My answer would be;
"Why do they only show selective love and not love and support to everyone, without division of religion?"
mrs ozzie and i are enjoying a week in the blue mountains at a convention (no, not a district convention!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
) but we didn't want to miss out on our customary poll, so we're sending this from a very welcoming cafe in scenic katoomba.
check it out on the web.
My answer would be;
"Why do they only show selective love and not love and support to everyone, without division of religion?"
"they" refers to the watchtower society, the elders, the brothers and sisters, etc.
when you look at how much control has been exerted over us over the years, you can't help but be amazed.
for example, if we had a major snowstorm in the area and the entire state was told by the governor to "please not go out", unless the call was made by the elders, the meeting was still on and you were expected to attend.
naked,
Are you wanting to know why I left? If so, it mainly centered around a awakening of my mind to their level of error. There are many details, but for the most part "error" covers it. As for my status, it is that I left on my own terms. There is some control there though. In that I must be controlled to accept their terms of me, I must be controlled to remember what the reasons were for exit, and I must be controlled to learn more about life. Control, as a word and condition, scares people. We all want to think we are 100% free of the control of the religion, but we are not. I give the example of alcohol again. A person can be dry twenty years, yet alcohol still has control over them in their mind. If not, then they could just drink again and not ever have to worry about anything.
To add, besides internet sites like this one. I never refer to myself as a Ex-Jw. I only do it here, as it explain background to the reason for speaking. Although for the most part, I think participation on these boards automatically shows you are a Ex-Jw of some sort.
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has anyone seen a copy of the letter to the elders, about the upcoming visits on inactive ones?.
does anyone have this letter, and can you post it?
I read the letter and I did not see anything about disfellowshipping people for being inactive. Yet I have heard this mentioned on this site several times. How did we get from one letter, to the next point? Is this another example of each congregation making their own set of rules, or is there a follow-up letter that has not been shown. I noticed there was reference to the Kingdom Ministry School, was this discussed verbally at that time? Just wondering.
first of all, i am agnostic.
maybe there's a god, maybe not.
so i wonder, do i actually have to believe in god in order to be saved?
In order to be saved, you must answer these questions three.
Really, I think by standards of most churches. The answer is, "accept Jesus, and get baptized." After that, just pray for forgiveness every now and then. You will be saved permanently though.
i was in the check stand at the local grocery store this evening, and the tabloids had their annual predictions for 2003. so i thought i would give a few of my own.
feel free to add, and at the end of the year we can see if any of them come true.
by the way, saying that war with iraq is coming is to obvious.
I was in the check stand at the local grocery store this evening, and the tabloids had their annual predictions for 2003. So I thought I would give a few of my own. Feel free to add, and at the end of the year we can see if any of them come true. By the way, saying that war with Iraq is coming is to obvious. Make them sound possible, but unreachable. That seems to be the trick, from what I was reading in the check out line.
1. North Korea will nuke South Korea
2. Russia will have another large nuclear accident with a outdated reactor.
3. The United States economy will show little if no growth for the year.
4. Australia will have worse drought in recorded history.
5. Cloned baby will end up being revealed as complete scam.
6. Alien will reveal themselves to mankind, and we will discover that they have been planting brain controlling drugs in beer.
7. Assassination attempt will be made on George W. Bush.
8. Terrorist detonate a nuclear device on the west coast of the United States.
9. Chinese attempt invasion of California.
10. Despite all the centuries of warnings, all the guilt of religion, all the warnings of science about disease, and all the posters telling people to think twice. By years end, "PEOPLE WILL STILL BE HAVING SEX!"
Well the others might happen, but I know that I will be working hard on number 10 all year.
"they" refers to the watchtower society, the elders, the brothers and sisters, etc.
when you look at how much control has been exerted over us over the years, you can't help but be amazed.
for example, if we had a major snowstorm in the area and the entire state was told by the governor to "please not go out", unless the call was made by the elders, the meeting was still on and you were expected to attend.
nakedmvistar
I was not aware my statement cast blame, but I do not see why I should recognize their titles. Would you agree that alcohol still controls the AA meetings? Does that mean the AA meetings are negative? No, it just shows how much control something has over people to make them need such a specialized assistance. Same goes for us. If we could all erase our minds and history, then we would be out of their control. Until then, we are in their control to some degree.
Edited by - whyhideit on 4 January 2003 23:20:53
"they" refers to the watchtower society, the elders, the brothers and sisters, etc.
when you look at how much control has been exerted over us over the years, you can't help but be amazed.
for example, if we had a major snowstorm in the area and the entire state was told by the governor to "please not go out", unless the call was made by the elders, the meeting was still on and you were expected to attend.
They still control us, when we use titles like Disfellowshiped, Disassociated and Inactive to refer to ourselves. Even calling ourselves Ex-Jw's is their control, as that is the title they see us as. Feeling we fit on an Ex-Jw board, is left-over control, in that we feel meeting with other Ex-Jw's will work for us. It goes on and on and never ends.
do you know any organization that are as serious as jehovah witnesses.
rarely will you see an elder smile.
when they want to talk to you, it's always on a serious note.
Think about this for a moment. An Elders position is always in question. Meaning, he must always remain free of accusation. If he looks at someone wrong, someone is upset. If he talks to long to people, someone is upset. If he says something just a little wrong, someone is upset. If he dresses a little to well, someone is upset. If we forgets to say hello to someone, someone is upset. If he is part of a judicial committee and disfellowships people, someone is upset. If he does not fill out his paperwork correct, someone is upset. If he does his talk wrong, someone is upset. If he is sick and misses to many meetings, someone is upset. If he losses his job and ends up taking a job that limits his time in field service, someone is upset. Basically that look you see on them, that you referred to as serious, is basically a very stressed out man. Stressed, worried, angry, and so on. Anyone who ever told you that being a elder was fun, lied!!!
i was a 3rd generation witness on both sides of the family.
even my great-grandomthers were considered witnesses, but i don't know if they were baptized.
my parents however were always considered weak and still are even though my mom has become more involved & for longer periods of time in the last 15 yrs.
My mother was a "want-to-be-strong" in that she always had an excuse on hand for anything that showed she was not.
"We missed you at the meetings?" - Oh we have been busy running the business, Satan is making it hard on us
"Why don't you Pioneer?" - I have the Pioneer Spirit, but my unbelieving husband would never allow it.
"We wish you would comment more." - I have my hand up all the time, but no one seems to call on me.
Basically, you get the picture.
the jehovah's witnesses have been saying for years now that the end could happen at anytime.
yet when you want to become a jehovah's witness it takes about one to three years of studying to actually be allowed to get baptized.
it seems to me that this would be like seeing a train about ready to hit someone and rather then push them out of the way, you first ask them if they know how to build a train and then explaining it to them in detail.. just seems to send a mixed message of "the end time is near" and then "but we have plenty of time to get things planted in your mind before it arrives.".
Cassandra Cain,
I thought that too, and I read the Watchtower explanation on the subject. It never made much sense to me and yet I was a little shocked when I went to a Christian church after I left and the first thing they wanted to do was baptize me. I was thinking "you mean I do not need to study and read a book first?"