Posts by Ucantnome

20

Any here who didn't rebel as a teenager and were a goody two shoes instead?

by purrpurr in

jw
friends

when i was a teenager in the borg i was a dyed in the wool, goody two shoes, squeaky clean,"spiritual " sister.

alot of my peers around me were rebelling and going off the rails but not me.

i was constantly praised for this and even felt a little smug about it ha!.

Ucantnome

I think it depends how you define 'rebel as a teenager'.

My father commented before he passed away that we had been good kids and hadn't caused them any worry. I could never bring myself to commit fornication or adultery. I always turned it down. Drunkenness and needing dental work was accidental it wasn't rebellion. I rebelled against my father with the music that I listened to. He didn't think we should listen to any music produced by people with long hair, which ruled out the Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Yes, Pink Floyd,Genesis, Alice Cooper, ELP, Queen, Humble Pie, etc. that I had and he didn't know about, but the neighbours did when he was out. I did rebel in my attitude toward the truth in some ways although I pioneered. I wouldn't say I was a goody two shoes and felt I probably wouldn't survive Armageddon. However I always and still do think I done my best.

19

Things I Never Knew When I Was A Witness!

by disillusioned 2 in

there are some things that as a witness i never knew.

maybe i was just going through the motions, attending meetings and not listening much.

never was very good at personal study or underlining answers in watchtower or book study (i never ever answered up) was too shy.. i never knew when i was a witness that they taught that jesus had looked down on the earth in 1919 to see who was serving god most accurately, and of course he chose a small group of bible students living in america!

Ucantnome

I was raised as a witness and my parents were zealous witnesses. As a very young child I found going to the meetings, which were longer than they are today I believe, family study, field service and long assemblies completely bored me. I witnessed at school and was spoken well of by the teachers and later the same was true when I was an adult. But the boredom remained and the thought of an assembly or meeting was, oh God I've got that to do.

However I can't think of something that I didn't know of before I left. Some things may have come out after I left.

We had the book Jehovah's Witnesses In The Divine Purpose, I knew of the house in California and things like that. About a year before I left a brother showed me something in the Watchtower that bothered him it didn't bother me. Nothing would have made me question the society or the anointed.

1919 was the reason that these things didn't matter and it wasn't until I read something in the Watchtower that made me question the teaching regarding 1914 and subsequently 1919 that ultimately made me leave.

20

"It's the demons..."

by pale.emperor in

one thing that really frustrates me inside is how quite a few jw's (especially my family) actually believe that demons like to inhabit second hand vases, or clothes etc.

my sister and mother are so bad with this that they wont even talk about it - because even talking about it "brings demons into your home".

so any attempt to show them that it's unscriptural is shut off with, sometimes them literally going "lalalalalalala im not listening".. i used to believe it myself (why wouldn't i?, i was told by my mother and father it was fact).. what i'd like to point out to anyone that would let me debunk it is this:.

Ucantnome

i don't think the view is limited to JW

21

Whats the one thing

by MrTheocratic in

jw's are constantly trying to prove they have the truth.

they always point to matthew 24:14 and say "who is accomplishing this work today?

this proves we have the truth and gods backing".. for those of us in this community looking from the other side what is one thing that proves to you that this organization does not have gods backing?

Ucantnome

For those of us in this community looking from the other side What is one thing that proves to you that this organization does not have Gods backing?

I think that there are a lot of reasons to question the claim of them having God's backing.

At the time of my dedication and baptism we studied at one of the meetings the book "The Nations Shall Know That I Am Jehovah"-How? (Watchtower 1971)

My understanding from this book was that the anointed JW were the modern day Ezekiel commissioned in 1919 to do the work in fulfilment of Matthew 24:14. Appointed as a watchman class to Christendom as Ezekiel had been to the house of Israel.

I learnt that Ezekiel acted out the exact number of days until the destruction of Jerusalem and this had relevance to Christendom.

On page 216 it states

'Shortly, within our twentieth century, the "battle in the day of Jehovah" will begin against the modern antitype of Jerusalem, Christendom'

As far as I am aware this hasn't occurred.

When Ezekiel received the report that Jerusalem,..has been struck down he was vindicated as the watchman and proclaimer of the prophecies.

On page 286 it says,

'...the authentic news comes from all around the earth that the antitypical Jerusalem, Christendom, has fallen at the hands of Jehovah's executional forces! This will be a vindication of the modern-day Ezekiel class, to authenticate that they have not been a false prophet but have been a faithful "watchman" class in sounding out Jehovah's Warnings to Christendom.'

Watchtower April 1,1972 page 200

'Jehovah would confirm him as a prophet then by causing what Ezekiel prophesied to come true.'

As there was no confirmation that I can see for the modern day Ezekiel class I would say that this would/may be the 'one thing' for me

25

NOW it's Important

by TheLiberator in

i have spent 45 years of my life sacrificing my soul to the watchtower.

twenty-five of those years as a ms/elder.

i gave every moment to them.

Ucantnome

I have spent 45 years of my life sacrificing my soul to the Watchtower. Twenty-five of those years as a MS/Elder. I gave every moment to them. Even if no one was going to show up for service on New Year's day, I was there to take the lead.

My wife and I went out many Saturday mornings on our own after meeting for field service with the group and no one was going out. I've gone in service on many Christmas and New year's days along with many evenings.

I never reached out for a position as an servant or elder. I did pioneer from school.

I have found that those who seemed to be the weaker ones when I was young and were pursuing more schooling better jobs fast cars or being reproved for immorality are still in and some serving as elders today.

I'm glad I am where I am.

20

Would you be a GB member if you were asked ?

by atomant in

off course you need to think back to when you were a jw to answer this question honestly and properly.but hypothetically if you had the spirituality and knowledge and was approached to be appointed as a gb member would you have taken on the position?and if you did what changes would you recommend ?.

j.

Ucantnome

no. i wouldn't carry the microphone when i was a witness.

6

According to the Bible, GB is committing an unforgivable sin

by elbib in

“the soul that does something deliberately [footnote says “with uplifted hand”] whether he is native or an alien resident, he speaking abusively of jehovah’s word, in that case that soul should be cut off from among his people.” (numbers 15:30).

according to this verse, acting with “high-handedness” and “speaking abusively of jehovah’s word” constitute disfellowshipping offence.

1) “high-handedness” is something that jws themselves silently experience from jb, hence require no witness or proof.

Ucantnome

I was talking to a witness about witnessing and i looked in the Insight book under the word Witness it had see Legal Case. So I looked in my The Oxford Companion To The Bible.(Oxford University Press Inc.1993) On page 806 it says after quoting Isaiah 43:10 'Israel is to take God's side and bear witness to him as the lord of history, the only true God, and her redeemer and saviour.'

It starts out by stating.

'As a juridical term. a witness is one who has direct knowledge about certain facts and can declare before a court of law what he or she has seen or heard'.

This is similar to what it says in the Jehovah's Witnesses Proclaimers Of God's Kingdom (1993 Watchtower)on page 12/13

'According to the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, "the concept of witness [is used] both in the sense of witness to ascertainable facts and also in that of witness to truths i.e., the making known and confessing of convictions." So a witness relates facts from direct personal knowledge, or he proclaims views or truths of which he is convinced.'

16

Are the Governing Baboons master manipulators or are they just doing their job?

by atomant in

ld love to be a fly on the wall when the gb have a round the table conference.l can only imagine .l wonder which one came up with the idea of the overlapping generation and how the others reacted to it.the light was shining brightly that day.

Ucantnome

As there are people who are still alive who were alive in 1914 I dont know why they need an overlapping generation idea. As they do need this idea I can only think that they know the end isn't that close and changes take time so maybe they are doing their best to make changes which seem big but not as big as where they need to get to and so are just doing their job trying to protect peoples faith while correcting the past.

19

The danger of thinking we know everything.

by stuckinarut2 in

jw
friends

a thought occurred that there is a danger in thinking we know everything, or have it all figured out in life.

especially when it comes to matters of doctrine or faith.. witnesses (or at least the society as a whole) are so self-confident, so proud to be the only ones who know "the truth" about everything to do with the universe, the earth, our past and our future, that pride kicks in.

and pride is dangerous...(.and before a fall).

Ucantnome

39

JW marriages: “They” looked good on paper.

by Londo111 in

i applaud anyone, male or female, who overcomes shallowness and looks at a person’s deeper qualities, especially in regard dating and marriage.

the movie and fashion industry does much to institute shallowness to the point that, in my opinion, it promotes outright discrimination and judgmentalism even as they give lip service to tolerance..

on the other hand, among jehovah’s witnesses, there seem to be a preponderance of incompatible marriages.

Ucantnome

thank you Londo111