Suraj Khan

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Posts by Suraj Khan

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  23

  The college newspaper article from 1989 that got me kicked, at last

  by Suraj Khan in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  many months ago, i shared the experience of my removal from jehovah's witnesses.

  to quickly recap, i had faded from meetings as an unbaptized publisher starting at about age 14 and had later decided to attend college against the wishes of my family.

  as i liked to write stories, i sought a job at the college newspaper and became a columnist.. i brought some of my newspapers home during the winter break of my sophomore year, the one time i visited my parents during college.

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  Suraj Khan

  

  "It's a fair cop."
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  23

  The college newspaper article from 1989 that got me kicked, at last

  by Suraj Khan in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  many months ago, i shared the experience of my removal from jehovah's witnesses.

  to quickly recap, i had faded from meetings as an unbaptized publisher starting at about age 14 and had later decided to attend college against the wishes of my family.

  as i liked to write stories, i sought a job at the college newspaper and became a columnist.. i brought some of my newspapers home during the winter break of my sophomore year, the one time i visited my parents during college.

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  Suraj Khan

  Many months ago, I shared the experience of my removal from Jehovah's Witnesses. To quickly recap, I had faded from meetings as an unbaptized publisher starting at about age 14 and had later decided to attend college against the wishes of my family. As I liked to write stories, I sought a job at the college newspaper and became a columnist.

  I brought some of my newspapers home during the winter break of my sophomore year, the one time I visited my parents during college. My older brother, who had aspirations within the congregation, asked for a copy of my work. This year, I discovered that he brought the paper to the attention of the elders, who summarily announced (after I had gone back for the spring semester) that I was no longer an approved associate.

  Many of you have asked what I could have written which would have gotten me in so much trouble. I drove to my old school today and I can now answer that question. Here is my article from the autumn of 1989. Please forgive the rambling. I was both 19 and under a deadline.

  _________

  Religion and conflict: Is nothing sacred?

  Belfast, Northern Ireland. For twenty years, the city has been occupied by British troops which have not come close to resolving the Catholic-Protestant conflict. Most think of it as a political mistake, but there is something deeper to it. To me, Belfast is yet another example of the decay of Christianity.

  I've been thinking lately that Christianity and Marxism have a lot in common. I believe both are fundamentally good systems, but everyone who claims to practice them seems to have mangled the original premises beyond recognition. Marx envisioned a nation where the State would wither away. However, communist countries do not seem to be making an effort to fulfill the basic plan. Similarly, Jesus envisioned a world of brotherhood. Still, many self-professed Christians in Belfast lob stones, grenades or whatever else they can find at their Christian 'brothers' as others have done for centuries. It's strange how we can point fingers at the warring Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims. We've been just as crazy. If any religion cannot resolve its conflicts from without, there is certainly no peace within, and perhaps no value.

  I know I couldn't follow Marx just by calling myself a Marxist. I could not follow the Christ by having a massive Bible on the coffee table with five years of dust on it like almost everyone else, or by sporting a T-shirt and a bumper sticker proclaiming, "I gave my life to JESUS!" Somehow, I imagine that a great many people are convinced that the name alone is enough.

  Of course, the invocation of that name is what justified the destruction of countless foreign cultures (the Aztecs, Incas, Toltecs, etc.), what justified the Inquisition, and what justifies a great amount of bigotry even today. It seems so fruitless to conditionally love one's neighbor, so meaningless to veto the First Commandment so that a sect or religion might dominate another. For that is what Belfast represents: chaos, a parody of what morals and ideals are supposed to encourage. It is what confuses me about the value of organized religion -- so much seems political, so much seems to be irreconcilable.

  I believe the morals of religion have definite value to humankind. Nevertheless, I believe just as strongly that the belief in a master religion is as dangerous and absurd as the belief in a master race. For if one believes that one's group is superior to another's, it implies that an individual can also be greater than another. With that, the principle of equality is impossible to sustain, and a society that attempts to establish equality by law cannot when religion and state are (by law) separate and independent.

  A hopeless conflict? No, if and only if human nature is compatible with moderation and tolerance. To a large extent, it is. For example, Canada and the United States are not particularly prone to religious rioting even though there are large percentages of Protestants and Catholics in both nations. Here, perhaps, the emphasis on superiority lies within the worshipped and not the worshipper.

  I do not believe religion to be "the opium of the people": I do not mean to single out Christianity as the only religion with sectarian strife, as that is obviously not the case. Nevertheless, a religion must be critical of and responsible for its actions as a whole. Anything less will assure it of imminent decay.
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  21

  Probably the most bizarre encounter with a witness family.

  by Dis-Member in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  went to a bar with a friend a few days ago.. we were sitting in the outside garden and i went back inside to get another round.

  on my way back out i passed some tables with a family of about 6 or 7 people sitting and celebrating a birthday.. i overheard the name jehovah mentioned and i stopped and asked if they were witnesses to which one of them replied 'yes'.. we got into conversation about the latest watchtowers and the governing body.

  none of them had a clue what i was talking about.. they new nothing of the 8 men brooklyn being the faithful and discreet slave, nothing about c.t russell or rutherford, nothing of how jesus came and selected them as his chosen people in 1914-19, in fact the only thing they knew about 1914 was that that was when the first world war started, nothing about malawi and mexico, never heard of candace conti or any of the sex abuse scandals, nothing about the 2 witness rule, nothing about the elders being chosen by the holy spirit, nothing about 'new light', nothing about the orgs involvement with the un, nothing about the blood fractions changes they knew almost nothing at all about the majority of their own organisations core teachings.

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  Suraj Khan

  I'll be damned. Witness Rumspringa.
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  7

  Relationship with fellow fader?

  by Kool Jo in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i'm just curious....what would be the pros and cons of dating or even marrying someone who is fading or fully aware of ttatt?.

  although i'm not in this situation, i've always wondered about it...for example...you're reaching near that age, your parents, friends, family members, others in the congregation are giving you hints that it's time for you to get married...you don't wanna marry anyone that the congregation/parents recommend because they're fully indoctrinated, so you make up some excuse that you're not ready blah blah blah, even though you long for companionship....you then meet a fader or someone who knows that the wtbs in crap...what would be the pros and the cons...and could it work?.

  peace.

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  Suraj Khan

  I think the bigger problem is that while each may understand where the other is coming from, they both will likely have the same weaknesses.

  This is very wise.

  I don't know if we all get to choose our attractions. Unfortunately, sometimes it just happens. Or we think it happens.

  But marrying a fellow fader is fraught with peril on so many levels. Both have the same guilt in celebrating birthdays and holidays. Both can have real obstacles in sexual communication (trust me on this one) and enduring bitterness. I could see a temporary plus being having the approbation of both larger families, but that lasts only until the masks come off. At the very least, a fading spouse has the chance of 'inheriting' a normal family with normal birthdays and holidays, provided they're not batshit crazy (trust me on this one, too, please).
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  102

  Ran into a witnessing table at the park today

  by confusedandalone in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i just got in from my daughters homecoming(she is a cheerleader and these guys make a huge deal out of this stuff).

  they play 3 football games of various age groups.

  it starts at 8 in the morning and just ended at 1:30. i just got in the house literally 5 minutes ago and i had to share.

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  Suraj Khan

  
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  18

  Apostate & Ex-Jehovalarious Meme Collection

  by Watchtower-Free in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  https://www.facebook.com/groups/533379860036649/.

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  Suraj Khan

  
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  18

  Apostate & Ex-Jehovalarious Meme Collection

  by Watchtower-Free in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  https://www.facebook.com/groups/533379860036649/.

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  Suraj Khan

  
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  12

  whats the betting SfPW will be a full blown apostate within 6 months ?

  by bigmac in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  is it me--- or is stand for pure worship slowly wavering in his posts ?.

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  Suraj Khan

  I don't much care if he believes what he writes or not. I think it's great to have the discussions here on the board.

  I mean, yeah, it's frustrating when you make point after great point and he doesn't so much as acknowledge it (but is quick to exploit any perceived flaw in return)...but you have to remember that there's an audience of hundreds if not thousands following along and doing the math.

  So, I think he's great. Even if he does strongly remind me of my sanctimonious, very punchable older brother.
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  34

  So I got engaged...

  by frogonmytoe in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ...to my boyfriend, we're going to have one of those weddings ('gay' weddings to the straights).. although my jw family know i'm gay, and not going to meetings, only one of my sisters has sussed the situation.

  but i think after 3 years it's about time i told them.

  especially if sometime in the future i'll turn up with a (gay) wedding ring.

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  Suraj Khan

  Congratulations! So happy for you both!
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  19

  YOU ARE DOING A GOOD JOB!

  by abiather in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am still a jw.

  i cant give any more details than this because of my family members who are devout jws.

  i cherish a larger picture in my heart without anybody knowing ittrue worship means love and compassion, (luke 10:25-37) not belonging to any organization or having a set of belief system!

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  Suraj Khan

  Welcome!

  I agree - we could all do a better job of keeping it collegial, both between ourselves and toward those who still adhere to the JW dogma. As Flipper said, many of us (myself definitely included) are still dealing with anger, sadness and loss. It's hard to work past that in posts, and maybe it's not even genuine to put it aside. But I think we need to do a better job of putting it in its place.

  Anyway: Again, welcome. I'm glad you're here.