myth: parents who are jehovahs witnesses.
force their children to follow their faith.. fact:witness parents strive to inculcate love.
for god in their offspring, just as the bible.
The WTBTS is encouraging younger and younger children to be baptized. 6 year olds are praised for dedicating the lives to WTBTS. There is no way any child can make that kind of decision and truly know what is expected of them. Yet, they can be disfellowshipped. How ridiculous.
Yes, I felt I was obligated by my parents, to get baptised.
CJ
do you think that we are in the last days?
i really don't think we are in the last days.
i came to the conclusion that 1914 is false and is no more than another year in man's history, so hence we are not living in the last days prophesied by jesus.
jwfacts-thank you for your reply, you offer words of wisdom. I'm still dealing with a lifetime of mind control, and sometimes those negative mental connections take control of me and give me loads of anxiety and fear. I appreciate your sane response, it is comforting too!
CJ
do you think that we are in the last days?
i really don't think we are in the last days.
i came to the conclusion that 1914 is false and is no more than another year in man's history, so hence we are not living in the last days prophesied by jesus.
What freaks me out is that the physical earth is in so much trouble-the ice sheets melting, permafrost unfrosting and providing extra CO2 to an already taxed enviroment, destruction of animal species and plant species.
The tremendous amount of 'tribalism', i.e., the fracturing of the populous of various countries, militant religious countries with atomic weapons make me freak out too.
I often wonder if I'm deluding myself into thinking 'the end' is actually much closer than I realized and I'm damned to be dead forever. Old thought patterns, I guess, yet they leave me cold sometimes, and doubting my rejection of the JWsn thoughts of armageddon.
CJ
http://silentlambs.org/newsletter/newsletteritem.cfm?sendoutid=294
now heroux has done a year in prison, followed by home confinement for two years on an electronic bracelet, probation for two years and parole for life.
it was later discovered after heroux was newly released from prison that an elder in his new congregation was in the process of arranging for heroux to conduct a bible study with a woman and her two small children.
How terribly, terribly sad. I wonder how many kids there have been his victims.
CJ
i have a 10 year old.
been to the kh once, at about 3 years old, for a relative's funeral.
lately, my 10 year old and her bff are talking on the phone alot.
I remember feeling guilty for donating to the NRDC-because they are lobbyists for the enviroment, I believe in their cause, yet, felt like I was rejecting Jah. As a child, when watching those awful animal shows with my parents...you know the ones, "the last living dodo bird has just been captured, we will slaughter it, then dissect the body for posterity"...I always was heart broken and wanted to do something. Of course, the standard answer was, wait for it...wait for it..."Only Jehovah can fix everything'.
skeeter1-congrats on having such a caring child, and congrats on letting her live a full life.
CJ
http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/search?cx=partner-pub-4963413421914369%3ag5in7s-4bz3&cof=forid%3a10&ie=iso-8859-1&q=overlapping&siteurl=www.jehovahs-witness.net%2fsearch.
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many threads on the overlapping generation...how do you explain it briefly to a ex-jw or jw on the edge?.
I still hate review night, and haven't attended in a long time. It seems just to be a 'filler' meeting, because there is nothing else to do, and they don't want to give the faithful a night off once in a while. I remember the written review night at an old hall, they passed around fiberboard mats so people wouldn't have to use their soft laps, or their songbooks.
CJ
sorry i could not get back to my last thread.
between running the new business and taking care of my wife i have not had the time to get back with all of you.
thank you for all your well wishes for the new business and get well wishes for my wife.
What a run of bad luck, I hope that your wife continues to mend and that your business is a smashing success.
CJ
the last few years "warren buffet.
" has donated his time to the highest bidder for charity.
the ebay auction usually goes for $100,000 to spend lunch-time and pick his brain on his view.
Fort Mac sounds like it must be in the energy business. Williston, ND is headed in the same expensive direction. I would like to lunch Sizemik, Outlaw, Blondie and Cadellin. Or just about anyone else here.
CJ
had to meet my parents not too long ago for some family business and while working out the time for that sunday, they said they had the meeting and then following the meeting they had "hospitality" for an hour or so.. now i've been out for going on 20 years and somewhat out of the loop.
needless to say i've never heard of that.
i've been to other churches where they have the sanctuary and then the fellowship hall where the members go and eat after the service.
As a child, we were the recipients of the visiting speaker arrangement, and made the dearest friends one can imagine with one family (the parents have died, some of the kids left the org). As an adult, we have been the givers of hospitality, as it is now called. We never had an obnoxious family or speaker, nor ever had anyone take unfair advantage of the situation. It has always been one of my favorite aspects of being a JW.
CJ
i believe today's witnesses lack zeal, resolve, "love" of the "truth"......just to name a few things.. years ago, witnesses were excited to knock on doors and tell people they were gonna die if they didn't accept paradise.. now, when you see jws in service, they all look zombied out.. it's a slowly dying religion that will last probably forever like an ancient rotted out tree..
I remember in the early 1970's, 3 brothers played Satan and 2 of his demons at the Thursday night meeting. It was really funny. This was in Buena Park California. The rank and file do not seem to be nearly as close to each other now as they were several decades ago. We used to rent cabins in the mountains and have casual Watchtower Study in the biggest cabin. The newest person to the group was placed in a chair behind the door. At the very last paragraph, a sister or brother would walk in with a shaving cream pie and stuff it in the face of the person sitting behind the door. All pandemonium would break out with an all out shaving cream fight.
The true closeness and love in one felt in the congregations is gone. It was a wonderful feeling as a little kid, knowing all these brothers and sisters really liked you and invited you over to do fun things. We had many parties on the beach and lots of kiddie parties complete with clown and pinatas, games and things.
It was a fun time.
CJ
