this is from the last talk of the convention ......... clip 1:30 minutes longhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrej8tlyiso&feature=youtu.be.
If I was still in and if I had kids - I would start talking to them early about waiting to make those kinds of big decisions until they are much older. Christ set the example - and was 30. We know now that humans achieve adult reasoning in their late 20s or early 30s.
This is another example of going beyond what is written. How can they say with a straight face they don't do infant baptism when the children are so young? It's really a technicality.
my father served in the second world war.
he served in the south pacific.
he loved his time in the military and my mother was more than supporting.
I don't think that humans have the capacity to know the answer to that question. It is a wait and see.
Although it is hard, I think there is great benefit in practicing accepting things the way they are right now without hoping for an easy answer. I think humans like the idea of eternal life - obviously most cultures and religions have some version of it.
Regardless of what you choose to believe, there is no way to KNOW the answer until you die and see for yourself. You will either see them again or you won't.
Until then,you have to choose how to deal with the uncertainty.
hindsight: .
many times because of the shock of learning ttatt, a person loses it.
you want to scream and tell the whole world that the watchtower is a big lie.
I faded and that is what I recommend to others...You are right though, some people are so angry (understandably so) that they are not able to contain it and they say and do things that are not in their own best interest.
Ultimately, it depends on what people want the outcome to be. I am a 4th generation JW, so there was a lot for me to lose if I was out with it all. I wanted to maintain contact with my family, so I faded. And I moved out of my old territory and never contacted the congregation where I now live.
I would advise people who are fading and who do not want to appear as a threat to their family and friends to keep opinions to yourself, and to be encouraging to them as people. If something is important to them, be happy for them, encourage them. It does not imply agreement or consent. It just means can love them just as they are with no expectation they will be different.
That said, if you have family who are mean or abusive to you - then keeping your distance is probably wise.
Get into therapy. Fight the training that "everyone is dangerous", quell the paranoia and start building your social network outside of the congregation so when you fade you have something to fade into. That was one of the hardest things for me to overcome - having no social support in the congregation and no social support outside the congregation.
You might find a group in your area like Sunday Assembly. Lots of people like you and me there and it is a wonderful group to fall in with.
BAFH
even if you don't regard yourself as a practicing jw, some may view you simply as inactive, a lost sheep, etc.. if you were baptized but not disfellowshipped or disassociated, you may still be a jw---right?
your thoughts please..
I'm technically still in. My official status is inactive. I haven't attended for about 7 years. According to my friend ( an elder's wife) at the recent Elder's school - they were told to treat all of the inactive as if they were still sheep. So my friend said, "that is how I look at you - you are still a sheep and I want to bring you closer to the fold."
It is sort of sad to me that this was a big revelation. Like being nice to people is such a new thing to them.
BAFH
the watchtower study edition, august 2015, "keep in expectation!
" article:.
paragraph 3: "after looking forward to the end of this system for what may seem to be a long time, however, some may wonder, do we still have sound reasons to keep in expectation?
It seems to me so much of people's faith and therefore their actions is based on their reward being "imminent". You can do or believe almost anything for a short time especially if there is some greater reward to look forward to in a very short time.
This has been a pet peeve of mine for a while now - the Bible says, "You do not know the day nor the hour, neither the Son. Only the Father." (or something like that). So it hasn't made sense to me for a long time that they have been obsessed with 1914 and predicting the time of the end.
Now that it has come to nothing, they are backtracking. It will be interesting to see how many people leave now that there is no timeline for the reward.
And I will be interested now to see if this gives them the opportunity to focus on what kind of people they are instead of what kind of works they produce that other people can see.
I think this is the beginning of an important turning point.
found these gems in this edition:.
- keep in expectation!- prepare now for life in the new worldthe passing of time should not cause us to lose hope thatkingdom blessings will be realized.
there are solid reasonsto keep our scriptural expectations alive.
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.
