Posts by bafh

110

What song or line from a song bests describes your time as a JW?????

by karter in

waisted days and waisted nites.. freddy fender..

Well, IT HAS BEGUN. See the future of the WTBTS in print.

by DATA-DOG in

i hate to read the wt, but i skimmed the july 15 study edition.

i found many examples of propaganda, of course, but a couple things really stood out.

1) the future of the preaching work.

bafh

I just read it, and I'm not sure I understand what you are referring to. Care to expand?

20

144,000 New Light update

by goingthruthemotions in

i updated the list of partakers to 2013 (see below)...if i was to predict as to what new light might be coming down the borg poop shoot may be.

i would predict that they need to do something about the 144,000 being a literal number.. for two reasons:.

1. the number of partakers is increasing every year.

bafh

If they say that 144000 is symbolic and that everyone is under the covenent - then that coupled with the idea that the annointed and FDS are not the same, does that mean:

1) "anointed" will not refer to those with a heavenly hope

2) the FDS could be comprised entirely of those without the heavenly hope who could still be termed "anointed" as in "chosen"

I can't see them getting around the 144000 being symbolic when the numbers are going up and up. And, they are going to have to give up 1914. In another 5 years, no one will even attend meetings if they keep it. It will be too hard to spin. This year has been something spectacular with 100 years, blah blah blah, easy peasy spin. But every year going forward, it will be harder.

It would be nice if they just focused on being good people and not being so judgmental about how much everyone "does" - and how about encouraging people to participate in their community a bit? Nothing sets an example of what kind of person Christ was (if you believe in him) as someone doing something to help others, i.e Mother Theresa, Desmond Tutu, etc. It doesn't have to be on that grand a scale, but if the JWs wanted to - they could do something along those lines. They have the resources, they know how to organize, and they have the willing followers.

Such a waste of time, talent and resources.

13

You ought to know positively the appearance of your flock

by leaving_quietly in

this famous line from proverbs 27:23 (in the old nwt) is used for elders and the organization to justify field service reports.

but, what is this verse talking about?

is it about overseers in the congregation?

bafh

well, it does make sense they would use this verse as the "wealth" of the organization is a result of the condition of the "sheep" - they should know the appearance of their flock since they are the ones making all the "donations" *cough, cough* - if this was a real business, the donations would have run out long ago since their "customer" service sucks the big one.

BAFH

32

Please help....in a dilemma..

by crazyhorse in

please help with this: when i was in college, there was a lot of talk about university and how all who pursue that are wasting their time and all that.

even before going to uni, there was a lot of pressurr on me concerning my decision.

during that time, two elders sat with me for appointment as ms and asked me if i have freedom of speech in the org since i'm going to uni and i said no.

bafh

What is your degree in? Can you get a job that requires you to move? Moving is an easy way to fade out without too much question because "out of sight, out of mind" to a certain degree. They will still check on you, but it will be easier to fade and you can occasionally attend meetings if you want without triggering too much interest from the new congregation.

Move, and get a job that requires you to work a lot. You can pretend to be depressed, or pretend to be materialistic, or .... there are other options.
I do happen to understand the pressure of having all of your family in and trying to fade. Lucky for me, I'm a girl and not pressured to take a "positon" other than pioneering and I can see that as a young male, the pressure would be much more intense.

I think moving might be your easiest way to slip away, or at least to reduce the immediate pressure.

BAFH

46

ELDER LIES AND GET'S PRAISED FOR IT! FALSE ACCUSATIONS AGAINST ME!

by BucketShopBill in

want to know how a lie can turn into a compliment?

only in the jw mindset!!!.

we got called into the dreaded back room after meeting to find two elders wanting to discuss a 'serious' matter with us.

bafh

If you want to approach it under the guide they are following, then I think the scripture that applies here is Matthew 18:15,16 - If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED.

1) If he had a real concern about you, the direction is to approach you directly, not to tattle tell to the Elders. This is the direction to the congregation as a whole. But he is in fact an Elder - a minister, a shepherd. So it's his "job" to help those with spiritual need. Why didn't he take that approach?? Trouble Maker for sure.

2) This is the same principal they use to excuse child molesters in the congregation from being reported the first time...So why do they take just one person's word against someone in the congregation who otherwise is minding their own business??

It is something of a police state, and they are quick to want to report on each other. One reason I was having panic attacks before I left I think. Afraid I'd be "found out" as a doubter. My nerves couldn't take it.

40

World Events bring about A Renewed Zeal!!!

by jk-ton in

jw
friends

hi guys!

is anyone sensing an increasingly sanctimonious arrogance in j-dubs recently?

im asking this as i am finding that with the two major news stories in the last few weeks (ie.

bafh

They are waiting for the cry of Peace and Security.

19

Where would we go, is the question

by Pistoff in

what better place, what better world can be offered, is the question tossed at those who have left.. what if it is just the same place, without taking everything we hear at the kingdom hall as gospel?.

can we just take with a grain of salt the things we know deep down are without basis?.

it is the same place, with the same friends, but without the drama of feeling that you can never do enough, that you were born sinful.. a faith that does not ask you to treat your family as disposable; a place that does not kick people to the curb when they need their family the most; a faith that lets you trust your heart, not ignore it.. can we just stay in the same place, and realize that we do not have to sacrifice our childrens lives by denying them blood if desperately needed?

bafh

The "third place" that is discussed here - that is what I'm struggling with. I'm successfully faded, but I miss the social aspect of things and I've toyed with the idea of going back. the "third place" though feels hypocritical and I'm afraid of being found out and DF'd. That would really limit my ability to help my family.How do you go in service? I'm not sure I could - I cannot with a clear conscience recommend someone become a JW.

If you are a person who is a "conscious class" and hold this "third place", how does it work??

41

What's the story behind Adam and Eve and fig leaves.

by jam in

where they blind?

nakedness is a sin between married folks?.

that is so silly.

bafh

I have been thinking about this...Are you familiar with Brene Brown's work? She is a sociologist who studies shame and vulnerability. Shame is a human experience, and it drives a lot of our negative behavior that gets catagorized as "sin". Since I've left, I now feel that what gets catagorized as "sin" is not inheritly right/wrong but often falls into the catagory of "that is not good for you/society, so don't do it" - for example, fornication. There is not anything inheritly wrong with having sex with someone you are not married to - but it is better for society to have stable families and it is not good for a person to sleep around with anyone and everyone...so it becomes a cautionary "sin"...

If you believe the story of Adam and Eve, their sense of shame over being naked - that sense that something is wrong with me - came from a break in their relationship to God. Their "sin" was their disregard a spiritual need.

Maybe this story is telling us the origin of the sense of shame we all feel at times, or maybe it is a story set up to explain it away and normalize it.

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

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.