so true, StuckinaRut2! I always wondered "how does the Society get to look things up in "worldly sources". quote them, and decide which to use, or not to use.
Let's just say, "double standards" and "hypocrites."
;-)
a thought occurred that the way the society has stigmatised the doing of external research by witnesses, and labelling any such questioning as "apostate", is tragic.. no doubt, in every other aspect of life, we research things before making decisions.
eg, if making a purchase, we go online and check reviews etc to check the product out.
we don't just trust the words of the marketing department.
so true, StuckinaRut2! I always wondered "how does the Society get to look things up in "worldly sources". quote them, and decide which to use, or not to use.
Let's just say, "double standards" and "hypocrites."
;-)
i remember many years back a fellow ministerial servant saying this to me.
he felt that even if jehovah’s witnesses were not the only true religion, the regimented routine of meetings and field service and the strict rules and enforcement provided a beneficial structure for his life.
at the time i thought if this wasn’t “the truth”, i’d have no need for all that “structure”.
Awesome, Londo!!!! I am so happy for you! From 310 to 190?!!! Wow! A girlfriend? Marriage? happy? ;-) That is great!
I think that, perhaps, for some people (not me) the WT creates "structure"... (They certainly provide a hamster wheel) Why can't something else create structure? Join a club, a gym, a 'cause', school? college? a "help other people" thing.....
Being around people is great, having friends is great, I loved that. Now that I have (haha) 'faded'......... zero.... WT has done a good job training everyone to shun. I do not want to get 'structure' from 'blackmailers'.
I enjoy the freedom to go and please as I want.
cha ching!
be it the governing body, or the a judicial committee of the local elder body, when a two-thirds majority vote is reached, it is viewed as god’s will, as the action of holy spirit, of jesus nudging the stars in his right hand.
[and if i’m not mistaken, the minority is encouraged to change their vote, so that is “unanimous”.
anthony morris alluded to this when he unsuccessfully tried to explain why the governing body is not dogmatic.
Good one, One EyedJoe!
This is the best description yet: "Like an ouija board, not one person feels responsible"
Ironic!! Thx!
at least here in texas.
in the building where i work, there is a big poster board and people are putting signatures down on it.
i was thinking about printing something similar to the billboard that was up in benton, tx and adding to the board.
zalkin proposing huge sanctions if jw leadership fails to produce documents.
unredacted this time!
feds need to get involved with this.
Everyone should have to obey the law.
Elders, Circuit Overseers, former District Overseers, "Guardians of Doctrine"....
They are all citizens of the United States, and if I have to obey the "law," "the "court," so should they.
Staying tuned!
i am a writer, who is at present working on a novel, and i am developing a character/characters who has/have been jehovahs witness(es), and i have some questions that i am hoping someone may be willing to answer.
first, my general credentials.
i am a working writer, with a number of professional poetry publications in journals and lit.
based on what I've read so far, that JW folks during that time were both particularly discouraged from and reluctant to have children (and obviously, why wouldn't this be the case, if the End was believed to be imminent?)
Dear Writer, no thanks, you do not need to acknowledge me.
I lived during this time, I was newly married in the early 70's, loved kids, wanted kids, but there was this "let's wait as the end is so near." "Let's do more before the end" "The kids could die in the tribulation, the authorities (who are ruled by Satan-which is all governments) could torture your kids, and it would make it harder for you to survive the tribulation with faith in tact." "Le'ts pioneer where the need is greater before we decide about kids."
Fortunately, right before we went to 'where the need was greater'... my birth control 'failed' me.... and I got a child. We did not go away to another state. I was very happy, as -at that time- there was this strong belief that if you did not have children "in this system of things", and you died before Armageddon, you would not be able to have kids "in the new order." (the term used at that time)
I used to cry thinking about my husband dying before Armageddon, me waiting for him to get resurrected afterwards, and not being able to marry him again, because people (who died/ got resurrected) would be "like the angels in heaven" who 'neither marry nor are given in marriage.'
I was not going to let Armageddon, the Tribulation, or God stop me from having children. I didn't think it was right that God would stop people from marrying in Paradise, just because they had once been dead. Paradise? not!
During the 70's (maybe more after 75) there were tons of babies born, tons of baby showers, and people were happy to welcome them.
During the 60's, I was one of the children that would go to a house to be 'babysat' whilest mom's went in Field Service. Mom's would take turns babysitting every Wednesday, and there were many kids.
From what I remember, it did not seem as tho there were many 'husbands' in the 'truth' at that time. A lot of women brought their kids with them to the 3 long meetings each week, and left their "worldly" husbands at home to watch TV.
Not many men were there to fill positions for anything. Only one "congregation overseer" was needed per congregation, and a literature servant, to sell the literature.
In those days, things were more 'permissive' or less 'checkie uppie', they didn't check up on everyone like they do in these days with their 'hospital liaison committees' that check to make sure you don't get blood, or products that you have marked on your blood card as 'undesirable.'
There just weren't enough people to do it, and everyone kind of had their own life. (haha, that's from the view of a 5-10 year old, late 60's early 70's I was a teenager)
I have seen rules/guidelines get more structured over the years... Kind of like an army, with rule books. Everyone marching to the same step.
I knew people from the 60's who sold their houses before 75 to pioneer before the end came. Others were more kick back... I myself did not understand why people were upset about 75 not being Armageddon, as the scripture clearly says, "nobody knows the day or the hour."
However, at the same time, I also thought 'it could be soon'.... tho keeping it far off in my head. I thought there would be a time when there would have to be exponential amount of growth..... Just from the way numbers work... I also thought something would have to happen with the gay/lesbian movement, which 'started' in the 70's, and "men would have to be sleeping with men', I thought that this would have to be an accepted way of life before the end....
Now? So sad to have been lied to, and kept in bondage for all of those years... So many things were kept secret from us for all of those years. Like someone said, "there was no internet".... it was all books, and those 'books' were not always available. It took hours for me to look things up in WT's and AW's to write a talk. I had to use the index in the back of each volume, and the subject/word index was limited. Now, you can type in a phrase, type in a word, whoala!
at no time did the elders ever mention apostasy.
days later after a shepherding call which only covered child abuse handling they are being marked as if they are trying to get their own followers etc.
so so sad.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ktm7fsqwrw.
It's quite easy to speak bad about someone without them there. To cut them down, call them names, but are they willing to have the same done to them? Nope, they will call that "slander" and "apostate."
If they really believed their marking talks, they would be willing to face them personally, and have the other side of the story heard.
"why are we determined to avoid fase teachers? because we love the God of truth."
The "God of truth"..... ironic.
while the vast majority of posts that the majority of posters share are perfectly fine (which we appreciate) i've noticed we have a few cases where bad language, crude innuendo and outright misogyny is creeping in.. this is not acceptable.. we're not certainly not prudish and neither are we going to enforce puritanical rules - sometimes a politically incorrect joke is funny as hell and sometimes strong language is justified.
but often times content is completely out of place and cannot be justified.. so, please don't post crude content or use expletives just to be "shocking".
it's childish and immature and won't be tolerated.. thank you to all the people this has nothing at all to do with..
Thanks Simon, it's nice of you to bring that up. I am no prude, but have lately noticed a few threads that simply seem to be getting juvenile... Meaning, simply telling crude jokes, or making crude remarks, and swearing quite a bit.
If you don't absolutely need to swear, and are able to express yourself using terms that make your point, you seem more intelligent, and are more likely to be listened to, and heard.
When I see this type of crude-ery, I don't read any farther...
i couldnt take seeing people from the kingdom hall.
you guys wouldnt believe how many jehovahs witnesses shop in the goodwill.
i couldnt take it.
Haha, toooo funny, Joliette!!!
I ALMOST started a thread this week about the Goodwill!!! I met all kinds of witnesses there Sunday! Lol...
One guy asked me, "aren't you a witness?" (He was in the Spanish hall, I was English) "Now, i'm not" "really? You look just like someone I knew.. "
I just said"nope" again, I did not want to get angry explaining the who what where when and why of it all...
That being said I luuuuuvvvv shopping at Goodwill, I get constant compliments with clothing I would not be able to afford anywhere else! 2 fun!
my name is christian and my wife is katja, and we have been out of the organization for a year and a half.
we were both regular pioneers and i was a ministerial servant.
we were very much happy to be witnesses and doing our best to do more for the organization.
Hi Christian! Hi Katjia! My family is on the west coast of the US, and all five of us (mom/dad, 3 kids) woke up about 2012.. 2013..
I love your videos!! Know why? haha, they are short, happy, to the point...
I like that they are not hateful, just pretty much factual... Good job!
It seems like people with consciences can no longer be associated with an organization that is shrouded in unconscionable things, I love that! Hugs!
Welcome! Cha Ching!