Posts by TweetieBird

43

Reform....why?

by Deacon in

jw
friends

24 years ago

the organization cannot be reformed from outside; that can only come from individuals who have the guts and will to do so inside, and the determination to get rid of hardline thinking that is so strangling.

my personal desire is to see immediate change regarding the child abuse policy, and that will come.

to see a clear, quick change in the horribly inconsistent blood policy rather than drag it out over years; kids are dying in the process.enforced shunning is also an evil that they will have to deal with eventually; it's ripping them apart.. .

24 years ago

TweetieBird 24 years ago

It is obvious the the WTS is losing members at an alarming rate. Therefore, if they, IMHO, want to hang on to the members that are left, and possibly add to it, then reform is definitely necessary. Other threads have alluded to the possibility of mainstreaming. At this point, I really do not care one way or another what the WTS does.

However, I would sort of like to see reform take place in the matter of shunning, only because if and when the day ever comes that I am either disfellowshipped or disassociated, my die-hard JW family will still speak to me. I seriously doubt that it will happen in my lifetime, though.

I, too like you Deacon, have done a lot of soul-searching over the past couple of years. It is a journey that is very frustrating. Your whole belief system has been turned upside-down. You start questioning everything, even the existence of God. As JW's the answers were always given to us. "Believe this because WE say it is this way." Then you wake up one day and realize that they are full of..., well you know what they are full of.

I think everyone exiting the organization has to allow themselves time to heal. You almost have to put your spirituality on the back burner and take some time just to absorb life. It is very hard to do because, for me, my whole life from infancy was always centered on Armageddon being around the corner. I never thought in terms of next year, or 5 years from now because Armageddon would be here long before then.

Now I find myself at 43 thinking, uh oh, what am I going to do when I turn 65? I better start putting some money up for retirement. I've got 22 years to save for my retirement. I really feel for those that are in their 50's and 60's that come to this realization as it will be a lot harder on them. Hopefully, they had the good sense to think about this 20 years ago.

Sorry, didn't mean to go off the subject. One thing just led to another.

Thanks for your post.

"By doubting we come at truth" -Cicero

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141

JW Kids Leave the Organization: Facts

by Maximus in

jw
friends

24 years ago

the october 1 watchtower 2001 features articles on training children "properly" and dealing with a "prodigal child.

the latest inside u.s. figures reveal that 86% of jw children leave the fold, with some 29% who eventually come back for reasons of family ties, most never "reaching out.

" that means over half leave permanently.

10 years ago

TweetieBird 24 years ago

waiting, posted:

"What people don't seem to catch is the guilt felt by the parents that they did wrong, not enough, could have done better, if only...... And it's reinforced in talks, talks, talks - and other jw's comments. I think that's one reason parents are willing to shun their own loved children - to get them back to get rid of the unrelenting guilt that is heaped upon us all."

That is a biggie. I know my own mother would always try to hide the fact that not all of her children are/were still "in the truth." She could never tell people about my oldest brother who is clearly apostate (he he). I have another brother that has been df'd since about 1974 for smoking. She doesn't like to admit these things.

When I was still attending meetings, people would ask me how old my children were and then ask how many were baptized. I could see the look of disgust on their faces when I told them none were baptized. It used to bother me, but now I could give a sh.. (oops) crap.

Which brings me back to the original theme of this thread, I strongly believe that another reason why so many teenagers leave and are disfellowshipped is because they are coerced into getting baptized at such a young age. I remember the last few circuit assemblies that I attended, the young ones getting baptized were around the 8 to 10 year old range. There is no way in hell that someone of that age has the wisdom or knowledge to know what they are doing. What's going to happen when puberty hits and they are filled with raging hormones? I've seen it happen over and over again.

Jesus was 30 when he got baptized and he was perfect. Shouldn't that tell the GB something?

"By doubting we come at truth" -Cicero

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26

JW Stumper Questions!!!

by Brutus in

jw
friends

24 years ago

if the organization did not actually prophesy the end in 1925 and 1975, then how come so many witnesses left the faith immediately afterwards?

("they lost roughly three-quarters of the movement between 1925 and 1928, then suffered huge losses after 1975, when the end didn't come as they had implied over and over again," said jim penton, an ex-witness who writes entries on jehovah's witnesses for the encyclopedia americana.

if the watchtower organization rejects others calling them "inspired" yet the watchtower organization does call themselves "god's spirit-directed prophet" what is the difference?

24 years ago

TweetieBird 24 years ago

thewiz,

Quite humorous, but really that is an excellent question. Tell me, did any elder ever answer you?

"By doubting we come at truth" -Cicero

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45

Staying awake during the Watchtower study

by drahcir yarrum in

jw
friends

24 years ago

here's a question i always wanted answered during the years i was a witness.

what's the best way to stay awake during the watchtower study?

oh, furthermore, what's the best way to stay awake during any witness "snooze-a-thon" brainwashing session?

23 years ago

TweetieBird 24 years ago

Cocogurl, did it work?

Enquiring minds want to know.

"By doubting we come at truth" -Cicero

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29

Raising Kids to be Cult Members!!!

by lisaBObeesa in

jw
friends

24 years ago

in another thread, there is a discussion about young people leaving the jws at a rate of something like 88%.

we see the rules given to the sheep for raising their children and we shake our heads saying, dont they get it?

what is wrong with the org that it cant see how they are treating the youth?

14 years ago

TweetieBird 24 years ago

Thanks, Lisa for stimulating the brain cells. So much of what you said hits home. 2 of my children are legal adults, never baptized, but still raised with that "you have to conform" attitude, no wonder they rebelled against "the truth." They are still trying to figure out what they want to be when they grow up, hell so am I for that matter.

"By doubting we come at truth" -Cicero

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141

JW Kids Leave the Organization: Facts

by Maximus in

jw
friends

24 years ago

the october 1 watchtower 2001 features articles on training children "properly" and dealing with a "prodigal child.

the latest inside u.s. figures reveal that 86% of jw children leave the fold, with some 29% who eventually come back for reasons of family ties, most never "reaching out.

" that means over half leave permanently.

10 years ago

TweetieBird 24 years ago

Very interesting post.

I do not know about statistics, but on a personal note, looking back at the number of kids that I grew up with, only a handful are still JW's. In my little realm of the earth, I would say about 40-50% are still "in the truth." Of those that profess to still be JW's, probably half of them are devoted JW's with the other half putting in token appearances at the meetings to keep their friends and family.

As for my children, I have 4, ages 10-20, only 1 shows the slightest interest in going to the KH, occasionally telling me that we need to get back to the meetings, of which I blow off. That one, incidentally, has not mentioned that for at least 2 months, we're making progress. Of the children that my children grew up with, only a small percentage still attend meetings. My oldest son hangs out with 2 that are df'd, and 4 that quit going when they reached legal age.

When I first started reading this post, I was thinking along the same lines as Joelbear, but when I started analyzing the situation in my area, I don't think the statistics are too far off the mark.

"By doubting we come at truth" -Cicero

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71

When and where baptized

by drahcir yarrum in

jw
friends

24 years ago

i thought it might be interesting to see how many here remember where and when they were baptised into the borg.

for some the memory may be too painful, but i'm curious.. me.

it was 1966 in vancouver, bc.

24 years ago

TweetieBird 24 years ago

May 13, 1972 at a brother's house in Orlando, FL. His name was Henderson Wilder and I had a huge crush on his son, Jimmy. The assemblies were held at some cow barn and they would always have the baptisms at his house.

I got baptized because all of my friends got baptized. I was 14.

"By doubting we come at truth" -Cicero

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2

They're talking about us in my home town.

by montag in

jw
friends

24 years ago

as i've mentioned in a previous post, i live in sunny milton keynes.. our local community website, mkweb.co.uk, is full of discussions, mostly about the aborted transfer of wimbledon fc to our city.. however........ take a look at the mkweb message board [scroll to bottom of page].. .

http://www.mkweb.co.uk/forum/home.asp?forumnumber=1.

anyone feel like joining the discussion?.

24 years ago

TweetieBird 24 years ago

I thought that was you, Gwen.

"By doubting we come at truth" -Cicero

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17

Suggestions, please re ``placing'' free COCs

by Room 215 in

jw
friends

24 years ago

a friend and i have come across a quantity of crisis of conscience in like-new condition, both english and italian editions.

we're in a quandary as to how to make best use of them.

we were thinking of donating them to the libraries or to perhaps cut a deal wth a local christian book store.

24 years ago

TweetieBird 24 years ago

Donate them to the libraries.

"By doubting we come at truth" -Cicero

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46

1975 Reaction

by MadApostate in

jw
friends

24 years ago

this past weekend, one of the few remaining jw relatives who will still discuss jw stuff with me told me about his recently attending a home bible study being conducted by an elder.

evidently, the study had been told or had picked up some info about the 1975 fiasco.

the elder totally denied that the society had stated or even led people to believe that armageddon would occur in 1975, and he naturally blamed some individual jws for misinterpreting the society's materials.

17 years ago

TweetieBird 24 years ago

I vaguely remember hearing some talk about stockpiling but in 1974 I was a young teenage girl, afraid that Armageddon would come before I could get married and have sex. So I really didn't dwell on food and sustenance, just boys.

"By doubting we come at truth" -Cicero

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