Have the BS disfellowshipped you then? ...lol Surely not.
No Hil, they haven
’ t DF ’ d me. That sort of thing doesn ’ t happen within the Bible Students Association, and when it does, it ’ s usually due to a moral issue, NOT doctrinal. Since we don ’ t have a central headquarters and each congregation is separate, it ’ s a class thing.
No my problems are more with a particular segment of the Bible Students, namely the DAWN Bible Students, who, because of my criticism of them have decided to take a page from the Watchtower Society and demonize me, like they (the Society) did with Ray Franz. As a result, I no longer serve as elder, although I was nominated, I declined as I
’ m not into politics, if I can ’ t be the elder that the scriptures tell me I am suppose to be, then I don ’ t want the office.
The Dawn has done a lot of damage to my reputation, and since they are the larger of the Bible Student groups, they hold some influence among many congregations, although the congregations are to be independent, the Dawn has been known to influence some, like they did with me.
Which is fine with me, you see as a result, I learned who my true brethren are. I
’ m still a die hard Russellite, I ’ m not ashamed to admit that , and I still have the most popular and visited Bible Student website on the net, so I have more of a voice on the net then I did from the platform. I do not have a delusions of grandeur , I could care less if I serve as an elder or speak in front of an audience. Unfortunately some of my brethren wouldn ’ t know what to do with their time if they didn ’ t have that title " ELDER " . Which is a shame, because it really shows where their priorities are. Strangely they tell me how much I ’ m needed, and what a loss to the cause I will be, yet they get upset when I speak my mind and point out what ’ s wrong. They tell me " these are your brethren. " My response is, " so what! " It ’ s okay to expose the errors of Christendom and others, but we can ’ t expose the errors and spirit of babylon within our own? Who says? Didn ’ t the Apostle Paul expose those who proved to be false brethren in his day?
Mind you, just like within the JW
’ s, there are many fine, wonderful people among the Bible Students, who are serving the Lord as best they can, it ’ s just that there are a few bad apples who seem to have tenure as elders and are " prominent " who take criticism of beliefs personally, as oppose to what it really is, criticism of a belief, not of the person who believes it.
I should add that there was a split in the DAWN in the late 1960s and early 1970s, so there are congregations where the DAWn has no influence, unfortunately
for me, I live on the east coast, which is DAWN country, but that's okay, I've always been a bit of a loner.
RR
