i am not a jw but i am a business manager and one of my employees is.
i want to be able to understand her better and be able to respect her choices but i struggle with certain issues such as sending holiday cards to company clients.
she won't do so because of her beliefs and the clients cannot be neglected so this of course creates added work to those who are already very busy.. i am unsure of when to separate religion from business and am confused about why it's ok for her to take the vacation days designated for christmas, yet she can't cater to the needs of the business.. i do not ask things of her that fall outside the scope of her position and because of the lengths we go through to provide concierge service for our clients, i find that her religion is an out for her participation.
I understand your dilema, but as either a business owner or a supervisor you must be very careful so as to not create an atmosphere that one could construe as harrassment or religious intorence. If your company has an HR department I suggest checking with them as to what can or cannot be done in this area.
I'm not defending the JW in this area, it could be a jewish person or an islamic person just as well and asking them to do this goes against their beliefs as well.
as 2004 winds down and my 4th year of association at this board winds down as well, my posting stats accurately reflect a transitition that been going on for me with respect to the jw religion, a process that is quite natural and healthy.
i'm sure that many members have had a similar experience.
here's a rundown of four years here for me: .
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Good luck Rocketman
hi there everyone, my name is treefrog and i am new to this site.
i am a roman catholic so i feel like i'm entering the lion's den here, but not to worry.
i hope to share my beliefs with you all regarding our saviour, jesus christ.. i hope to shine a light into your organisation (if jesus christ couldn't, how can i expect to!
First post to a forum:
Hi there everyone, my name is treefrog and I am new to this site. I am a Roman Catholic so I feel like I'm entering the lion's den here, but not to worry. I hope to share my beliefs with you all regarding our saviour, Jesus Christ.I hope to shine a light into your organisation (if Jesus Christ couldn't, how can I expect to!), but hey, it's worth a try.
And then they wonder why they sense hostility
But as I think about it...it would have been an ironic twist that a Catholic comes into a JW forum spreading his gospel and then receiving hostility and hate...not unlike JWs who go door to door forcing their opinion on everyone.
By the way; I agree...the Watchtower Society is a harmful, cultish religion. But I got news for you....the Catholic church ain't the true religion either.
Why would a Seven-Up dot care what a M&M does?
a strange thing happened to me while watching a television movie on the life of the late nascar star dale earnhardt; i got choked up remembering a close family member who died at an early age.. .
for those of you who aren't familar with earnhardt, his father died when dale was a young man and this movie portrayed him pretty much living his entire life trying to live up to his father's ideals.
of course he died on the race track having some of the same issues with his own son, now a superstar on the track.. .
When my father lost a family member a prominent elder chastised him for grieving. He told my dad that it was setting a bad example for others and it showed a lack of faith in the resurrection.
I agree with that statement. I've seen it done. More than once.
Maybe we can look at this in another way. For many, including myself, when a JW family member dies, it is not accepted that they are gone forever. That is denial. We can look at denial as a stage of grief, but to remain in the denial stage is not healthy either. To remain in denial means we never accept the death and if we never accept it, then we cannot properly cope with it and move on.
My JW hubby grieves long and hard over the loss of his mother. It has had the unfortunate effect of pulling him farther in to the society. Even though his mother was never a JW, he knows she has a hope in the resurrection.
That kind of ties in to what I was saying...we deny that we won't see them again, therefore we grieve to a point but never come to grips or acceptance with what must be.
i know there's no such word as "witnessy" but this can be a fun thread.
Why do you greive so, sister? You'll see your dead husband in the new system. Don't you have faith in the resurrection?
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gets the death penalty...and i think he should go away..even if he didn't want the baby or to be with her, he could of left and beent he one to disappear, but no i think he's just greedy, callous, and not remoursefull... sincerely,.
district overbeer
Details about the case before it went to trial(for those of you not in the US):
a strange thing happened to me while watching a television movie on the life of the late nascar star dale earnhardt; i got choked up remembering a close family member who died at an early age.. .
for those of you who aren't familar with earnhardt, his father died when dale was a young man and this movie portrayed him pretty much living his entire life trying to live up to his father's ideals.
of course he died on the race track having some of the same issues with his own son, now a superstar on the track.. .
But deep down, I feel, everyone knows that there is no life after death, even if they won't admit it or vehemently defend their beliefs. That's why everyone grieves in some fashion and to some degree.
I'll concede that some do grieve, I've seen JWs counseled for grieving too much(a despicable thing to do, by the way, counsel someone for grieving), but many JWs in a strange way do not accept that finality of death.
I know, I spent most of my JW life waiting to see this dead loved one again. I pictured myself sitting down with them and telling them all that happened while they were gone. I've heard other JWs go on and on about how great it will be to see a dead loved one again. Is this reality? Is this healthy?
Sure, we were sad to see them suffer and die, but if we really expect to see them again and have not accepted that they really are gone, how can we properly grieve?
It's interesting that some have equated grief with lack of faith in the resurrection, which the WTS always says it isn't; that it's okay to grieve.This is a case of where the WTS talks out of both sides of their mouth. They'll say grieving is normal and it's okay and then turn around and say, don't worry, you'll see them again, cheer up. That's why so many don't grieve or they equate lack of faith with grieving, because the WTS insinuates it, even if they don't say it.
my mother doesn't speak to me although she will exchange emails with me.
we actually don't communicate much, but recently i sent her a few emails detailing things are wrong with the watchtower society.
her responses are laughable... but i am still printing out articles and mailing them to her about the un scandle, she of course doesn't believe it.. but has anyone sucessfully made any headway talking to a dyed in the wool jw and made any progress?
honestly, shes been in for 40 years. She doesnt want to hear what you have to say as much as you dont want to listen to what she has to say. Shes old, try to be the bigger person and compromise. If you cant, never discuss religion with her. You may never agree.
I agree with that, except sometimes the JW family member refuses to let it go. I never bring up the subject with my mother, I just try to keep it on happy things, but invariably she'll broach the subject and it leads to an argument. I tell myself everytime afterwards, that I won't let her get me going again, but it never fails, she'll goad me into another one later.
I realize that my mom is almost 70 yrs old, spent most of her life as a JW, her whole life revolves around it. She's happy as a JW. I'm happy if she's happy, so I don't go to try to change her. I just wish she didn't try to change me.
Have you ever heard a JW parent say, "all i wanted was for my child to be a faithful JW" or something similar? Now think about that for a minute. What a guilt trip that is. By and large most parents say, "all I wanted for my child was for them to be happy and safe and secure". I know that Mormons and some other cultish type religions, maybe some Catholics to a smaller degree, can relate, but most normal, well-adjusted parents want their kids to be happy at what ever they choose in life. It's the cult controlled parents that heap guilt on their children for leaving the faith.
a strange thing happened to me while watching a television movie on the life of the late nascar star dale earnhardt; i got choked up remembering a close family member who died at an early age.. .
for those of you who aren't familar with earnhardt, his father died when dale was a young man and this movie portrayed him pretty much living his entire life trying to live up to his father's ideals.
of course he died on the race track having some of the same issues with his own son, now a superstar on the track.. .
A strange thing happened to me while watching a television movie on the life of the late NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt; I got choked up remembering a close family member who died at an early age.
For those of you who aren't familar with Earnhardt, his father died when Dale was a young man and this movie portrayed him pretty much living his entire life trying to live up to his father's ideals. Of course he died on the race track having some of the same issues with his own son, now a superstar on the track.
As I watched the movie, a weird realization hit me. I had never grieved the death of my family member. I never accepted that he was dead and gone and never to be seen again. As JWs we believed that the dead were just "asleep" and we would see them "soon" in the new system. As I watched this not-so-well-made-for-TV movie, I got all choked up and realized that I was never going to see this person again. That night I had a dream about that person and now today I'm all bummed out over someone who died over 25 years ago.
So that leads me to question whether JWs ever really grieve the death of loved ones. Experiencing what I experienced this weekend leaves me to think that they can't grieve if they don't accept that they are really dead, never to be seen again.
