A householder asked me what happened when JW sins in a big way. I explained the judicial procedure. He said something like "How is that like the early Christians?" (I think I had been doing the usual boast about JWs being exactly like first century Christianity). I showed him the scripture I James (I think) about the elders healing someone with prayer and oils "and if there are sins they will be forgiven" (or something like that). And he said how do you get your judicial system from that? That scripture is clearly talking about healing". That was the first big awakening for me. I shelved it for a while but I was ready for JW facts...
krejames
JoinedPosts by krejames
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Did a householder at the door ever cause you doubts
by perfect1 inrecently on a saturday morning there was a knock on my door.
two ladies asked me if i was familiar with the jws.
i said: yes unfortunatley.
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Syposiums are pagan!
by krejames inthe bbc has been producing some interesting documentaries lately.
one series is about ancient greece and i learned something new (for me) that i thought a few here might like as much as i did.. according to one episode in the series, syposiums originated in ancient greece as events where people would get together, get drunk, make sacrifices to the pagan gods and then finally various people would stand up and talk and talk and talk, no doubt in a drunken ramble, about the deep topics of the day.. for this reason i cannot possibly attend another jw assembly or convention any more.
they always feature syposiums and now i know they are clearly rooted in paganism, well, it goes against my christian trained conscience..... .
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krejames
Wow LostGeneration, it's even worse than I thought. I need to go and do a 100 hail marys as penance for ever listening to one of these debauched tirades from the convention platform!
I agree Sir82, they definitely love that word symposium (sorry for the typos in my original post). Especially when it's about mentally diseased apostates or "fornication" in all its many forms.
Cult repetition, indoctrination, brainwashing it definitely is. I feel the need to go and celebrate a few birthdays, throw some confetti and polish it off with a few christmas carols...
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Syposiums are pagan!
by krejames inthe bbc has been producing some interesting documentaries lately.
one series is about ancient greece and i learned something new (for me) that i thought a few here might like as much as i did.. according to one episode in the series, syposiums originated in ancient greece as events where people would get together, get drunk, make sacrifices to the pagan gods and then finally various people would stand up and talk and talk and talk, no doubt in a drunken ramble, about the deep topics of the day.. for this reason i cannot possibly attend another jw assembly or convention any more.
they always feature syposiums and now i know they are clearly rooted in paganism, well, it goes against my christian trained conscience..... .
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krejames
The BBC has been producing some interesting documentaries lately. One series is about ancient Greece and I learned something new (for me) that I thought a few here might like as much as I did.
According to one episode in the series, syposiums originated in ancient greece as events where people would get together, get drunk, make sacrifices to the pagan gods and then finally various people would stand up and talk and talk and talk, no doubt in a drunken ramble, about the deep topics of the day.
For this reason I cannot possibly attend another JW assembly or convention any more. They always feature syposiums and now I know they are clearly rooted in paganism, well, it goes against my christian trained conscience....
(actually it did get me thinking how much more bearable some of those convention syposiums would be after quaffing a bottle of wine or two)
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Experiences With The Elders
by minimus indid you generally have good experiences with the elders ?
we're any situations especially memorable???
pro or con.....
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krejames
I can only say good things about the elders in the two congregations I was associated with. In the congregation I grew up in, the body of elders were lovely (crap public speakers but genuine, kind human beings). To be honest they put up with a lot. I used to hear horror stories about the elders in neighbouring congregations from people who moved to our congregation to get away from theirs!
The congregation I moved to when I left home also had a lovely body of elders. There was one elder that a few people badmouthed as being a tyrant, but he was on my judicial committee and I can honestly say that he was the most sympathetic, encouraging individual. I had five JCs in total and was never disfellowshipped.
That said I agree with Leprechaun that they are not equipped to deal with certain things because they are handicapped by the "official" stance taken by WTS. In my case homosexuality. Despite being sympathetic, they did not understand it (though I could tell they were trying their best to) but ultimately they could only look at the issue through "WT goggles".
There were a few WT study articles in the 2000s, if I remember rightly, with a lot of counsel directed at the elders and how they handle confessions, judicial matters and so on - in summary telling them they had to be a "refuge" and loving and sympathetic (maybe trying to counteract the situation in the 70s/80s, that gma-tired2 described). I can honestly say the elders did all they could in my experience, but in the end that's not enough if the basic belief system is mistaken.
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krejames
Welcome on board! You're not alone !
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OMG Have you seen this?? This site is sooo hysterical. It reminds me of The Onion, but for exJW's
by noni1974 inhttp://jehovahstrumpet.com.
i read the cat baptisim article and i doubled over laughing.
one time when i was a kid i asked why my kitty couldn't go to the kh with us and my mom told me that animals were perfect and didn't need to go to the kh.. .
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krejames
I like it ! :)
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Gay MS??
by andysmiles inabout me, i am being raised in a jw family.
all of my family expect for one aunt, who had left but not disfellowedshiped thankly, are in jw.
my father is an elder and so is my grandfather.
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krejames
Great post Volo! Couldn't agree more x
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Gay MS??
by andysmiles inabout me, i am being raised in a jw family.
all of my family expect for one aunt, who had left but not disfellowedshiped thankly, are in jw.
my father is an elder and so is my grandfather.
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krejames
Hi Andy. I feel your pain and confusion. You are not the only appointed gay brother I was a gay MS until 2007. I'm inactive now. My circle of friends include a gay ex-elder and another gay ex-MS (the latter is still an active JW but is leading a double life). Already there has been good advice posted on here.
I agree that you will never be happy until you become "authentic": I didn't feel at peace until the person I was showing to the outside world was the same as the person I am inside. I agree with the advice above that you should begin to surround yourself with people you trust, who can get to know the real you. And this ultimately means having friends who are not JWs. There will be some in the congregation that will accept you as a gay (but celibate) brother - but ultimately they will not understand what it means to be gay (the constant references to "struggling with gay feelings" or, as one elder used to say to me, my "emotional problems", I found extremely patronising and annoying).
Your family, if they are like mine and others', will never fully accept your homosexuality as they will see it all through Bible goggles. You will eventually realise this is their issue and not your problem. You need to concentrate on becoming the person you are comfortable and proud of being. There is an American documentary that I found very interesting and helpful, "For the Bible Tells Me So", which is about devout Christian parents (not JWs) who found out their children were gay. I would recommend it. My story, if it's of interest or of any help is here
Feel free to send me a private message if you want to. You will get a lot of support here as there are many others who have gone through the same journey.
Take care James
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WTBTS' Pathetic Low Ranking!
by JW GoneBad in1. on-line google search: top on-line bible search tools.
wtbts no show!.
2. on-line google search: top ten bibles.
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krejames
Maybe they don't want to pay google to bump up their ranking. After all, if someone's heart condition is right, the Holy Spirit will guide them to the right website
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Please Share one of your Favourite Quotations
by cofty inhave you ever come across words that resonate with you?
it doesn't have to be a great gem of wisdom, just something that is meaningful to you.. please share, and if you want to, tell us why it's meaningful to you.. here is something that made me nod when i first read it.... .
"fortunate are those who have learned to see, in the wild things of nature, something to be loved, something to be wondered at, something to be reverenced, for they have found the key to a never-failing source of recreation and refreshment".
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krejames
"Too long a sacrifice can make a stone of the heart...o when may it suffice?" (Y B Yeats)
I found this quote as a teenager in the liner notes of a pop album. I didn't realise it related to Irish political history at the time, but the quote stuck with me and it kept coming to my mind when I was going through an emotional breakdown - trying to deal with the gay thing while trying to be a good JW, and yet still feeling like it was not enough. I really felt my heart was turning to stone and ultimately the sacrifice of denying who I was, was too great. I can never go back.