I'm a newbie. Still coming to grips with things. For the most part I've realized the WTS is not the "true" religion. But having been in for so long you doubt your doubts when you learn things that question your faith. Am I not relying on Jehovah properly? Or am I just now learning the real "truth"? It gets confusing. And it takes time, but so many here were very understanding of what I was feeling and they offered advice and comfort.
undercover
JoinedPosts by undercover
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Newbies
by johnathanseagull in.
hi all.............is it just me but are we seeing more and more people come on board of late, which is great as far as i'm concerned...........welcome to all you newbies.
j gull
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Have you allowed yourself to prosper?
by freedom96 inthe wts always taught making money was bad, and those who already had it, should not show it off for fear of offending those who didn't have any.. there were so many witnesses that barely made ends meet, again, taught that making money was bad, getting an education was bad, therefore making it hard even with full time work to make a decent wage, enough to support a family.. since leaving, have you allowed yourself the freedom to explore what is out there, with education, with making money, allowing yourself to prosper in all areas of your life?.
opportunity is out there, to become better people, to make money, live more freely, without the restrictions that the society put on us.
what a relief from the misery of just making enough to get by until "the end.
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undercover
I have enjoyed traveling more here recently. Seeing things that I only saw on TV. Never traveled much before ya know. Assembly was coming up, then there was the CO visit and oh yea, I'm behind on my time.
Sunday morning motorcyclye riding get's me closer to God than any Kingdom hall.
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Why No Beards?
by undercover inas i have recently started to question everything i was taught, i started wondering about the grooming "laws".
one that never really made sense to me was that the brothers could not have beards.
where is that written?
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undercover
As I have recently started to question everything I was taught, I started wondering about the grooming "laws". One that never really made sense to me was that the brothers could not have beards. Where is that written? It's not in the Bible. I can't even find anything in the literature. But if you grow a beard, you will end up in the back room.
I remember a CO once using an illustration of a Russian brother who had a beard moving to the States and the elders didn't question his beard. But when the CO showed up he asked why he was allowed to continue have it and serve as an elder. The other elders asked what would they base it on? The CO said, "It's just not done." He even said that from the platform in telling us the story. His whole point was that we should not question organizational ruling but adhere to counsel. He was happy to inform us that the very next meeting, the Russian brother was clean shaven.
Is this not "going beyond the things written"? Is this not "traditions of men"? Nothing I could find would back up any rule or policy or even principle on being clean shaven so as to serve Jehovah more faithfully. I do remember when younger that many felt only hippies or undesirables had beards, but then I saw famous artists, politicians and even religious leaders(CT Russell) with beards. But today, this country's culture has changed so much that you can't judge someone by their grooming anyway.
What are ya'lls thoughts?
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Armageddon and Jehovah's Witnesses?
by kenpodragon inbefore you read the following.
i would like to explain that i in no way hold the jehovah's witness beliefs, so please read the complete thought to fully understand my point.
i looked at all these people that were elders, pioneers, and strong witnesses and figured i did not measure up.
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undercover
if the rest of the world is to die for being imperfect and only JW's will live then there is something wrong with God.
I have thought about that but then I think about the Flood. Did not God destroy all but 8 people? Surely someone out of all that were destroyed were not as evil as the Nephilim and their cronies? He did it once, why not again?
I am still trying to come to grips with my new found independance and at times I question whether I am right or wrong. I have lots of deprogramming to do yet. That's why I have these flip-flop type of questions. One minute I have the answer, the next I'm confused again.
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Do You Believe Any of "The Truth"?
by XBEHERE ini've been lurking for several months, its my first post here.
i am currently an active jw.
i have a very jw family so i have to be careful.
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undercover
Hi, XBE
I'm new here too. As my name indicates, I'm kinda in hiding. I'm inactive now for a couple of years and my family are JWs. I have and am going thru some of the same questions that you are. The one thing I keep thinking about is that the witnesses remain politically neutral. What other religion can claim that? There might be a couple but not any of the big ones. Jesus said his followers would be no part of the world. Being politically neutral seems to indicate that. But then you look at predictions about the end of the world that didn't come true and you get confused all over again.
This is a trying time, when you start to realize that all you beleived may not be true. Kinda like Neo in the Matrix. I'm trying to swallow the red pill, but the blue one still has some influence. Just watch out for the Agent Smiths(Elders). All kidding aside, I hope we can find the answers and put our hearts and minds at peace so we can enjoy life, instead of trying to emulate someone else's idea of what they think we should be.
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Tomorrow's Predictions
by Guest 77 inok, one more day for the 'big' march.
how about some predictions as to physical attendance, will it have an international news coverage or just within north america?
will the march go without a hitch?
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undercover
While the march may help victims cope or symbolize their frustrations and anger with the WTBS, and it brings attention to the matter to those not in the organization, I see the GB using this as a rallying cry to the R&F.
This will be their thoughts as brought to the congregations in either print or CO's talks: Persecution may not be physical torture, but it can be pressure from disgruntled, secular thinking people who do not understand God's true righteousness. Now is the time to be busy in the preaching work, studying even more and not forsaking the gathering of yourselves. Avoid contact with those who justify or condone such actions against the organization. Don't get caught up in reading all the accounts in the newspapers and magazines, more of Satan's tools.
So if the intent of this march is to try to open eyes in either the GB, the organization as a whole, or even R&F, I don't think it will be successful. If it is to cause others outside the organization to question doctrine/practices it will be somewhat successful, but overall it will be local news not front page news.
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Help a lurking dub with doubts
by undercover ini've been lurking about, checking out some of the evidence against the wtbs.
i am currently inactive but still an approved/baptized member.
i have seen all the 1914/607bce evidence; the blood transfusion quandry evidence; the current child abuse problem evidence and several other things that are damning to the wt doctrines.
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undercover
Thanks to everyone that replied. I was amazed at the response that I got. It seems that most everybody here has gone thru the same feelings and thoughts that I am currently experiencing. It seems the evidence is stacked against the Society, but when you have been taught that way your whole life, you really doubt your own reasoning abilities when you start to see the problems. I appreciate the links to the various sites to investigate. I will also spend more time in libraries doing research.
Again thanks for the responses. I really appreciate your input. I'll be checking in and seeing what new developments there are. I may even post some, though I'm still paranoid that the elders are right around the corner spying, LOL.
Reborn, you really need to take some anger management classes or something. I'm asking questions that have come to mind in my struggle to come to grips with this. If you had gone through this you would understand so I get the feeling that you are not one that has suffered through this as so many here have. Or if you did go through this and still call peoples questions stupid, then you must be angry at everyone because you were fooled and you like to make yourself look smarter than everybody else. At least the person who wondered if I was a troll gave me the benefit of the doubt.
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Help a lurking dub with doubts
by undercover ini've been lurking about, checking out some of the evidence against the wtbs.
i am currently inactive but still an approved/baptized member.
i have seen all the 1914/607bce evidence; the blood transfusion quandry evidence; the current child abuse problem evidence and several other things that are damning to the wt doctrines.
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undercover
<<If a member of the rank and file chooses to stay silent at this time in order to be able to stay close to their families, what is it to you? What purpose could you possibly have for asking this question? Are you here to bait the forum? >>
First of all, thanks for the welcome.
I'm not trying to "bait" anyone. These are just questions that I have. I include myself as one that has not said anything to anyone. My family are JW's. My best friends growing up are JWs. Do I take a chance at losing that by saying something? Is this a spiritual warfare(you know it's ok to lie in spiritual warfare).
My inclination is to just stay inactive, and keep my friends and family. I know though that if the elders make a sheparding call, I will be inclined to open my big mouth. I don't think one voice will win against the big organization despite how logical, precise and correct the arguement. And the R&F will go right along with the org.
I appreciate all the replys so far. I see that I'm not alone and that many others have gone thru what I am going thru now.
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Help a lurking dub with doubts
by undercover ini've been lurking about, checking out some of the evidence against the wtbs.
i am currently inactive but still an approved/baptized member.
i have seen all the 1914/607bce evidence; the blood transfusion quandry evidence; the current child abuse problem evidence and several other things that are damning to the wt doctrines.
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undercover
Reborn,
I'm not so interested as to what they say in the WT. I'm trying to come to grips with the conspiracy theory. Maybe I wasn't so clear in my first post. Are they sincere in thinking they speak for God, or are they intentionally misleading people? I know they say they are God's channel, but is it a ruse or are they delusional?
I'm new here, so if I speak out of turn or step on toes, I apololgize in advance. I'm just trying to find some answers to questions I've had.
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64
Help a lurking dub with doubts
by undercover ini've been lurking about, checking out some of the evidence against the wtbs.
i am currently inactive but still an approved/baptized member.
i have seen all the 1914/607bce evidence; the blood transfusion quandry evidence; the current child abuse problem evidence and several other things that are damning to the wt doctrines.
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undercover
I've been lurking about, checking out some of the evidence against the WTBS. I am currently inactive but still an approved/baptized member. I have seen all the 1914/607bce evidence; the blood transfusion quandry evidence; the current child abuse problem evidence and several other things that are damning to the WT doctrines.
I see that some here are sincere people hoping that others see what they believe they have seen, but others seem bitter and vindictive. I try to weed through the most negative to look for facts and evidence, not opinion and mudslinging.
My predicament in having lost faith in the Society is this: Does the GB really believe they are God's human channel for all of mankind to learn about his kingdom? Or is there some sinister conspiracy? Is it to fleece millions of people to make them rich or powerful? What do they gain by this notoriety? The thing about committing yourself to the fact that the WTBS may not be God's organization is if they are not, then who is? Or is there an earthly organization at all? God is a god of organization. I am leaning to the old Russell(or was it Rutherford) philosphy of "Religion is a snare and a racket" way of thinking.
When you see all the so called "mind-control" evidence compiled and listed together from years of literature it makes me wonder, "Are they really that smart? Are they trying to control our very thinking? Or is just because of being no different than the rest of us(ideas and opinions change over time) and there is more than one man's thoughts going into the writing, that things just get muddled up?" If they were that smart, I can't see them getting caught in inconsistencies all the time.
Since becoming inactive and no longer "feeding on the teachings from the F&DS", my mind seems freeer, more at ease. I see things I didn't see before(the little inconsistencies that we just used to shrug our shoulders at). I feel like a huge burden has been lifted. Is it because I'm lazy and don't wanna get dressed up 4 days a week, go to meetings, knock on doors or is because my mind has been released from some control that was on it? Some of the teachings are correct and have opened the door to people learning about the Bilbe, while others seem to be contrived, relying on old opinions and dogma. Am I being picky about things that will eventually get straightened out, or am I correct in sensing that something is very wrong?
I have not read R. Franz's or C.O. Johansons books yet. I'm trying to figure a way of getting them locally, paying cash instead of charging over the Internet. Yea, a little paranoid. I know that's what some of you will say to do, is read these books. But I would like some input as to what finally made up your minds. Is there anyone else that had the same thoughts that I have now? What convinced you to believe as you do now? Are some of you still active, afraid to commit and comment outloud because of the possibility of losing all former ties to friends and relatives? Is that not as hypocritical as some say the GB is?
As you can see, I am fairly confused over this. Do I jump on the bandwagon of saying the Society is full of mistakes just so I can be part of the World? Sounds like the easy way out. Any input would be appreciated and I apologize for my rambling. I have spoke to NO ONE about this and these are things that eat away at you at night. (If this comes up as a red font, sorry. I don't know how to change back to black font.)