Barbara Grizutti Harrison compared the JW's to the medieval Catholic Church. As time goes on, they become more and more like Catholics (but a lot more cruel and heartless). I don't know where they came up with the idea of "disfellowshipping." Barbara Grizutti Harrison was an American journalist, ex JW, who wrote a book called "Visions of Glory: A History and a Memory of Jehovah's Witnesses."
Posts by Mum
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17Disfellowshipping
by jhine inso last night my bible study group was discussing the healing of the blind man in john's gospel.
ch 9 .
the man's parents were reluctant to say much on the subject.
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Are Witnesses guiness book of records most false predictions Armageddon...yes!
by Witness 007 inthere has always been churches that made false predictions for armagedon.
but i challenge you how many times did witnesses say the end was here?
15 or 20 officially in the publications anyone know?
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Mum
I once read a book entitled "The History of the End of the World." Oddly, JW's were not mentioned. The funniest story was about a "cargo cult" on some South Pacific island. They noticed that the English didn't do any work, but sat at desks writing on paper, and, somehow, that made the ships come with supplies. The natives tried everything they could to imitate the English, sitting at desks, sometimes with flower vases (which they believed might have some magical power), writing illiterate scrawl, but to no avail. Finally, they got representatives to go ask the English their "secret" because they had been Christians for many years but had no luck making the ships come.
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How many here turned Athiest or did not and why??
by Witness 007 inme i slowly came to see religion was a crutch we use to dream of a better "afterlife"....i feel half my life was wasted building an organisation that had no criminal mastermind behind it...just alot of mislead people looking for leadership.
if your still religious explain why..
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Mum
I am an agnostic. I have watched many YouTube videos about NDE's and by Raymond Moody, M.D, who is convinced there is an afterlife. Interestingly, atheists have the same after-death experiences as believers. So I have come to believe that religion is not so important as the one lives his/her life. As Benjamin Franklin said, apparently we are not judged on what we thought, but what we did.
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Mum
When I lived out West, I knew lots of Mormons. They were mostly nice people. I also read the book by Sonia Johnson, a former Mormon whose husband left her for a "younger blond-haired woman." She became a feminist. I also read another book by a former Mormon woman named Deborah (something). Their experiences show how much the religion mistreats women. I also knew a former Mormon woman personally, and all of her family had left the church except one of her daughters. This daughter was rearing nine children on her own because her husband (also a Mormon) abandoned the family for another woman. I also used to work with a young man who had been thrown out of the church for being gay.
The weirdest things to me are the "temple recommend" and the "garments" (underwear that must be worn at all times). They also believe something like Elohim had sex with the virgin Mary to conceive Jesus - weird as the "virgin birth" for sure.
All that having been said, most of them are very nice people, mostly prosperous and well educated. Somehow, the education didn't entirely "take." The scary ones are the Fundamentalist LDS led by Warren Jeffs, a child molestor.
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10
Alan F
by scholar inhave received news of the passing of alan fuerbacher today having just turned 70 years of age.
alan was an earlier and frequent poster on this forum and was a strident critic of wt bible chronology.
i enjoyed the continuous debate on matters relating to 607 bce and will miss his intellectual contributions and his scholarship even though i disagreed with much of his contributions on this subject.
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Mum
He posted a lot on H2O. He was interviewed by Lloyd Evans once. Very sad that he is gone.
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France: Jehovah’s Witnesses take Miviludes to court.
by yalbmert99 inaccording to a european pro-cult website, jehovah’s witnesses take france's anti-cult organisation miviludes to court.
posted : march 16, 2022.. found on the site: foref forum for religious freedom europe.. .
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Mum
For those who can't read French, the protest signs say "MIVILUDES - THOUGHT POLICE"
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Belgium: ex-JWs lawsuit against Watchtower continues
by yalbmert99 in-belgium: the lawsuit of ex-jehovah's witnesses against the watchtower will continue before the ghent court of appeal on march 22, 2022. support them by your presence!
march 17, 2022..
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Mum
I would love to be there, but I can't afford a trip across the ocean.
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24
5 years ago they were 25, now they hit the BIG 30-----and still single---jw girls.
by pistolpete inexperience from reddit.
i’m in my mid 20’s but i’m noticing alot of sisters that are 35, 40 and just kind of lost.
single, still live at home or heavily dependent on parents because they have measly jobs.
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Mum
There are a lot more women than men in the JW's. Back in the day, when women stayed home, they were more likely to be at home when a dub knocked on the door. Women are more likely to be unhappy with the way the world works, too. Men call most of the shots.
So, all of that created a female-dominated religion (although I believe most religions are female-dominated) wherein women were relegated to second-class status while their male counterparts (who spent less time in the preaching activity usually) rose in the ranks and got to feel even more superior than they did already. Meanwhile, staying single was encouraged, but not rewarded.
As an ex-wife of an elder, I can say that JW marriage is less than rewarding.
But being an elder's wife gets one some "respect" from members of the congregation, who wouldn't give you the time of day otherwise. -
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Introduction: POMO Ex-JW w/ Late-Life Diagnosis Autism
by LongGone ini'm longgone.
i was raised as a jw and i was in the "religion" for three decades.
i was an ex-jw for five years before i started to no longer even regard myself as an ex-jw, just as a person.
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Mum
Welcome, Longgone. I had Asperger's when I was young, but I think (?) I have mostly overcome it because I've had to learn to talk to people to get a JOB and negotiate my way through the world. I didn't become a JW until I was 15 years old, but I didn't have a very supportive family, causing me to think I had to endure much more than I actually did. They didn't have that diagnosis back then (the '50's), so my mother diagnosed me as "stand-offish."
I'm glad you're getting professional help. It's worth the trouble.
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23
Introduction
by joao ini'm joão, from portugal.. i was a jw for about 30 years but i've stopped associating with them for about two years now.
and, lately, i've decided to dig deep and research about this cult!
oh boy!
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Mum
The best ethod may be to ask questions they don't have answers for, such as why it was the "truth" that the generation of 1914 would be alive through Armageddon, but now the "truth" is entirely different.