Hi Perfect1 - I hope you don't mind if I keep the stories to myself. I always try and avoid the scary story telling or hearing other peoples' - even though I've never had any kind of experience myself, the idea still freaks me out!
krejames
JoinedPosts by krejames
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31
Science and the supernatural - thoughts and opinions wanted
by freshstart ini definitely support science, i think that the entire field is fascinating.
the things that have been discovered and that will be discovered in the future is mind-boggling.
i do wonder, however, if there is some things that science can't explain.
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59
Do you regret confessing your sins to the elders?
by asilentone inyes, i do!
i did it 20 years ago, but the elders still remember what i did, sometimes i wish they never knew about it.
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krejames
I confessed five times and had 5 JCs lol. At least one of those was over the most trivial incident that most normal people would laugh at, but at the time I was a guilt-ridden wreck. The last JC was over a year ago. Do I regret it? Yes and no. In a way it was part of my whole "coming out" experience. I feel a bit embarrassed at the amount of crying and sobbing I did to 3 people (well, five all told) who would never understand because they were looking at the issue through WT eyes. I feel that I will be forever under scrutiny if I were to remain in the cong. But I do feel that most of the elders involved cared and tried their best to understand - well if they didn't care at the sight of someone having a psychological breakdown in front of them then they really would have been heartless i guess. I really did "feel the love" at the time.
I think now at least two of them have lost patience/interest because I'm not going out on service or answering up or joining the school despite the "shepherding" and I don't get involved socially. My attitude now is very different from a year ago and I don't think I could ever confess anything to them ever again.
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31
Science and the supernatural - thoughts and opinions wanted
by freshstart ini definitely support science, i think that the entire field is fascinating.
the things that have been discovered and that will be discovered in the future is mind-boggling.
i do wonder, however, if there is some things that science can't explain.
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krejames
Thanks for posting up this thread - I found it after searching "supernatural" as this is a question that I have been trying to get my head around since my "awakening". I have never had a "supernatural" experience myself. I have been in a few situations with others where they have said they felt creeped out by someone or by the place etc whereas I have been completely oblivious. But I have never been able to discount supposedly demonic experiences from other credible people. Two members of my immediate family have had experiences and they are completely down to earth and, well, I would guess like me - mostly oblivious to these kinds of things. One of the experiences, which happened over a period of weeks, was so terrifying and life threatening that if it wasn't true it would mean the individual concerned was either an outright liar and/or of questionable sanity. The experiences happened years ago, neither of the individuals ever told anyone apart from me (as I was at home at the time and the events apparently happened at home) and neither have ever talked about the events again. They both ordered me not to tell anyone else in case other people thought they were crazy.
My partner who is completely anti-religion said he personally witnessed an event in Brazil (where spiritualism is popular) and now says he can't rule out the possiblility of a spirit world (though he is not the slightest bit interested in it)
Interesting subject - will take a look at the references.
I guess I identify myself as agnostic these days.
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98
Latest "Shun Your Family" Statement - Jan 2013 Study WT
by LostGeneration insolomon alluded to it yesterday in a thread, i found the online large print pdfs here, not sure where the regular version is yet.
here are the full paragraphs, grab your barf bags .
19 on the other hand, if you choose the path of resentment.
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krejames
Yeah - is that really what the family member needs to see? Are they sure about that? did they take a survey? What a presumptious unfeeling, pig headed, patronising statement to make. sorry. rant over.
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Latest "Shun Your Family" Statement - Jan 2013 Study WT
by LostGeneration insolomon alluded to it yesterday in a thread, i found the online large print pdfs here, not sure where the regular version is yet.
here are the full paragraphs, grab your barf bags .
19 on the other hand, if you choose the path of resentment.
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krejames
Makes me angry. That is all.
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50
holding off on my baptism???
by madcow78596 inso i've been studying with jws since april 2011.
1 year later i decide to become an unbaptized publisher and take steps toward dedicating myself to jehovah.
i'm a single working mother of 2 with what i will call a very "colored" past.
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krejames
Hey MadCow and welcome to the board
I'm fairly new here too and I know it can be hard to know who to believe. We all have our reasons for being on this board. some of us have had bad experiences. I was born in as a JW and while it was miserable time for me (for doctrinal reasons) I have never had a bad experience with the people - I don't think most JWs are hypocrites or evil. The christians counselled in the bible clearly had serious issues and problems and I don't see JWs, the people, being any worse than them.
My advice, for what it's worth, is if you feel Christianity is the true path, you have to really understand what you're letting yourself in for doctrinally. Look at the christianity described in the Bible and then decide who is adhering most closely to it. The christianity descirbed in the Bible is difficult - it's a daily struggle - Jesus himself said the road was narrow and cramped and to go in through the narrow door. Paul said he pummeled his body to lead it as a slave. I find it incredible when "christians" think the JW daily life is too severe. The christianity described in the bible is severe! So be fair with your critiques against JWs - are any other churches any less reprehensible than the JWs - only you can decide that for yourself based on your own research, knowledge and experiences. There are plenty of arguments for and against being part of "an organisation" so you will need draw your own conclusions on that.
Here you will find a lot of hearsay. But also in the WT publications you will find lots of "quotes" without references. It can be hard to see the wood for the trees. You'll find some interesting articles on JWFacts, which I found shocking when I first read them. Yes the JWs have made mistakes in the past (some would put more weight on these than others, it would seem), and I guess you have to decide whether these allegations are important enough to you to rule them out as being used by God despite any genuine desire to learn and spread "the truth"
As you probably guess, I'm still on my spiritual journey (and have been tending to lean away from the idea that christianity is the truth lately), but I'm trying to make it my personal policy not to believe everything that people tell me - whether JWs or "apostates" - it's a different matter if it's backed up by references and evidence. I haven't ruled out concluding that JWs do have the truth if that's where I feel the evidence leads me in the end (whether I would ever be able to go back there mentally and wholeheartedly live the life is another matter).
Whatever you do I hope you find happiness for you and your family.
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22
This was just on channel 4 in the UK
by Mickey mouse inhttp://www.4thought.tv/themes/what-happens-when-you-leave-your-religion/rachel-underhill?autoplay=true.
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krejames
Replace the word Paedophilia with "gross sin" and I think you'll find that they are treated pretty much equally in the judicial sense. I think what you mean is there should be additional punishments/safeguards against paedophiles and from a personal opninion I would agree with you. It gets more difficult to justify from a biblical perspective because as far as I can see the Bible doesn't really address paedophilia specifically and that's just one of the many things I find inexplicable about the whole thing.
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This was just on channel 4 in the UK
by Mickey mouse inhttp://www.4thought.tv/themes/what-happens-when-you-leave-your-religion/rachel-underhill?autoplay=true.
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krejames
I spent last night reading 1 Corinthians 5 in 6 different translations I have. Then spent several hours reading commentaries on that chapter that have been published on line. Unfortunately there's no escaping the fact that to practice the christianity described in the Bible, shunning is a requirement. All of the commentaries interpreted the chapter to go beyond disfellowshipping in the church or congregational setting - it was about ceasing to have any association with that person. Several, such as the New English Bible, are even stronger than the NWT when it says "root out the evil doer from your community". The definition of evil doer is given in the preceding verses... "any so-called christian who leads a loose life, or is grasping or idolatorous, a slanderer, a drunkard, or a swindler..." "sexual immorality" (which we know in the bible includes adultery). All commentaries agreed this chapter was referring to unrepentant sinners calling themselves christian. One commentary even went way beyond the WT and said family members living in the same house should not eat with the one shunned.
Obviously we could argue til the cows come home as to how far shunning should go according to the Bible. But I'm beginning to find it difficult to take seriously anyone who believes the Bible is God's Word who doesn't agree with shunning at least in the circumstances described above. So if Rachel gave everyone the impression she was unrepentantly having an affair, what choice did her congregation have but to shun her, if they claim to be Christian? Does that make them a cult or does that make Christianity a cult?
The more research I'm doing the less seriously I'm taking the many knee-jerk anti JW views and allegations on this board. No doubt they are prompted by personal experiences in their own congregation (if they were Jws) or other agendas, but they serve a purpose in prompting more research. Would any church or religion or individual that claims to be christian stand up to the level of scrutiny that we put the JWs under here? I guess the issue for me that's emerging now is whether I really think the Bible is true and/or whether I can worship a God that endorses shunning (and many other things I have a hard time accepting from the Bible).
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Do JWs really notice significant doctrinal change?
by keyser soze inall of these threads about the 'new light' regarding the fds has got me wondering.
as ex-jws, we've trained ourselves to notice such things.
we tend to treat them as if they're of great significance, even convey a certain level of optimism that it will actually wake some up, make some think, even lead to some sort of mass revolution within the ranks.. do rank-and-file jws really see any significance, or is it just wishful thinking?
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krejames
LOL @ Outlaw
The photo on the right is correct I'm afraid.
I mentioned the rumoured new light to a close JW friend yesterday. She said in essence, "oh that makes much more sense. That's pretty much what I thought must be the case anyway. After all it's the governing body who dispense the spiritual food".
It's exactly the reaction i expected. So please don't expect a mass exodus. It's not gonna happen.
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This was just on channel 4 in the UK
by Mickey mouse inhttp://www.4thought.tv/themes/what-happens-when-you-leave-your-religion/rachel-underhill?autoplay=true.
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krejames
Snare&Racket. That's a lot of maybes. I stand by the last sentence of my previous post.