My thoughts exactly as I read it about a week ago.
writerpen
JoinedPosts by writerpen
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19
July 8 Awake! in Praise of Police
by Room 215 inhave you seen the july 8 awake!
in praise of police?
is it just me, or does this example of jw duplicitous doublespeak boggle your mind as well?
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I LOVED MY WIFE ...... (1)
by Bhagavad inbut now she's gone ...... from breast cancer a couple of years ago.
we prayed and prayed to jehovah in jesus' name: the "ask anything in my name" jesus.
we asked jehovah, not to cure her miraculously, because that's what people pray for in tent revival meetings.
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writerpen
Bhagavad, sorry to hear of your pain. I left the borg last August and since then have come to realize what Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John wrote were just that - what Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John wrote. People swear the Bible is God's Word. I believe this phrase to be metaphorical and not literal. If it were literal, then why don't they say that it is God's Word(s)?
Since opening my mind to the belief that the Bible is a book that helps a person to focus on God, but was written by men with their limited views in mind, I experienced a much greater and satisfying relationship with God. Now, God is Mother God to me, being that I've always wanted a mom so bad. In fact, I call God, Mama God. It has become so normal in my language that I refer to Her that way in front of other people simply because that is my relationship with Her. I finally felt comfortable doing this because I expanded my idea of the Bible outside of the male dominated society that men of ancient allowed to influence their writings. God is not gender oriented and therefore wants us to view Her as we need for our inner selves. God is concerned about us individually. Just because men wrote "ask anything in my name" does not mean that is what God intended, it's what men wrote in a book about God.
I think you would enjoy Marcus Borg's, Reading the Bible Again for the First Time. I feel confident that if you read this book, your perception of God would expand far beyong what is written in the Bible.
As for your previous wife. I truly believe she is looking down upon you now and hoping that you will find love again.
With warmest compassion,
Tara
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Fire Walls and Sueing the Society
by voltaire ina few thoughts about the society's efforts to protect itself from litigation.. i attended the elder's seminar a few years back where we were instructed to write in our elder's manual a few extra instructions pertaining to filling out the society's disfellowshipping forms and other aspects related to judicial cases.
that was nothing terribly unusual.
we often wrote in clarifications and updates during meetings with the co. this time was a little different because we filled an entire page with seven(i think) specific instructions.
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writerpen
I agree with you. Prior to leaving the borg, for a number of years how often did I hear and read that there was a great need for men to reach out for position. It also seemed that more were being promoted to elders that seems to lack the qualities that came with eldership. If the society loses elders, the society loses.
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Were you chaperoned?
by writerpen innow that i'm out of the borg and realizing that i've never dated, i think it's in the near future for me.
so i was thinking about my age of 30 and never being on a date.
but even worse, i was thinking of those of you who dated while in the borg and had to deal with an audience - actually i had to laugh when thinking about the absurdity of the scenario.
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writerpen
Listening to your stories reminded me of my sister who was married almost two years ago. My parents followed her everywhere, but somehow the love bugs managed to "go down behind the barn to make sure everything was working" as my grandfather stated prior to the wedding. As a result she was deleted as a pioneer, and dear ole' Dad lost his "princely" designation as an elder. When I heard this, I laughed, and laughed hard I did.
Often I've wondered if the chaperone thing is the reason so many Witness marriages seem miserable. Even as a Witness, I would always say to fellow dubs that when I dated, there would NOT be a chaperone anywhere or anytime. It is my theory that if I'm going to commit my life to someone, I sure as hell need alot of time alone to find out who he is.
I'm not sure about other congregations, but it was always stressed to me that the dating period should be short. It was suggested that a couple should be married within six months. This always irritated me. I see myself dating for a much longer time, as I do not want to commit myself to a man without knowing what i'm getting into.
Edited by - writerpen on 21 June 2002 10:51:26
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30
Were you chaperoned?
by writerpen innow that i'm out of the borg and realizing that i've never dated, i think it's in the near future for me.
so i was thinking about my age of 30 and never being on a date.
but even worse, i was thinking of those of you who dated while in the borg and had to deal with an audience - actually i had to laugh when thinking about the absurdity of the scenario.
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writerpen
Now that I'm out of the borg and realizing that I've never dated, I think it's in the near future for me. So I was thinking about my age of 30 and never being on a date. But even worse, I was thinking of those of you who dated while in the borg and had to deal with an audience - actually I had to laugh when thinking about the absurdity of the scenario. Anyone have any funny chaperone experiences? Do tell, please.
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Heavenly Hope
by cyrano inthe watchtower teaches only a few have the heavenly hope.
men of old such as abraham will supposedly be raised from the dead and live on earth.
yet, hebrews tells us these men actually had a heavenly hope.
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writerpen
cyrano - this was the primary discovery for me last year when I was just leaving. In reading the King James version on my own, I noticed this very contradiction that you are pointing out. Needless to say, it was a very gratifying find. However, this not only shows their inacurate interpretation of the scriptures, but it also shows that their Bible was translated to fit their beliefs. The version that you quoted is like all other versions: "a heavenly one." However the New World Translation reads: "but now they are reaching out for a better [place], that is, one belonging to heaven...." In looking at information in their literature several months ago about this idea of the faithful of old having a heavenly hope, they state that their hope is not in heaven, but in a place that "belongs" to heaven.
*** w79 6/15 16-18 Resurrected-"Each In His Own Proper Place" *** 5 So Abraham had faith in the coming resurrection of the human dead under the kingdom of the Christ. Jesus Christ, whose own resurrection was foreshadowed by the figurative resurrection of Isaac, once said to Jewish descendants of Abraham: Abraham your father rejoiced greatly in the prospect of seeing my day, and he saw it and rejoiced. (John 8:56) In harmony with Jesus words about Abraham, the father of Isaac and the grandfather of Jacob, we read:
6 In faith all these died, although they did not get the fulfillment of the promises, but they saw them afar off and welcomed them and publicly declared that they were strangers and temporary residents in the land. For those who say such things give evidence that they are earnestly seeking a place of their own. . . . But now they are reaching out for a better place, that is, one belonging to heaven [the kingdom of the heavens with Christ enthroned in it]. Hence God is not ashamed of them, to be called upon as their God, for he has made a city ready for them.Heb. 11:13-16.
7 Since God has made preparations for the long-dead Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, those ancient men of faith are sure to have a resurrection from the dead under the city, or government, in which the glorified Messiah, or Christ, rules. Jesus Christ himself pointed out that fact in a discussion with Jewish Sadducees, who did not believe in a resurrection for Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He said: In the resurrection neither do men marry nor are women given in marriage, but are as angels [not: are angels] in heaven. As regards the resurrection of the dead, did you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob? He is the God, not of the dead, but of the living.Matt. 22:30-32.
P.S. Aren't they full of shit?
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JWs and Honesty
by MoeJoJoJo inare jws really all that honest like they like to claim?.
in my personal experience, i don't think so.
i believe they are just like anyone else and don't "stand out" in respect to their honesty, as they like to claim.
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writerpen
I'm going to step out on a limb here and reveal something about myself.
I was a Witness until age 29. I pioneered, attended all the meetings, and was a member of every "click." But when I was 15, I started stealing and didn't know why. It continued until last August when after one year of working with a therapist, I decided to come clean, as I had been embezzling from my employer for two years. She helped me leave the organization, by not allowing the elders to take me through so many changes (they were beating my door down after my name appeared in several newspapers). I took that dear woman's advice and refused all their meetings, despite the mental turmoil that being disfellowshipped caused. My sentencing date was this past March, seven months since I confessed to my crime and returned all the money taken. I almost landed myself in prison, but the judge saw the strides I had made and reduced my crime to misdemeanor. Throughout my case, my team of mental health professionals stated that the "religion" and its abusive ways was the primary reason for the stealing, along with the beatings and sexual abuse dished out during childhood - all the while attending the KH. To your question -no Witnesses are not the most honest people in the world, just like they are not the "happiest" people either. Since leaving, I've stopped stealing, cutting myself, and am trying so hard to overcome bulimia. For the first time in my life, I know what "happiness" is!
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``Jehovah'' This, ``Jehovah" That: Respect...
by Room 215 ini know, i know, the jws love to boast about ``honoring jehovah'' and having ``restored the divine name to its rightful place.
'' but my question is: is such casual off-hand use of the divine name really respectful?
i mean, the vast majority of us well know the names of our parents; but just how respectful would it be to go around referring to them as ``harry'' and ``alice?".
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writerpen
Interesting point Room 215. I wonder, did Jesus ever refer to God by his name? I don't recall that he did. So I guess the Witnesses are above Jesus and thus allowed to use the name of God.
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Your Volunteer Work?
by Valis inwell, some here think that all we do is sit around a post naughty pics and do no charitable or volunteer work.
i thought we could see who does what for their respective communities.
valis= free computer support dallas shakespeare festival + on the wing again bird sanctuary/rescue, photopgraphic web hosting services for the bob marley festival of dallas, am about to start w/the down's syndrome guild of dallas doing web support and event work/soliciting charitable donations from companies, and my teaching that means working many hours unpaid to help my students personally/educationally.
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writerpen
I volunteer at a soup kitchen every Saturday and at a local animal shelter every Sunday. Love it!!!!!
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10
it just CHAPS MY ASS!
by writerpen ini dedided to post this topic based upon the thread started by jt concerning the latest qfr in a recent watchtower concerning the submission of women.. i've made this point before in a post that in the beginning, according to the bible, god gave both men and women a curse - men to work the fields in sweat making a living, which today entails more than working fields.
and women to experience an increase in birth pains along with their husbands dominating them.
well these days, women have to meet men half way on their curse, because it seems that most families cannot make a living without the woman working.
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writerpen
I dedided to post this topic based upon the thread started by JT concerning the latest QFR in a recent Watchtower concerning the submission of women.
I've made this point before in a post that in the beginning, according to the Bible, God gave both men and women a curse - men to work the fields in sweat making a living, which today entails more than working fields. And women to experience an increase in birth pains along with their husbands dominating them. Well these days, women have to meet men half way on their curse, because it seems that most families cannot make a living without the woman working. 2000 years ago, society was totally different. It seems that men in the "world" are catching onto this reality and have come a long way with their views of women. Today the penis' sitting in Brooklyn need to get their heads out of their asses and respect women. Because if it weren't for women, they would have actually needed to work to make a living.
Any thoughts on this?