Liberated

Joined

• started 5 topics
• posted 137 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by Liberated

• 
  82

  Has anyone felt like leaving God altogether?

  by lookingnow22 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i know that the answer is yes, but it would help me to hear your sentiments on this.

  .

  after you decided that the wbts, and thus jw's were not god's chosen earthly organization did you feel like you wanted to leave and forget god altogether?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Liberated

  I left the wts so that I could draw close to God, so that I could absorb his word without the org's interpretation of that word, and so that I could follow Jesus freely. While it never occurred to me to ever leave God, or ever to reject Jesus, it does seem possible to me to live without an organized religion in my life.
  And while some claim to believe in God, they live as though there is no God; and others who say they don't believe in God, treat others as they would want to be treated, with kindness and love.

  Libby
• 
  46

  Leo Greenlees,

  by Kiwi in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i seem to remember something on the board about leo greenlees being removed from bethel & the gb.

  can anyone give me information about this.

  is he still allive and where?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Liberated

  Leo Greenlees was on the gb when Ray Franz was and is now deceased.
  I don't know about his being removed from Bethel.
• 
  34

  Field Service is Officially Over Forever!

  by professor in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i hereby urge every single one of jehovah's witnesses nationwide to stop going out in field service!

  according to the january 1, 1989 watchtower, our obligation to field service officially ended last year!:.

  the apostle paul was spearheading the christian missionary activity.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Liberated

  That was in January....by the time the bound volume came out, "20th century" was replaced with "in our time".
• 
  24

  did you talk to the elders?

  by Moxy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  on your way out, did you have the 'talk' with an elder?

  (or elders?

  ) the kind of, 'excuse me, brother only-elder-who-i-really-trust, i've been having serious doubts about such-and-such and i would really appreciate it if you could help me see if i'm missing something, i sincerely want to know...'.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Liberated

  Thanks Somebody, I read every word.

  After several months of not attending meetings, the elders called on me. My grandmother had just passed away and I thanked them for coming to see me. When they started asking about my meeting attendance, I told them I thought they were there because of my grandmother's death. But, no, they hadn't even known that.
  I was able to discuss a few things with them; I told them I didn't agree with everything the wts teaches and when they asked what those things were, I asked them if there was anything I could disagree with and still remain a member. I had to ask it twice because they just looked at me with jaws hanging. I guess no one had asked them that before. The PO finally said that I would have to answer that myself, so I told him my answer would be no. He indicated that as long as I didn't talk about my disagreements with others, nothing would be done to me.
  I did get to ask them the question that was heavy on my mind and heart was, and that contributed greatly to my leaving:
  Who in 1914 knew that Jesus returned in that year?
  The answer of course is, no one. They were actually teaching that he had already returned 1874. The PO admitted it. It was a number of years before the teaching about the master returning in 1914 came about.
  I finally had to disassociate because so many people were coming by and calling to find out why I wasn't at the meetings; I felt I should tell them something. This resulted in the PO calling to talk about what I was saying to others; I didn't keep our meeting. Instead I sent the following letter of disassociation:
  -------------------------------------
  Dear Dave,
  This letter, I pray, will help to explain my absence from activity for the WTBTS and to request that my name be dropped from membership in the Rolling Oaks congregation of Jehovah‘s Witnesses. There are teachings that I do not agree with and cannot reconcile with our Father’s word, which teachings I would be required to believe and teach were I to remain a member of the WTBTS. Knowing that disassociation brings the same censor as disfellowshiping, I view these restrictions as binding only on members of the Society and not on me.
  While it is my desire to discontinue activity for the WTBTS, I do not view this as a discontinuance of my association with people I know and love. How they choose to react to me is up to them. Nor is this a discontinuance of belief in and obedience to Jehovah God and his Son Christ Jesus, our Lord and redeemer. Far from it! My love for God our Father and our savior Jesus brings me to this decision in my life.
  Is there any teaching of the Society that I could disagree with and still remain? I believe the answer to that is “No”; therefore, I will not go into the difference of view that has arisen as to the teaching of our Father‘s word.
  I pray that peace will be yours and that Jehovah will keep watch over you and your loved ones.
  Sincerely yours,
  -----------------------------------------------

  He came by when I was gone and left some notes and a wt article for me, which I read and responded to.
  My disassociated was announced a couple months ago.

  Libby
  if the liberated class
• 
  26

  for those who missed it, a JW headline

  by Mommie Dark in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  common sense triumphs occasionally.... !

  http://www.mcall.com/html/news/pa/a_pg001a1_jehovah.htm!

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Liberated

  The No Trespassing signs were a constant debate in our car groups until a case like this came up and the R&F were left on their own.

  So then we knew that if there was a sign and we went anyway, we could not expect any help from the wts. We marked the NT's and gave them to the letter writers.

  Regarding the updating of territory cards, I had the misfortune of knocking at a DNC because the territory had been split and the DNC's had not been listed on the card.
  (Much later when working the adjoining territory, I noticed my angry foul-mouthed DNC listed on that card......his address wasn't even in that territory.)
• 
  14

  Moments That Make Your Skin Crawl.

  by Englishman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i thought that it might be fun to have a "my most embarrassing moment" competition.

  if the thread takes off, first, second and third places will receive a prize guaranteed to be of no monetary value whatsoever!

  so, i've had to give a lot of thought to exactly what was my most embarrassing moment as a jw.. was it as a 12 year old child travelling on the london underground, whilst being forced to wear a label that shouted in lurid purple: "gods kingdom rules!

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Liberated

  God, how awful, Patio. That's the worst.
  I cringe for you!
• 
  23

  Things to do when they come knocking

  by Skimmer in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i encourage people not to either verbally or physically harass jws when they come knocking on the door.. saying this, i recognize that it is ever so tempting to try the following:.

  1) answering the door wearing a t-shirt with a logo such as "satan rules", "member of the evil slave class", and "1914, 1918, 1925, 1975, what's next?".

  2) answering the door wearing only underwear (or less).. 3) dropping a name of some governing body member and suggesting that you got to know him when he and you were in jail together, and then ask if they know if he's stopped some particular filthy habit.. 4) answering the door while brandishing a pitchfork.. 5) say that you're so glad they came and that it's good for people to have an open mind about their religion and to be willing to change; once you get them excited with this, show them a copy of the wtbts failed prophecy list (backed by quotes from their own literature) and ask if they are open minded as well.. 6) as most jws have never looked at a copy of _studies in the scriptures_, tell them that you've gotten many of your religious beliefs by pyramidology; then show them a copy of _sits_ and point to the wtbts copyright notice.. i have #5 and #6 ready for the next visit.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Liberated

  Wow, Comf!!

  Now that is a field service experience worth sharing!
• 
  115

  Randall Watters exposed

  by StiLLinTruth in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hello again friends!.

  well it was time again for me to take my weekly dose of apostate faeces and see what it tastes like.

  decided to check out randy watters this time (we all love him here) and his little testimony on freeminds.org, titled "what happened at bethel in 1980?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Liberated

  Dear Still,

  I too opposed the witnesses, read all the so-called apostate material, the videos, the tapes...I even taught others what to say to them at the door. Unlike you, though, I had always done a lot of Bible study and was born again before I became a jw.

  At some point during my studies it seemed to me that the jw's were indeed preaching the truth and they were that one flock Jesus spoke of, united world-wide, believing and teaching the same thing regardless of language or culture or nationality. So I changed my course and approached them, joined and was baptized. I loved the meetings, took copious notes, made comments of my own and not read from the literature, and I loved field service; I felt that it was exactly the way God would spread the good news of the Kingdom, sending a prepared people to others the way he has always done.

  I was not in long.....long enough to leave a daughter in, but not a life time in, as some who post here. But I came to my own crisis of conscience in a short period of time. We were not the united people I had let myself believe we were; we were not the happy people the magazines showed we were. I'm not talking about human failings or faults, I'm talking about the system we all bought into and what it does to people when they desperately need that closeness to God, that spiritual filling of love and acceptance that Jesus gave us, that is ours by right, that is denied us by a giant publishing company bent on protecting itself and its interests. I was surrounded by empty people and was becoming one myself....when appearance and form is more important than mercy and love, when numbers are more important than individuals.

  My meetings ended when the co whipped at us from the podium...an already trodden, over-worked, thrown-about flock of sheep; and my field service ended when I finally came to the realization that I was there to bring people into the org and not to the Lord. Disassociation came when they would not let me leave quietly and anything I said was construed as trying to start my own religion.

  If you ever do decide to sneer at the writing department....well, I'd like to be there for that. And if you are gathering with other jw's and reading Randy's material together....who are you trying to kid? We all know just your being here is in violation of wts policy and you could be disfellowshipped, or at least reproved for it.

  Libby
  of the finally liberated class
• 
  12

  Why our beliefs are true...

  by Dogpatch in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  from gary busselman:.

  a quote from skeptical inmquirer.

  "finally, beliefs survive best when their adherents feel they are part of a cohesive community; an ideologue who gives his followers a sense of belonging has already won the battle against skeptics who seek to disconfirm his teachings.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Liberated

  It was a tough decision to leave but by staying it would seem as though I still endorsed the beliefs of the wts. Just my being there supported the org and gave truth to their presumption that there is no where else to go.
• 
  30

  Field Service, Anyone?

  by Farkel in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the human brain is a non-stop chattering machine.

  it is constantly evaluating, making decisions and judgments.

  there is not a human being alive that isn't an abject hypocrite nearly every day.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Liberated

  Hi Farkel,

  I laughed until my sides hurt so bad I was crying!!

  I did the empty house one! Sooo embarressing as we stood there waiting, finally peeking thru the window at the completely EMPTY living room, and then realizing we had walked passed the For Sale sign in the front lawn.

  Kirsten, thanks for the link. We've got it going on both boards!

  In service one day I was asking my partner for a spiritual question to use on a return visit to spark some interest. He offered this, "What do you think it'll feel like being through into gehenna?"
  I was laughing so much I couldn't make the call.

  My daughter and her friend were at one of her return visits but no one answered the door, so when they were leaving they started goofing around and the friend pushed my daughter against the front door... which flew open and deposited my daughter in the living room....where the family was sitting quietly on the couch.

  Libby
  thanks for the memories