Posts by Preston

6

Newspaper to ex-churchgoers: "Get a Life!...

by Preston in

jw
friends

i read this article in the scottsdale tribune today.

i thought some of it was worthwhile, some of it biased.

this person obviously doesn't know anyone that had to make the difficult step of leaving a high-control religious group like the mormons.

Preston

Well, to be fair, I think the writer addressed how difficult it is to leave a religious circle:

Quitting a social circle might elicit a similar reaction, but probably not as strong as when the break involves deeply held religious beliefs.

But, I think he's oblivious to the fact that the very hatred that he mentions in ex-mormon cricles is inherent in the Mormon church. Until this is addressed, the Mormons will continue to have problems with people finding their own support groups outside the church.

6

Newspaper to ex-churchgoers: "Get a Life!...

by Preston in

jw
friends

i read this article in the scottsdale tribune today.

i thought some of it was worthwhile, some of it biased.

this person obviously doesn't know anyone that had to make the difficult step of leaving a high-control religious group like the mormons.

Preston

I read this article in THE SCOTTSDALE TRIBUNE today. I thought some of it was worthwhile, some of it biased. This person obviously doesn't know anyone that had to make the difficult step of leaving a high-control religious group like the Mormons. It was written by Bob Schuster. BTW, I already posted this on the http://www.exmormon.org board.

"Call it the Mormon non-story that just won’t die.
It pops up every year or so. It reappeared in last Sunday’s Tribune under the headline, “Ex-Mormons struggle with alienation after leaving church,” by William Lobdell of the Los Angeles Times.
And it will reappear countless times in the future.
But please, don’t blame the reporter or the newspaper. Lobdell did a commendable job reporting the goings-on of the three day “Ex-Mormon General Council” that took place a stone’s throw from the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City.
It was probably one of the better-read stories in that day’s paper. Many Mormons read such stuff and wince. Many non-Mormons read it and nod their agreement. I’ve been hearing the stories of “alienated” former Mormons and non-Mormons since moving to Arizona 30 years ago. My reaction now is the same as it was when I head the first tale of woe: Get a life!
I am neither a Mormon nor an ex-Mormon. While living in two of Arizona’s smaller towns and in the East Valley, my wife and I have had Mormon neighbors and coworkers. Our kids have gone to school with Mormon kids, some of whom were friends.
We have never felt ostracized, excluded or discriminated against. But I suppose we could have, if we had looked hard enough, found some reason to feel persecuted by members of that religion that so many love to hate.
And there have been, from time to time, legitimate concerns that Mormons, particularly in Mesa, have gotten preferential treatment for public positions or contracts. Whenever the Tribune has aired those concerns, there has been constructive public discussion and steps taken to ensure fair dealing by our public institutions.
Private institutions and associations, however, are another matter. Individuals should be free to associate – or not associate – with others.
It is human nature to forge bonds with others who share similar beliefs and interests. It’s also human nature to feel hurt when a member of the group, clique, association or church leaves because of a fundamental difference of opinion.
It shouldn’t be surprising when members of the group are taken aback. Some may feel deeply insulted. Some may feel defensive – even threatened.
Someone leaving any church may, in turn, sense that reaction and feel alienated. Quitting a social circle might elicit a similar reaction, but probably not as strong as when the break involves deeply held religious beliefs.
Most folks presumably get over it and move on. Even immature junior high schoolers shunned by the “in crowd” soon learn that sulking does no good.
But others don’t move on. They stew. They feed off the resentment of others who feel similarly jilted. They look for ways to reinforce their painful decision.
Therein lie the seeds of hatred.
What is truly troubling is the manifestation of that hatred in organizations, books, conferences and public testimonials in which ex-members of the faith demonize it and its adherents. There are groups of ex-Mormons dedicated to “saving” Mormons from what they claim are the evils of the church.
Everyone is entitled to their beliefs-loving or hateful. But when the hateful beliefs spill over into hateful actions that include bad-mouthing other religions or badgering their members, it’s time for a reality check.
My heartfelt advice to these disgruntled ex-Mormons is to get over it. Get on with your lives. Form new ties with others who share healthy, positive interests.
Vilifying another’s faith doesn’t qualify as either healthy or positive. It is, instead, a recipe for unrest, unhappiness and even violence.
Religious beliefs by their nature cannot be proven or disproven. They are matters of the heart.
Every church is a community of believers. If your heart isn’t in one religion, find another. And for God’s sake-and your own-leave the former one and is adherents alone."

36

Questions about Athletic Activities while a JW

by AjaxMan in

jw
friends

hi, everyone.. on my researches about the jdubs.

i read that they are restricted or forbidden from engaging in activities such as sports, working out in a gym or in martial arts.. i, who does all three, have a question for the members of this forum:.

when you were a jw, could you do any of the three activities mentioned?.

Preston

To be fair, nytelecom1 is right in correctly stating that "WTS does not frown on sports" or "bodybuilding". What they do frown upon are certain types of sports like boxing and karate. As for playing sports in school, any extraciricular activities carry a lot of conditions, including chorus, band, sports. The presiding overseer in my congregation, who was originally from Denver, never passed up the chance to ridicule Football, which he regarded as a pagan sport and the cheerleaders "temple prostitutes". He'd recount stories about his old congregation where vast numbers of elders had to give up their positions because they stayed at home watching the Broncos on Sunday rather than attend meetings.

So, in reality, despite popular belief that Jehovahs's Witnesses forbid everything they in fact allow members of the congregation to play sports.

9

Is Preaching Mandatory in Order to be a Christian?

by Preston in

jw
friends

ever since i've stopped associating with jehovah's witnesses i can almost assure you that the first thing to go was my regular ministry involving going door-to-door, calling up people who live in gated communities, doing business territory, and writing letters.

i will say the primary reason why i did it was because i wanted to make god happy.

i actually received a measure of joy at the end of the day after going through the difficulty of mustering up enough courage to engage in a public ministry.

Preston

JeffT

I don't think Jesus intended that anything be mandatory. Helping an elderly neighbor with yardwork, or feeding the homeless, or anything else that suits you counts in my book.

I like this point a lot, I think the ministry that he spearheaded with his apostles served as an example but not a mandatory one. I often think about how they pounded that scripture in our heads from Ezekiel, something along the lines of “if you don’t preach your bloodguilty”. I think that scripture was in reference to the context of events of Ezekiel’s day, rather than a command bindingon Christians today.

AChristian

However, the Bible says that God gave only "some as evangelists" and only "some as teachers." (Eph. 4:11).

A great scripture that contradicts the cookie-cutter atmosphere that so identifies the congregation today.

AmazingProgeny

I think that there are many forms that ministry can take… I have a friend who says the real fundamentals of the bible and Christianity is to love God with everything in you, love your neighbor (your neighbor is anyone on earth) as yourself, and to do justice to all…Don't feel guilty about not going door-to-door. I don't miss it at all. I hated it...

Tonight I’m going to say a little prayer to God thanking him that there are people out there just like you that look at the basics. Thank you very much for identifying that so many people despise the ministy. My mom still goes to meetings and she doesn't like it either.

AChristian

As they say, "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."

I wished more people cared about me in the congregation. I really appreciate your pointed statement.

ozziepost

The WTS teaches that the mark of a true Christian is the house-to-house witnessing activity, but just stop and consider the Christian churches.

Thanks ozzie, it does make sense what is truly important. Most people who are hurt need someone rather than a hope that’s too abstract and hard to define.

9

Is Preaching Mandatory in Order to be a Christian?

by Preston in

jw
friends

ever since i've stopped associating with jehovah's witnesses i can almost assure you that the first thing to go was my regular ministry involving going door-to-door, calling up people who live in gated communities, doing business territory, and writing letters.

i will say the primary reason why i did it was because i wanted to make god happy.

i actually received a measure of joy at the end of the day after going through the difficulty of mustering up enough courage to engage in a public ministry.

Preston

Ever since I've stopped associating with Jehovah's Witnesses I can almost assure you that the first thing to go was my regular ministry involving going door-to-door, calling up people who live in gated communities, doing business territory, and writing letters. I will say the primary reason why I did it was because I wanted to make God happy. I actually received a measure of joy at the end of the day after going through the difficulty of mustering up enough courage to engage in a public ministry. It was not my intention to annoy anyone, in fact, I was probably the meekest M.S. in the congregation, and I NEVER engaged in arguments. Now that I find that my Christian beliefs are not entirely set in stone (I do believe in God and Jesus) I feel kind of guilty that I'm not doing my public ministry anymore. When the topic comes up in an informal setting I do offer what I believe in. I'm not the kind of person to bring up my belief in God all of a sudden; I don’t think it's very tactful. I do try to follow Jesus' example. I do some volunteer work but I don't attend church. Nevertheless, my lack of a.) Not belonging to a religious community and b.) Not publicly discussing God as much as I did in fact bothers me somewhat. Is a ministry actually required of all who profess to believe in God and his son Christ Jesus?

14

I PASSED!!!!

by wonderwoman77 in

jw
friends

hey all i had my compentency exam today!!!

(for all you who do not know i am in grad school for occupational therapy).

i did excellent.

Preston

Hey WW, Congrats on passing your exam. I think you have truly done what it takes despite all the stuff you have dealt with, like the difficulty of taking care of your Mom. I'm still attempting to pass the first part of my Certification exam so if you have any study tips they would be greatly appreciated. :-)

26

"Mom, why would He do such a thing?"

by Esmeralda in

jw
friends

tonight, as my husband was driving our daughter home from ballet lessons, she spoke up quietly from her booster seat in the rear of the car..

"justin?".

"yes, leah?".

Preston

Many, MANY praises to you and Justin for being great parents. I can assure you if there were more people like you guys many of the Organization's problems would be over very quickly.

Some food for thought:

If God wants you to love him more than anyone else, does that mean he loves himself more than anything? I don't know, sounds kinda narcissistic. Your little girl has two things that God does not have: a mother and a father (At least, that's my understanding). Still, I think it's unreasonable to conclude that he doesn't know what it's like to have children that you love and want to care for... more than anything.

3

WTS Leaders admit 'strange affliction'

by ISP in

jw
friends

i got this....... [reuters].

jehovahs witnesses leaders afflicted by strange condition.

the condition has been diagnosed in 40 people in britain and around the world, and leaves people with an unruly and uncontrollable hand that refuses to behave.

Preston

Well... at least I think he looks like a member of the Governing Body

10

Safeguarding our Spirituality 101

by Jigrigger in

jw
friends

here is a little "pep talk" for those who may feel they are in danger of losing their spirituality.. .

safeguard your spirituality by training your perceptive powers.

by: brother guy pierce of governing body .

Preston

Safeguard Your Spirituality by Training Your Perceptive Powers
By: Brother Guy Pierce of Governing Body

What a letdown! For a minute there I thought this talk was delivered Guy Pearce the actor, you know, the hottie from Memento and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Would have given me enough reason to start going to meetings

1. Listen to Jehovah. Many think they know the answers, but they don't even know the questions.

...or more realistically: 1. Listen to us. We know the answers, so don't even bother asking the questions

2. Study regularly, study deeply. We can be desensitized by what we see and hear, thinking it isn't bad, i.e., x-mas songs. We hear them; next thing we know the tune is running around in our head. In a short time we are humming them just as Satan wants.

... Going into deep Bible study has nothing to do with having a stupid Christmas song stuck in your head. Besides, the real issue here is if JW's are being desensitized to the point of not speaking up when they see somebody getting hurt in the congregation, or being told not to act on their own insight. Just think millions of JW's don't realize that the Governing Body secretly mistrusts JW's to the point where these crusty old white guys in New York can't even trust the flock to use their own brains.

3. Do we spend pioneer time in front of the TV or computer, and token time in service? Psalms 119:37, "Make my eyes pass on from seeing what is worthless."

You can make the case that you can be doing something more important than either one. Personally, I am an officer for the largest GLBT group on campus at ASU. I don't put in 60 or even 70 hours a month but I can tell that more gets done with what I'm doing than by going to a bunch of people's houses and using cheesy marketing techniques to get them to open the Bible. What a lot of people don't realize is that preaching is more effective when it doesn’t appear deliberate (a car group enters a neighborhood, they all work up and down a street, mark who's home, who isn't, who's interested, who isn't, etc...). I've had much more satisfying and effective discussions about the Bible than at places other than people's doors. "But it's our trademark!" Just because it's the key identifier of your religion doesn't make it any better.

4. Jesus is countless billions of years old and one day we will be as old as Jesus is now, and he'll only be twice our age.

Why would u think that Jesus owes you that much?

5. The Bible is inspired of the Sovereign of the Universe. It's a masterpiece, give it careful attention.

OMG, he used the word masterpiece, who would think that such big words could be found in a public talk!

6. The reasons some give for not being at the meetings is the very reason why they need to be there.

Believe me, if the talks that they gave at the Kingdom Hall actually did anything other than rehash the same outlines over, and over, and over, than I probably would consider going again. In my 5+ years in the congregation I can count on my right hand how many talks truly touched my heart. Other than that, just send me the outline, it will be more interesting for me to read it than for some guy to give it monotone.

7. Too busy because of the high cost of living, or living high. You can' put enough money in the bank to get through Armageddon.

C'mon Guy....you already get your salary from all the hard-working JW's who although miss meetings and service spend part of their paychecks for your benefit while you give more time to writing schmaltz like this. Really, find a clue...

8. A couple of young brothers are going to a movie. When asked if it has bad language, they reply, "yes, but we hear it all the time in school." Do we want to pay to hear more? It should hurt our ears.

Just like I didn't have to pay the elder body for them to slander apostate to my face. I have never heard more bad things said to my face in my entire life than from what I received from my last elders meeting.

9. Every meeting is a holy, sacred occasion. Never be absent by choice.

If the meetings were really that sacred than they would result in the same degree of spiritual enlightenment that Jesus bestowed on those that were skinned, and thrown about like sheep without a shepherd. Instead, they mirror the same formality of the festivals of ancient Israel, merely pointing to the Christ... it's just another burden.

10. Some are slowly losing the sense of urgency. We are in the heart and heat of a universal emergency. All in heaven have their attention focused on earth and what we are doing.

Believe me, if going to a bunch of people's houses was that urgent, then God would provide a more effective and efficient method of getting it done than the Governing Body instituting a total numbers game, which it is...

11. If we had the cure for cancer we would tell everyone. We DO have the cure for cancer, AIDS, and even death. People desperately need to hear. Our ministry is an extension of God's love. When you talk with someone they are face to face with a representative of Jehovah God.

Cure for cancer? Jehovah's Witnesses can't even cure suicide in their ranks, sex abuse, misogyny, scripture taken out of context, class divisions, severe depression, child abuse, and lack of education. How do they expect to cure AIDS and cancer when they can't even get past all this other stuff...If you have a problem u seek a professional. Since most Jehovah's Witnesses have never stepped inside a University classroom how do they expect to help me? Ohhh, by giving me two magazines? no thanks...

14

What would happen if Bethal closed tomorrow?

by sleepy in

jw
friends

what would happen if bethal closed tomorrow?.

what do you think.how would witnesses react?.

do you think they would just carry on as normal or take it as a sign that they were wrong?.

Preston

I think one thing that a lot of people fail to comprehend is that Jehovah's Witnesses are very devout, and when the going gets tough, it only increases a person's faith in the organization. Personally I would never want to see anything bad happen to Jehovah's Witnesses on such a large scale only because I know what it's like to deal with all the tensions and frustrations of being one.

I think it's a real shame that when there is this anticipation that things will just get worse for JW's we tend to feel good (not pointing fingers here). If any positive change results from the organization it will be internal, not from death on such a large scale. I really do want to see things go well for the majority of JW'S, despite all the faults with their organization, and all the people that have been misguided, manipulated, and misled. If you really care like I do then say a little prayer tonight for all the JW's dealing with all the pressure from all sides in world today. We need just as much help as they do.