Posts by ItsMyLife

152

How Long has it Been since you Last Attended Meetings and What Caused...

by flipper in

jw
friends

..... you to stop attending ?

injustices ?

disagree with the teachings ?

ItsMyLife

I've left twice! First time when I was in my late teens, because I wanted to be 'normal' and have fun, date guys, go out clubbing.

Came back as didn't know where else to go when I got pregnant, and still kind of thought it was the best thing to do.

Realized that I actually didn't really care all that much, really resented meetings & ministry and it was brought home to me every time I was child-free for a day that I didn't actually have a single real friend in the cong that I could call to do something with.

Got sick back in Oct and didn't attend for a few weeks, since then I've been to one and a half meetings and not been out on the ministry at all. When I went to those meetings it was only to please my Dad, and I felt so oppressed sitting there, it really felt like I had a boa constrictor wrapping itself around me. Since I made the decision to not go back, I have felt such a huge weight off my shoulders, and I can view it all objectively. The stuff I've found out amazes me, the amount of contradiction there is blows my mind. I've always had a habit of arguing in my head against what was being said from the platform, sometimes it just was such utter bull.

My parents and two siblings are still in though, very deeply in. My poor old Dad is an elder, he has so many responsibilities with meetings, JCs, shepherding visits plus full-time work and caring for his family, and he still berates himself for not getting enough service in (he does 6-8 hours a month). What kind of a yoke is that? Certainly not light and kindly!

91

What Was Your "Status" Within The Organization?

by minimus in

jw
friends

were you a sought after associate?.

were you often invisible?.

did other witnesses view you as "exemplary"?.

ItsMyLife

Dad converted when I was 18 months, Mum 18 months after that, Dad has been an elder most of my life. I was the eldest of several, the 'perfect' elder's kid, baptized at 15 (coz my best mate was), became inactive at 18. Went back pregnant several years later, still elder's daughter (apparently no identitiy of my own), otherwise ignored as single working mum/sister who had never pioneered.

Not been to a meeting for a few months, had a couple of elder visits but only due to Dad being one. Couple of 'friends' have contacted me. 'Best' (HA) mate only been in touch recently to tell me her nephew was DF'd.

So, status in cong - unimportant and not worth the bother!

74

New video: Jehovah's Witnesses and Watchtower's secret child abuse letter

by cedars in

we have decided to let the world know what happened when our websites were shut down earlier this month by means of this new video..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_9efi84qnc.

huge thanks to nugget for lending us her gorgeous voice, and also to cantleave for his cameo role as the voice of the big bad watchtower!

cedars.

ItsMyLife

Cedars - Thank you for your reply. I hadn't thought of it from that angle. I guess I would have just assumed people would go straight to the police, regardless of who was involved.

To be honest, although I am by no means an innocent woman, I really had absolutely no idea that there was any sort of a problem within the congregations regarding child abuse. I naively just assumed that all JWs were good people (99% of the ones I was brought up knowing were/are). The thought that someone could be a child molester never even occured to me. I was raised as a witness from the age of 18months, and was pretty much taught that all witnesses were as close to perfection as you could get in an imperfect world.

Personally, if anybody even laid a finger on my child, I would probably be arrested for attempted murder! But I would tell the police, the elders, others in the hall, anyone who would listen. But then, I've never been a 100% 'good' JW, I've always struggled with the many rules and regulations, and would be more likely to go as far against whatever advice the elders gave as I could without getting into too much trouble. I'm ever such a disappointment to Daddy...

As an aside, do you know what the legal team at the branch do when an accusation is reported to them? Do they have a system in place whereby they themselves contact the police to determine whether or not someone is a 'predator'? Or do they simply just look at the legal ramifications of it being made public that there was molester in the congregation, and weigh up whether the amount of 'reproach brought on Jehovah's name' is worth making others in the congregation aware that there was a danger among them?

Sorry if I ask too many questions. I am only just starting to wake up to the fact that not all is well and right and actually thinking for myself. I do appreciate the time you and others put in to help and support people like myself, thank you.

All the best x

74

New video: Jehovah's Witnesses and Watchtower's secret child abuse letter

by cedars in

we have decided to let the world know what happened when our websites were shut down earlier this month by means of this new video..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_9efi84qnc.

huge thanks to nugget for lending us her gorgeous voice, and also to cantleave for his cameo role as the voice of the big bad watchtower!

cedars.

ItsMyLife

Thank you so much for all your hard work producing this video, on top of everything else you do!

I do have a question - more a case of asking for opinions really. I was discussing this child abuse policy with my sister last night. She's 26, was raised a JW but left at 17 before she got baptized (yes, I'm jealous!!). She wasn't as shocked as I expected and her response was this:

'I don't necessarily see why it should be the elders' responsibility to contact the authorities or police when an accusation of child abuse/molestation is made. Surely it is the responsibility of the parents to report it to the police and then if they find the person to be guilty after a full investigation, then that should be evidence enough for the abuser to be disfellowshipped.'

Now I'm not all that fast a thinker - give me a couple of days to ponder things and I can argue well, but on the spot my brain freezes. What would your response have been to that statement? I can see her point, and think it is a reasonable one, although I personally don't agree and think any accusation should be reported to those who have been trained to investigate. But your thoughts would be welcome, please. By the by, she also stated that anyone who molests children should be removed from society in general, so she isn't any kind of a sympathizer or apologist!!

Thanks all :-)

19

In all US states, the Courts do NOT require two witnesses or even corroborating evidence in child sex abuse cases

by yadda yadda 2 in

pages 433-437 inter alia, of the book "myers on evidence in child, domestic or elder abuse cases" fourth edition refers.. you can view this very informative material at google books.

this shows how the watchtower's strict interpretation of the biblical two-witness rule is very much out of harmony with the modern legal system in matters of child sex abuse.

j.r. brown, watchtower spokesman, is reported by the associated press on february 11, 2001 to have said:"...corroborating evidence can be used instead of a second witness to prove wrongdoing.

ItsMyLife

Chaserious Hello! I just wanted to make a brief point. I agree for the most part with what you have said, especially with regards to those outside the JW community. However, children within the community are more unlikely to be exposed to anything sexual as a general rule than maybe other children. So any claims by children of someone molesting them are less likely to be made up, as they would be unfamiliar with anything like that (obviously I'm not saying all children who aren't JWs are familiar with sexual behaviour!).

Having said that, it is of course still possible for JW parents to coach their kids if they have any suspicions. Although most JWs I know think ALL brothers and sisters are completely innocent and the idea that someone would do anything that horrific just wouldn't cross their minds!

Anyway, just my tuppence worth :-) All the best x

45

New F&DS Light question

by ItsMyLife in

i have a question about the implications of the new light regarding the f&ds.

sorry if it sounds complicated, i'm not good at explaining things.. .

if the f&ds is now just the few brothers who get together to dispense the food at the proper time, and the f&ds will be appointed over all of christ's belongings, then does that mean they will be appointed above the rest of the 144,000 when they go to heaven?

ItsMyLife

I have to disappear for a bit, but will be back later to read & respond - thanks all so far, you've made me think even more!

Flipper - I've read quite a few of your posts and I have to say I like the way you think.

I may have to ask for a lot of help from people on here, I hope you all don't mind :-)

45

New F&DS Light question

by ItsMyLife in

i have a question about the implications of the new light regarding the f&ds.

sorry if it sounds complicated, i'm not good at explaining things.. .

if the f&ds is now just the few brothers who get together to dispense the food at the proper time, and the f&ds will be appointed over all of christ's belongings, then does that mean they will be appointed above the rest of the 144,000 when they go to heaven?

ItsMyLife

Splash, thank you for that explanation/clarification. My next question is then, why did Jesus specify the F&DS as being the ones appointed, and not also mention the rest of the annointed ones? My reading of the scripture is that only they would be appointed over all His belongings. Which of course could be completely wrong, seeing as I'm neither super-smart nor directed by Holy Spirit :-)

And, I've just thought - wasn't that the original teaching anyway, that all of the144,000 would be appointed over all His belongings? So how is the F&DS different? Other than writing the literature I mean. Mt 24: 45-47 makes it quite clear that this final appointment would be something special, a reward for the slave handing out the food at the proper time. So if the rest of the annointed are also going to be given this appointment, then the slave isn't actually anything special in comparison.

Is this circular thinking on my part?

45

New F&DS Light question

by ItsMyLife in

i have a question about the implications of the new light regarding the f&ds.

sorry if it sounds complicated, i'm not good at explaining things.. .

if the f&ds is now just the few brothers who get together to dispense the food at the proper time, and the f&ds will be appointed over all of christ's belongings, then does that mean they will be appointed above the rest of the 144,000 when they go to heaven?

ItsMyLife

Flipper: Thanks for the welcome. I absolutely do not think it's reasonable that these men would be appointed over those specifically chosen by Christ in person/inpsired by God directly. I actually don't think they have been appointed at all, but that's another point altogether! I was just wondering if anyone was able to explain what the position would be if this new light were in fact accurate. It also begs the question of who exactly would be appointed over all of Christ's belongings, because they have just added a new member to the GB and F&DS haven't they? Would it just apply to those who are members of the F&DS from 2012 onwards? Or to all those who are and have ever been 'annointed' and have been involved in writing the literature? I have sooo many questions, sorry!! It just doesn't make sense to me.

Think About It: Thank you. I expect I may be on here quite regularly in the future - such a great site but I've never dared to look at it before.

james_woods: Thank you. I haven't delved very deeply into the scriptures surrounding the verses this understanding is supposedly taken from. I've got a lot of reading to do. But from the small amount of reading I have done, I can't see how they have come to this conclusion. Does this mean that the rest of the 144,000, previously declared to be the F&DS, will no longer be appointed over Christ's belongings? Which would lead me to conclude that they won't be serving as kings & priests after all. Or am I being dumb?

Ding: You make a good point. Unfortunately, they seem to take an awful long time to explain anything fully, if indeed they do it at all. I don't want to waste more of my life than I already have!

FatFreek: That's what I thought!

My initial reaction to this 'new light' was - 'Well, now they can really control what is said in the literature and what the JWs do, without having to answer to anybody, as they have decided they are the only ones who are directed by HS.' Or words to that effect

20

Musings on today's dishonest text.

by Slidin Fast in

jw
friends

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ItsMyLife

Justnowout - My Dad is an elder (a very honest, genuine, completely believing, wants-to-help-everybody elder), and he spends literally hours preparing his talks. I would say when he is preparing a new public talk, he spends around 9 hours working on it. For a 30-minute discourse. But then, he is a bit of a perfectionist so he feels he has to get it exactly right.

It makes me a little sad to think that this EXTREMELY intelligent man, who became a JW 30 seconds after reading the 'Truth' book, happily accepts all the changes and reversals in thinking, and believes it's all 'new light'. Unless his perfectionism and personal pride prevents him from admitting he's wasted the past 30-odd years.... Anyway, sorry, I went slightly off-topic there :-)

45

New F&DS Light question

by ItsMyLife in

i have a question about the implications of the new light regarding the f&ds.

sorry if it sounds complicated, i'm not good at explaining things.. .

if the f&ds is now just the few brothers who get together to dispense the food at the proper time, and the f&ds will be appointed over all of christ's belongings, then does that mean they will be appointed above the rest of the 144,000 when they go to heaven?

ItsMyLife

Hi all,

I have a question about the implications of the new light regarding the F&DS. Sorry if it sounds complicated, I'm not good at explaining things.

If the F&DS is now just the few brothers who get together to dispense the food at the proper time, and the F&DS will be appointed over all of Christ's belongings, then does that mean they will be appointed above the rest of the 144,000 when they go to heaven? Because if the rest of the 144,00 are no longer actually the F&DS, then they can't be appointed over Christ's belongings and therefore what would their positions be?

Or have I understood it incorrectly?

Any genuine explanations would be greatly appreciated! Thanks :-)