just wanted everyone to know that i got back today/night from my second jw funeral in less than 3 months and that both of them (2 different halls),were handled completely different than in times past.. used to be it seemed like a recruitment opportunity (as many of you have pointed out before), but these last two times it was totally different from previous times.
it didn't seem like they used the outline at all that had been posted in another thread a while back.. that was kinda interesting and refreshing at the same time to actually hear them focus more on the individual that had passed instead of only a few minutes about them and the rest all about the org.
(wt).
The funerals we've attended in the past ten years or so have been held in funeral homes - not at the KH.
This seems to give the 'minister' greater freedom with the words spoken. These funerals have been less 'funeral talk' (I've always dispised how that sounds) and more of a rememberance. Of course the deceased's activity as a JW is highlighted and usually mixed with a couple of experiences - often times humorous.
ginger
hi!.
hey, did anyone here ever get disfellowshipped after years of fading, because of having been discovered online saying crap about the wts and/or the gb?.
just wondering... you know they are following these sites....
dozy's comment is correct.
If you fade and appear to still lead a 'clean life', you'll avoid a JC meeting. But....if anyone gets word that an inactive person is doing things that warrant disfellowshipping, the elders will investigate - even years after they left.
As one smart a$$ elder once told me "in the congregation there is no 'statute of limitations.' "
I've come to realize that if you choose to be inactive but don't relocate or you have family members that are card carrying JW's and want to be yourself, it's almost impossible to avoid elder trouble.
You can't have your cake and eat it too...
ginger
i have an oppertuinity to try ttatt on an elders wife who is a pioneer who showed up today.
she is willing to meet me one on one to discuss how pedofiles are protected, the blood issue, the flip flpos, how they teach theocratical warfare and hate.
i agreed to only use watchtower and awake publications.
In my experience as a JW (over 40 years ), elders wives are the most power hungry, deceptive and potentially dangerous people in the congregation.
Don't be a fool. You are about to walk into a spider's web.
More people are disfellowshipped as a result of 'confiding' to an elder's wife or pioneer sister than you might imagine!
ginger
i know this is old news, but as i sit here, and ponder the upcoming agm, i can't help but think, " what happened?!!
" i actually awoke an hour before my alarm went off, just thinking of everything that is bothering me about the wtbts.
approach this list as a born-in, someone who was told that you were different from everyone else.
Look at the community page "Jehovah's Kingdom Proclaimers" on Facebook.
You'll get a nice snapshot of the mentality of JW's from around the world.
ginger
so an elder just dropped by my job, completely out of the blue.
recepitionist called me over and there he was.
he told about annual meerting and grey bible....etc.
All congregations now have 'service groups' with an elder and assistant responsible for getting information to the publishers. These subsets of the congregation are intended to act like the old book study arrangement. The group leaders call and text.
Currently the information shared is about changes in meeting/service times or locations, hall cleaning and outside maintenance & reminders to turn in service time.
When we were semi-regular, we received communications. Now it seems they just don't bother.
ginger
Restoration of 1st century Christianity ( "true worship" ) by the Second Adventists/Bible Students/Jehovah's Witnesses is a historical misunderstanding promoted by them from the pulpit and publications for 150 years.
PLEASE research the history of this organization and it's beliefs.
ginger
The Org/Corp of Jehovah's Witnesses is rebranding itself.
They are effectively distancing themselves from 1) door-to-door sales people canvasing a neighborhood and 2) the bizarre Biblical conclusions of C.T. Russell.
The 'streamed' Annual Meeting and the release of a revised NWT Bible has stirred the emotional pot of the faithful (see Jehovah's Kingdom Proclaimers on Facebook).
The new JW Library App makes it easy for any JW to make a decision on anything they encounter with the touch of a finger.
These changes are a big hit - especially with the those raised in the 'truth' that are still in their teens.
Don't fool yourself. The WT Society will use every means available to keep the membership from shrinking (and at the same time develop alternative forms of marketing to increase it's appeal to the general public).
ginger
i find that whether born in or converts, most jw's give their own conscience over to the gb (and writing dept) to dictate how they will react to any moral question.. they simply lack a conscience of their own.. this is not their fault, we should not look down on them for this, their conscience, their natural feeling of what is right and wrong has been:.
stolen from them !.
we all know how the cult does this to them, it did it to us, i really am almost in tears when i think that had either of my darling children needed a blood transfusion i would have resisted, believing what i have been taught all my life, that their eternal life was more important than their life now.. how can we persuade jw's to take back their conscience ?.
I'm predicting that the new JW Library App will be a huge hit - an instant answer to any decision with the tap of a finger.
No researching or thinking required!
ginger
i know this is old news, but as i sit here, and ponder the upcoming agm, i can't help but think, " what happened?!!
" i actually awoke an hour before my alarm went off, just thinking of everything that is bothering me about the wtbts.
approach this list as a born-in, someone who was told that you were different from everyone else.
In the 1920's, J.F. Rutherford dictated that each 'member' must be active door-to-door ministers for the WT organization. The methods have changed but the purpose is the same - to GROW membership.
The spoken position of Russell was the denial of creating a new 'religion'. That position was to create an alternative to organized religion - free from man-made traditions, a centralized authority and the building of 'churches'.
ginger
for people who have a paralyzing fear of dying, to where it seems like it's this horrible, stalking monster, jwism is a powerful sedative.. but really, the idea of living forever, in human form, is nonsense.
living forever isn't about living forever, it's about not dying.. death is natural.
it can be painful, sudden, or both.
As a JW, we all were 'praying for the end of time' to come a.s.a.p to relieve ourselves of the difficulties and troubles of life. This real motivation is thinly veiled behind a curtain of 'works' to bring mankind our message of salvation.
If we really believed this message, we would be spending every waking minute going from 'door-to-door'. When I realized this, I began to question the validity of this religion.
Before birth you know nothing. After death you know nothing. Period.
To loosely quote Joseph Campbell - There is no meaning to life. Life has meaning when you engage with it.
ginger
