M'am, I shall repeat this just once more for your benefit: No issue taken with you here. Aren't we still in 'bury the hatchet' mode?
Eden
EdenOne
JoinedPosts by EdenOne
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34
'Clergy' and 'Ordained Ministers'
by OrphanCrow inwhat i can't seem reconcile are the concepts of 'clergy' and 'ordained minister'.. the wts has consistently won legal battles, specifically in cases involving military exemption, by making the claim that each and every baptized jw is an 'ordained minister'.
and, they bolstered this label with the assertion that 'we do not have a clergy class'.
so, why is that different now in the sex abuse trials that happening right now?
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'Clergy' and 'Ordained Ministers'
by OrphanCrow inwhat i can't seem reconcile are the concepts of 'clergy' and 'ordained minister'.. the wts has consistently won legal battles, specifically in cases involving military exemption, by making the claim that each and every baptized jw is an 'ordained minister'.
and, they bolstered this label with the assertion that 'we do not have a clergy class'.
so, why is that different now in the sex abuse trials that happening right now?
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EdenOne
I was just observing, Viviane. No issue taken.
Eden
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34
'Clergy' and 'Ordained Ministers'
by OrphanCrow inwhat i can't seem reconcile are the concepts of 'clergy' and 'ordained minister'.. the wts has consistently won legal battles, specifically in cases involving military exemption, by making the claim that each and every baptized jw is an 'ordained minister'.
and, they bolstered this label with the assertion that 'we do not have a clergy class'.
so, why is that different now in the sex abuse trials that happening right now?
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Seeking support during confusing and stressful 'cognitive dissonance'
by LHS123 insorry for the long post but i need help.
ive been a jw for 20 years - still active and attending meetings, baptised at 18, i have recently become very dissillusioned.
a few reasons: ill treatment of my kids by a prominent 'assembly speaker' elder, then my son left the truth at 15 (not baptised) and was 'dropped' instantly, despite this community having been his whole life for 15 years.
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EdenOne
LHS123, welcome to this forum.
Believe me, we feel your pain and distress. Many of us have experienced, or are still going through, the same kind of realization; that this Organization known as Watchtower / Jehovah's Witnesses has nothing to do with God. Depending on how much of your life you have invested into serving this organization and its leadership's doctrinal whims, your awakening to what we usually call here "the truth about the truth" (TTATT) can be emotionally devastating. Many of us have asked: "OMG what have I done with my life? And my children's lives?" This is to say, you're not alone and here you'll find support.
You'll find that each person's mileage will vary. Some have completely lost their faith in God / Jehovah and Jesus, in various degrees. Some still find ways to salvage their belief and go on searching for meaning and purpose and comfort in another religion. Some are just happy to keep a personal relationship with Jehovah, reasoning that it's not his fault that this organization has become hopelessly corrupted. We all go through various stages of anger towards this organization and its leadership, because we have been fooled, and who enjoys that?
You must be aware that, as per Jehovah's Witnesses doctrine as dictated by the Governing Body, this website and JWFacts.com are indeed apostate websites. Yes, it's about websites like this that they're so vitriolic about. However, that is only true if you accept their definition of "apostate". They will have the Witnesses believe that departing from the teachings of the Governing Body is apostasy against the God of the Bible, when, in reality, it is THEM who are the veritable apostates, because they teach made-up doctrines as if they have biblical support, when they only do with the Scriptures what other religions have done for millennia - twist them for their own purposes of dominating over others. The Governing Body demonizes apostates because that's the way propaganda works - when you dehumanize your enemy, you stop seeing him as a human being, and so it's easy to create feelings of fear and abhorrence towards them; this has one sole purpose: That the sincere, gullible Witness who blindly nods to whatever the Governing Body says never gets in contact with what those who left have to say about the Watchtower Society. By controlling the information, they control what their members know, and manipulate how they think. But the internet is a game changer. And they are right about fearing the voice of dissenters. The Watchtower has more skeletons on their closets than a mass grave in a war zone. Take your time to do unbiased research and you'll easily come to that conclusion. The vilified "apostates" are simply people like you, who once were indoctrinated and at some point woke up to the hard reality that they've been captured by a high control cult who sold them bogus dreams in exchange for their servitude.
Welcome to the first day of the rest of your life. Despite the anger and confusion and fear, it will get better at some point in the future.
Eden
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The Logisitcs of Destroying Organized Religion
by truthseeker inthey define babylon the great as the "world empire of false religion", and that jehovah god will use the united nations to turn on her.. .
the "keep on the watch" brochure says the following, regarding the destruction of babylon the great:.
"for our day, the bible forecasts that political governments, like a wild beast, will turn on "the harlot" and strip her naked, exposing her real .
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EdenOne
The day all mankind awakens from the drug-induced coma of organized religion and spontaneously walks away from it without the need to outlaw it, allowing it to die a natural death and relegating it to the displays of Anthropology museums - that day will be a very happy day.
Eden
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David Schafer's Mistake
by Hold Me-Thrill Me inthanks cappytan for posting the thread "jehovah's people as a whole can never be corrupted".
it's a sad example of how low in simple reading skills the present gb and their helpers are.
david schafer referred to philippians 4:7 on jw broadcasting.
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EdenOne
Marked, ty HMTM -
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just a question
by poopie inwhat percentage would you say of all jehovah's witnesses really 100 percent follow the shunning decree to the letter just answer with a percent thank you
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EdenOne
On my side of the world, I'd say 9 out of 10 if the subject of DF is apostasy, and 8 out of 10 if otherwise. Plus, out of those 9, some 4 will shun you "lightly" (i.e. avoid unnecessary contact with you, but will say hello if they can't avoid it) even before you're disfellowshipped.
Eden
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Compliment or criticism - what affects you most?
by EdenOne ina bit of introspection on this one ... just read on someone's post that a compliment makes him "float" for hours, and it got me thinking; within the spectrum of comments that people make about me, from compliment to criticism, which is the type that most affects me?.
after my experience as a jehovah's witness, i find that i've become suspicious of compliments and over-sensitive to criticism.
because a common technique of elders was to compliment someone before going down to business, that is, giving hard counseling or discipline.
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EdenOne
I feel that being a Witness shuts you off to criticism. You are taught to believe that how you think, believe, and reason is right and cannot be wrong because you know the truth. That attitude affects more than just your personality in terms of religion, it makes a person have trouble recognizing when they are wrong or out of their depth.
I agree, and it's true - some criticism can be a great learning opportunity, but we often miss that opportunity by getting blindly defensive. The automatism of 'having the truth' shuts the door to any criticism, fair or unfair.
Eden
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Thank you for redirecting me to the right organization!
by economy inthank you, jw.net and cofty, for redirecting me to the right organization!.
when i posted why did god permit scriptures to be corrupted?
then i thought, if there is an organization that believes all scriptures are corrupted (which obviously makes it enemy of all religions), that organization is not ordinary, but gutsy, lionhearted, and worthy of close examination!
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EdenOne
Another satisfied customer, Cofty.
Eden
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Compliment or criticism - what affects you most?
by EdenOne ina bit of introspection on this one ... just read on someone's post that a compliment makes him "float" for hours, and it got me thinking; within the spectrum of comments that people make about me, from compliment to criticism, which is the type that most affects me?.
after my experience as a jehovah's witness, i find that i've become suspicious of compliments and over-sensitive to criticism.
because a common technique of elders was to compliment someone before going down to business, that is, giving hard counseling or discipline.
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EdenOne
A bit of introspection on this one ... Just read on someone's post that a compliment makes him "float" for hours, and it got me thinking; Within the spectrum of comments that people make about me, from compliment to criticism, which is the type that most affects me?
After my experience as a Jehovah's Witness, I find that I've become suspicious of compliments and over-sensitive to criticism. Because a common technique of Elders was to compliment someone before going down to business, that is, giving hard counseling or discipline. That way, the compliment routine always sounded like a means to an end, rather than a genuine expression of appreciation. I still have conflicted feelings about compliments - I want to enjoy them, but there's always a voice of caution on the back of my head "Ok, now here comes the hammer..." and I start feeling uncomfortable. Flattery is a dead end with me.
Maybe because of my past professional experiences and my experience in the star chamber of a JC, I find it hard to believe when someone says that they're solely criticizing someone's ideas or actions, but not the person per se. Maybe because the person criticizing isn't tactful enough to make that distinction; but also perhaps because as a matter of habit, we see any criticism as a personal attack, and react accordingly in self-defense. I find in my case that criticism that envolves my honesty, or which I perceive as deliberately unfair makes me go ballistic.
What's your experience?
Eden
