Posts by Quendi

22

Have you lost your sense of "happy ever after"?

by londonlady in

jw
friends

i'm glad to be out but i've since had the sensation that the "happy ever after" ending i always thought would come will not come.

there will be no happy ending, just an oridary life.

thats quite a werid sensation to contemplate... what do you think?.

Quendi

I loved the postings of exwhyzee and LongHairGal because they sum up my feelings perfectly. Let me add that while I have rejected the WTS, there are still some teachings I agree with and one of them is the promise of everlasting life on Earth for most of the human race. I don't believe in the exclusionary, hate-filled, chauvinistic thinking the WTS promotes. I believe that God most certainly loves his human creation, is aware of the misery and frustration suffered by billions throughout history, and has both a purpose and a plan to carry out that purpose for the reunification and reconciliation of the human family. I might live to see that, but I don't think that is likely. Should I die before the words of Romans 8:19-22 are fulfilled, I will go to my rest confident that Jehovah will eventually elevate mankind to perfection and that I will be ressurected to witness and take part in it.

Freeing myself from the chains of the WTS has meant a reordering of my life's priorities. Like so many who post on this board, I labored for most of my life in the glaring sun and burning heat of the WTS vineyard. I know that I have more years behind me than I have ahead of me. But after getting over the anger and the bitterness--both of which are only a natural part of any grieving process--I am eager to continue my life's journey. There is still much to see, do, have, and enjoy and I want to get as much as I can. High on my list is finding a life partner to blend, share, and intertwine my life with. While I was an active Witness, I never allowed myself to even dream of this. Now that I'm out, I am moving ahead "with all deliberate speed" even as I see the shadows lengthening.

The movie Into the Wild made this wonderful point at its end: "The greatest happiness is the one that is shared." I wholeheartedly believe this and in the brief time that has elapsed since my escape, I have seen its truth at work in my own life. I am glad to be free at last and I am reaching out to others in ways I never did as a Witness. I have rejoined my fleshly family; am getting to know new people; am immersing myself in discovering and exercising the God-given talents and abilities I have. There is no better way to live my life and when the time comes--which will be all too soon considering all the items on my "bucket list"--as Thoreau wrote in Walden I will not discover that I had not lived.

Quendi

3

Watchtower Sell-Off Of Brooklyn Properties Now Includes Vacant Land

by Room 215 in

jw
friends

their first recorded effort to sell vacant land in brooklyn:.

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20120604/real_estate/120609966.

Quendi

I thought one reader's comment hit the nail on the head:

Kelly wrote on 06/04/12 at 12:31 PM

Brilliant move by the Watchtower cashing out before their 100 year anniversary of the 1914 Jesus return date defaults.
The Watchtower has built their empire on solicited donations from hundreds of thousands of followers,with the promise of "God's Kingdom paradise" before they grow old enough to need their retirement savings.
Only religion can get away with this.

LOOK what the Watchtower does with member a$$ets

http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/208345/1/Walkill-Bethel-Recreational-Facility

Read more: http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20120604/REAL_ESTATE/120609966#ixzz1wvKoWWDC I also believe that all this money flowing into WTS coffers will make the Governing Body more elitist than ever. Since they'll now be able to enjoy a 'comfortable home in the country', they can be that much more callous to the needs and problems others face. On the other hand, perhaps all of this activity means "The End Is Near"...the End of the WTS, that is. With its heyday behind it and donations starting to decline, perhaps the organization realizes that more and more people want to have less and less to do with it leading to its ultimate demise. One can only hope. Quendi

48

300 Mormons March in Utah Gay Pride Parade, Implications for Closet Jehovah's Witnesses

by Scott77 in

what are implication from this article for the watchtower jehovah's witnesses lgbt members who are still in closet?.

june 3, 2012 9:31 pmprint text 300 mormons march in utah gay pride parademormons building bridges marches in the annual gay pride parade through downtown salt lake city, sunday, june 3, 2012.

(ap photo/the salt lake tribune, scott sommerdorf).

Quendi

Latter Days is one of my top-five alltime favorite movies, and AK McGRATH is right to say that many JWs who can relate. Reflecting back on a point that Diest raised, I would venture to think that the percentage of gay JWs is about the same as in the general population. If there is a marked difference it might lie in the number of gay JWs who actually got married. The pressure to marry is great in the organization although not as bad as it is in the LDS Church. Still, it does exist and combined with the old WTS propaganda that marriage was the "cure" to this malady, I don't doubt that many took that route, hoping matters would resolve themselves.

The WTS has finally abandoned the 'marriage as cure' talk although you can still hear it in talks taken from old talk outlines. Now the party line is celibacy, celibacy, celibacy and the hope that the cure will be administered in the new world. But the thrust of this is that LGBT people really have no place in the WTS tent. More and more of them are realizing this and have headed for the exit. There is no point in remaining in association with those who regard you as a non-person.

Yada yada 2 has voiced the common belief of many JWs on this issue. There is no doubt in my mind that the Governing Body feels the same.

Quendi

48

300 Mormons March in Utah Gay Pride Parade, Implications for Closet Jehovah's Witnesses

by Scott77 in

what are implication from this article for the watchtower jehovah's witnesses lgbt members who are still in closet?.

june 3, 2012 9:31 pmprint text 300 mormons march in utah gay pride parademormons building bridges marches in the annual gay pride parade through downtown salt lake city, sunday, june 3, 2012.

(ap photo/the salt lake tribune, scott sommerdorf).

Quendi

This was a wonderful event and thanks for sharing it with us, Scott77. What effect will it have on the ruling clique in Brooklyn? It is difficult to say but I think they probably looked on in worried fascination. The rising tide of acceptance of LGBT people in the United States is becoming more evident every day and as I've stated elsewhere it is only a matter of time before DOMA and bans against same-sex marriage will be struck down as unconstitutional. Of course, same-sex marriage is legal in other countries, including the U.S.'s northern neighbor Canada. And New York, the home base of the WTS, has also sanctioned it along with several other states.

What interests me is the fact that for many years there has been a clandestine but thriving gay community in Brooklyn Bethel. During Nathan Knorr's tenure as WTS president, he made determined attempts to uproot and destroy it. Still, despite all his efforts, that group has survived. That has to be frustrating to the present-day Governing Body. Whether there are other "cells" at Patterson and Wallkill I can't say, but it wouldn't surprise me if there were.

This doesn't mean the WTS is about to end decades of discrimination and homophobia and welcome LGBT people into the religion. They say such people can become Jehovah's Witnesses so long as they embrace celibacy. I know of some who have--and they are far from happy, chafing as they do against their own nature and yearning for the freedom to be who they really are. Others have realized that their religion and their nature were at war with each other and so jettisoned the religion. And there are the number of cases in which some have tragically chosen suicide.

I don't believe any of this will change the minds of a single Governing Body member or any who succeed them. After all, if they continue to insist that Jerusalem was destroyed in 607 BC despite all the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, they're not about to reverse their thinking on something that is just as serious. While a gay pride march in Salt Lake City is truly a remarkable event, and gay pride marches are yearly and expected events in New York state, the WTS will continue to suppress, persecute and expel LGBT people in its ranks who decide to leave the closet. More and more gay Witnesses are realizing this and are fleeing this oppressive religion. That would be my advice to any and all who are in that situation. It is the only way to be truly free and live a happy, productive and satisfying life.

Quendi

37

I may be stepping down!

by Kool Jo in

so the co is in town...sorry i can't disclose much info....i haven't done anything wrong that warrants no longer serving as an ms....but the co is thinking of deleting me as an ms (my parents are aware)....i really hope he does as this will make my fade much more easier...... freedom is just around the corner i hope.... peace.

kool jo.

Quendi

Congratulations, Kool Jo! "Today is the first day of the rest of your life." Go out with your head held high and make it a good one.

Quendi

13

Do apostates voices represent voices of strangers?

by Mr Facts in

how the voice of strangers is heard today.

10 deceptive reasonings.

the apostle paul states: do not be carried away with various and strange teachings.

Quendi

Well, all I have to say after reading this is that it all applies to the WTS in full force! The accusations leveled by many opposers have more than a grain of truth to them. The Witness organization does indeed exploit others through the use of counterfeit words. It approaches unwary people and poses as a friend, and once they are integrated into the structure tells them they must indeed every word coming out of the Governing Body's collective mouth. Pedophiles have been and still are being shielded by the secretive nature of Witness star chamber proceedings in the guise of judicial committee matters. I could go on and on but I think all can see my point.

There is an old saying that when you point a finger at someone you have three more pointing directly back at you. That is certainly true of the execrable WTS and the malicious organization it has built up over the decades. They are just like the false shepherds, the ravenous wolves Christ faced in the first century. Thanks again, Mr. Facts, for sharing this propaganda with us. I marvel now how I used to not only read this kind of harmful material, but championed its viewpoint inside and outside the congregation.

Quendi

17

The WTS and Same-Sex Marriage

by Quendi in

we all know the wts position on same-sex marriage, but i thought it was interesting to see this piece on its website.

i think what intrigues me the most is that the wts approach is, as i once told the elders on my judicial committee, "inadequate, incomplete and insufficient".

the peice then goes on to give the typical fairy-tale solution to what it perceives as a problem with the experience of someone they call "nathan" and how he was able to completely change thanks to god's holy spirit working on him.

Quendi

My dear AK McGrath, I never thought you 'hijacked my thread'. After all, isn't this forum's purpose to encourage free expression and exchanges? I'm glad you felt welcome to participate and like others have said, I wish you and your partner all the success you seek.

Your story is certainly germane to the issue I raised. The WTS stance against same-sex marriage isn't an isolated one unrelated to other things. Instead, it underlines the homophobia that exists within the organization and this despite the fact that a significant segment of practicing Witness are either gay men or lesbian women. The organization sees no need to accommodate them any more than it accommodates the views of others whose thinking doesn't align with the WTS's. But with LGBT people handicapped from the start by their own conflicting emotions, the hostility of the WTS and its officers makes a difficult life even more so.

It must be distressing for the Governing Body to see the tide of public opinion moving in the direction of acceptance of same-sex marriage. Because that would also mean that the pejoratives the WTS has used in the past for LGBT people--"filthy", "disgusting", "abominable", "perverted", "immoral"--are not those a majority of Americans accept any more. While I don't doubt that despite the growing tolerance and acceptance of LGBT people as real human beings who are the equals of all others in the world the WTS will remain intransigent, it will also feel the pressure of growing isolation. It would be poetic justice if the WTS eventually becomes the victim of the shunning practices it has visited upon others. May I live to see the day!

Quendi

17

Here we go again on "false prophecies"

by booker-t in

hi ex-jws on this board.

i have a question that needs answering.

for years i have read on this board ex-jws, born-agains, and other anti-jw group condemn jws for "false prophecies".

Quendi

Fascinating discussion which I will follow with interest.

Quendi

6

Richard Dawson the first host of Family Feud died today

by Iamallcool in

http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/03/showbiz/richard-dawson-dies/index.html?hpt=hp_t2.

Quendi

I remember his days on Hogan's Heroes, in which he played the British POW Newkirk, as well as Family Feud. He also did guest appearances on other TV shows such as Match Game, Fantasy Island and the like. I thought he was a wonderful game show host and was the soul of Family Feud during his tenure. He was an immigrant who really took to American culture without losing his British allure. I'm among his fans who are sorrowed by this news.

Quendi

11

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee

by cofty in

this weekend marks the 60th year of the reign of queen elizabeth ii and its a 4 day holiday in the uk.

this afternoon there will be a flotilla of over 1000 boats on the thames from all over the world led by the royal barge.

love it or hate it we do pomp and ceremony with style.. .

Quendi

I visited England and Ireland in 2002 as a graduation gift to myself for getting my degree from the University of Colorado. I've always been somewhat of an Anglophile and a great fan and admirer of Queen Elizabeth II. So while I haven't been watching the festivities connected with the Jubilee, I do heartily wish that my circumstances had allowed me to be there in person. I fell in love with London during my '02 visit and can't wait to return. I probably won't ever get to meet "Queeny", as I've always affectionately and respectfully called her, and I'm sure she doesn't feel deprived that way, but should I ever get the chance, I'll seize it with both hands. She's been the only Queen of England most of us have known, and she has done a marvelous job maintaining her own integrity during all these sixty years.

Quendi