The JW doctrine of shunning is so sad, so unnecessary... So very wrong.
"... By this they will know that you are my disciples.... " (for the love you show? By the hard line you take? By following man-made dictates from modern-day Pharisees?)
George Orwell wrote "1984", where peace was war, freedom was slavery, love was hate...
Gee, it sounds so familiar....
ex-circuit overseer here, ama.
https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/6usaky/excircuit_overseer_here_ama/.
Thank you again, this is so interesting!!!
heavy, heavy upon my failing heart weighs .
your aching need for my full and loving devotion.. i spend myself willingly on your behalf because,.
truly, your needs and wishes outstrip my own.. if i were young and wiry man, for you .
:(
beautiful though so sad.... I have to believe that love endures somehow, written in our hearts, living in our very cells....
(I have been very very ill lately, and thoughts of my own mortality are very much with me and some days it is easier to contemplate than other days.... Your post has brought me to tears, because we really do think about 'those we leave behind'.... it really does all come down to the PEOPLE in our lives, the people we love and cherish, and the legacy we leave with them, how they think of us in their hearts.... )
May you, and they, be blessed.... (I do not mean that word in a religious sense any more, but in the sense of having goodness and gratitude.... )
ex-circuit overseer here, ama.
https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/comments/6usaky/excircuit_overseer_here_ama/.
Darkspilver, THANK YOU so much for posting this. I do not use or go to the Reddit forum, so really appreciate your doing this. Very interesting stuff!!
i wanted to relay an example that i heard about translating difficulties.
take the 5 word phrase.
"i didn't eat your sandwich".
Great points!!!! Love this.
I remember reading a site which criticized the New World Translation, and one scholar said something like: "... this [result] is what happens when you translate using a dictionary (versus having an understanding of the language)!" *
Hopefully I have the link somewhere with the scholar's name ..... he was very critical of the NWT. I loved his review, lol. Will post back if I find it.
Stupid WT, believing they have produced the best Bible ever.
...
* But as your post makes perfectly clear, knowing the language is not enough. Context is so important!
what is the funniest or strangest thing to happen to you or your partner when knocking on doors?.
mine was seeing a greenhouse with mannequins inside.
scary...paul.
It was my turn to take the door. It was winter and quite chilly. So there we were, two sisters, she a very "proper" sister, an elder's wife, one of those perfectly put-together people.
A man answers the door and I begin my presentation. I try to show him the magazine article, but need to remove my glove so I can turn the page. It gets rather difficult juggling all my stuff: gloves, bible, magazine, book bag... I drop my glove, and this sister quickly bends down to pick it up for me.
I thank her, then drop my other glove. I start to bob down to pick it up, thinking I'd spare her, but she beats me to it. (I'm thinking we must be starting to look like a comedy act.)
The man just stands there, waiting patiently.
The sister hands me my glove, and when I reach to take it, drop my magazine.
This sister yet again bobs down to pick up the magazine, and as she goes to hand it to me, the man reaches out for it, saying, "Why don't I just take that and make it easy for you!"
lol
Wow... This comment from Talesin on page 2 describes, and explains, for me, how, (in the book "1984"), Winston comes to LOVE BIG BROTHER."
i walked to the station yesterday to meet a friend, and on the way, in what must be the quietest street in the entire suburb, were two j.witnesses and their little cart, all set with a literature display.
i wondered what point there may have been to choose that location.
i felt like grabbing one of their bibles and reading matthew 5:15 to them:.
Ha, so funny. I've yet to see a cart, so am actually looking forward to seeing one "in action," ha!
PunkofNice, I remember reading the word "lugubrious" while pre-studying for the Watchtower, and looking up the definition in the dictionary (you know, doing "serious research"!! LOL)
The word "lugubrious" even became a real conversation item in our Kingdom Hall, with elders and ministerial servants talking about it. It became well-used in conversations for a while following that Watchtower study article (from the 80's? 90's? The article was about funerals, re: "worldy" vs. JW...)
Anyway, I do thank the Watchtower Society for giving us that great word.
It totally describes THEM..!!! hahaha.
what or who is a jehovah's witness?.
a jehovah's witness is a person whose faith is centered in men (gb) not god or the bible and who must never voice any opinion on any doctrine contrary to that of the gb or risk discipline and possible disfellowship.. well....its a start.. vander .
Sorry for sounding a bit crazy and disjointed there, haha... some of my text was erased when I was trying to fix a few things, then a whole block of other text disappeared, so there seems to be a technical problem coupled with some possible user fatigue, heh.
Night night, all.
what or who is a jehovah's witness?.
a jehovah's witness is a person whose faith is centered in men (gb) not god or the bible and who must never voice any opinion on any doctrine contrary to that of the gb or risk discipline and possible disfellowship.. well....its a start.. vander .
Yes, perfect descriptions of JWs!
...
A JW is a person who is dedicated to their G.O.D. -- their Guardians Of Doctrine, the Governing bODy --
- and who must thus follow *all* of their G.O.D's - these Governing bODy members' - directives,
(OR ELSE they will be considered apostate, going against the direction of Jehovah's holy spirit, thus rejecting "God's spirit-directed organization on earth today", i.e., "Jehovah's earthly organization".)
- and to remain loyal to their God/G.O.D. - these seven Governing bODy members -- JWs must report some amount of time spent in "field service" (their 'ministry') every month in order to remain "members in good standing within the congregation",
(OR ELSE they will be considered "inactive", thus "spiritually weak", and quite possibly, or most likely, "bad association" ....)
- JWs also have an EXTREME FEAR OF DEMONS and are actually very superstitious, in a weirdly opposite way that most superstitious people are superstitious...
lol... oh boy, I'm thinking of the most ridiculous things now.
...
- JWs are people who WON'T THROW RICE or confetti at weddings,
- nor TOAST you
- or say "BLESS YOU" after you sneeze...
...
Oh, and guess what!
Yes, the Governing bODy - the Guardians Of Doctrine (G.O.D.) - will be REWARDED by becoming FELLOW-WORKERS (workers meaning LEADERS) IN HEAVEN WITH JESUS (whoever he is) ....!! CHRIST!
LOL...!
And what marvelous things will they do???
What will they accomplish??
Why, they are going to kill everybody in a war called Armegeddon, but don’t worry, because it’s a totally righteous war (especially for JWs)
and it will be a really great and wonderful blessing to mankind ('mankind' meaning only those JWs who are approved by God/G.O.D. to survive this terrible and great day —
YET EVEN THE MOST RIGHTEOUS, ZEALOUS, LOYAL JW may only "probably" survive,
because you never know, they might not be quite “righteous enough”…
Anyway, in this exciting battle:
people will urinate from fear
and their bowels will loosen
and their ... eyeballs will rot in their sockets ...
something like that...
blah dee blah ...
It’s going to be incredible FEAR and HORROR and DESTRUCTION --
but all OKAY because it's from GOD/G.O.D. remember, so yay!!
No worries -- all is okee-dokee!! — eventually, that is, because:
And all JWs have the wonderful:
- PROSPECT OF CLEANING UP THE EARTH after all this devastation.
But no, really, it's OKAY!! Because it will be PARADISE! (yay! Aren't you feeling all the love and happiness???) -- as soon as all the BIRDS OF THE EARTH finish eating up all the dead people lying around everywhere...
oh gosh.
...
This is what it means to be a Jehovah's Witness.
And this is only a glimpse into being a JW.... as we all *well know*!!
...
Sorry to go morbid.
(Gee, who would ever think that a person could start getting MORBID when talking about what it means to be JW..??? Bwhahahahahaha!!!)
...
Anyway, back to humor and laughter now.... whew.
...
JWs - masters of discognizance.
