I second much of what has been said here, but wanted to mention that the change in the definition of the F&DS seems more abrupt to an ex-JW than a current JW. I can totally understand the fuzziness in a JW's understanding of what was changed, because the way the "slave" has been referred to in the literature has been increasingly seeming to refer to the source of the literature and teachings rather than all the anointed. Sure, one might find an occasional restatement in recent literature of the old light, but very little textual recognition was being given to the anointed remnant as part of the slave. The new understanding just codifies what was already being implied. Without even realizing it, the Witnesses were picking up on these cues over the years, and so all but the most doctrinally-obsessed already believed the GB was 'basically' the F&DS by the time the "domestics" new light was announced.
Apognophos
JoinedPosts by Apognophos
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25
Do JWs Really Still care about the "Truth"?
by XBEHERE ini often read posts on here citing some km school or wt article and the comment that "now they are tightening their grip" or "they will now go after faders" etc, etc.
my perception is that the vast majority of jws, including the elders, are suffering from apathy and fatigue.
most simply don't care anymore.
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Secular forum reacts to FDS "new light"
by cedars init's a short discussion, but it's interesting to see an outsider's perspective on the "new light.".
http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=251464.
cedars.
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Apognophos
Yes, I think the group will be staying in place as they are without too much consolidation over time. Isn't that how the Mormons are run, a group of elders?
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25
Some Poll Questions to Answer
by jwfacts ini have updated a site of mine, jwfacts.mobi, which has a few articles from jwfacts.com, but better designed for smart phones.
on it i am going to include a few polls, and need people to answer them so that there are some intial numbers for the graphs.. please go to jwfacts.mobi/pollsarchive and answer any that are relevant.
it should only take a minute.
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Apognophos
I'm fascinated by the age question's results. Not many people left in their twenties or teens! In a way that's not surprising, but it's thought-provoking in terms of the cumulative decades that the Society has taken from us.
Edit: I'd like to second Balaamsass. If you do another of these in the future, please provide "Inactive" and/or "Planning to Leave" options.
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46
Coco Rocha: lonely celeb Jehovah's Witness
by recovering inhere comments made me laugh.
" if you are not interested just say so".
http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/lonely_believer_jlww5fd1bwokhvuq7u2e9i.
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Apognophos
More than anything, this is just a weird story. I know that the Post is tabloid-y, but how did this even end up as a story?
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Sometimes sorry isn't enough...
by cedars ini thought you might like to see a rare example of the society saying the actual word "sorry" in the literature.. in 1992 someone wrote in to the awake!
and their comment was published in the july 8th edition in the "from our readers" section, page 30.. their comment read as follows.... "your suggestion that sex education be considered a 'family secret' could accidentally result in great difficulty for some of your readers.
social workers, teachers, nurses, and other professionals are now trained to watch for signs of child abuse.
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Apognophos
Thanks for the post, cedars. On a side note, I face-palmed when I read "it might be best if parents described sexual matters as being 'private' instead of 'secret.'". As if "private" is less suspicious than "secret"?
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Coco Rocha: lonely celeb Jehovah's Witness
by recovering inhere comments made me laugh.
" if you are not interested just say so".
http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/lonely_believer_jlww5fd1bwokhvuq7u2e9i.
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Apognophos
If she went to meetings regularly like a good girl, she'd have some gal pals to attend with; no need to cry about being lonely! I can't believe that her "celebrity status" is the real problem here.
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Son returned home nad full speed ahead with all the jw stuff...
by marriedtoajw inas i stated in my last post, my son, age 21 visited his jw grandparents and aunt and uncle in another state.
when he left, about 2 months ago, he wasn't sure if he wanted to come back at all or just stay and live with them.
right before leaving, he quit his part time job, dropped out of school, mid quarter and left to go to a comic book convention with his jw uncle.
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Apognophos
I like ruderedhead's advice to read up on the religion and become familiar with the flaws in their doctrines (JWFacts.org was the most convincing site for me personally, as a wavering Witness). I don't think any good will come, long-term, from caving in and becoming a pretend-Witness for the sake of household peace.
You have the option to fight fire with fire (religion with religion). I don't know if you are religious yourself (doesn't sound like it), but I'm not religious either anymore; at least I don't think that the God of the Bible exists. Nevertheless, like a number of others here, I have a hypothetical "if God exists" mode that I can go into if I need to debate a Witness using only the Bible. They needn't know that I don't believe the Bible is God's Word because I only argue against Witness interpretation of it, not against its supposed status as divine inspiration.
That being said, you know your family members and what will be more likely to work. There's so many angles to take -- the moral argument against the no-blood stance, the historical argument against the JW organization and its many revised teachings, the scientific argument using biology, anthropology and archaeology.... Perhaps a flat-out atheist argument can be effective (your older son sounds a bit like me, perhaps he will be convinced by scientific arguments against creationism as JWs teach it).
No matter what route you go, if you have specific arguments prepared, it will prevent you from looking like just a "persecutor" and hopefully your family will feel a need to rebut your arguments instead of just writing you off as an "opposer". Please use this forum as a sounding board if you do go this route, as there's many ins and outs to Witness teachings that can be tricky to navigate, and we can offer lots of debate advice (I'm assuming in this post that you weren't ever a Witness, is that right?).
It could be argued, as 10west did, that worse things could happen than your children becoming JWs. At least they will have strict morals to live by; although some Witnesses seem to react to those strict morals by totally flipping out when they eventually leave the religion, or by living double lives. But at least they're in a community of fellow churchgoers who can help them. That being said, I'd be concerned about pressure on them to get baptized, which can lead to disfellowshipping and shunning later. Not only that, if you become a "Witness" you will be expected to deny your children blood transfusions if any of them should need one, some unfortunate day. Whereas right now, as the head of the family, you have the right to take charge in that situation and tell your wife that they're getting blood and that's that. So I would definitely be hesitant in your situation to bite the bullet and start attending meetings.
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Good Lord Sweetie!
by allyouneedislove inso my spouse was just telling me how he/she was having a conversation with a doubting active witness.
my spouse was telling them the doubt he/she had regarding blood transfusions and how he/she wasn't sure anymore.. .
i was like "cautious as serpent, innocent as a dove".
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Apognophos
My avatar seems pretty clearly female, which I guess makes me a gender-bender more than anything.
Sorry for the continued OT-ness, I just had to chime in. Glad to hear your spouse and you are on the same page, though, allyouneedislove!
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The term: To disfellowship in spanish congregations...
by suavojr inin the english congregations they used to announce that brother x has been disfellowshipped.
but in the spanish congregations the announcement was made using the word expulsado (spanish)= expel in english.
when i look up the word disfellowship, this is what i found:.
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Apognophos
Thanks for the update torre. As has been stated, JWs will not use words commonly associated with other religions, in order to emphasive their separateness, even if they have the same practices. Witnesses don't meet in a "church" and they don't sing "hymns", remember? :) It might help to read the definition of shibboleth.
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this world is a reflection of you
by ballistic ini was recently on holiday aka "vacation" on a beautiful island, and turned a corner on a cliff top to see a wall with graffitti on it (ironically), "this world is a reflection of you - take care what you do with it.
" or words to that effect.
so i got thinking it's about dropping litter and stuff.
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Apognophos
I won't pick a choice :), but I agree.
The Witness religion is a good example of that. Only people with the right combination of personality traits tend to stay in, such as a tendency to have low self-esteem and thus feel guilt. Other people can read the same Bible and get a completely different, feel-good message out of it. Even within the organization, you have elders who clearly serve a God of "works" and others who seem to, somewhat subversively, serve a God of love.
When Einstein tried to think about how the universe might work, he reportedly asked himself, "If I were God, how would I do it?" Since his theories worked, he assumed there must be a Creator, since he saw intent and order in the world. Other people look at the same world and focus on the chaotic and negative and assume no God could exist. So yes, the world is really what we make of it!