did your congregation have any petty man made rules?
i remember the elders in my cong didn't like if a single brother and single sister walked in the parking lot together after the meeting ended, to their car.
you couldn't hold the mic or give a talk without a coat (that might be a universal jw rule).
No sports coats (less formal than a suit coat but still dressy) until a CO showed up wearing one
No colored dress shirts. White only. Until younger elders rebelled.
No facial hair of any kind, not even moustaches, if you want to be an elder
No spaghetti straps
No open-backed dresses
No denim skirts
No sundresses. 'Immodest' even for very young girls.
Nylons MUST be worn by women
No ankle jewelry
Two-piece bathing suits HIGHLY discouraged
in the tug of war between religious freedom and nondiscrimination rights, the weight seems to be pulling toward the latter.. at least that's the view of 17 religious leaders — including lds church presiding bishop gérald caussé — who addressed their concerns with the u.s. commission on civil rights' recent report in an oct. 7 letter to president barack obama, house speaker paul ryan and utah sen. orrin hatch.. the report, titled "peaceful coexistence: reconciling nondiscrimination principles with civil liberties," comes down squarely on the side of civil liberties for individuals, the letter says, and "stigmatizes tens of millions of religious americans, their communities, and their faith-based institutions, and threatens the religious freedom of all our citizens.
" .
http://www.sltrib.com/home/4461526-155/mormon-church-others-urge-obama-to.
I wonder if Christians would defend 'religious liberty' if it was a Jewish deli owner refusing to serve Christians because Christianity is an apostasy that goes against his/her beliefs.
the wt teaches that there's no part of a human being that survives the death of the body.
if the anointed do not have an immortal soul/ some immaterial part of them that survives death, then whoever will be in heaven won't be the original anointed person but their clone since once a person dies, according to wt theology, they cease to exist; so god will have to create a spirit body from nothing for that person and that created body by definition will therefore not be the original person but their clone.. so it will be a person's clone that will get to live forever in heaven and rule with christ, and not the original person.............one can now see why other religions teach the doctrine of the immortality of the soul..
I asked my mom once what part of an anointed person went to Heaven since they died but there is no soul. She told me that it was their energy that went to Heaven. So I asked what was the difference? Energy, soul, same basic thing. Crickets. What it came down to is this was a subject Mom didn't want to think about and hoped no one else ever asked her about. Because this makes no sense when you think about it and looking for sense in JW teachings is a no-no.
Either there is a soul or there is not. If there is NOT, then the anointed aren't going to Heaven. They're dead in the ground, like all the rest of us. If there IS a soul, what's to stop the rest of us from going to Heaven?
could the religion have survived?.
i know it was never forbidden, but i remember growing up, how we were encouraged to put it off until the new system, and instead focus on a career in the full time service.. can you imagine if every young jw had chosen to follow that counsel?
it's difficult to imagine the religion being sustainable without the next generation of born-ins..
It was never forbidden as in a straight-up "Thou shalt NOT have children" but the view of having kids was portrayed in such a negative light that it might as well have been forbidden. It was before my family converted but I've heard stories from the 60s about how couples who had kids were looked down on as 'spiritually weak'.
just found out that in the congregation we used to attend there are two young brothers, both are sons of elders and recently engaged to girls in neighboring congregations.
instructions are that they may not sit together at assemblies or meetings.
but get this….they can’t even ride in the same car even if their parents are also in the car.
That's extreme. Sounds more like the Duggers than even the strictest JWs I knew.
i can't tell you how many times i have heard this while growing up as a witness.
every time i questioned hypocrisy in the org i was told " well we are imperfect" and its was beyond annoying.
at what point does "imperfect" turn into just not christian?
I HATED that excuse! Yes, we're all imperfect. We all screw up. BUT not all of us claim to be the faithful and discreet slave who is spirit-directed by god to make doctrine. Either god is directing you or you're a fallible human who opened your big fat mouth and put your foot in it. Can't have it both ways. Sorry, but you just can't.
'in order to extend mercy, the committee must be convinced that the wrongdoer has a changed heart condition and that he has a zeal to right the wrong and is absolutely determined to avoid it in the future.'.
shepherd the flock page 91. i remember this is one of the first things that concerned me as an elder because it seemed to sound like a person is guilty until proven innocent rather than 'love believes all things', especially given the word 'convinced' appears in bold.. then in a training video one elder said something like 'unless we are convinced of repentance the shepherd the flock book says we must disfellowship'.
that was the begining of the end for me as i thought surely true christians would reason the other way round and show mercy wherever possible.. any thoughts?.
If we're supposed to be able to go to god in prayer and ask forgiveness direct from on high, why do we need a pack of men sitting in judgment on us? Do they have the power to read hearts and minds? Nope. Do they have the power to forgive sins? Nope. Are they often corrupt, power drunk men who need JCs themselves? Yep, sometimes. So what right do they have to judge others and destroy lives?
i would love to know the stats of how many hours were spent, standing by a cart, or sitting at a local town fair with jw table tent set up, compared to the number of bible studies started that led to baptism since the inception of the carts.
anyone have any idea?
if i had to guess i would say thousands of hours pent standing by a cart, and maybe less then 5 that actually got baptized.
Don't know how many people actually even take mags and tracts from carts and booths. I saw a lady at a JW booth once pick up a mag, realize what it was and drop it like a snake bit her. She couldn't get out of there fast enough.
i've been chatting to the jws the past couple of weeks.the last time they called they showed me a video about a scientist who claimed that she had once been an atheist, but after studying with the jws she had changed her mind and now believed in an intelligent creator.
what had convinced her was the process that activates the functioning of the lungs just after a baby has been born.after we had watched the video, the jws said that there are many people who believe that creation indicates an intelligent designer.in reply i asked them what they thought about the 'unintelligent' aspects of creation and i went into a few examples.at first they tried to write things off to imperfection due to adamic sin, but as the conversation went on they slowly realised that arguing 'imperfection' wasn't an adequate explanation for the points i was making.to cut a long story short, i ended up sending them a video via email where professor dawkins comments on an autopsy that highlights the impracticality of the laryngeal nerve in giraffes.i also sent them evidence of vestigial limbs in whales and a short article about biological atavism.in addition, i sent them an article that coincidentally was on the bbc news a few days ago about a boy in india who had a 7 inch vestigial tail removed.
here is the article i sent them:-http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3823461/the-teenager-7-inch-tail-18-year-old-finally-growth-removed-painful-sit-sleep.htmli'm really looking forward to seeing what they will come back with.
They'll run for the hills. I can almost guarantee it. You'll probably never see them again and they will try to hit the 'Delete' button on their brains and get rid of everything you've shown them. It's almost an automatic reaction with most JWs. It was a brave effort though and I really hope they DO come back so you can expose them to a little more real science. You never know. Something might stick and make them think.
Slightly off topic: How strong is your faith when you run away from anything that challenges it? If you have 'the truth' then it will stand up to any challenges. If it doesn't, it isn't 'the truth'.
from the january 2017 watchtower:.
first paragraph reads: when faced with making a personal choice, one woman told a friend: “do not make me think; just tell me what to do.
that is easier.” the woman preferred being told what to do instead of using a precious gift from her creator, the gift of free will.
Free will stops being free will when someone is too scared to make their own choices and decisions because if they do, they lose their families. That's coercion and a form of slavery. "Do what we say or we take away your family." "Worship me, adore me, bow down to me or I roast you at Armageddon." How is that free will?
