us have an obligation to help those in need, and I will certainly do so whenever it is in the power of my hand.
Quendi
my bother ( who i don't really talk too because of a different issue with him ) and i got disfellowshipped on the same day ( 2/28/09 ).
ive been pretty inconstant when it comes to meeting attendance ( i haven't been in more than six months ), while ever sence my brother and his wife had a baby he's been super regular at the meeting ( nine months straight without missing one meeting !).
when he turned in his reinstatement letter ( by the way he moved to a new congregation ).
We also don't want to forget that reinstatement is hardly the last word in the matter. Because even when a person is reinstated, the organization sees fit to saddle them with further "restrictions". You are not allowed to comment, participate in the Theocratic Ministry School, auxiliary pioneer, or enjoy other "privileges". However, you must still attend all the meetings and go out in field service. It as though a person is now being "publicly reproved" after being reinstated for the restrictions are the same. Furthermore, you are not told how long the restrictions will remain in place or what you must do to have them lifted. Of course, none of these actions is found anywhsere in the Bible but are man-made burdens imposed with a Pharisee-like zeal by the elders. I've known of people who went months and even years with these restrictions in place. Jehovah's forgiveness is unconditional, but not the organization's.
Only one in three who are disfellowshipped ever return. The organization likes to blame the "sinner" for this, saying the refusal to submit to its sadistic discipline is proof that the decision to disfellowship him was correct and that he was clearly "unrepentant". And while the shunning may end for those who do return, in every other way they are treated as a second-class member of the congregation. I find it interesting that in discussing the reason for placing restrictions on reinstated Witnesses, the literature never cites one scripture for justification of this practice.
Leto put it well when he questioned what "spirit" was directing the WTS, for clearly it isn't holy spirit. Indeed, the only thing consistent about the WTS's policy on "discipline" is its inconsistency. But I have to remind myself that when I was a member in good standing, I never openly questioned WTS procedures. I did think the practice of publicly humiliating people who have sinned or made serious mistakes was not the best way to handle this, particularly when sins like pedophilia are covered up. However, it was only upon leaving the religion that my thinking was finally corrected.
Quendi
my bother ( who i don't really talk too because of a different issue with him ) and i got disfellowshipped on the same day ( 2/28/09 ).
ive been pretty inconstant when it comes to meeting attendance ( i haven't been in more than six months ), while ever sence my brother and his wife had a baby he's been super regular at the meeting ( nine months straight without missing one meeting !).
when he turned in his reinstatement letter ( by the way he moved to a new congregation ).
When I pointed to the parable of the Prodigal Son as the way Jesus and Jehovah viewed repentant sinners, my judicial committee was struck dumb. They could say nothing in answer except to plead for more time to consider my case. That was the same answer I got every time I asked for reinstatement. I finally realized what an elder who maintained contact with me despite my status had said long ago. These elders had no intention of reinstating me and I was better off leaving the organization altogether. This elder was himself later disfellowshipped for "apostasy" when he persisted in saying that Jerusalem was destroyed in 587 BC and so the 1914 date for the start of the last days was clearly unscriptural.
I refused to grovel to the committee and instead talked to them as equals. They didn't like that at all, and I'm convinced that played a major role in their refusal to reinstate me. I told them that the Society had taken scriptures like 1 Cor. 6:9-11 entirely out of context, and that WTS literature about problems people had with serious sin were "inadequate, incomplete, and insufficient". I likened the experiences related in the literature to "fairy tales" that had no basis in reality. Furthermore, I told the elders that they themselves had no experience with my particular set of problems and so weren't in the position to counsel me or anybody else. I'm convinced they were completely intimidated by me and that only made them more determined to keep me out.
The other thing I've criticized is the organization's insistence that when someone is reinstated, the congregation must keep silent when the annoucement is read. Their specious reasoning is that rejoicing over the reinstatement might offend those who might have been affected by the sinner's actions. How unlike the reception the Prodigal Son received upon his return home or the rejoicing Jesus said the angels do when a sinner repents! It's just more proof that this entire arrangement does not have Jehovah's backing and makes me even happier that I have never returned.
Quendi
my bother ( who i don't really talk too because of a different issue with him ) and i got disfellowshipped on the same day ( 2/28/09 ).
ive been pretty inconstant when it comes to meeting attendance ( i haven't been in more than six months ), while ever sence my brother and his wife had a baby he's been super regular at the meeting ( nine months straight without missing one meeting !).
when he turned in his reinstatement letter ( by the way he moved to a new congregation ).
I was disfellowshipped in September 2005. I also jumped through hoops for nearly five years trying to get reinstated. By the time I had my last meeting with the judicial committee in June 2010 , I realized I wanted nothing more to do with the WTS and simply walked away. My only reason for pursuing reinstatement was to resume contact with close friends and family who are still Jehovah's Witnesses. It took me some time to understand that I could have a full and enjoyable life outside the organization. I did go through a grieving process as I accepted the loss of people I really cared for, but I have no regrets about severing my ties with the WTS.
The entire process of reinstatement is a farce, a sham. Jehovah isn't even remotely involved in it, and had I realized this from the beginning I never would have pursued reinstatement in the first place. For my judicial committee, the entire thing was an ego-driven power trip and I was providing the energy for this. Since leaving, I have felt much better about myself, and have had success in rebuilding my life. I will never go back even in the most unlikely event that reinstatement were offered.
Quendi
in recent months there have been massive protests and demonstrations against autocratic rulers in the middle east and north africa.
many of these were possible in part because the protesters used social media services like facebook, youtube and twitter to get the word out and let the world know what was going on.
these services are so threatening to many governments that they're blocked in order to control their people.
Hi Vampire!
No, my friend, not paranoid so much as cautious out of much experience with computers and their geek fanciers. If I thought all social networking in cyberspace was evil, I wouldn't be participating in this forum. I am no technophobe, but I do believe computer technology should be used wisely and with due caution. There are other ways to use computers and the Internet to maintain contact with others and build cyberspace communities. I simply don't believe that Facebook is a good or wise choice in that respect.
I also believe that it is wishful thinking to hope the Internet will cause the downfall of the WTS. It may certainly contribute to it, but those contributions will come only after the ball gets rolling. And the ball will only get rolling when enough people decide that the WTS has played the role of the false prophet. As I posted above, there are significant differences between the WTS and the governments in the Muslim world. Or to put it another way, the unrest sweeping through North Africa and Southwest Asia has been compared to the "velvet revolutions" that destroyed communism in Eastern Europe more than twenty years ago. Any resemblance is a superficial one for many reasons as the unfolding events have made obvious.
It is likewise with the WTS. Remember, it is seen as a beign and loving entity by the people it controls. That can't be said of the governments currently experiencing upheavals or of the communist dictators more than twenty years ago. Those who couldn't stand the WTS and its religion have departed, for the most part. Where the Internet can play a role is when Jehovah's Witnesses begin to realize that their hopes are melting away like snow iin spring sunshine and that the explanations the WTS has offered are bogus. Then the Internet can help spread the fever of disappointment where it has great saturation and that would in turn put additional pressure on the WTS and its Governing Body. We'll see.
Quendi
in recent months there have been massive protests and demonstrations against autocratic rulers in the middle east and north africa.
many of these were possible in part because the protesters used social media services like facebook, youtube and twitter to get the word out and let the world know what was going on.
these services are so threatening to many governments that they're blocked in order to control their people.
Hi Sab,
I appreciate your response. My point about Facebook is that no safeguards were originally put in place. You had to choose settings yourself to restrict access to information instead of this being done automatically as should have been the case and is true practically everywhere else on the Web. The creators of Facebook, in my opinion, were fools who had no idea how ordinary people think and react. They were enamored with all the bells and whistles they could put into their creation and didn't think for one second about the consequences of what they were doing.
Having done computer troubleshooting for some years, I know this is a big problem with geeks. They think that everyone loves computers in the same maniacal way they do. They don't think that most people are not interested in how computers or their software works, but like a car all they want to know is how to make it work for them. Facebook's creators only realized this after it was pointed out to them.
As for not giving away sensitive information, you are absolutely right to say that is up to the individual user about how much s/he wants to reveal. But that is often forgotten in the giddy excitement of creating an account and looking for people to connect with. Savvy users know the ropes, but most people are not computer savvy and have a naive trust in the machine, the software, and the network administrators. Such trust has been misplaced in the past.
I don't think Facebook is well run, organized, or protected. I wouldn't put any information on its network, and I refuse to use it. I always decline invitations from others to join and I strongly recommend that others do the same. Yes, nearly a tenth of the planet's population has joined Facebook. Having 600 million users is an impressive total. But I know that even when people take precautions and give minimum information that it has somehow wound up in the hands of people who otherwise have no business with it. I've talked with people who are heavily into computer security and none of them has anything to do with Facebook even in its most innocent manifestations. But people can do what they like in this regard. However, I believe the old adage of "an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure" certainly applies to Facebook.
in recent months there have been massive protests and demonstrations against autocratic rulers in the middle east and north africa.
many of these were possible in part because the protesters used social media services like facebook, youtube and twitter to get the word out and let the world know what was going on.
these services are so threatening to many governments that they're blocked in order to control their people.
That Facebook and Twitter pose dangers to WTS control nobody should doubt. But Facebook is also a danger to ordinary people as well. Its creators were geeks who themselves had no idea how healthy human relationships work. That was seen from its very inception when they did not put proper controls in place to safeguard users' information and allowed any and everyone to have access to it. Corrections and adjustments have been made since the scandal broke about its abuse, but that doesn't mean that Facebook's integrity has been substantially upgraded. It hasn't, and I would strongly recommend against its use. There are other ways to stay in touch with friends and family that are far more secure.
With respect to the WTS and its anti-social network/Internet stance, this is what one would expect from a closed society. It definitely does not believe in a free flow of information. Young people who get involved with the Internet raise red flags particularly since the retention of youth in the organization is a serious problem. Many fall away upon reaching young adulthood and I'm sure the WTS feels the Internet, with its ability to expose people to any and everything, is a real threat. It encourages the one thing the WTS hates most: "independent thinking" and the desire for a freer life. We should not be surprised that the Society incorporates fear and paranoia in its response to Internet usage.
I would hesitate to draw a parallel between social networks' role in the unrest in North Africa and Southwest Asia with what the WTS may face in the future. The WTS is seen as benign by most Witnesses, and that was not the case with the governments in the Muslim world. Those who disagree with WTS culture are free to leave even if departure comes at a high price. That also is not the case with the current crises overseas. That's not to say that the WTS doesn't have a legitimate reason to want to restrict the use of social networks among Jehovah's Witnesses, but only to say that any rebellion against the WTS hierarchy will come because of a realization on the part of the membership that it's claim to be Jehovah's organization is false. When the WTS admits that Jerusalem was not destroyed in 607 BC and that Christ did not "invisibly return" in 1914, then we'll see the kind of rejection that social networks will only augment.
Quendi
malawi savage betrayal by watchtower?
today i uploaded a new article presenting information about why jehovahs witnesses in malawi suffered brutal persecution compared to what watchtowers top leadership was doing at the exact same time.
the article is titled malawi savage betrayal by watchtower?
I want to add that this in no way justifies the Malawi government's evil response to the Witnesses' refusal to purchase an MCP card. But one can easily see how they were provoked into it, especially seeing how the order telling Witnesses not to purchase the card came from a clique of white Americans. In Lilongwe, Malawi's capitol, I have no doubt that this was seen as a direct meddling in Malawi's internal affairs by white imperialists. The brutal crackdown was their answer, a crackdown that would not have happened if the Society had an ounce of compassion for the Malawi Witnesses.
malawi savage betrayal by watchtower?
today i uploaded a new article presenting information about why jehovahs witnesses in malawi suffered brutal persecution compared to what watchtowers top leadership was doing at the exact same time.
the article is titled malawi savage betrayal by watchtower?
I remember the Malawi atrocities and took part in the letter-writing campaign against the Banda government. I remember the presiding overseer of my congregation in Tuscaloosa, Alabama getting on the radio to publicize the situation. Of course, I was not aware of the Banda government's ideology and what the MCP cards were for in the first place, and we definitely didn't know about citizenship being the same as party membership in the view of the Banda government, either. Certainly the Society wasn't going to tell us. We never saw this published in The Watchtower or Awake! and now I see why. We can now see that this organization is bloodguilty. May Jehovah look upon them and judge!
How many innocent lives have been lost or ruined by this clique in Brooklyn? Have they no shame or conscience? I will certainly share this information with my friends and get them to understand that they need to put widening distance between themselves and the WTS. I am more determined than ever to never, ever enter a Kingdom Hall again or in any way give aid or support to the WTS. I can rejoice that I have made good my escape; but as I've said before I will say again, the WTS will reap what it has sown.
Quendi
