per ohmyjw over at r/exjw:.
i assume that other countries also got this letter to boe dated 1st september 2015 about sending additional information along with s-10 form (annual cong.
report).
How I WISH I was never in any sort of file with this organization!!! It's like having your identity stolen, you see the effects years later. Or it's like unwittingly joining the mafia, having to go in the 'witness protection program' (ironic name). Or it's like the CIA or living in McCarthyism, and they've got a file on you somewhere.
If you are lurking and considering joining this religion, heed my words. Want to lose your sense of privacy? Want big brother watching you? Then go ahead.
what would make a man throw away all his earthly riches to expose the cult?
what did ray franz have to gain by leaving in total poverty?
if ray franz had stayed in place, he could have lived like a god, why did he leave?
for those of you interested in getting to the bottom of the watchtower's teaching on sheol, hades, condition of the dead etc.
; this information is about as good as it gets.
the idea of consciousness after death was widely accepted from israel's earliest times, contrary to what the watchtower would have its members believe.. the lexicographical evidence is so clear that the great princeton scholar, b. b. warfield; stated that with modern hebrew scholars, there is no hesitation to allow with all heartiness that israel from the beginning of its recorded history cherished the most settled conviction of the persistence of the soul in life after death.
what would make a man throw away all his earthly riches to expose the cult?
what did ray franz have to gain by leaving in total poverty?
if ray franz had stayed in place, he could have lived like a god, why did he leave?
i was baptised on 1st sept 1990, 25years ago today.
it is still a date with deep meaning for me.
i never dedicated my life to serving any man or any organisation, this was my choice - as a grown adult - to serve my god through jesus christ.
I was rebaptized in my new church, because the first baptism was incomplete. Not in the father, son and Holy Spirit. I had dedicated myself to God at the time, and I still feel good about that part. I wasn't thinking about any organization when I made that dedication. But I also believe Jehovahs witnesses aren't real Christians, and their part in the baptism is corrupted, especially because the questions I was asked were after the changes in 1985 and focused on their organization as our silver collecting friend pointed out. I was also pressured to get baptized by family.
This time it was all me, and everything I believed in and my choice. It was also a way of washing away the witness, symbolically.
tough to watch this whole video, the way he talks gets pretty annoying, especially after the rc hearings:.
http://tv.jw.org/#video/vodstudio/pub-jwban_201506_1_video.
go to around 8:20 where he gets into the pronunciation of jehovah.
thanks to the great "watchtower history" blog with historical information about the pre- and early bible students years, i became today aware of the origine of the name the watchtower and the masthead illustration in front of the old magazines.. in c.t.
russell's younger days, his mother and other relatives died and were buried on the family plot at the allegheny cemetery.. it must have been a defining moment voor the young ctr.
look at his inspiration to choose the name and masthead of his magazine.
i've been lurking on the board for almost a year now and i think i'm ready to come out of hiding (although, i'm so nervous as i type this).
i'm not ready to share everything about my story, but the basics are that i'm a born-in, elder's kid, baptized as a teenager because i was tired of hearing people ask me "all your friends are baptized, when are you going to get baptized?
", married an unbeliever (was df, but came back shortly after) and we have two kids.
Thinker, I SOOOoOoOoOooo identify with almost everything you said in your intro post. It still amazes me how coming here is like looking in a mirror. That's the power of the cult, I suppose, that we could have such similar experiences.
Definitely try other churches. Research first. Most of them have online presences where you can check them out first. Make sure it's going to have the right vibe for you. If, unlike me, you start leaning toward atheism, you can make peace with that too, as many others have here.
That is a HUGE STEP that first time you don't tell the new teachers you are witnesses! I remember those days! I did say that the teachers might get mixed messages, and explain you are in the process of leaving, and letting the kids decide what they feel comfortable with.
OMG, welcome and im so glad you're here.
thanks to the great "watchtower history" blog with historical information about the pre- and early bible students years, i became today aware of the origine of the name the watchtower and the masthead illustration in front of the old magazines.. in c.t.
russell's younger days, his mother and other relatives died and were buried on the family plot at the allegheny cemetery.. it must have been a defining moment voor the young ctr.
look at his inspiration to choose the name and masthead of his magazine.
