i need some research done so if anybody has the time, please see what you can find on the subject as stated in the title.. i clearly remember attending my first circuit assembly.
on october 30, 1956, i definitely answered two questions, along with about ten other people including my mother, not at the assembly, but we were standing at the side of a small baptismal pool that was in the basement of a kingdom hall in ronkonkoma, then a small hamlet on long island in the town of islip, suffolk county, new york, united states.. i know for a certainty that in 1945 candidates for baptism were not asked any questions but they were informed through their congregation that there would be a baptism and told where and when it was to be held.
usually the baptism was done at a beach and when candidates showed up in bathing attire, they were dunked, no questions asked.. so sometime between 1945 and 1956 two specific questions began to be asked of candidates.
It seems to me, that even though the questions have moved to include the identification with the organization as a primary feature of the baptism process - that in the WT they proclaim our dedication is and should be to Jehovah and not to any organization. Therefore, if we leave the organization because it offends our conscience, we can still say we have not abandoned our commitment to Jehovah - if we were so inclined.
How would JWs respond to THAT?
i've been dating a jw girl for about 4 years and we've recently had a lot of issues with the fact that her family doesn't like that i'm not a jw.
i've been looking into the religion and am interested in it.
but is it wrong to join just so i don't lose her?
Don't join a group that won't let you leave, or have an independent opinion. If you plan on having children, don't become a JW. I don't imagine they will treat you any better once you are married if you don't join - and if that is the case - do you want to marry a woman who continues to also think like that?
Run for your life!
wife and i have not reported a single hour of fs in 3-4 months.
while my wife is mostly doing for me (positive thing), i know she would have rather done it.
elder asked me to turn in my fs report this past week and then he added... "we need to talk".
"We need to talk".
"Ok,-" and then never be available or if you get cornered, be on your way to an appointment.
avoid, avoid avoid
from so many posts and conversations on here, you'd think over 1/2 the posters here possess doctorates in theology, physics, biology, etc.
i'm curious aside from the books and research people have done here, what degrees they have.
to start, i just got an aa and going straight through full time to an mba.
this is my first year i will not attend memorial.
to be honest if it wasn't for my husband i would probably be going still.
he says what's the point, don't be one of those people who doesn't give a sh** but just shows there face once a year.
I will be going. As a 4th generation born-in with a true-believer regular pioneer for a mom, it's the last vestige that signals "I'm not a danger to your spirituality".
While I haven't attended meetings in about 7 years, this is one hour of my life once a year that keeps things easy for me. I usually have a martini or two before I go, attend, chit-chat and then leave and have another drink.
its worth it for me and I feel I get a big return on my investment in terms of social grease for the rest of the year.
I have to say though that the more " out" I am the more ridiculous they sound. It may get to the point where I can't stand it any more and I will join you all in the non-attendee group.
i've been looking on this site for some time but never posted.
i'll give a little about myself, but not too much.
i'm a ex-bethelite ( brooklyn )and currently serving as an elder (10 years) (thinking about stepping down) on the service committee.
I have a friend who is exactly as described in the OP. He thinks most of it is crap, but is "hedging his bets." I don't think the whole thing is bad, but I don't think I could ever assimilate back in now that I've been out for the last 7 years. It would make my life easier on many levels, but I just can't.
george bernard shaw once said: .
"all great truths begin as blasphemies" .
why not check out the following link to see if such a thing spoken of by mr. shaw, could not be soooo true, even in our day and time.. click here to see: link to newspaper article discussing genesis 3:15 and jehovah's witnesses.
jwvictims has done an excellent but disturbing article on how jw's feel about the child abuse problem.. http://jwvictims.org/2013/11/23/jehovahs-witnesses-caught-laughing-at-child-rape-accusers/.
That quote in the upper left corner: "When we get into things that could ignite a controversy, I'm gonna quote our publications. So you'll have to take it up with God."
How is it that their representatives - FROM THE GOVERNING BODY - can make a statement like that - IN PUBLIC - and then claim they do not present themselves as inspired by God?? How can you be "God's Channel" except for when you get something wrong, and then, well, you know, "we're just imperfect men," and "the light just get's brighter and brighter..."
Such a mindf*ck.
i recall that some years ago the wt stated that not all offences need to be reported to the elders, but that confessing serious sins to another person who was not an elder could suffice.
the article stated that this did not include sexual offences and that these must be reported to the elders.. can anyone throw any light on this please?.
(originally posted march, 2014)anyone who has awakened to ttatt and has conscientiously left the organization--especially a once-prominent, highly-regarded, studious believer from a prominent multi-generational tribe of jws-- after decades of devout, high-profile "serve-us," who continues to put in an annual appearance at the memorial thoroughly subverts and undermines, by this one act, any hope s/he may entertain that his/her departure will stir family or former friends to question the whole watchtower bamboozle.
by this one concession s/he assigns him-/herself by every single jw to their handy and dimissive purgatory: the "spiritually-weak.".
nothing blasts a louder, clearer, and more deliberate message to the jws who personally knew you and those familiar with your jw bona fides that you are not merely "not making the meetings," "inactive," or "spiritually-weak," but that there is a conscientious reason you have rejected the entire watchtower society life than choosing to forego what they know you once believed to be jehovah's must-attend, one-and-only, holy/sacred event of the year for his people, the lord's evening meal.. you hand them the very justification they so relish to self-righteously label you as a "submarine witness" deserving of jehovah's, and more importantly, their judgement.
I agree - in that it is the last remnant by which a person signals their detachment from the WT.
That is exactly why I go. Not going may lead people to think I'm "dangerous" to their spirituality (which I'm not). So for me, it is an hour out of my life that keeps my relationship with people I care about intact.
I don't put any energy into worrying about what people think about me when I go. I go because it makes my life easier.
And I find that being respectful of other people's beliefs works too. Isn't that what we want - to be respected? Then it is my opinion that we must respect them to be respected.
