i pretty much did it all.
vacation pioneered as a youngster and became a regular pioneer out of school.
i became a ms then an elder.....the organization pushes you to be somebody within the confines of their realm.
I never had any desire to have any privileges in the congregation.
I pioneered when I left school because I thought it was the right thing to do. When I was living at home after baptism I have said prayers at the meetings and read the Watchtower and carried the microphone and opened the Service meeting once and led the field service arrangement as a pioneer. When I left home I attended meetings and was regular in field service and avoided any other privileges. I left 10 years later.
there seems to be a number of different ways that apostates try to get jehovah's witnesses realise they do not have the truth, ranging from subtle comments to aggressive attacks.
do you have any that looking back helped you finally leave.
some of the methods include:.
No.
i'm currently cleaning up our bookcase and need to decide what goes into the trash.
i'll keep the watchtower books that are not available online anymore (e.g.
the brown "reasoning" book).
I kept all of them and recently acquired a new old publication I have quite a lot of books.
when i was a kid and even in my adult life i believed in demons.
the demons were always around.
we had to be careful that we didn't do anything to upset jehovah or else the demons would make their way to us.
We had ghosts
i could never understand why some people who know the truth about the "truth" ever go back.
once you understand all the hypocrisy and negatives, i would think it's almost impossible to go back!.
I can't see how I would at the present time. However, when I was a witness I couldn't see how I could ever not be a witness but here I am and so maybe.
i am interested in finding out how you view yourself.
are really you when it comes to every day interactions....ie when at work, with family or friends, or if attending meetings?.
if still attending, do you feel you are not the real you at meetings?
One hot summer's day when I was eleven my father sent us, my mother older brother and myself out into the garden to do a task. He stood watching on the porch. When the useless task was done to his satisfaction he called us in and asked a question related to the task. The correct answer wasn't what he wanted, he wanted the incorrect answer. My mother gave him the incorrect answer he wanted to hear and that was fine. My brother did likewise. I felt a need to lite the fuse by giving the correct answer which he didn't want to hear and like a bomb he exploded and I went flying out of the door on the end of his boot. Sometimes it may be wise to give the answer someone wants to hear but I have had difficulty with that at times. I like to be honest. When I was at home growing up I often gave the answer my father wanted to hear. When I left home I was more me and after leaving the JW maybe.
i`m showing my ignorance here , not being an active member of any church before joining jw`s as a 19 yr old ,whenever i was ever confronted with the question of "grace" i was always at a loss to give an effective answer from a jw point of view.. was it just me ?
or did anybody else have a similar experience ?.
(ps , i dont think i ever heard the expression " grace" in a religious sense in all my 33 years in the borg.studying the wt.).
I think the early church had a tendency to interpret the christian message as more based on obedience than grace. Maybe the witnesses are closer to this.
this is obviously a question for the older generation.
i'm really curious what it was like to be a witness in the 60's and 70's?.
was the society as strict as it is today?.
My parents started studying to become JW in the late 1950's and I was raised in it.
I believe at the time the belief was that the tribulation had started in 1914 and been cut short and Armageddon could start at anytime. In the late 1960's they became aware of the 1975 teaching. The 'Truth' book was released and I believe there was a change to a shorter study period before baptism. This made for a sense of urgency in our family for preaching and worship as the time was so short.
Did you feel proud to be a JW back then?
I didn't feel proud to be a JW i felt lucky, fortunate that my parents had responded to the message as I probably wouldn't have. They felt concern for people and made efforts to do more in the preaching and be a more theocratic family, making a more simpler life so they could do more in the 'truth'
Was the society as strict as it is today?
society or no society my parents would have been strict. I think faith makes one act in a certain way.
if you had to choose to belong to 1 religion, i was curious as to what any on the forum would pick.. i realize most here are likely atheist (i would have to say i'm agnostic), but if any would like to share their opinion, and maybe why?.
catholic
born in 1970, 4th generation jw and parents who were loyal to but could also think on their own.. my father always said, the show goes on, so he had a respectable community job, advisor of the city counsel of the town.
and buying ald building houses for us.
we were on the move.. what i remember is the many conversations at home about the other witnesses.
My parents were very theocratic and talked about our beliefs a lot and studied with us as kids.They made sacrifices in life to do more and be more active. I witnessed at school and at work and brought some to the kingdom hall. I pioneered from school.
