Before you agree to a meeting, please read the upcoming April WT - Study Edition. (available at JW.org) These study articles define the organization and how your support of it's efforts and arrangements are necessary for your happiness and survival. A major shift in emphasis has begun within the congregations - to "assist" those with questions or doubts and are not as active as they once were. They want a confrontation. And will deal with you judicially. Even if the elders have been close friends, their job is to carry out the societies directives. If your wife (and her family) comes to the conclusion that your viewpoints are "endangering" her spiritually, she has grounds for separation - with full backing and support of the local elders.
gingerbread
JoinedPosts by gingerbread
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Another visit from the elders
by jonno12225 inso i have another visit from the elder this week.
this time they want to speak with my wife, still a believer and myself.
i think they want to know my position about my children attending the meetings and some other things.. while preparing myself for it i though of a challenge for the elders and my wife.
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Has disproving the "Truth" become an obsession for you at times?
by Pyramid Scheme ini was curious if anyone else has gone through a similar experience.. when i became inactive 4 years ago, i went through a period of not being able to focus on just about anything, other than doing tremendous amounts of research to prove to myself what my beliefs were, and to clearly identify my issues with the jw organization.
i was mad - and i was on a mission to build the ultimate case against the wt.
however, having read the fine advice on here, i backed off with my family, since it would have just gotten ugly.. i avoided posting on here for years, and had cut down my research and put it on the back burner.. however, i still felt a need to "witness" to my family and to have an open discussion with my wife.
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gingerbread
I echo your thoughts - both Pyramid Scheme and tornapart. If you were raised in the org with most family "in" as well as a lifetime of friendships, it's difficult to keep quiet. Two years ago I began my earnest research because of my own refusal to accept many organizational procedures and requirements - as man made/non-biblical. Mildly expressing my concerns and sharing evidence - over time - has helped my spouse to see the realities of the WTS. We now attend about half of the Sunday meetings - because of aged parents.
Remember: the WTS and the congregation's elders (put in place to enforce WT directives) want you to be emotional and confrontational. If one expresses doubts to them, their stance will change from "concerned" to aggressively offensive in a heart beat. They want to push you out of the congregation and force a separation of you from your family and friends. They want you to get disfellowshipped or for you to disassociate yourself. We've decided not to give them the power. Our lives are ours and we've decided to believe what we want to believe....and to maintain our relationships with family.
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Just dropped my Mom off at the Kingdom Hall...
by Jewel inwe live about half an hour from the kingdom hall.
we had some snow last night and the roads are a little "iffy".
i didn't want my 83 yo mother driving on her own so i brought her in and dropped her off.
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gingerbread
My own situation mirrors your's in many ways. Remember that life is indeed short and good relationships and friends are gifts that make life full. You're doing the right thing with your mom - if that's what she wants. I'm trying to make time to just visit with my parents as often as possible - nothing special....sometimes just dropping by - showing them that I'm here for them.
I suspect that the really nice folks that you grew up with at the Hall were good - not necessarily because of the religion - but because they were just really good people. The idiots in the hall - elders, elders wives, other kids - usually just wind up being....well..."idiots."
I too can feel sad when I think about things - I'm in the middle of the fading process. Or maybe it's just a general disappointment with the realities of "the Truth".
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Singing Listen, Obey & Be Blessed
by gingerbread inrecently attended the sunday meeting during the c.o.
's visit.
at the end of the final talk, he says the song will be 'listen, obey and be blessed'.
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gingerbread
Before the release of "Listening to the Great Teacher" in the '70's, we were all asked to come down and sit in front of the the stage for the talk. During the talk we all received our own "personal" copy of the release. I'm guessing that most of my generation - at least in the US - retain that "special" talk in our memories. Maybe the WTS is attempting (or encouraging) to redo a similar experience for all the current unbaptised children....in the local halls.
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Singing Listen, Obey & Be Blessed
by gingerbread inrecently attended the sunday meeting during the c.o.
's visit.
at the end of the final talk, he says the song will be 'listen, obey and be blessed'.
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gingerbread
Recently attended the Sunday meeting during the C.O.'s visit. At the end of the final talk, he says the song will be 'Listen, Obey and Be Blessed'. Then he asks all the young folks to come on the stage with their song books and to lead the congregation into the song. The stage filled with kids... and also parents & grandparents holding very little ones. Everyone sings! Some phones are raised above heads to record the kids, etc. on stage. Some adults in the audience are singing with tears streaming down their cheeks.
Has anyone experienced this event at the local hall during a recent C.O. visit? I've heard about it happening during "get togethers". Is it becoming the thing to do since jw.org released the video of the annual meeting?
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gingerbread
They left out three VERY important parts of the organization:
1. Legal Department
2. Real Estate Acquisitions and Sales
3. Regional Building Committees
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A picture so outrageous, it deserves its own thread...
by cedars ini mean no disrespect to sd-7 or his fine thread on which this picture has already featured, but i think it is just so ridiculous that it deserves a thread all of its own.. lurkers and apologists, this is how your precious organization views itself.... behold the madness.... .
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cedars.
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gingerbread
The WT Society has used pictures and illustrations as object lessons since it's inception - see Photo Drama of Creation. They understand the power of pictures and invest heavily in this area. The cost for the Photo Drama was $300,000 in 1912 ( abt. 7 million in current US dollars). The production costs for current videos are now doubt just as astronomical.
Today every image is carefully orchestrated - down to the last detail - to give a "message". The art department is deliberate in everything it produces. And the publishers in every congregation that I've been involved with are well aware of this fact. Just attend the WT study - illustrations and their implied message are always discussed.
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SkyGreen is no longer one of Jehovahs Witnesses... Why?
by SkyGreen inwow it felt good to type that heading, if only it were officially true!.
i guess i dont want to dwell on "ttatt" too much, though i am now an inactive jw now, and will be forever, i dont want to be defined by that.
but i will certainly keep an eye on this forum, contribute where i feel i can, and i must say thankyou to those who moderate it and keep it running.
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gingerbread
Thanks for sharing! I too have been - and continue to be - in the process of deconstructing the beliefs once held to be absolute. As a part of the JW culture - active yet pessimistic - for forty years, it has been a challenge to face the facts. If you don't want to be labeled a full blown "apostate" it's best to quietly go about your business. I too have come to the conclusion that family and real friends are more important that ones religion.
A scenario that I've rolled around in my mind has been to imagine that I was born in the Middle East (no fault of my own), have a family and career, never heard of the Witnesses, never read the Bible, had no exposure to Christianity. Just a regular guy. Yet (unknown to me) the clock was ticking on a complete extermination of me, my family, friends, neighbors... And - to really make this situation really weird - there were 7+ million people working as hard as they can preaching about (not to me) and anxiously anticipating this divine destruction?? Just doesn't add up...
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My Story
by nolongerconfused inwell...where do i start.... i was raised in the truth...always knowing that there was nothing better out there besides the wt...however, recently i have a made a determination to not go "anywhere"...in all of my almost 35 years of being part of this "organization" i can honestly say i never read the bible as i do today...my "personal" study of the bible has more meaning today than it ever did...after reading the bible i have found many inconsistencies in the wt organization...i hold no grudges or hard feelings towards anyone in the organization, including the so called governing body...i just believe that human imperfection has taken it's toll on this organization...however, that is no excuse to act as a false prophet or assume things that only belong jehovah and his son...the bible is the truth, and jesus said such truth will set us free...i served as a pioneer all of my youth, and served as a ms...as of today i don't partake in that kind of manmade "service"... i'm truly against monthly time reports, special titles of service, asking for donations, judicial committees, among other things...some people may ask why?...well, none of these things are biblical!...some have told me, well the gb is now the faithful and discreet slave...and i say, as determined by who?...nowhere in my personal reading of the bible does it say that there was or there would ever be a gb...this group of men was self appointed...anything self appointed or self made up is definitely not discreet or faithful...jesus never ever appointed such a group.... a family member of mine passed away 2 years ago...he was never a "witness"...but i did preach to him once in a while so he "knew" about god...he just never wanted to be part of this organization...yet, when he passed away i was told repeatedly by the brothers and resurrection publications that i will see him in paradise... i thought to myself, but jehovah is the only one that determines or says who will resurrect (weather heavenly or earth)...i always thought...we as men are nobody to classify or determine that being part of a certain "organization" is the only way to salvation...jesus never said such thing...yet some may say that jehovah has always used an organization giving an moses and the israelite "organization" as an example...but then i say, well jesus is the end of the old covenant...we don't need an organization to be our mediator between us and the true god...jesus is the only mediator.... i could just say so many other things, but i felt like sharing this with all of you...as i cannot share this with any family members or brothers since i would be considered an apostate...i truly believe god is the only judge and i will hold myself accountable to him and no one else.... thanks for reading.... .
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gingerbread
Thanks for the post! I share many of the same things that you've expressed and experienced. A couple of years ago I took the WT's advice to examine the society's history ("our spiritual heritage") and to read the bible daily....and it really rattled my cage! I searched the history of the org and it's leaders through the WT library cd and wikipedia...then to many other sources. It's an ongoing process that foregrounds self examination and honesty!
It takes time. If you are still in "good standing" be very careful about sharing your new found insights...
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How many decades/centuries before 1914 becomes irrelevant?
by jwfacts inhow long do you think the watchtower can speak about 1914 and have followers think it relevant?
i think for people born in the 1900's, it feels like an acceptable year.
but what about those born since 2000, will 1914 seem like a year of relevance?
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gingerbread
Perhaps the "admission" of giving incorrect dates for the end - in the current public WT - is the start of a distancing from 1914...?