XBEHERE

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Posts by XBEHERE

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  7

  A Fitting Description of how MANY elders view their "sheep"

  by HadEnuf in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i came across these couple of paragraphs while reading a book by jon katz titled "the dogs of bedlam farm".

  i just couldn't help thinking that this was how many of the elders i knew seemed to view the "precious" sheep that they had authority over.

  just thought i'd share my thoughts on this...my presumptions are in red.

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  XBEHERE

  Men who are not "strong mentally or emotionally to escape right away" and "are too wrapped up in their own situation" have no business being elders and controlling the lives of others.

  This is my whole point. The elder arrangement is a sham! They shouldnt be elders... there shouldnt be ANY elders. To much room for error since as I mentioned above, some of the elders have worse problems they are dealing with themselves. Its also social pressure... being an elder in an environment such as the JW's puts you in a socially high position that is not easy to give up, or for your wife and family to give up. Is it morally right to think that way, OF COURSE NOT! HadEnuf it is a sham pure and simple. I am truly sorry for what those pharissee's did to you and your family.
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  7

  A Fitting Description of how MANY elders view their "sheep"

  by HadEnuf in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i came across these couple of paragraphs while reading a book by jon katz titled "the dogs of bedlam farm".

  i just couldn't help thinking that this was how many of the elders i knew seemed to view the "precious" sheep that they had authority over.

  just thought i'd share my thoughts on this...my presumptions are in red.

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  XBEHERE

  HadEnuf that is a very interesting passage and sadly much of your comments are true. Believe it or not, there are elders out there who sincerely care about the "sheep" but they are rare. I will be honest and tell you that most elders are indeed apathetic and I will tell you why.
  

  You see elders are tired and weary... even more than most in the cong. Many think that elders take joy in having meetings, "gossipping" about publishers, they just love being on stage giving parts, giving counsel, etc. the truth is all of that sucks.

  Many, but not all, become elders because they feel it is the truth and want to serve their brothers. When these realize that the elder body is highly imperfect and political they either have to conform and become power hungry themselves and transform into the elders that we all "love" and know or simply step aside and become "sheep" again. This takes time and apathy sets in for sure.

  Then there are some who remain for family or appearances sake and who cringe at every single elders meeting because they feel sadness, sorrow, and regret over some of the things that they have to do, are forced to do. These... well they eventually end up here full of regret and despair, looking for help.

  Don't pre-judge all of the elders... some are trapped due to circumstance and may not be strong enough mentally or emotionally to escape right away. Rest assured that these do care but are too wrapped up in their own situation in dealing with thier view of "the truth" to be of much help to the sheep. It is truly a complex and stressful situation that you have to experience to fully understand.
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  20

  Who determines the "144,000 heaven goers"

  by SeekingHim in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  hey all!!

  i am married into a jw family, and i was told that there were only 144,000 people going to heaven (jw people at that) and i know one of the supposed people.

  who determines this?

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  XBEHERE

  Who determines... they say its God. My take on it is this: If you are a good little JW and are active in the ministry, preferably from a long line of JW's and are of somewhat older age (otherwise the elders will be suspicious) then you qualify. If a 60+ yr old claims they are annointed the elders will not stop you from partaking though they do talk about you behind your back at elders meetings and discuss if they think you qualify or not.

  Bottom line... its all a sham! If you are to beleive in everything the bible says then all christians MUST be born again and hence are annointed with his spirit. This is what Jesus said no matter what the literature claims to the contrary. That whole "the greek scriptures (new testament) were written only for the annointed" argument is hogwash. I would love to see them prove that from the scriptures. If that is true then reading them is no benefit to us because 1 Timothy 3:16, 17 is pointless. If its not written specifically for me then how can it be beneficial for me???
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  69

  The Young Witness Exodus Continues

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i just found out that , on my wife's side of the family, the last witness kid has given up!.

  he was the very last one in that half of our extended witness family.

  ten years ago, i never would have.

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  XBEHERE

  I think the WT is going to be hurting in 15-20+yrs when there are no brothers left to fill the MS and particularly Elder positions in the congregations. These young ones leaving are supposedly those future ones. Bodies of elders are shrinking at a slow but steady rate and with no one to replace them, whats going to happen?
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  5

  Question for Former Elders (Current ones too..we know you are here)

  by XBEHERE in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  .

  i have been thinking about this for a while and wanted to get some of your thoughts.. how long after you were appointed an elder did it start to dawn on you that this was not the "truth"?

  was being an elder a catalyst to that realization at all?

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  XBEHERE

  I have been thinking about this for a while and wanted to get some of your thoughts.

  How long after you were appointed an elder did it start to dawn on you that this was not the "truth"?

  Was being an elder a catalyst to that realization at all?
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  21

  Did you lie before getting married in the KH?

  by Samuel Thorsen in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as you know every young couple who is planning to get married in the kh are asked a question about "clean conduct" a week or two before the wedding.

  if you admit to have been fooling around to much you can forget about the kh and go and get married elsewhere.. i'm not married myself, but i was engaged to be married once and my soon-to-be father in law (an elder) recommended a certain elder to do the marriage stuff in the kh because he was a kind of easy on the mantadory questions.. fortunatly in never got that far because me and my girl split up about 2 months before the planned wedding, but i have been to a lot of kh weddings and i know for sure that some of the couples had to lie to cover up their conduct to get married in the hall.. but how common is this?.

  did you lie before getting maried in the kh, or do you know someone who did?.

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  XBEHERE

  Sunnygal41: "Years later, tho, I convinced my hubby to go with me to the elders and confess....."

  Can I ask.. what was the result. I am just curious since you did say he was just appointed an elder.
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  31

  Elder said I could Lie

  by Es in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  last week my ex husband sent a letter to the elders telling each and every one of them just what he felt about them.

  as they were d/f him he figured this was his last chance.

  in his letter he stated that as i had scriptural reason for divoce, so did he.

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  XBEHERE

  Es,

  Amazing is most likely correct. You are correct also in that they probably viewed your DA letter as a "family" matter and allowed your father to destroy it, in many situations elders families are given more leniency. That is why they need to meet with you on this new charge. The truth is, even though the DA letter was destroyed, it will be held against you as a sign that you are not repentant because they suspect you are not only commiting a sin but also a doubter.

  Elders and CO's prefer to see DFings instead of DAing's in my opinion. Anytime someone DA's themself they are suspected apostates since it is a wholly voluntary action unlike DFing.

  My advice, just dont bother to meet with them period. If you dont beleive in it anymore then forget it. Not worth the hassle.
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  14

  What is the GB tellin us?

  by IP_SEC in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i?ve been reading some posts about the future of the whole governing body and fds doctrines and have come to notice something.. it seems like recently the literature has been focusing more on personal bible reading and understanding.

  oh they still spew crap about how great the publications of the fds are, but i notice a little bit of a trend away from that.

  for example: the bible reading highlights on the school.

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  XBEHERE

  This is the chain of "command":

  Governing Body

  FDS (remember all the 8,000+ annointed are still under the GB regardles of what their doctrine says)

  Branch Commitee (This is relatively new in the US)

  District Overseer

  Circuit Overseer

  PO (or sometimes the PO's wife depending on her personality)

  Body of Elders (or sometimes the elders wives depending on their personalities)

  MS

  Pioneers

  Regular Aux. Pioneers (or if you do it at least during the reccomended memorial season)

  Baptized brothers

  Baptized sisters
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  16

  Are the magazines losing their appeal?

  by truthseeker in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  do you think the mags are losing their appeal at the doors these days?.

  i mean, if you have the internet and wanted to learn about a particular beetle, recipe or how to cook rice, you could look it up on the web right?.

  if you wanted to learn about brightly colored birds and fish, you could go to google.com.

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  XBEHERE

  ... you are assuming that they had appeal to begin with correct?
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  27

  Did the bookstudy overseer ever phone you for your "time" and nothing else?

  by truthseeker in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this happened fairly recently.

  my book study overseer who never calls if i am absent at the meeting, will call me with clockwork regularity at the beginning of the month and ask for my field service report.

  has this ever happened to you?

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  XBEHERE

  Absolutely... that is exactly what I do. I dont have time to call and the only reason I do this is because the pain in the arse Secretary bothers me too. I have commented before on this and I will say it again, the elder arrangement is flawed.

  If you worked 40+ hrs a week, had a house mortgage, lawn to mow, house to clean, kids, etc. would you have time to "babysit" 15 people and coddle them to go to the boring meetings when sometimes you dont want to go yourself? We can nit pick and say "well then why are they in that position, they shouldn't pretend to do the job if they cant, etc, etc" but be realistic, its all a sham. I am begginning to understand why "christendom" pays their clergy.