Posts by rory-ks

21

Must See! Annual Report Summary Directly From JW.ORG

by turtleturtle in

http://www.jw.org/en/news/events-activities/annual-meeting-report-2012/.

november 9, 2012 | events & activities.

annual meeting reportfood at the proper timean audience of thousands listened to encouraging reports and an exciting discussion of matthew 24:45-47 at the 128th annual meeting of the watch tower bible and tract society of pennsylvania.. .

rory-ks

sd-7: They did SIX TALKS about the meaning of Matthew 24:45-47? SIX TALKS? I mean, what? It's only three verses, man.

Those six talks were given by six different members of the Governing Body. In the above summary they make a point of naming who they were. "Next, a symposium of six talks by members of the Governing Body—Brothers Jackson, Lösch, Pierce, Herd, Lett, and Splane—analyzed and discussed the meaning of Jesus’ words recorded at Matthew 24:45-47."

There were also three branch committee members and their wives on the program, but we aren't told their names, and "four graduates of the Bible School for Christian Couples and a traveling overseer of Jehovah’s Witnesses in New York," but we don't much care who they were. But the six members of the Governing Body are specifically named.

This was a show of solidarity. They wanted to make sure they conveyed the idea that ALL the members of the GB are on board with this change. (Or, at least, they had a solid two-thirds majority who agreed on the change.) Morris was already the meeting chairman - and they maybe thought Sanderson was too recent to handle the material. And it didn't matter whether he was for it or against it because they had their majority for this "new idea."

1

Three cheers for Hymenaeus, Philetus, Alexander et al

by rory-ks in

it's about time we embraced these courageous men who saw sense and went their own way in the early days.. hymenaeus, philetus, alexander et al: "they were not of our sort...".

no need to get offended when you are compared to them..

rory-ks

It's about time we embraced these courageous men who saw sense and went their own way in the early days.

Hymenaeus, Philetus, Alexander et al: "They were not of our sort..."

No need to get offended when you are compared to them.

98

Latest "Shun Your Family" Statement - Jan 2013 Study WT

by LostGeneration in

solomon alluded to it yesterday in a thread, i found the online large print pdfs here, not sure where the regular version is yet.

here are the full paragraphs, grab your barf bags .

19 on the other hand, if you choose the path of resentment.

rory-ks

Just seeing the two quotes side by side posted by Cedars up there reminded me...

When I was deleted as an elder in 2004 it was because the rest of the body believed I had overstepped my bounds and had tried to treat a congregation member with methods of psychology.

I tried to use a couple of Awake! articles as my defence - 22 May, 1992 (page 12) and 22 October, 1987 (page 13). Both of them are about depression and negative thinking, and they both recommend methods found in the book Feeling Good, by David Burns.

Both the body of elders and the special committee set up to deal with my appeal were having none of it. One short sentence in the 15 November, 1986, Watchtower was all that was needed. "Of course, elders usually are not qualified to act as physicians or to employ the concepts and terminology of psychiatry. To do so would be immodest and perhaps dangerous." It went along with Proverbs 11:2 which gave the elders licence to call me "presumptuous."

Watchtower trumps Awake! every time.

Awake! is not considered robust material. It is the Reader's Digest of Society literature and as such holds absolutely no water whatsoever.

98

Latest "Shun Your Family" Statement - Jan 2013 Study WT

by LostGeneration in

solomon alluded to it yesterday in a thread, i found the online large print pdfs here, not sure where the regular version is yet.

here are the full paragraphs, grab your barf bags .

19 on the other hand, if you choose the path of resentment.

rory-ks

How is this supposed to play off against the information displayed on jw.org?

Under "Do You Shun Former members Of Your Religion?" it states,

What of a man who is disfellowshipped but whose wife and children are still Jehovah’s Witnesses? The religious ties he had with his family change, but blood ties remain. The marriage relationship and normal family affections and dealings continue.

Of course, we know that jw.org is "trumped" by The Watchtower...but even so...

9

Ghostworld of the Excommunicated

by rory-ks in

jw
friends

this is an account of my own experience of being disfellowshipped.

i'm sure it will be familiar to many of you.. ghostworld of the excommunicated.

here's fun, though: please feel free to sign the ghost-wall at the end of the story..

rory-ks

Thank you for your lovely comments everyone. Eight have scrawled on the Ghost-Wall, as well ...though, admitedly one of those was me

Well, that's just about put it to bed for me. I had been planning the Ghostworld story for a short while - I gave myself six months of being disfellowshipped before I would publish, and now it's done. The demon is exorcised, and I doubt there will be anymore JW articles being written for ACFN.

You have all been very kind and supportive here at JWN, and I'll keep an eye on the Active Topics occasionally to see what the news is.

Love and best wishes to you all, and if any would like to keep in touch you can find me via ACFN.

(In this particular world, I'd rather be one of the GOTEs* than one of the sheep)

*Ghosts Of The Excommunicated

9

Ghostworld of the Excommunicated

by rory-ks in

jw
friends

this is an account of my own experience of being disfellowshipped.

i'm sure it will be familiar to many of you.. ghostworld of the excommunicated.

here's fun, though: please feel free to sign the ghost-wall at the end of the story..

rory-ks

Really, Dario, I have no idea about the specifics. Nobody told me who first discovered my writings, and I didn't directly ask. In a way it seemed to me to be a pointless question (although I am still very interested to know who came across them for the first time.)

I don't write anonymously, but it still meant that in order to find my stuff a person would have to have put in a pretty specific search request - "Rory Sullivan + Jehovah's Witnesses" for example.

The elders didn't even come to me directly when they first heard about it. A friend of mine (an elder) said, "They know about your website." That was it! I had "gone live" only about four weeks previously, so I was bowled over that it had been picked up so quickly. Those initial elders chose to keep quiet about it until six months later when more of the body got wind of it...and then that was that.

As you can see, I'm being quite vague about the whole thing because I simply don't know the details.

9

Ghostworld of the Excommunicated

by rory-ks in

jw
friends

this is an account of my own experience of being disfellowshipped.

i'm sure it will be familiar to many of you.. ghostworld of the excommunicated.

here's fun, though: please feel free to sign the ghost-wall at the end of the story..

rory-ks

This is an account of my own experience of being disfellowshipped. I'm sure it will be familiar to many of you.

Ghostworld of the Excommunicated

Here's fun, though: Please feel free to sign the Ghost-Wall at the end of the story.

11

Jehovah's Witnesses cease to exist before the year 2000

by rory-ks in

jw
friends

september 1st, 2012, can be marked down in the theocratic calendar as the day the watchtower bible and tract society marched shamelessly into the 21st century.

on that day, jw.org, official website of jehovah's witnesses, went live, and with one strike the organisation put a match to its past.. .

seek out the society's online library, its searchable database of publications, and you will soon see that it has only made available literature published since the year 2000. inclusion of the generic work, insight on the scriptures, is of no consequence.

rory-ks

September 1st, 2012, can be marked down in the theocratic calendar as the day the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society marched shamelessly into the 21st century. On that day, jw.org, official website of Jehovah's Witnesses, went live, and with one strike the organisation put a match to its past.

Seek out the Society's Online Library, its searchable database of publications, and you will soon see that it has only made available literature published since the year 2000. Inclusion of the generic work, Insight On The Scriptures, is of no consequence. The fact that the Society considers the Watchtower magazine to be its flagship journal and that it only needs to offer material from 2000 onwards speaks volumes. Anything and everything you need to know about the organisation has been condensed into the last decade. Whatever went before is of no consequence. If it hasn't been written about within the last ten years it is not worth knowing. Greyed out dates give evidence of a former existence, but these hang like the ashes of an unwanted life recently cremated. Quietly Jehovah's Witnesses are obliterating their past as they re-brand themselves a religion for the new millennium. It would not surprise me if the Watchtower Publications Library on CD/DVD is phased out in favour of the constantly updated online edition, thus relieving even its own membership the burden of an inconvenient past. Covering its tracks is not something new to the Society. It is a practised art. However, never before have they been quite so bold as to wipe out almost a century's worth of material.

These are the first two paragraphs of a longer work. It says enough on its own if you want to comment on it. If you would like to read the rest you can find it here: Jehovah's Witnesses cease to exist before the year 2000

69

I left the Witnesses over 10 years ago, but finally went back

by JakeMarley in

jw
friends

the entire time i was gone it was nagging at me.

i hadn't been previously baptized, so leaving wasn't that big a deal.

now i'm back in the swing of it, going to all meetings and field service.

rory-ks

The world might well be in a mess, but Jehovah's Witnesses do not offer a solution to the world's problems, they are part of the problem.

Paul's shrewd philosophy about what to look for when a society implodes can also be found among JWs. The Society never really seems all that keen on emphasising verses 6 and 7 of 2 Timothy 3, but there is really only one religion that embodies the observation, "For from these arise those men who slyly work their way into households and lead as their captives weak women loaded down with sins, led by various desires, always learning and yet never able to come to an accurate knowledge of truth." Furthermore, Luke's list of signs includes, "Look out that YOU are not misled; for many will come on the basis of my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The due time has approached.’ Do not go after them." Again, this phenomenon can be found primarily in Jehovah's Witnesses.

Anyone who has read Ivan Illich's essay Disabling Professions cannot come away without seeing religion (including JWs) writ loud and clear. In describing man's continued loss of autonomy, and the perview of professions to increasingly disable man, Illich states, "This professional authority comprises three roles: The sapiential authority to advise, instruct and direct; the moral authority that makes its acceptance not just useful but obligatory; and charismatic authority that allows the professional to appeal to some supreme interest of his client that not only outranks conscience but sometimes even the raison d'état." If this doesn't describe Jehovah's Witnesses, I don't know what does, and yet Illich was describing the role of professionals in general.

But not only does the Governing Body adopt a professional role in people's lives, it also promotes the world's professions, and encourages adherence to them. So rather than, "Do not allow the world to squeeze you into its mold," the organisation shows a determination to squeeze its members into the mold of the world. So, there are Awake! articles praising the professions: The police, or the teaching profession, or the medical profession - even going so far as to make it illegal to offer medical advice to fellow congregation members.

The OP might not be coming back to JWN, but if anyone else reads this post who is contemplating going back, think hard. Seek a solution elsewhere.

Incarceration, The Sexual Jungle, and the rape of humanity.

35

Prelude to a disfellowshipping: An open letter.

by rory-ks in

jw
friends

an open letter to the body of elders, .

sudbury (suffolk) congregation of jehovah's witnesses.. .

on wednesday, april 4, 2012, the decision will be carried out to announce to the congregation that, rory sullivan is no longer one of jehovah's witnesses.. .

rory-ks

There haven't really been any further developments, Quendi. Not publicly, anyway. However, I am not discounting the possibility that something in the letter might have planted a seed in someone's heart. I passed the letter on to several elders who were not directly involved in the case, so even if the chairman of the committee did not see fit to circulate the letter, others did get to see a copy...so, who knows.

I think it has also been helpful to those who visit this site. I take consolation from your words that "others have and will take courage from the stand you have taken." I can see that is true just from the kind-hearted and positive comments on this post alone. I include you in that too, Phizzy, you have been very supportive, and I am extremely grateful.

I have absolutely no regrets about how things turned out. I am so pleased to be outside the walls of the organisation. I feel very much at peace with where I am spiritually. I continue to write at least one article a week for my website, A Carpenter from Nazareth, and it is great to see the visitor count rising incrementally. I am happy just to allow things to gently unfold, future-wise.

Thank you for momentarily reviving this thread, BlindersOff1. It is good to have the opportunity to update you all on how things are.