sparrowdown: When I was studying they praised me for asking questions, then, after baptism questions became a sign of weakness. I shoulda known this was a bad sign.
Yes, you should have. We ALL should have!
there are many on here who state specific changes in wt publications have caused them to start questioning (understandably you would think), and yet the majority don't.
why is it only a few individuals that do this?
curious as to what others think about this.
sparrowdown: When I was studying they praised me for asking questions, then, after baptism questions became a sign of weakness. I shoulda known this was a bad sign.
Yes, you should have. We ALL should have!
i am not da or df, however anyone that knows me, is aware of the fact that i'm an apostate.
i help my witness dad, in his business two days a week, the business is in a public place, where witnesses often visit.. recently some witnesses, from my former congregation, have visited my dad, (not knowing, that i would be there).
yesterday a friend of my dad's came to visit my dad, and as he approached i said "hey fred, how are you?
LAWHFol: I can't wait until the Day that this Organization ... is Exposed for It's Blasphemous ways.
Well that happened a long time ago.
It's just that those indoctrinated by the cult don't know it.
I suggest you learn to be comfortable in situations like this and let all of the awkwardness be on the part of the other person.
There is no reason for YOU to feel uncomfortable and every reason for THEM to.
watchtower governing body leadership directly impacts 7 million members earth wide.
would he change a true teaching?
up to that point christians have obeyed the command at romans 13:1: "let every soul be in subjection to the superior authorities.
ive been here less than a year, but ive notice that the majority of us have faded for various reasons.
we also read the stories of those who got disfellowshipped or disassociated themselves.
in the majority of the cases, their parents will not talk to the children for years and the children will not talk to the parents even if they are dying.
JA: But whatever the reason, most of us are not willing to pay the price and declare, “The Watchtower is a cult and evil and the Governing Body is a bunch of Fu*****liars.
I've said the above many time and in many ways, as have many others on this board.
It's possible that many in the higher echelons of the org are no longer "True Believers," but the fact that they still have their position disproves your idea that they could be "faded."
Like it or not, people that have awakened to the fact that this religion is a scam are morally culpable for remaining in it, this is true no matter what the reason. Even though I think we all understand why many do it, it involves living a lie, or at the very least a great deal of pretense.
i wrote a short story about what might happen if a jehovah's witness and an apostate decided to play a game of chess.. you can read it here http://blog.sparlockofthemultiverse.com/spiritual-chess-a-short-story/.
As long as you insist on having an invisible king, you may as well have an invisible opponent.
DT, well done. I enjoyed that!
It’s funny that, as an apostate, I probably spend more time reading your magazines than you do.
True dat too!
i have always asked myself that question.
why new people visiting kingdom halls give comments at meetings while a reproved brother can't?.
who is more worldly?
even if you don't regard yourself as a practicing jw, some may view you simply as inactive, a lost sheep, etc.. if you were baptized but not disfellowshipped or disassociated, you may still be a jw---right?
your thoughts please..
minimus: Even if you don't regard yourself as a practicing JW, some may view you simply as inactive, a lost sheep, etc.
I'm not DF'd but haven't been to a meeting in over a year and a half. I have no idea what others think. If they don't/can't/won't continue to keep in touch like normal friends and family then I don't really care what they think. Why should I?
As everyone on this board knows, I think: It's a cult!
for those of you who left family and friends and had to start over from scratch just to get out of the organization, was it worth it?.
.
What, are you suggesting that it is acceptable to live a lie?
Once a person realizes the WTBTS is not what it claims to be, there is only one choice: be real or be a hypocrite. The OP implies there is some "price" which would justify continuing to live as a liar and a hypocrite. There is none.
Ironically, the only way the WT keeps people is by fear. Once you wake up to TTATT, you know that all of the supposed benefits were all false hopes and imaginary pipe dreams.
I resent that my children have been turned against me by their vindictive mother who was aided and abetted by the doctrines and practices of this religion, but I simply could not continue to live a lie. I really can't understand how anyone can.
To be clear, I understand WHY people that know TTATT stay in this religion and pretend to be something they are not, I just don't know HOW they can do it. The psychological damage that does to a person is devastating.
http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a226955.pdf.
click on the above link and have a most enjoyable read!.
below, the opening paragraph.
Who wrote this?
What's the context?
on page 9, paragraph 7:.
neither a branch office nor the local congregation elders are authorized to make health-care decisions for a witness, even if he asks what to do.
(gal.
Classic manipulation: "We don't make rules, however .... "
Let's review: It's a cult!