no conclusions, just thoughts.. should we disfellowship all of our friends and family who are jehovah's witnesses in order to protect ourselves and in order to wake them up to see how dangerous a path they are on?.
would like to see a discussion of this.. thanks.
joel
I totally agree with Jan H on this issue. Whether JW or not, if your family doesn't have the emotional capacity to be loving and supportive, find family elsewhere. Genetic relation doesn't mean you have to tolerate hateful, unloving behavior from family members.
RCat
i know that the answer is yes, but it would help me to hear your sentiments on this.
.
after you decided that the wbts, and thus jw's were not god's chosen earthly organization did you feel like you wanted to leave and forget god altogether?.
I started out thinking that God exists but I just wasn't good enough to please him. This caused alot of painful feelings. As time passed, I began to realize that this person called God was not the type of being I would wish to worship anyway, as he was arbitrary and very much a "killer" God in my mind.
These days I wax and wane between Agnosticism and Athiestic beliefs. I'm still waiting to see some sign that there's a being out there who truly created us and gives a darn what happens to his creation. Haven't seen any sign of it, so far!
RCat
the best leading indicator of the jw membership count is the baptism count as it directly measures the efficiency of the field service.
the baptism numbers represent the combined result of total hours, total literature, and total bible studies; it is the most reliable predictor of future membership counts.. and this is what has the wtbts worried.
they see the handwriting on the wall in nearly all of the developed countires and also some lesser developed countries.
Field service isn't Quite dead in Australia. Two of them were at my door less than a month ago!
RCat
the following is a recent jw advertisement about their upcoming conventions.
it can be found on the jw-media.org site under recent news.
i will quote them in italics and then make my own observations.. jehovah's witnesses office of public information.
Actually everyone, there was a different underlying reason for not doing the food at the conventions anymore. The higher ranks TOLD you it was so everyone could partake of spiritual food, but it coincided with the changeover to "donation only" food systems in the USA. They weren't getting enough donations for the food service to run as efficiently as before, (read "not enough profits on the food to make it worth their while") so they came up with that other cock and bull reason to tell the "dumb sheep". That's just about the time my eyes were opening and I was seeing the real "truth".
RCat
simon did away with the sex forum - so i must take the tradional route and post under "make new friends.
" how mundane!.
fyi ---- for all of us, please take the time to write a sentence or two about yourselves, and encourage new ones to do the same.
Okay, I'll jump in at the end of this, lol. I have a tendency just to hang around on Main street.
I live in Perth, Australia, for the past two years. Before that, I lived for 20 years in Ozark, Mo, USA which is where I attended the local congregation until 1996, when I finally started coming out of my zombie sleep. Fortunately, all my daughters follwed me out, and they're relatively normal after having been raised in that religion. I spent 30 years in it, off and on, but was baptized for only the last 10 years I spent inside the Borg. So glad to be out and living again!
RCat
Live as you will wish to have lived when you are dying.
-- Christian Furchtegott Gellert
fyi--.
& other personnel.
writing correspondence personnel, patterson, ny (incomplete).
Thanks for the info... I noticed only one woman in all that....
RCat
today, april 20th, is the fourth anniversary of a very special day in my life.. the anniversary of my rebirth.. this rebirth was not a religious experience, but it was something totally pure, amazing and healing.. it had nothing at all to do with the society, or rather, of freeing myself from it.
it was however, a giant first step in that direction.. today is the fourth anniversary of the day i got letter that changed everything.
the words on the pages were alive, and magical: they released me from my old life and for the first time.
Congrats to you Esmeralda. That was a Beautiful, very moving tale. I wish you both the best in your future. Sounds like you have it all, now, and I'm very happy for you.
RCat
i just posted this on h2o and though i'd put a copy here as well.... hi rick,.
i just thought it may be appropriate for me to express my appreciation for your site and what you have accomplished over the last few years and i'm sure will continue to do.. like many others, h2o was one of the sites which helped to open my eyes to the watchtower society and beliefs and practices of jehovahs witnesses and realise that there were things seriously wrong which a lot of other people saw as well - it wasn't just limited to our local congregation.. i did participate on h2o occasionally as caliban but never really kept up-to-date with all the posters, personalities and what was going on between them.. the reason i decided to create an alternative forum, www.jehovahs-witness.com, was because at the time it appeared that the very pro-jw community was well served by witnet and the anti-jw's had h2o but that it may have been a bit too much for the 'mildly curious' jw to visit.
my idea was to have a forum more like witnet which would gradually allow more open discussion than was allowed there without being too off putting to many as a way of introducing the issues to them more gently.. i'm sure your views and standpoints have changed over the years and mine have too.
Simon,
I love the way you always take the high road. You're a class act, no doubt about it. I suspect that is why alot of people are flocking in here to this site. The atmosphere would draw them in. It's friendly,intelligent, usually calm, and respectful, much like yourself.
I would hate to see it change to become like H20. Although H20 was the first place I found on the net regarding the Borg, it was also apparent fairly quickly that alot of hate resided there, and it made me uncomfortable to always be dealing with people's huge piles of anger. I just didn't enjoy it, and still don't go there very often. When I see some of those same people coming here and trying to change the flavor of this forum to that same twisted outlook at H20, it makes me cringe, to be honest. I can slam-dunk people with the best of them, but I can't honestly say that it gives me much pleasure to do it. Better an intelligent, respectful conversation than the mindless angry drivel I see going on over there so much of the time.
In any case, thanks for maintaining this forum, and being the classy guy you are.
RCat
after a transatlantic discussion with my wife we have both reached the conclusion that we will not be posting to this board again.
though we see the board as serving a useful purpose for some, it does not at present suit the path that we have chosen to walk to extract ourselves from the wts.. this board is in an invaluable place for those of you who have recently left the wts and need a place to stretch your wings and share you hurt and pain.
but once we learn to fly, it seems important that we should leave the nest as quickly as possible, lest we become caught in a vacuum between the wts and real life.
Hi Step,
I have just started coming around again to the board, after a hiatus of a few months. I'm sorry I haven't been able to get to know you before you left. I was touched by your letter to the board. You made some VERY valid points, and I hope people take it to heart.
As RedHorseWoman said, this board used to be a place where the "high road" was taken the majority of the time, but since the H20 posters have flown in, it's been a bit of a mess, and I hope it rights itself one day soon. I'm sorry to see you go, but I completely understand.
BTW, I live in Perth, Australia, but I'm a USA citizen, originally from Missouri, which was where I attended a congregation for 20 years. I completely understand your point about not getting stuck in a place that is somewhere between the WTS and "Real life". I applaud you and your wife for striking out in a different direction. I do think it's the better one in the long run. Good luck to you in your endeavors. :-)
RCat
way to go simon--jehovahs-witness.com was given the "cool site" award from netscape open directory!.
congrats to simon!.
--java...counting time at the coffee shop
Congrats, Simon! This place has grown so much in the past few months it's hardly recognizable! lol But it's thanks to the warm atmosphere you created that has gotten it so far. Thanks for your hard work!
RCat
