Posts by NewWay

101

A NEW SIGN OUT FRONT AT BETHEL!

by Mary in

jw
friends

i think it's time bethel got a new sign out front, one that really speaks volumes and is far more suitable to their "read god's word the bible daily.

i was thinking: .

oh what a web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!

My Story

by Mackin in

i guess it's time for me to tell my story on this forum.

my parents came into contact with the "truth" during their engagement and so i was born into a borg family and quickly "assimilated.

" the congregation i grew up in however had very liberal views on many subjects, such as higher education, secular careers, and the like.

NewWay

Mackin, thanks very much for sharing your story with us. I really enjoyed reading it!

LIONPAWS

109

Does being called an 'apostate' upset you?

by wholewheat in

jw
friends

do all of you ex-jehovah's witnesses get upset when you are called an apostate?

you all call each other apostates, so why should you all get upset if i call you apostates?

if you don't like being called 'apostate', what title would you prefer?

What I don't like about this type of word is that like 'heretic' it is often used to label people. Labelling people with an emotive word is not a fair way of making your point. Labelling XJWs with the word 'apostate' also implies according to the way JWs see it that the person has turned his back on the true faith, something that many here would hotly dispute! Its probably better to say XJW.

However, you can call me LIONPAWS. That stands for:

Liberated
Individual
Out
Now
Protesting
Against the
Watchtower
Society

47

Why I Stopped Apologising For The WTS

by NewWay in

why i stopped apologising for the watchtower society - part 1. .

in response to requests for information on why i stopped being an apologist for the organisation, i have decided to write the following article.

what is written is not meant to attack the beliefs of jws, but rather to show why i personally came to the conclusion that i could no longer support the organisation.

NewWay

That concludes the series of articles.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to read them.

47

Why I Stopped Apologising For The WTS

by NewWay in

why i stopped apologising for the watchtower society - part 1. .

in response to requests for information on why i stopped being an apologist for the organisation, i have decided to write the following article.

what is written is not meant to attack the beliefs of jws, but rather to show why i personally came to the conclusion that i could no longer support the organisation.

NewWay

WHY I STOPPED APOLOGISING FOR THE WATCHTOWER SOCIETY - PART 8

Having found convincing evidence to refute the claim by the organisation that it was 'God's channel of communication', I started to examine some of the 'divine commands' JWs had been pursuaded to accept. Of course, the most controversial of these is that which pertains to the use of blood. Although personally I felt uncomfortable with the idea of another person's blood flowing in my veins, I wondered if the command to 'abstain from blood' could truthfully be applied to transfusions. I thought that it is one thing for an individual JW to make their own decision to refuse a transfusion because s/he felt his/her conscience could not allow it, but quite another for a tiny group of men to decide 6 million JWs based on their own interpretation of scripture. My - by now unblinkered - look at Genesis 9:3-6 revealed the real reason behind the 'divine command'. God was simply impressing upon human beings the value of life. He allowed human beings to take animal life, but with one proviso, that the blood of the animal be returned to the ground in recognition of the sacredness of life. The command was not given as a dietary requirement but as reminder that it was only by God's permission that animal life could be taken. Since other scriptures that addressed the use of blood were reiterating what God had said about the taking of human or animal life, the application of it to blood transfusions is a fallacy. I returned to various online forums to share my findings, and to encourage JWs to read Ray's books. Finding A New Way
It was about this time that I started to read many books and religious works that had some connection with the Bible/Jews/Christianity. These included English translations of the Works Of Josephus, Dead Sea Scrolls, Nag Hammadi Library (gnostic gospels), and even the Qur'an. I also read J. R. Porter's book 'The Lost Bible' which contains many Jewish and Christian-oriented writings that were rejected by the Church as being uninspired. The purpose of this intensive reading campaign was to compare religious belief and to try to find out how religious thought developed. I made a number of interesting discoveries along the way (but that's another story).

Further reading revealed the fact the politicized Catholic Church had from an early point in its history decided amongst its 'bishops' what constituted inspired writings, and based on what I knew about those who ran the church, I could not without great reservations accept that they had been 'God's channel of communication' at that time. The 'holy canon' which we have today was not decided without disagreement though, and as one early Church writer observed the various gospels, letters and even the Revelation itself were questionable among different Christians. Due to this fact, I reluctantly came to the conclusion that I could no longer accept without question everything written in what we today have as the New Testament (NT). If the NT was a collection of non-inspired works (i.e. not flawless dictations from God), then that would explain any inconsistencies within it.

One scripture that always stood out like a sore thumb to me, is Paul's words regarding women teaching on scriptural matters (1 Timothy 11 & 12). The fact that Paul said, 'I do not permit...' rather than saying 'God does not permit...', made me think that either he was presumptious in giving his own opinion (thus, not God's), or it was added to the text by the authoritarian Church. I had my suspicions about other possible insertions. I noted how people who wanted to prove their doctrinal beliefs from the scriptures could often find a scripture here or there that might give credence to their views, but if one were honest and looked at what the scriptures said as a whole, then a different picture emerged. I did not reject the NT as of no use spiritually, but my understanding changed as I determined to get a 'bird-eye' view. I stopped taking the JW approach of homing in on a scripture and saying, 'therefore that's what we must do' (e.g. picking out the 'door-to-door' scripture in Acts to prove Christians must preach from door-to-door). This allowed me to get back to the real Jesus Christ and his teachings, instead of wasting time on internal arguments over words and phrases, which can lead to no end of do's and don'ts.

If, during my grandparents' generation, the general public had been asked the question, 'What do you think it means to be a Christian', then I believe the majority of answers would have been along the lines of: 'One who does kind things for other people'. It seems that those who read the NT for the first time pick up on the fact that Jesus Christ was known as a man who cared not only for people's spiritual needs by also their physical needs. Although he gave much instruction of a spiritual nature and pointed folk to better times, he realised that people had to live now and needed help now. That is why I no longer worry about what will happen in the future. For most of my life I have been waiting on promises, putting life on hold being content to stare into the future watching for some miraculous event. Now, however, I live for today.

My faith in God (however one might conceive him to be) is intact and my admiration for the person of Jesus Christ as depicted in the Bible has not disappeared. I feel no need to be part of an organised religion, as my view is that God deals with people individually not through a third party. For once in my life I actually feel at peace within. I no longer suffer from bouts of depression, despair over the fact that God's new system still hasn't arrived, nor the obsession (and accompanying guilt) with trying to live up to an impossible standard.

Because I care about those who are trying desperately to unlock their mental prison and those struggling with emotional turmoil on account of their association with the JW organisation, I wanted to share my experiences. I am thankful to God that there is hope for any JW still trapped by the society to find out the truth, but it will require some trust and a willingness to do impartial investigation. As a final thought, I'd like to quote these words of Jesus: '...[The Lord] has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives, sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free.' (Luke 4:18 - The New Jerusalem Bible)
(END)

36

Another JW suicide

by Mulan in

i have just learned that there was another jw suicide in western washington (south king county) last weekend.

the man was a young adult, in good standing, married and doing well financially.

i can't reveal more, and this one didn't hit the news either.

NewWay

May I extend my condolences to the family.

Xandria, a very good post. One thing I would like to say is that people who are contemplating suicide may not be in a position mentally to latch on to hope. Their 'rejection' of efforts for help must not be taken personally. They may be incapable of grasping on to the hand that is offered, as the mind swims in a whirlpool of despair. Some folk are able to put on an appearance of normality, but inside they are overwhelmed by negative thoughts. We are not talking about simple depression. Medical help may be the only means to break a vicious circle of hopelessness. It does no good to blame the person who took his/her life, or to blame somebody else, such as ourselves if we are family.

53

What Would You Have Done?

by Dutchie in

jw
friends

there was a middle-aged woman in our kingdom hall who was a long time pioneer.

she was a very warm and loving woman and so when she announced her plans for a family vacation one year some of us got together and took up a little collection so that she would have some extra money to spend.

after all, she was working hard for jehovah and werent we supposed to show our appreciation?.

NewWay

I would have taken the wallet and contents to the local police station. JWs are very well aware of this saying: 'Do to others what you would want them to do to you'. I made sure when my children were small that they could grasp this principle where it came to other people's money, by telling them: 'If it doesn't belong to you then its not yours'. They were told that even if they saw just one pence lying on the ground, they were not allowed to pick it up because it did not belong to them. You can't get simpler than that. What is needed is not legislation for different scenarios, but a simple question: 'What if it were me who had lost that money?' There is also the possibility that the money belonged to a local JW!

11