i wonder if anyone else has had this experience or know of others who have.
when i was disfellowshipped, i approached another disfellowshipped person after the memorial celebration and asked him over for some refreshments and conversation.
he turned down my invitation saying that the elders had told him that he could not even talk to other disfellowshipped persons unless and until both he and they were reinstated!
I would have done exactly the same. I had some JW friends who have maintained contact with me in the years since I was disfellowshipped, but the overwhelming majority severed all ties with me. I missed some of them for quite a while before I realized that I was better off without their conditional love and friendship.
Quendi
i wonder if anyone else has had this experience or know of others who have.
when i was disfellowshipped, i approached another disfellowshipped person after the memorial celebration and asked him over for some refreshments and conversation.
he turned down my invitation saying that the elders had told him that he could not even talk to other disfellowshipped persons unless and until both he and they were reinstated!
Some very interesting replies that I want to thank everyone for. NAVYTOWN, my experience was seven years ago and I haven't set foot inside a gathering of Witnesses in more than four years now. I have no intention of ever doing so. I am much happier being out of this cult than I was in it. I believe you hit the nail right on the head with your observation, LongHairGal. It's not just the Governing Body who is at war with those on the outside of their cult, local yokel elders can be just as fanatical in their opposition if not more so.
Quendi
it would be interesting to have some present (stonewall?
) at these meetings to witness and record talk number three on the tms.. talk 3 - "what the bible says about homosexuality" (reasoning book p.368-369).
the reasoning book tells us in part:.
When my judicial committee brought up 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10 during one of our meetings, I turned the tables on them. I pointed out that since drunkards were also mentioned in the passage, did this mean that those who struggled with alcohol abuse in the past could now drink a goblet of wine and not suffer any relapse or other ill effects. The anger that eruped from the elders was priceless. They couldn't deny that an alcoholic had to remain on the wagon and could not go back to drinking with impunity. I followed through by saying, "But if the person has been 'washed clean' why can't he drink again?" The committee then abruptly ended that session. Their actions said it all. Clearly, the WTS take on 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10 does not match reality, but then, neither does anything else the organization says about homosexuality.
Quendi
i wonder if anyone else has had this experience or know of others who have.
when i was disfellowshipped, i approached another disfellowshipped person after the memorial celebration and asked him over for some refreshments and conversation.
he turned down my invitation saying that the elders had told him that he could not even talk to other disfellowshipped persons unless and until both he and they were reinstated!
I wonder if anyone else has had this experience or know of others who have. When I was disfellowshipped, I approached another disfellowshipped person after the Memorial celebration and asked him over for some refreshments and conversation. He turned down my invitation saying that the elders had told him that he could not even talk to other disfellowshipped persons unless and until both he and they were reinstated! My jaw dropped to the ground and it was in vain that I asked him to reconsider. It was just another example of just how perverted and vicious this cult is and how insatiable the appetite it has for control over others. Maybe it was our local body of elders who imposed this rule, but I have the feeling that other elders think the same and enforce it as well. Comments?
Quendi
http://bayfiles.net/file/1jpu5/qhxxxl/w_e20141115.pdf.
select "premium download".
(thanks breakfast of champions).
Another point about this scenario which I believe is worth raising is the complete absence of faith in God and Christ. On the night of the last passover Jesus celebrated with his disciples he told them, "Set your troubled hearts at rest. Trust in God always; trust also in me." It is indeed a damning statement that this organization points its followers, not the the God whom they profess to worship or the Redeemer in whom they profess to have faith, but to its leadership as the ones who will lead others to salvation. But as some have pointed out, matters could scarcely be otherwise for this is the way a cult functions. Among Jehovah's Witnesses, God has indeed been dethroned and their Governing Body has been deified. Sadly, the Witnesses themselves are too stupid to see this.
This Watchtower issue should be a wake up call to any and all about the true nature of this execrable cult. As an oldtimer who first started attending meetings back in 1968, the picture others have highlighted does bring back memories of those pre-1975 days when Witnesses thought they would be facing conditions similar to what they endured in Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union. The congregations would be broken down into small cells who would have to meet in secret and rely exclusively on each other and any directions they would somehow get from headquarters to survive. The picture not only does not show people reading the Bible, but nobody is praying to God for direction and deliverance either. I doubt this glaring omission will be brought up at any meeting when this material is considered, more's the pity. All in all, this issue makes me even happier to say, "Quendi is no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses!"
Quendi
especially to those who know me in person, i wanted to share with you my joy today.. i spoke today very long with my jw family of my position (away from the org, separated and gay), without any criticism or attack or threat.
quite an achievement.. why about this change?
parents age is moving them to see the reality of the situation.
I rejoice with you, sp74bb, and wish you and your family fruitful times and much happiness. It takes courage and love to admit the things your mother has. Many Witnesses know that something is wrong, but they keep 'waiting on Jehovah' to make things right. That is not going to happen, or at least not in the way they may want it to happen. Meanwhile, they continue to waste away as the years roll by and their hopes go unfulfilled. You, on the other hand, have laid hold of the real life.
Quendi
its not like there was anything wrong with them was there?
i used to love the old ones.
these new ones feel like the equivalent of a deflated balloon.. does anyone have the answer?.
I have decidedly mixed feelings about the "kingdom melodies." Some I loved to sing and listen to. Then there were others ("Not Neglecting the House of Our God", "The Shulammite Maiden" and "Our Paradise Present and Future" readily come to mind) which I found downright nauseating. I have really appreciated the postings of the musicians among us like Oubliette who have cast light on the structure of this music and its roots.
Some have likely commented on this so forgive me if I'm repeating their thoughts as I have not read all the posts to this thread. But it seems to me that a Bach or other court musician from the Baroque or Classical period would never have written music or even been allowed to compose religious music for Jehovah's Witnesses. This is an organization that believes in stifling creativity or masking its originators with anonymous attributions. We don't know who the composers of most of the Witness songs were as the WTS did not believe in crediting them. The claim was that to credit artists for their work was to contribute to "creature worship." I suppose they forgot that David did not hesitate to put his name to the Psalms he wrote or that other writers of different Bible books were named, or that Solomon took credit for his grand building projects during his reign. This is just another example of the cherry-picking which characterizes this execrable cult.
Quendi
i know this has been dished over before, but when i was doing some research i discovered a couple of interesting points.
as far as i can find, there is only one wt article that implies that jw men should not have beards.
*** w75 8/15 pp.
Thanks for reviving this thread. I'd like to cast a different light on it: the implicit racism behind the WTS no-beards policy. When I associated with the mostly black Graymont Congregation in Birmingham, Alabama, this was a topic we'd talk about from time to time. Shaving is a great irritant to the facial skin of black men if it is done daily. Many of us would shave as little as possible. I know I would do so only when I had to attend a congregation meeting and other black Witness men did likewise. Those who shaved daily used to complain about the rash that appeared on their faces or the pain or burning they would feel.
I asked some if headquarters was aware of the problems shaving caused us. They told me that Bethel was well aware because they had written letters explaining the problem and asking for the rule to be eliminated. The answer they received was always a flat refusal with no good reason or scriptural citation given. The Governing Body was completely insensitive to our concerns, choosing instead to ignore the effects their unreasonableness had on some men of color. The policy is racist and reflects the real feelings of the Governing Body toward non-white Witnesses.
I think the WTS did grant one concession to us, however. There was no ban on moustaches, hair many black men wear as a badge of honor. If the WTS had ever gone so far as to insist on their removal, that might have provoked the kind of uproar among us that would have been both embarrassing and costly. Maybe the WTS decided that price would have been too high to pay.
Quendi
https://www.yahoo.com/news/3-decades-later-remains-jonestown-bodies-found-203438454.html.
remains of people's temple cult members still unclaimed.
very sad tragedy.
Thanks, Phizzy, for sharing that message from a Jonestown survivor. Those words accurately describe Jehovah's Witnesses and while the Governing Body has not orchestrated a physical mass suicide, it certainly has a death grip on most of its followers. Those of us who got out alive are indeed fortunate.
Quendi
https://www.yahoo.com/news/3-decades-later-remains-jonestown-bodies-found-203438454.html.
remains of people's temple cult members still unclaimed.
very sad tragedy.
I remember Jonestown all too well. At that time, I also was a relatively new Witness, having been baptized in January 1976. While I thought the Jim Jones cult to be horrible, I never would have equated Jehovah's Witnesses with it. Now I would, the only difference being the size of the two groups. Today's Governing Body has the same meglomania that Jones did in the sense that they teach that they are in charge through divine right. Their pronouncements are all about obeying and following them and their edicts. Sadly, few among their rank-and-file followers see this, choosing to blind themselves to reality. Like the Jones cult, I fear the words of Jesus apply equally to the WTS: "If, then, a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit."
Quendi
