Posts by Wayward

45

CO visits me today

by Chook in

i'm at home and hear knock on door , i sneak and look i see two men and recognise one voice and go back into lonunge and ask wife ( who is inactive believer) does she want to speak to elders ,she says no ,then literally 3 minutes has pasted another knock the 3 minutes seemed like an eternity.

so brave heart me think fuck it i'll answer ,i invite them in for coffee, i recognise one older man he is a unique elder who i genuinely was fond of when i was in his name is andrew ,the other guy i didn't recognise we will call harry ( not real name australia doesn't have that many cos with his same name).

so i think to myself i will tread lightly and not cause to much of a fuss for the wife's sake, but my personality is very the opposite of treading lightly ,as you read my threads you will realise i'm not timid.

Wayward

chook, you get the hero award. I only wish I'd had your presence of mind the last time a pair of elders showed up at my door.

19

What if all JWs had put off having children?

by keyser soze in

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..

Wayward

Nevuela, the Amish have started taking in foster kids and adopting. It's probably because their numbers are so low that the gene pool has become a very shallow puddle. I agree. Surprised the WT hasn't jumped all over 'rescuing' children from the evil world and raising them as 'true Christians'.

114

Jehovah's Witnesses ARE Christians, why do so many ex JW's deny this?

by nicolaou in

jehovah's witnesses accept jesus as christ, the son of god.

they try, in their own way, to live by his teachings and imitate him.

they pray, read the bible and meet together regularly for worship.. i won't minimise any of the harm and damage they cause but for the life of me, i can't see how anyone can credibly deny that they are christians.. why do so many former jws have a problem with this?

Wayward

Just because you say "in Jesus' name amen" at the end of every prayer doesn't make you a Christian. Just because you throw a token mention of Jesus into a sermon or tract once in a while doesn't make you Christian. Especially when every other aspect of your religion is geared around venerating a group of seven men. At the summer conventions, were JWs told to show loyalty to Jesus? NO. They were told to show loyalty to the 'organization', another word for the Governing Body. That right there tells me what JWs really are: worshippers of the Governing Body.

38

An old Kingdom hall now a church?

by HereIgo in

have any of you heard of anything like this.

i remember an ex jw from ohio taking video of a former kingdom hall that is now a church.

apparently the society sold it to the church.

Wayward

Oh yeah. I saw it happen firsthand. My congregation sold its old KH to a church to pay to build a new one. made me laugh every time I drove by and saw a big old cross on the side facing the street. The church outgrew the building and its now a daycare center.

114

Jehovah's Witnesses ARE Christians, why do so many ex JW's deny this?

by nicolaou in

jehovah's witnesses accept jesus as christ, the son of god.

they try, in their own way, to live by his teachings and imitate him.

they pray, read the bible and meet together regularly for worship.. i won't minimise any of the harm and damage they cause but for the life of me, i can't see how anyone can credibly deny that they are christians.. why do so many former jws have a problem with this?

Wayward

Can a group call itself 'Christian' when it sets a group of men, the Governing Body, in the place of Christ? This Governing Body has set itself up as mediators between their fellow believers and God, an idea that has no basis in the Bible. Jesus' own words, "No one comes to the Father except through ME." No mention that men could ever be go-betweens with God, cutting Christ out altogether.

Of course, I'm an atheist so it really doesn't matter much to me. Call yourself Christian or whatever you want.

19

Petty Rules

by HereIgo in

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).

Wayward

rebelfighter, you didn't miss anything. I still despise nylons. I haven't worn them in ten years, the same time I last put on a skirt. They're too hot in the summer and your legs freeze in the winter. For some reason leggings and tights weren't allowed for 'sisters' winter wear.

Tallon, you grew up in a WAY more boring congregation than I did. I thought mine was stodgy and stuck firmly in the 1890s, but at least our parties were a little more lively. We could play most pop rock and country western, though a few of the older folks would complain. Line dances were okay but unmarried couples dancing together could get a little iffy.

19

Petty Rules

by HereIgo in

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).

Wayward

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

4

"Peaceful Coexistence: Reconciling Nondiscrimination Principles With Civil Liberties

by JHK in

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.

Wayward

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.

6

Is it the original anointed person or their clone who will be in heaven?

by deegee in

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..

Wayward

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?

19

What if all JWs had put off having children?

by keyser soze in

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..

Wayward

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'.