it's long, so take a deep breath!.
ok, this is for those of you who wanted my life experience as a jw, so here goes.. i was born to a beautiful woman/mother who was abandoned by my biological father.
my mother was raised as a jw and left in her teen years and turned to the baptist church as an adult.
Ty again for your replies, we all have junk in our lives we must deal with and get over, so I am sure my life is not too much differnt than any of yours.
Nathan Natas- My name is a cover for when I didn't wanna get caught (I also love the 3 stooges). Now I flat out don't care if I get caught and I still love the stooges. :)
the organization cannot be reformed from outside; that can only come from individuals who have the guts and will to do so inside, and the determination to get rid of hardline thinking that is so strangling.
my personal desire is to see immediate change regarding the child abuse policy, and that will come.
to see a clear, quick change in the horribly inconsistent blood policy rather than drag it out over years; kids are dying in the process.enforced shunning is also an evil that they will have to deal with eventually; it's ripping them apart.. .
Talk about us speaking in riddles? Have you read your comments? How understandable are they to the average joe?
If you were really a true "follower of Jehovah" you would not be so deceptive. Why would a group of people so strongly believe that the WTS is wrong? It's because we realized the WTS was wrong, not because we want to destroy something good. I would have NEVER felt this way about what I was told my whole life if I hadn't tested my faith, just as the bible tells us to do. The WTS said 1975, plain and simple. They said 1914 and other dates, too. 1914 originally was founded upon numberology and the pyramid of Giza. False divination and the occult is what it is, no way getting around it.
You know what YouKnow? I believe you have it in you to open your eyes, you just don't want to. If you stay in the WTS, you are directly disobeying Jesus commands, you know that, don't you?
Moe
posters on several recent threads have waxed eloquent about reforming, reorganizing, reinventing, mainstreaming jehovah's witnesses.. the comparative efficacy of internal or external pressure has been one of the subthemes.. as a former 50 year "true believer", this seems like such an exercize in futility.
if this is really an organization sponsored by the god of the universe, why dare steady the ark.
if not, why bother?.
I said it before and I will say it again: They can change thier colors but they cannot change who they are.
The WTS is bloodguilty. Fact
The WTS has harmed peoples lives and emotional state. Fact
The WTS has ruined marriages. Fact
The WTS has divided homes and families. Fact
The WTS is guilty of false prophecy. Fact
Now, if they are a false prophet, they are a false prophet. No false prophet can reformed (such as the Catholic church and thier dibble dabble with Hitler.)
A whole LOT would have to change for them to even come close to what is accurate in the bible. Take into consideration as well that perception of what is in the bible will, plain and simply, differ from one person to another. No two people will percieve the same thing. So who would run the WTS? I am 100% sure that the body of men or women, whomever it may be, will disagree on what is to be taught and what is right and wrong.
The two greatest sommandments are these:
Love your God Jehovah your God and Love your fellow man as you love yourself. If you follow thiese things, everything else will be added to you. I love my God, I need to work on love for my brother at times. :)
i have just finished making phone calls informing the family of the death of my stepfather.
i was an adult when he married my mother, but i loved him very much.
he was a wonderful man.. although he was a faithful jw, for his entire life (he was born to it) he was a really good man, and a true christian, i believe.
Marilyn - I am so very sorry. My hugs go out to you and your family. I won't push any of my personal beleifs onto you, but I will say this much, he is not in pain and he has rest.
Second, if you love him you should go to the services. He deserves the respect and honor. Slip in after it starts ans slip out before it ends.
just wondered if anyone had any idea how much it costs to produce any of the jw videos?.
.
free
Wow, really good point!
Whatta good profit! And, if the Kingdom Hall does not pay the full "suggested donation" Thier literature supply (food from God) gets cut off! What a loving arrangement in disguise!
bicker and complain all day?
why not try to show some love around here?
just wondering.... with love,
It's not bickering and complaining all day. It's called debating. Sometimes we may bicker yes, but have you ever been in on an Elder's meeting or a Governing Body meeting? Doubt it.
Point being, we feel we were really hurt and betrayed for being lied to and controled, so forgive us if that leaves us a bit bitter. Jehovah's Witnesses are a cult, plain and simple. Once you realize everything you were ever told about growing old and death and life is all wrong and you didn't save on a 401K retirement plan, you'd be pretty pissed, too. I am going to grow old. That hurts, I never thought I was gonna get old.
Dueteronomy 18:22 NWT "When the prophet speaks in the name of Jehovah and the word does not occur or come true, that is the word that Jehovah God did not speak. With presumptiousness the prophet spoke it. You must not get frightened at him."
What does 1914 mean to you? There was a change in viewpoints wasn't there? Did you know the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society really did say 1975? They did. Look up in a bound volume the 1968 Awake October 8th. I confronted my elder dad about it showing him the article and he eventually, after heavy poking, admitted the Governing Body wrote the article and prophesyed 1975. I can find scanned documents if you don't beleive me.
Did you know the bible says to test your faith? It sure does. It says do not test Jehovah - but it commands you to test your faith and what you are told by man or bodies of men.
well - my father (he's an elder) asked me if he could watch my daughter saturday night and i could pick her up sunday at the meeting or he would drop her off at my house.
well, they have offered to watch her overnight plenty of times, but he has never offered to drop her off at my house on a sunday!
the clincher - he said he would normally watch her tonight since it's a friday, but he has an elders meeting.
Well- thanks sooo much for the advice. I am who I am, I no longer consider myself a JW so I am not going to act like a JW - feed people lines of Bullshit. I won't meet with them in a meeting at any costs (at least this is how I feel so far,) but I will use the sentece in casual conversation:
"3. I have no doubts whatsoever about the meaning of the year 1914, (it was a load of bullshit) and I am content to wait on the Organization for further progressive insight (which is more bullshit.")
As far as my hugh profile, yes, a LOT of people know me in the district/circiut, but the way the internet is - can they prove I am who I say I am?
well - my father (he's an elder) asked me if he could watch my daughter saturday night and i could pick her up sunday at the meeting or he would drop her off at my house.
well, they have offered to watch her overnight plenty of times, but he has never offered to drop her off at my house on a sunday!
the clincher - he said he would normally watch her tonight since it's a friday, but he has an elders meeting.
Well - my father (he's an elder) asked me if he could watch my daughter Saturday night and I could pick her up Sunday at the meeting or he would drop her off at my house. Well, they have offered to watch her overnight plenty of times, but he has NEVER offered to drop her off at my house on a Sunday!
The clincher - He said he would normally watch her tonight since it's a Friday, but he has an elders meeting. (please see my previous post on when I told my parents my beliefs - sorry, I can't find it.) When are the usual monthly elders meetings? Should I be worried? Should I go to meeting Sunday (not that I want to) or should I stay away? I am trying to figure if this meeting is for me or for a regular meeting. The elders are hard to avoid if one of them is your dad.
Does the WT Gestapo read this site? Well, I am sure they do, which if this elders meeting has anything to do with this site they are super duper fast.
Awaiting your response and advice - getting a little nervous (and not because of not wanting to be a JW, but because I love my family very very much and I will miss them a lot.)
hi to all in the forum.
i am new here and would like to briefly share how i arrived here.
i was born and raised a witness.i'm in my 40's and married.i had some doubts as regards to some docrinal teachings and changes in the 80's.
Welcome Allen. I was raised in the truth as well, but I am female so did not have to step aside as MS, thank goodness. That, I am sure, was very difficult for you. I congratulate you for growing a spine and standing up for the REAL truth. And yes, please visit Freeminds and read the book from Ray Franz - Crisis of Conscience. As a former member of the GB, he has some wonderful insight, which really helped me to realize - wow, what kind of channel of God is this if major life altering choices made by the GB can't even be agreed upon!
Also, please research all of your doctrinal beliefs if you have not already. I have personally found I do not believe the 144,000 class anymore since I feel they are the 12 tribes of Israel literally. The great crowd stood before the throne - and the throne is heaven. The bible also states the earth will melt in Armageddon. Interesting finds, but I know it can be very very upsetting. I have been on quite a roller coaster, as I am sure you have been, too. Keep your head up and remember to talk to all of us here, we have something very special in common. And be patient, some of us (me included) can be a bit nutty.
in my hubby's home state these are some dumb ass laws:.
you can be legally married by publically introducing a person as your husband or wife 3 times.
it is illegal to drive without windshield wipers.
In Florida - USA - It's illegal to have oral sex (anal too if that's ur gig) or to bathe ur mule in the family bathtub on a Sunday, and no, that's not a joke.
Jw's have the no oral sex law, too. Also no beards, tattoos, hair past the ears on a man (boy JanH ur quite a rebel, ain't ya?) no earrings on a man, no peircings period except women can have one pair on thier earlobes only, and the list goes on and on...
