Posts by Quendi

54

Trying to Salvage a Friendship

by Quendi in

my friends,.

i need your counsel on a personal matter, and i hope you will give it in love.

as some of you know, i was disfellowshipped six years ago, but it wasn't until june 2010 that i made up my mind never to return to the wts.

Quendi

I want to thank all of you for the comments and advice. Here is what I have decided to do.

A third party who is a Witness my friend knows will contact him. I have an old phone number that i hope is still valid. I have given that number to the contact. This contact is someone my friend likes and trusts, but they have not talked to each other in a long time. I am hoping that getting a phone call will induce my friend to open up. My contact will ask my friend for his current address, saying he wants it to stay in touch. He will also talk about me and the friendship we had. In that way he can discern if additional contact by me would be wise.

If it is, then I will take the advice several of you have offered and send him a letter which I have already drafted. I open by saying how much I miss him and what a great friendship we had, a friendship first made thirty years ago. But then I will tell him that I am still disfellowshipped and won't be returning. I believe I should do this so that there is no chance of a misunderstanding on either side. I am out, and have no intention of ever returning. I give him a brief outline of the reasons I won't come back, simply stating that by reading the Society's old publications that are online I have concluded that it never was appointed the "faithful and discreet slave" in 1919 or any year thereafter. I then say that the Society's actions against dissidents who have pointed out errors in its chronology also convinced me that it was not divinely supported.

After that, I remind him of all the good things we have done together and shared during our long friendship. I then tell him how we can stay in touch via phone, snail mail, or e-mail--if he so desires this. I conclude by saying that my love for him is strong and without fear and I hope he will be able to think about what I have said and throw fear outside as 1 John 4:18 urges us. I will only send the letter if I get an indication that he will at lesat read it.

That's where matters stand now. I'll keep you all "in the loop" with respect to the outcome. Thanks once again to all of you for your concern, thoughts, and counsel.

Quendi

61

What made you leave "The Truth"?

by Chemical Emotions in

for me it was many things.

most concerned certain teachings that invloved genders, children, sex, sexuality and sexual orientations, disfellowshipping, apostates, blood, rape, and few other things, as well as the jw's unloving attitude toward so many people..

Quendi

@LongHairGal:

I couldn't agree more when you said, "The culture and the mentality in the religion is absolutely detestable." The abhorrent sexism practiced by Jehovah's Witnesses in the way women are shut out of any important decision making is one feature I hated. Another was the subtle racism that was tolerated, even practiced by many Witnesses. And I'm not limiting that to the question of black/white relations. It crossed the entire demographic spectrum in the organization. Extreme homophobia, deliberate shunning, and endless war aganist higher education are other things the WTS has promoted to the harm of many.

I have left the WTS behind, and won't rush into the embrace of another religious organization again for as long as I live. That doesn't mean that I hate organized religion. But I think it has proven false to its claims. I'd rather pursue my own spiritual vision and follow my own spiritual path. Yes, I still believe in God and the Bible, but I won't get involved with another religious organization again in the hopes that it will show me the path to salvation. The WTS failed to do so, and I don't believe any other religion is any better.

Quendi

38

a SIMPLE answer re: 607 please

by RayPublisher in

i know it's a complicated topic, and i've spent gobs and gobs of hours studying it and realizing that 586/587 is the most likely date.

so anyway, here's my question:.

how could jerusalem's fall be 587 but still be in line with the scriptures about 70 years of desolation that the wto uses to push 607 so strongly?

Quendi

Some years ago I assisted an elder in his research on this topic. We found that the Society itself acknowledges that the Babylonian kings' list would prove that the Jews' stay in Babylon after Jerusalem's destruction was only 50 years. That is plainly stated in the book Babylon the Great Has Fallen! God's Kingdom Rules! published in 1963. And as sd-7 notes, Jeremiah prophesied about several nations being forced to serve the king of Babylon and not the Jews only.

There is of course a mountain of evidence to show that Jerusalem was destroyed in 587/586 BC. But we all know why the WTS clings to 607 BC. However, there is another way of bursting that balloon. As I have done more than once, I have challenged Witnesses to find the number 2520 anywhere in Scripture. They can't of course. And if they point to the book of Revelation and its equating "a time, times, and half a time" to 1260 days and 42 months, you can always counter with the fact that John is specifically told the corresponding time measures whereas Daniel is not.

Further buttressing this argument is a fact that the Society has deliberately buried and ignored. Nebuchadnezzar wrote two accounts of his madness. One is recorded in Daniel 4. The other is a clay prism written in cuneiform. In that document, Nebuchadnezzar says he was insane for seven seasons and those seven seasons amounted to parts of four lunar years. It seems that the Babylonians reckoned only two seasons in a year. The hot torrid summers (which the royal household spent in the mountains of present-day Iran), and the cooler, wet winters. Seven of those seasons would amount to three-and-a-half lunar years. That is nowhere near the seven years the Society figures.

There is one more thing I will add. The WTS can not prove that a "prophetic" year was 360 days long. A lunar year is 354 days and change. A solar year is 365 days and change. That has been known from the most ancient of times. Nobody had a 360 day year, nobody. The WTS should know this. So its assertion that a prophetic year was 360 days long is completely false.

I will conclude with this last damning point. Daniel was inspired by holy spirit to interpret Nebuchadnezzar's dream. Under the influence of that spirit what did he say the tree represented? Daniel 4:20, 22 answers, "The tree that you beheld, that grew great and became strong and the height of which finally reached the heavens...it is you, O king, because you have grown great and become strong." The teaching the WTS advances that there is some kind of "double application" of this dream has no foundation in Scripture. It is purely man-made, and certainly not of divine origin.

Quendi

61

What made you leave "The Truth"?

by Chemical Emotions in

for me it was many things.

most concerned certain teachings that invloved genders, children, sex, sexuality and sexual orientations, disfellowshipping, apostates, blood, rape, and few other things, as well as the jw's unloving attitude toward so many people..

Quendi

As it was for many, a combination of things drove me from "the Truth". First it was the "generation" explanation in the November 1, 1995 Watchtower. That planted the seeds of doubt, but they didn't sprout and bear fruit for years. Next, it was an elder who was engaged in independent Bible study that alerted me that something was seriously wrong with WTS chronology. It wasn't just 607 that was wrong, but dating the book of Revelation at the end of the first century was a serious error also. Then I got disfellowshipped. The shunning was bad enough, but the hypocritical posturing of the judicial committee was even worse. Finally, the elder who had alerted me to the WTS chronology errors was disfellowshipped in absentia for apostasy. That was the final straw. Although I was already disfellowshipped, I ceased any and all efforts to return. I am glad I did. I now have concern for my friends and family who are still trapped in the cult.

Quendi

54

Trying to Salvage a Friendship

by Quendi in

my friends,.

i need your counsel on a personal matter, and i hope you will give it in love.

as some of you know, i was disfellowshipped six years ago, but it wasn't until june 2010 that i made up my mind never to return to the wts.

Quendi

My friends,

I need your counsel on a personal matter, and I hope you will give it in love. As some of you know, I was disfellowshipped six years ago, but it wasn't until June 2010 that I made up my mind never to return to the WTS. I left many dear friends behind. Of course, most have never spoken to me again, and since that is their decision I have accepted it. There is one exception, however, and it is that case on which I desire your advice.

In my thirty years' association with Jehovah's Witnesses I had some very close friends. Of the two closest, one is dead. He killed himself 25 years ago but I have never really recovered from that. The other is still very much alive. Last year, I had a mutual friend contact him to sound him out about his feelings. This contact told me that my friend was suffering many things, but that he still had very strong feelings about our friendship. I passed my phone number along to him, but he has never called. I grieved for some months but then decided to let him go.

Now, however, I have been rethinking that decision and want to try to salvage our friendship--if it can be salvaged, that is. So through another Witness friend that we both know, I am reaching out again. I think that there is still a strong desire on his part to renew ties but he is afraid of the repercussions if his efforts to do so become known. I want to talk to him briefly on the phone first and then set up a meeting in some out-of-the-way venue where we can talk freely and anonymously without other Witnesses reporting him since nobody would know and recognize either of us.

Where I need your help is exactly how should I propose this if we do talk on the phone? I want to be as kind and gentle as I can since the situation is very delicate and my friend's psyche right now is quite fragile. Maybe I shouldn't be doing this at all. Maybe, since he hasn't responded to my previous effort to get back together, I should simply write him off. But of all the Witnesses I have ever known save for the friend who is now dead, this man is the closest friend I have ever had. I loved him as much as I loved my fleshly family, and we had traveled very far on life's road together through thick and thin, good and evil, life and death. I don't want to turn my back on him unless and until he makes it clear that he wants nothing more to do with me.

Am I right in pursuing this still or am I trying to squeeze water out of a stone? And if my friend does agree to meet, how should I proceed? I am at a loss, so I am reaching out to the board here as well as to other people I know. "There is a frustrating of plans where there is no confidential talk, but in the multitude of counselors there is accomplishment," reads Proverbs 15:22. I need your help, and I look forward to your replies.

Quendi

49

Movies that resonate with you as an ex-JW or awake JW

by RayPublisher in

the matrix - "do you want the blue pill or the red pill?

", "all i offer you is the truth", "ignorance is bliss", "the matrix is all around us".

shutter island - creepy, is it real or isn't it, it turns out the whole thing is a dream.

Quendi

My two all-time favorite moves are The Shawshank Redemption and The Legend of Bagger Vance. The messages they give are clean, simple, and very powerful. I would also give an honorable mention to October Sky for the very good reasons ADD noted. And, of course, I have to name the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy because the book is my favorite read and I absolutely loved the way it was brought to the screen.

Quendi

30

assemblies and alcohol

by pedal power in

our dc coming up this weekend, i hated them and the only thing that kept me going ,was the reward of booze at the end of each day.my then wife,zelous judgemental pioneer, you know the type,not only droned on about my drinking, but about everyones drinking, a real barrel of laughs not.

anyway, one year we went to another dc, in newcastle, all seemed to be going well, until lunch.we went over to a hotel for lunch,i ordered my fresh orange and food, a few minutes later, the local jw,s arrived for lunch, they had all pr-ordered drinks,alcoholic drinks, and not one drink but many !!!

they were buisy getting boozed up for the afternoon session,way to go, i was about to join them, when my wife told me " dont even think about it ", anyway she was outraged, but there they were ,with thier little convention badges, men and women, young and old, getting merry, they dont even do that here in scotland, !!!.

Quendi

I attended district conventions from 1975-2005. I never saw Witnesses drinking. But I also have to say that I only attended three conventions where I stayed at a hotel. All the others were in cities within an hour's drive so I drove back and forth each day. I never heard annoucements from the podium warning Witnesses about excessive drinking either. The only time I heard annoucements made about being careful where one went and how one behaved was prior to the international convention in New Orleans in 1978. Strong warnings were issued about venturing into the French Quarter. My hotel was in the French Quarter and I did eat in the restaurants, but that was about it for me. Many other Witnesses, I learned later, partied very hard after the day's sessions ended.

Quendi

29

I'm Home!!!!!Wonderful Picket

by mouthy in

lovely weather.....got there at 11.45 my friend set up all his signs ( 4 of them) about the black becoming white,.

internet no nos!!

they were all in suits ties,very hot!

Quendi

I'm glad to read that you were able to talk to some people. I admire their courage in spending some time with you. I know how I used to ignore protestors who showed up at conventions I attended. But they did not take the effective approach you and Ted did, and that may have made a big difference to me. Anyway, if you got at least one person to think about the history of the organization and how it proves their claim of being God's exclusive channel to be false, then you have done quite well.

Quendi

51

What's Your Most Valuable Piece Of Jewelry That You Own?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i have a presidential rolex with a diamond bezel that's a beauty and a couple of rings and that's all i ever wear.

i never liked chains or bracelets on me.. what's your best piece of jewelry?

?.

Quendi

Like ziddina, I am very fond of semi-precious stones. My favorites: aquamarine (my birthstone), amethyst, opal, and peridot. When it comes to precious gems, I prefer emeralds, star sapphires, and rubies. I also love rose gold.

Quendi

51

What's Your Most Valuable Piece Of Jewelry That You Own?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i have a presidential rolex with a diamond bezel that's a beauty and a couple of rings and that's all i ever wear.

i never liked chains or bracelets on me.. what's your best piece of jewelry?

?.

Quendi

I own three rings with plans to get more bling when I get back to work. The two which mean the most to me are my rose gold ring with five rubies and my University of Colorado class ring with a very large synthetic aquamarine which is my birthstone and the official Colorado state gemstone. And yes, I love bling, especially "rings of power"!

Quendi