Posts by gingerbread

23

New requirement to be Recommended

by bruh2012 in

per co last night, he mentioned in his talk that in oder for a brother to be recommended as an elder or ministrial servant he must have a regular and meaningful family worship night.

this will demostrate his willingness not to miss that important meeting and preside over his household.. so i thought, wow what a way to add to the "inspired" biblical list of qualifications.

serving jehovah is sounding more and more and more organizational..

gingerbread

Family studies are almost always started with good intentions and are used to underline the upcoming Watchtower study article. Those of us who raised little ones in this religion might remember reading from the Bible Stories book - and that counted as 1 hour of study on the ol' time slip.

Most often an ongoing weekly family study ends within a month - in my experience and from observation.

Elders (these guys are rarely 'shepherds') keep track of publishers by looking at 1) their meeting attendance and 2) their monthly service report.

ginger

22

My JW sister left JW husband

by umbertoecho in

jw
friends

after years of looking down on me for not being "in the truth", being told (more or less) that my daughter died because i did not have the "truth" and therefore god's approval.

my sister has, after forty years of marriage and fifty years of being in the truth....left her husband and her dis-fellowshipped son and gone to live with our other sister (who by the way is disassociated).

i am amazed at this turn of events, as i have always been led to believe that they were a fine example of how complete and spiritually protected they were as a family for being in the jw religion.

gingerbread

What a pity. This is a story that can be repeated many times over in Jehovah's Witness families.

The core of the problem is honesty. Your sister isn't honest with herself or others. She is in denial. She blames everyone else for her unhappiness. She clings to one thing that appears stable ... the Organization and the promises it promotes. We know this is an illusion.

Maybe this would be a good time for you to be honest with her. Don't be judgemental. Don't try to make a point. Let her know that you are family - and you're here to help her in anyway possible.

She is having a major life crisis. Her 'friends' in the congregation will drop her like a hot potato. She'll need your unconditional love and understanding.

Good luck!

ginger

10

My chat with an elder

by awakening in

jw
friends

my second chat with an elder focused on the lack of any archaeological evidence that the exodus happened.

quite simply it seems to me that a company of 3 million plus livestock could not possibly be sustained in the wilderness, and if they were there then there would definately be evidence.

one writer described the size of the crowd as - imagine 10 people stood side by side, well the line would be 120 miles long with a 3 million crowd.. the elder went through the insight book and discussed the organization of the crowd which has the encampment spread into divisions etc.

gingerbread

Confirmation bias is the problem.

punkofnice

36

Has anyone accidentally stumbled across someone they knew on here?

by SecretHeart11 in

jw
friends

i keep hoping and doing searches on the site for people in my area.

so far no one i recognize.

i have a few df'd friends that i lost touch with long before they were out (two who were elders actually when they got the boot) and would love to find out they were on here, but don't know if they plan on coming back.

gingerbread

I've used the "search" option on the blue tool bar of this page to find people.

So my discoveries haven't really been by accident but they sure have been enlightening! By searching names of towns or last names of people, I've recognized a number of JWN posters. I've been in the 'truth' my whole life and come from a large, well known JW family (in my part of the country).

Some folks don't hide their identity or post personal stories that, if you know this person, it's obvious who they are. I've read stories from disfellowshipped and disassociated people on JWN that I knew who were very bitter (the angry 'apostate') JW haters. What's strange is that some are now reinstated and became fully involved Organization ladder climbers.

The most awkward posts came from posters who are family (or were part of my ex's family). They mention me from time to time in their posts - no names of course. I had no idea they thought these things about me....

ginger

16

Disfellowshipping works!

by hoser in

the key ensuring compliance in an authoritarian system is to have a penalty that creates an emotion of dread in the majority of the populace.

the irs and cra create the fear of being audited, and in fact audit and make examples of a minority.

this ensures that the majority file their income taxes in an orderly and scrupulous manner.

gingerbread

Public punishment and humiliation has been around since man has been in social groups.

The Bible references that Paul and Silas were put into stocks. Military deserters were put in stocks. So was the Puritan 'sinner' in colonial New England. Disobedient slaves were publicly whipped. For centuries persons have been hanged in public or nailed/tied to a pole/cross to die.

Today persons who break laws or social custom can receive public punishment. In the US a person can be given 'public service' hours or be assigned to a 'chain gang' with brightly colored clothes (or "I'm a drunk driver" shirt in some States). In Africa people are still publicly whipped, dismembered or stoned. In Southeast Asia, a lawbreaker can be publicly caned.

As a form of punishment with children, instead of receiving a spanking they are put in 'time out' or 'grounded' - banished from involvement in normal activities.

The same customs are practiced in religion.

ginger

29

WT wants members to auxiliary pioneer in place of vacations now!!!

by EndofMysteries in

the may 2014 km, posted in another thread is a link to download it.

page 2, for week starting may 19th under the service meeting:.

discussion.

gingerbread

We had a visit from a brother who came into the 'truth' in the congregation where I grew up. His 'former' life was a hippy commune carpenter.

Anyhow, he was visiting us from Bethel - the brothers pooled some money together to pay for his round trip flight - and gave a 'report' on Bethel after the WT study.

When we were leaving the Hall I told this guy (I really looked up to him) to have a nice rest of the summer and take it easy. It was an off handed comment from my teenage self. He says to me "We don't have the time to take it easy!! The end could come any day now. Maybe you should be temporary pioneering this summer....".

I thought "what an arrogant jackass".

That was back in the late 1970's. He's still not "taking it easy" for the Org. in Walkill. He's now in his mid-60's.

ginger

44

Jehovahs Witnesses make a big deal about following first century christianity, so please explain this.

by smiddy in

where in the christian greek scriptures do disciples of christ record how many hours a month they preached.. " " " " 10 hours for women and children and slack husbands with no ambition.

" " " " do they record how many back calls / return visits they made in a month.. " " " " have they set down how many bible studys they had in a month.. " " " " do they have pioneers ,special pioneers , aux.pioneers , with goals to reach each month.. " " " " do they have d.o.

, c.o., zone servants , etc.etc.. " " " " where in the christian greek scriptures is the word " organisation" applied to christianity.

gingerbread

BluesBrother...

A mind-controlling, delusional fantasy.

19

How exactly is the Holy Spirit 'directing' the WT?

by keyser soze in

it seems pretty impotent to me if it is.. let's assume, for the sake of argument, that they are merely 'spirit-directed', as opposed to 'inspired'.

and let's assume that there is even a difference(other than semantics) to begin with.

neither claim is validated by the end result.

gingerbread

This one is the squishy mystery for Jehovah's Witnesses.

Most faithful JW's see the 'anointed' and in particular the Governing Body as angels in human form. They were chosen by God and are being 'used' by Holy Spirit.

We earthlings can't understand how God chooses and anoints (with Holy Spirit) these people. We can't understand how God uses his Holy Spirit to direct them what to write or what rules/policies to create.

It's a mystery. Just accept it.

"And now, brothers, please pass the contribution box around."

ginger

44

Jehovahs Witnesses make a big deal about following first century christianity, so please explain this.

by smiddy in

where in the christian greek scriptures do disciples of christ record how many hours a month they preached.. " " " " 10 hours for women and children and slack husbands with no ambition.

" " " " do they record how many back calls / return visits they made in a month.. " " " " have they set down how many bible studys they had in a month.. " " " " do they have pioneers ,special pioneers , aux.pioneers , with goals to reach each month.. " " " " do they have d.o.

, c.o., zone servants , etc.etc.. " " " " where in the christian greek scriptures is the word " organisation" applied to christianity.

gingerbread

My better half now says "If you're a Jehovah's Witness you can't be a Christian. What a screwed up mess we were raised in..."

ginger

16

New Light - Good for goose... gander SOL

by Zoos in

when jws accept new light they must, by default, accept that what they were teaching was false.

they allow themselves the luxury of error so long as it is in the pursuit of better understanding.. .

you would think this scenario demands that allowance be made for other religions with false teachings, but alas, no.

gingerbread

Last year we heard a brother giving a public talk in the KH say - "We must wash our brains clean of the former thought and embrace the correct 'New Light' from Jehovah's faithful and discreet slave."

ginger