Posts by inbetween09

52

How Much of the WT Teaching Did You Believe?

by Ding in

some people on this forum have said that they never really believed any aspect of wt teaching, that they couldn't wait to get free of it all.. others seems to have been really gung ho, believing it all until something happened that got you questioning "the truth.".

i would say my own high water mark was about 50%, which put me squarely on the fence, trying to decide if i should be in or out.. how about you?.

inbetween09

good Question.

I was raised as a witness,initially I believed everything.

Later, when my interest in science grew, I stopped believeing, that all animals will eat veggies in paradise, I had doubts about a worldwide Flood, and I thought the trumpets in Revelation were bogus.

I also anticipated a change in explaining the generation in the 90`s,

I always knew the Society got 1975 wrong, it was not the rank and file fault, as they tried to blame them.

But all this was not the real issue for me.

What started to wake me up were the inconsistences in their blood doctrine, because this meant life or death for people.

39

The real dividing line isn’t between apostates and apologists it’s between...

by slimboyfat in

excellent observation from zizek about communist regimes: they didn’t care if people accepted the ideology or took it seriously, so long as people acted as if the ideology was true, that was the important thing.

in fact the regimes were deeply suspicious people who took the ideology too seriously.

people who took the ideology seriously were dangerous because they were prone to noticing the inconsistencies and flaws in the system.

inbetween09

Totally agree, before I got out mentally, I had the wish more and more to dig deeper, having real spiritual discussions and achieving full understanding of JW teachings. I could Always easily explain 2520 years, was my favourite subject when conducting bible studies (it left the Student Always puzzled anyhow).

It was my effort to understand the blood doctrine, About Major and minor components, that opened the crack slowly. later on, the article Sept 2007 KMS (qouted earleir) was my next shake up.

It ended up Living as a PIMO, not being able to leave yet because if Family.

My wife is the opposite example, she always had problems explaining deeper Things, mainly because she didn`t take the time to study it. She fortunately agrees on some of my critical views, but since doctrine never was the most important issue, she is not ready to leave, and thinks, Jah will fix it in due time, and of course, where else shall we go

26

As a JW Did You Prefer a “Stricter” Congregation or a More Liberal One?

by minimus in

jw
friends

in my experience, there were three types of witnesses.

some were barely witnesses while others were extremely conservative types who followed the letter of the law.

and then you had those in the middle who just went with the flow.. i knew many witnesses who “felt safe” being in a stricter environment.they were actually proud that they belonged to such and such congregation because it was filled with strict bethelites..

inbetween09

growing up as a JW in a rather strict congregation, I always preferred more liberal ones, actually as liberal as it can get within the given boundaries.

It might have to do with me appreciating freedom more than authority and accountability more than immaturity.

14

This week's Watchtower study - Really, really, really?

by eyeslice2 in

jw
friends

interesting to see how they home in doctrines that are impossible to defend, even solely from a bible point of view, and state them as facts that only satan would question.. no same sex marriages - really?.

don't celebrate christmas and birthdays - really?.

refuse a life-saving blood transfusion - really?

inbetween09

@rickroll: totally agree with you. The bible, no matter if you view it as inspired by God or not, does clearly condemn homosexuality. There is no doubt about it. How else would you view the term "Men lay with men" or simlar expressions. The excuses and different interpretations are rather lame.

41

Why Aren`t The G.B Members Representive Of All Nations ? and not just America ?

by smiddy3 in

are all of the governing .body .members american citizens ?

shouldn`t they at least represent a greater proportion of nations in light of jesus being a saviour of all the world ?.

god loved the world of mankind right ?

inbetween09

Lösch was born and raised in Austria

3

JW type cult in Designated Survivor

by Mickey mouse in

did anyone else catch episode 10 of season 2 of designated survivor on netflix?

there was a group portrayed that were clearly meant to be jws; the mother was objecting to a blood transfusion for her baby.. the funny part was the debate amongst the white house staff as to whether they could be classified as a cult.

i found it interesting that they didn't go as far as to name the group as jws..

inbetween09

sorry for resurrecting an old thread, but just seen the episode on netflix yesterday.

It was so close to what actually could have happened with JW, almost astonishing close.

Of course, the idea, JW would refuse to be evacuated from a forest on fire to pressure the government would be a bit far fetched, but the scene in the hospital was quite realistic, as the mom finally agreed fo giving the baby daughter some of her blood to save her life.

Actually even for JW, the show di not really in any way ridicule their belief, it was rather done respectfully, even though none of the people outside the group (cult, religion) agreed with their stance regarding taking bible literla in this case.

17

Wedding Rings.

by Lost in the fog in

we have long queried why so-called things of pagan or religious origin like christmas or easter are banned by the wts but the use of wedding rings were not.. i was talking about this with a friend who follows a wiccan path of belief and he has sent me the following information from one of his magic magazines.. quote: .

" why do we wear our wedding ring on our ‘ring finger’ ?

thus, to properly activate the ring finger we need to wear a golden ring on it.

inbetween09

Even in my days as full believer I had problems with this "pagan" origin thing.

Eventually I could make some sense of it, when religious festivals now are connectetd to traditions rooted in paganism. Thats why I could rather easily explain why JW do not celebrate easter and Christmas.

With other celebrations, like birthday, mothers day, even saying "cheers" etc, which are not in conection with worship today anymore, it was much more difficult, since on the other hand we have no objection to weeding rings, pinata, use of calendar etc.

I personally know JW, who are not awake, still having problems with understanding, why we do not not celebrate birthdays.

25

kingdom halls

by inbetween09 in

this weeks meeting features a video about maintaining kingdom halls.

it mentions a few times, how kh belong to jehovah, and are dedicated to him.. anybody ever wondered, if they belong to jehovah, how come, they are being sold all the time?

can you give something to jehovah and then take it back?

inbetween09

This weeks meeting features a video about maintaining kingdom halls. It mentions a few times, how KH belong to Jehovah, and are dedicated to him.

Anybody ever wondered, if they belong to Jehovah, how come, they are being sold all the time? Can you give something to jehovah and then take it back?

How do they justify the selling of kingdom halls from a doctrinal viewpoint?

62

Reaction to GDPR / field service letter

by sir82 in

here is a thread on the new letter to be read to all congregations in all branches on adjustments in door to door work due to the gdpr:.

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/6274619758608384/2019-boe-elders-letter-may-13-england-ireland-data-protection.

i have...connections....to a foreign language congregation in europe.

inbetween09

surley they will encourage fast return visits ( so the pub wont forget the name and adress, as well as topic of discussion) as seen in this weeks video of the life and ministry part..

But reality, especially in foreign language groups, where people work often unreglar due to their job situation, its increasingly hard to meet them after a short time again.

Sometimes you may try for weeks, in the meantime you forwarded your territory to someone else, who in turn might meet the person, but starts from zero again...

all in all not a pleasant situation, but hey, dont worry, Jehovah will surely fix it

62

Reaction to GDPR / field service letter

by sir82 in

here is a thread on the new letter to be read to all congregations in all branches on adjustments in door to door work due to the gdpr:.

https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/6274619758608384/2019-boe-elders-letter-may-13-england-ireland-data-protection.

i have...connections....to a foreign language congregation in europe.

inbetween09

Excellent post by inbetween09 above.

Thank you

There is no mention in the letter that they are appealing the court's decision, which seems a little odd. Wouldn't there be a higher court they could appeal to?

To my understanding, this was the supreme court in Europe, so no appeal possible.

Another maybe interesting question: Would this ruling not apply, if WT gave up some control on the preaching activity? Like reporting of time, pioneer status etc, Maybe then they could argue, that the preaching is really the personal way of worship of each individual publisher? Not that they ever would give up control...