My mother would often use the expression::
"he couldn't care a kipper's eyebrow"
To this day I don't understand the association, but it always makes me smile when i think about it.
Radar
Posts by radar
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radar
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A Walk Through The Garden part 3
by radar inno room to grow .
young people are expected to associate only with fellow jws.
if attending school, then involvement with any school activity or association outside of school hours is frowned upon.
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radar
NO ROOM TO GROW
Young people are expected to associate only with fellow JWs. If attending School, then involvement with any school activity or association outside of school hours is frowned upon. Talents an individual may have cannot be expressed if it is going to take time away from "theocratic activity".
Further education when leaving school is also deemed unnecessary, only to be pursued if a person has difficulty finding a job; but his motive for doing so is so that he can further the Kingdom interests, (increase his contributions)This type of “Kingdom outlook” makes it extremely hard for those who are not "ministry minded". It also isolates individuals who do not lean towards Kingdom interests. Separation among the “blessed” and the “less blessed” becomes apparent. Everyone wants a pioneers/Servants at their social gatherings and of course the perfect marriage partner must come from that group also.
My son began to suffer with depression, he had developed severe Acne and become very self conscious, not able to venture out the house. The hospital prescribed a vitamin A derivative drug called Roaccutane,to help his skin condition. The depression got worse, he felt the only way out, was to end his life. Two serious attempts at suicide followed. Regarding Roaccutine, we have since discovered, that a number of suicides have been recorded while people were on this drug.
On the second occasion, I remember waking up in the early hours of the morning, finding him collapsed on the sofa, shivering and shaking violently as if he had fallen into an ice cold pond. He had taken 28 high dosage capsules of Paracetamol, washed down with a bottle of whisky, this plus slug pellets, left the physician at the hospital giving us little hope of his recovery. Lying on the Hospital bed, my son was in agony but found the breath to say that things would be O.K, he would see us in the new system, in Paradise.
The speedy trip to the Hospital and onto a drip had saved Aron. It would be some weeks before he would recover fully, but it was during this period that I had some time off work, a long overdue time to reflect at what had been happening to my family. My mother had died the year before under distressing circumstances and I was thinking about all the things we could have done together when she was alive.
Now I had nearly lost my son, This had a profound affect on my wife and I, it caused me to do some real soul searching. This religion was said to be a "protection and blessing", yet 17yrs of religious "Cult like" separation from normal social contact, had taken its toll.
The months passed and very few called by our home to ask how things were. To make it worse the presiding overseer suggested that my son have a Bible Study!!!!!Well during those weeks at home I began to search for answers. the events over the past year had jolted me to my senses. Questions that you push to the back of your mind as a J.Witness, and thoughts that you do not permit yourself to entertain, now began to surface. I would no longer look at this religion through rose coloured spectacles.
I wanted to learn exactly what the "truth" was.part 4 tomorrow
Radar
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A walk Through The Garden Part 2
by radar ini had brought my family up in the way of christ, as i believed and we were rarely missing from meetings or field service.
yet as time went on, this regimented form of worship began to have its toll on us.. one meeting night, i found myself sitting at the back of the kingdom hall alone, my wife had begun to miss a number of meetings and my son who was then in his late teens had also stopped going.i felt that i'd failed my family and myself.
yet no matter how i applied myself to study and prayer the watchtower's answer to every problem a witness may have i found no joy in this way of worship and neither would i continue to pretend that i did.
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radar
YoYoMama
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You said it right, "in your mind". It helps to see things from Jehovahs perspective and not our imperfect human perspective.
_________________________________________________________________Can you tell me where The watchtower had Jehovah's mind with regard to making young children sit through full day assemblies with nothing more than a pencil and writing pad to occupy them with? and sit at 2 hour meetings, with the only possible contribution of saying the word "Jehovah" at his parents prompting, during a question and answer item
Where did they find this in the Bible?Radar
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Fear of Worldly People
by ItsJustMe inanyone else felt uncomfortable, awkward, wary, unsure, frightened, distraught, when around worldly people?
afraid they were going to try to seduce you, offer you drugs, get you drunk, kill you, etc?.
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radar
Itsjustme
If you cut out the "Worldly" bit, then you have just got "people".
Radar
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A walk Through The Garden Part 2
by radar ini had brought my family up in the way of christ, as i believed and we were rarely missing from meetings or field service.
yet as time went on, this regimented form of worship began to have its toll on us.. one meeting night, i found myself sitting at the back of the kingdom hall alone, my wife had begun to miss a number of meetings and my son who was then in his late teens had also stopped going.i felt that i'd failed my family and myself.
yet no matter how i applied myself to study and prayer the watchtower's answer to every problem a witness may have i found no joy in this way of worship and neither would i continue to pretend that i did.
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radar
I had brought my family up in “The way” of Christ, as I believed and we were rarely missing from meetings or field service. Yet as time went on, this regimented form of worship began to have its toll on us.
One meeting night, I found myself sitting at the back of the Kingdom hall alone, my wife had begun to miss a number of meetings and my son who was then in his late teens had also stopped going.I felt that I'd failed my family and myself. Yet no matter how I applied myself to study and prayer The Watchtower's answer to every problem a Witness may have I found no joy in this way of worship and neither would I continue to pretend that I did. The meetings were simply too repetitious, uninspiring.
A LETTER OF CONCERN. One month the body of elders had a letter from the Governing Body, asking what we observed to be the reason in the fall in attendance at meetings and conventions, this was becoming an increasing problem, occurring in many congregations. In the reply letter from the body of elders words like "lack of appreciation, cannot see the urgency of the times, secular work, money problems" were listed as to the reasons. During this elder’s meeting, I remember commenting about the Conventions, that the provision of refreshments had been taken away (the Society not only had stopped food at these gatherings but had also stopped simple things like Tea and Coffee!) I said this may have caused some hardship for the older ones and those with young children, particularly since there was now counsel not to clutter seats with too much baggage. Well there was a deathly hush, as if I had spoken something unlawful, the body proceeded to ignore my comment, I recall feeling foolish. The idea that the Society itself, could in some way be responsible for a drop in meeting attendance could not be entertained, or tolerated.
The quickest way to lose popularity in the congregation, is to question Watchtower directives. You can question the Bible and that’s OK, but raise a question or two about the Watchtower and you become a rebel.
In an effort to solve this problem with meeting attendance, there soon followed a series of items to prod the consciences of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Eg-sample items taken from 1997-8 k.m.s How fine it is to always be in attendance/Attend the Meetings-all the more so/You are Missed/ Why we should answer up at meetings. Etc this format was repeated in the Watchtower study.NEGATIVE AFFECTS I always felt that this kind of approach had the opposite effect to which it was intended. Some had a real struggle to attend meetings, yet the manner in which this information was presented at times portrayed them in a poor light, putting the individuals on a guilt trip. If a person has been missing from meetings or field service, the last thing he needs to hear when he arrives at these meetings is how unappreciative he is of Jehovah’s provisions. The trick with some brothers to endure all of this is to mentally "switch off " and wait for the final song. Was this the way to get the mind of Christ.? I have seen many brothers clearly uninspired by meetings, often near sleep, yet when asked about them afterwards, they would give the required answer and say they enjoyed it. To say otherwise would make you a "negative thinker", something to be avoided, according to the Watchtower.
As the years went by, I seen many come into the congregation then disappear. The expectations put on many, in my mind is too high. Such as, requiring toddlers to sit through meetings, hours at a time, whereby the information presented is far above their little heads, expecting them to be seen but not heard, seems to me now unbalanced and unkind.
part 3 Tomorrow.
Radar
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My Story ..A Walk Through The Garden. part 1
by radar inwhen jehovahs witnesses first started calling on my wife and i, we knew very little about the bible.
the message that this world with all its wickedness and suffering was soon to end and be replaced by a new order under the rulership of christ jesus was very appealing to me.
to believe that god had a purpose for mankind, gave my life a new direction.. acceptance of watchtower doctrine along with its rules and regulations is expected of any that wish to be baptized.
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radar
Englishman
My motto: If something works then don't fix it.
Thank you all for your comments, pleae keep on reading.
Radar
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My Story ..A Walk Through The Garden. part 1
by radar inwhen jehovahs witnesses first started calling on my wife and i, we knew very little about the bible.
the message that this world with all its wickedness and suffering was soon to end and be replaced by a new order under the rulership of christ jesus was very appealing to me.
to believe that god had a purpose for mankind, gave my life a new direction.. acceptance of watchtower doctrine along with its rules and regulations is expected of any that wish to be baptized.
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radar
YoYoMama
You said that you like being around good people that love you.
Can I ask you this: If you let it be known to your JW brothers that you were posting on this board, how long do you think it would take for these "loving " brothers to reject you?
I found that "this love" in the kingdom Hall was conditional love.
I hope you read my further postings, it deals with this in some degree.Radar
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Daily text - 1 Thess 5:19
by YoYoMama in1 thess.
5:19 "do not put out the fire of the spirit.".
commentary:.
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radar
Jayhawk
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Now, at some point, you will have to offer the Knowledge Book to him. Am I right?
______________________________________________________________________You are right, I have never known a regular study taking place with someone with just the use of the Bible, let alone someone reaching the point of baptism.
Radar
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My Story ..A Walk Through The Garden. part 1
by radar inwhen jehovahs witnesses first started calling on my wife and i, we knew very little about the bible.
the message that this world with all its wickedness and suffering was soon to end and be replaced by a new order under the rulership of christ jesus was very appealing to me.
to believe that god had a purpose for mankind, gave my life a new direction.. acceptance of watchtower doctrine along with its rules and regulations is expected of any that wish to be baptized.
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radar
Perry
Faith usefull?
As the saying goes "Faith can move mountains".The source of ones faith can be in error, but regardless of the source, if a person truly believes in what he sees as "truth" then great achievements do follow. Mans history is full of achievements based on Faith.
If you are asking me do I have faith in God, the answer is that I do not have faith in the God of the Bible.
Yet I do believe there is more to life than meets the eye, I try to keep an open mind on things these days.Ashitaka, you have encouraged me to keep posting..Thanks
Radar
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My Story ..A Walk Through The Garden. part 1
by radar inwhen jehovahs witnesses first started calling on my wife and i, we knew very little about the bible.
the message that this world with all its wickedness and suffering was soon to end and be replaced by a new order under the rulership of christ jesus was very appealing to me.
to believe that god had a purpose for mankind, gave my life a new direction.. acceptance of watchtower doctrine along with its rules and regulations is expected of any that wish to be baptized.
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radar
When Jehovah’s Witnesses first started calling on my wife and I, we knew very little about the Bible. The message that this world with all its wickedness and suffering was soon to end and be replaced by a new order under the rulership of Christ Jesus was very appealing to me. To believe that God had a purpose for mankind, gave my life a new direction.
Acceptance of Watchtower doctrine along with its rules and regulations is expected of any that wish to be baptized. Your told that being baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses puts one on the road to life and only then can you have any meaningful relationship with God, I was baptized on January 2nd 1982.
Zeal for new found truths caused me to spend most of my waking hours involved in personal study, preparation for meetings, Field Ministry plus many other things that is expected of you as a Jehovah’s Witness.
Humble acceptance of Watchtower leadership is a prime requirement of appointed men in the Congregations, all men are encouraged to reach out for this "privilege". After about 3yrs, I was appointed as Ministerial Servant, then in 1992 I was appointed as an Elder.
I enjoyed life as a Jehovah’s Witness, I began to associate with people from different walks of life, young and old, rich and poor. The ministry, i.e.: going to peoples houses with the Kingdom message, brought me into contact with all sorts of people, and through it I got to see many places that normally in everyday life I would not see. I gained experience as a public speaker, encouraging people in their faith by giving a sermon, brought me satisfaction.
Bringing my children up with moral values, gave me a sense of dignity and pride in my family life. Working along with others in Kingdom Hall construction, and seeing goodwill displayed, convinced me that I had found the true "Christian way" of life, often referred to by Jehovah’s Witnesses as the truth.
All is not "Rosy in the Garden"
Meeting Attendance & Field Service.
The Watchtower Society puts major importance on regular meeting attendance, if a person is missing from meetings, its like their very salvation is put in jeopardy. Only if you are really ill, should you be missing from them, or as one Circuit Overseer put "only if your flat on your back". My observation of the effect of this kind of thinking, is that many attend these meetings under duress and are clearly not happy, but accept it as a test of loyalty to the Organization. Was this really the refreshment for your souls that Jesus spoke about? As the years went on, I began to have my doubts.Over the years the continuous tune played over meeting attendance and regular field service, became monotonous to me. The emphasis was, that to get into the Kingdom, you needed to be fully involved with these things. Otherwise your faith would die, and Armageddon was just around the corner. It gradually became apparent to me that this was a regimented form of worship. I began to ask myself is this, what showing faith in Christ means ?
There is a "Mould" that the Watchtower Organization, tries to fit everyone into. Essentially it consists of a person spending at least 8hrs per month on the ministry, if someone fell much bellow this, without any noticeable reason, he would be sure to get a visit from the local Elders. The person would have to answer up at meetings and not miss any, without good reason. Many who did not quite fit this Mould, would on the whole be viewed as weak, and these tended to be ignored or overlooked to some degree. This puts tremendous pressure on individuals,who find it difficult to express their faith in this way. This type of Mould does not allow for individuality. Expressions of faith are manifested in many ways, but I would say rarely on a "report card".I personally enjoyed the ministry work, but often, much of the time was taken up by calling at homes where people were out. Yet many would spend many hours like this, just to fulfill their hourly requirement. This insistence of reporting all time given to witnessing, takes away from the gift of the Gospel message as i saw it then. Jesus said in regard to giving,: "The left hand should not know what the right hand is doing" . When a person genuinely gives, he does so, without taking account of it.
When the Watchtower reports in the annual Yearbook of J.Ws how many hours worldwide have been spent in the ministry work , for what does this accomplish? Taking account of time spent this way, removes genuine expressions of faith.
I am sure that if Jehovah's Witnesses did not have to report their time taken in the ministry, this great "evidence" of their faith would fade dramatically.Part two....... Tomorrow.
Radar