Posts by bafh

24

What Happens if...

by bafh in

what happens if someone returns to the congregation but stays inactive?

.

what happens if someone returns to the congregation and does not meet with the elders to "confess" their sins while away?.

If I'm honest, the truth is I don't care about most of it. I don't. I am actually agnostic. I used to say I'm an agnostic JW because there is so much that they speculate about but that we have no information on.

One reason I left is that I'm tired of trying to figure out if they were right or not, and I really don't want the label of apostate. I don't want my family to see me as dangerous. I'm not. I respect their right to believe what they want, even if they don't respect my right to disagree.

The other issue for me, which I have mentioned a number of times, is that I am struggling socially. But I have to say, I struggled socially while I was "in" too because I wasn't "in" enough.

This is the kind of stuff that gave me panic attacks while I was when and made me leave in the first place.

24

What Happens if...

by bafh in

what happens if someone returns to the congregation but stays inactive?

.

what happens if someone returns to the congregation and does not meet with the elders to "confess" their sins while away?.

bafh

Here is what I agree on:

Paradise Earth - Jehovah decides who gets in, not us ( I belive the scriptures say he will destroy the "system" of things, so I believe it is the infrastructure, and those who hang on to that. There are few evil people who benefit from things just as they are even though it is not good for most of us)

Resurrection - J will bring back who he wants

Death - I do not believe in hell - the dead are dead.

Bible principals - I believe in living those.

Those are the basics for me. I guess. Not much there, really. I am just struggling - so I come here hoping for some support - not judgement. I hope people who are born-in can understand and help me out a bit.

24

What Happens if...

by bafh in

what happens if someone returns to the congregation but stays inactive?

.

what happens if someone returns to the congregation and does not meet with the elders to "confess" their sins while away?.

bafh

Uh, no. I believe in the basics. I think they will change their mind about 1914 and blood within the next five years. I don't believe in child baptism - Jesus was 30 when he was baptized. I do believe that Jesus is our mediator. I don't think it matters what shape the pole was where he died. I also don't believe in hiding child molesters. I don't believe in disfellowshipping except in extreme cases. I don't beleive in confession of sins to the elders - at least not how it is now. I think the Catholics have that one right. I don't believe in hell. I do believe in Heaven. Am I going there? I don't think so.

There is a lot I disagree with - I'm torn. There is for me, as a 4th generation born-in, a lot of social pressure. I'm jus trying to weigh my options.

24

What Happens if...

by bafh in

what happens if someone returns to the congregation but stays inactive?

.

what happens if someone returns to the congregation and does not meet with the elders to "confess" their sins while away?.

bafh

I am considering going back. I agree with JWs as far as doctrine goes - I do not agree with most of what happens in the organization. I consider going back for social reasons only. I don't believe in confession, and I don't plan on becoming active in service again. I would like to just attend without all the pressure. Although, I don't have any false sense that I will not be shunned anyway because I am not active. But maybe I would find others like me who are still attending.

If the elders ask, my response would be, "just because someone is not attending the meetings, it does not mean they have lost all moral sense. I have nothing to confess."

24

What Happens if...

by bafh in

what happens if someone returns to the congregation but stays inactive?

.

what happens if someone returns to the congregation and does not meet with the elders to "confess" their sins while away?.

bafh

What happens if someone returns to the congregation but stays inactive?

What happens if someone returns to the congregation and does not meet with the elders to "confess" their sins while away?

4

I survived a convention session in 2014!

by bafh in

i did survive.

it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great.

their idea of paradise is that everyone is the same.

bafh

I did survive. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great. Their idea of paradise is that everyone is the same. And their proof that they are God's people is that they are all united in one thought. I don't know...I had been thinking of going back, but then that reminded me how narrow their idea is of spirituality - if you aren't a pioneer, MS or Elder, you are nothing. I'll never fit that mould, so I'd rather just not even try.

My friend who invited me was so happy I went. She said, "I hope you felt it was worth the effort." My response was, "I know how much you love me. And it certainly gave me a lot to think about." She said, "you're being there gave me a lot to be hopeful for."

UGH. At least she doesn't think I'm dangerous. That is my top priority. They can think I'm weak all they want, but I'd rather stay out of the "dangerous/apostate" territory.

I don't entirely disagree with their doctrine, but there are a lot of things about how they carry out their brand of spirituality that really bothers my conscience.

90

PEER PRESSURE!!! I gave in to Pioneering during August...I feel dirty...

by stuckinarut2 in

ok, i'll admit it...i am weak.... as everyone knows, the pressure to "pioneer" during "the most momentous, awesome, amazing, centenary anniversay of jesus invisble kigdom rule, & distribute tracts about a dodgy website" campaign is very strong at the moment.... also, many will have read my threads about the extreme views and expectations in our cong for "all appointed men to pioneer" etc..... every elder and ms and their families have been announced as pioneering....i mean everyone's name was read out except mine..... i was not going to do it, as i do not believe anyone should be forced...(and of course its the last thing on earth i would rather do anyway since learning ttatt).

but i am not quite ready to make the break yet, so i realised that i would stand out more if i didnt put in a form to pioneer.

yes it would make me more conspicious, and make fading harder to do...it would bring more heat on me if i didnt pioneer.. so i gave in and submitted a form.... now, of course, i'm only going to make sure i'm seen at the key field service groups etc...but then go and do something more interesting...like count blades of grass..... ahh....i feel hypocritical to myself now......

bafh

Don't be too hard on yourself. You have to fade slowly and in such a way that will allow people to regard you as weak rather than dangerous. I totally get it because I have done it too. I didn't give in to peer pressure about pioneering, but I did give in to peer pressure to attend part of the convention. I did it so they would not think I'm dangerous. Of course now, they told me "they have hope" about me. SIGH.

Anyway, think of it as a game. Sometimes you have to make moves that don't look like you are going for the goal so you can draw attention away from yourself and sneek away. Pretend you are an international spy of some kind. Don't beat yourself up, and try to have fun. That is what I'm trying to do.

Chins up.

BAFH

10

Hypocrisy of a paragraph in the "Draw Close to Jehovah" book!

by stuckinarut2 in

"draw close to jehovah" book.

page 106, para 20:.

20 does serving whole-souled mean that we must all spend the same amount of time and energy in the ministry?

bafh

Why did you go back KateWild? I'm considering it. I went to a session of the convention. Wasn't horrible, but there is so much that bothers my conscience.

11

A question about the change from qualities to works

by alfredjones100 in

i remember reading a comment here that bro.

russell emphasized the developement of christian qualities, where are bro rutherford changed the focus to christan works.

the question i have is, is this change dirrectly commented on in print or is it seen in more anecdotal evidence?.

bafh

There was a comment on this in the Proclaimers book. There was some discussion about how they had to decide works or qualities. And they decided works. I remember because at the time I also remember thinking they made a mistake.

47

BOE 2014-07-13 Appointment and deletion of elders and ministerial servants

by WatchTower87 in

2014-07-13 appointment and deletion of elders and ministerial servantsto all bodies of elders.

the link removed by request is also available at the forms link.

the congregation secretary should arrange for this letter to be retained in the congregation permanent file of policy letters.

bafh

I think it was better when the congregation approved the elders. Let the community pick who are really leaders in displaying spiritual qualities and who they want to help organize them.

If the CO is appointed by the organization, they are still responsible for the appointment of the elder. I noticed though, they only ask that question at the time of the first appointment, they don't ask it if the person is deleted and re-appointed or is transfered to a different congregation. A good molester isn't going to 1) admit they are doing anything and 2) are unlikely to get caught - so asking that question is a formality to pretend they did "due dilligence".