i heard that after a jw has been disfellowshipped, elders will still periodically visit the person, once a year?, to see if his situation has changed and might be interested in studying again.
my question is, what if a jw disassociated himself?
some elders i have been avoiding for 10+ years discovered where i live and tried to visit me.
Well I'm going to be really mad if they visit because I told them in my disassociation letter to stop trying to see me. Is there anything I can do to have some "peace of mind" of not being bothered by them again? How about a police restraining order? Harassment is illegal, no?
David
what's the society's latest teaching on voting?
is it a "conscience" matter or is it still forbidden?
i got into a discussion with a jw on another board and she says it may be ok to go into voting booth to avoid danger but it 3was forbidden to actually vote for a candidate.
Hi,
What's the Society's latest teaching on voting? Is it a "conscience" matter or is it still forbidden? I got into a discussion with a JW on another board and she says it may be OK to go into voting booth to avoid danger but it 3was forbidden to actually vote for a candidate. My understanding is that it's now a "conscience matter," kind of like higher education was 20 years ago, and that you could vote for a worldy candidate without being disfellowshipped or even rebuked. Who's correct?
thanks,
David
from what i can see, it's nearly impossible to reason with a witness, even if you might consider them somewhat intelligent.
No. You have to wait until some event happens for them to open their minds. Then they will reason. Until that special event happens, it's "my religion right or wrong."
David
i heard that after a jw has been disfellowshipped, elders will still periodically visit the person, once a year?, to see if his situation has changed and might be interested in studying again.
my question is, what if a jw disassociated himself?
some elders i have been avoiding for 10+ years discovered where i live and tried to visit me.
I heard that after a JW has been disfellowshipped, elders will still periodically visit the person, once a year?, to see if his situation has changed and might be interested in studying again.
My question is, what if a JW disassociated himself? Some elders I have been avoiding for 10+ years discovered where I live and tried to visit me. I didn't open the door after recognizing their voices. I sent them a formal disassociation letter and they seemed to have stopped trying to see me. Is that the end of the story or can I expect a visit next year?
thanks,
David
do you believe in hell again?
the trinity?
the "slave"?
Yes I still believe in a few things:
1) Using God's name, Jehovah. I still use it. People ask me if I'm a JW and I have to tell them no and that I just happen to use God's name.
2) Certain holidays like Halloween and Christmas are not Christian, although I'm not against celebrating them.
3) Racial equality. Not that this is a particular JW teaching, but I do think the degree to which JWs promote this is unique and unmatched by any other religion or organization.
4) Trinity doctrine is false.
Probably some others but those come to mind first.
.
is there a connection between the society and nation of islam?.
david.
Is there a connection between the Society and Nation of Islam?
David
i have to post this question, because as i was trying so hard to talk to my husband about what i am learning and what others are saying, he is saying i am not doing this objectively at all, and only hearing things from bitter exjw's who are angry at the org for something.
i say this isn't true, i wasn't searching for answers due to a negative occurance in my life, and i don't believe everyone here was either.
he says i am only emotional about this, and trying to find reasons to prove all the things i have learned as wrong.
I'm not bitter at all. In fact I'm very thankful that I was a witness during my teens. My family was dysfunctional (father non-believer, mother JW) and the congregation was the familiy I never had. They showed interest in me and loved me. The witnesses provided a community and structure I needed at the time. If it weren't for being a witness I would probably be a homeless drug addict now. I do think being a witness can be good for some people at certain times of life in certain situations.
i have to post this question, because as i was trying so hard to talk to my husband about what i am learning and what others are saying, he is saying i am not doing this objectively at all, and only hearing things from bitter exjw's who are angry at the org for something.
i say this isn't true, i wasn't searching for answers due to a negative occurance in my life, and i don't believe everyone here was either.
he says i am only emotional about this, and trying to find reasons to prove all the things i have learned as wrong.
unbelievable... the guy i studied with called my house tonight after 10 years i left.
fortunately my wife answered and told him i wasn't available so i have time to think about my options.
he left his name and number.
Thanks everyone for your helpful replies. I read the KM on shunning and it looks like their policy hasn't changed since I left. I forgot to mention that when I first left 10 years ago they tried to contact me on/off for about a year before giving up. Then I didn't hear from them until recently which is why I'm so surprised.
The other reason why I just left w/o officially disassociating myself was that it was such a painful process just leaving and not going to the meetings that I didn't have the heart to disassociate myself at that time. It took a few years for me to come out of the "fog" of having been in a cult. Coming from a dysfunctional family, they were the family and community I never had. In fact I'm very thankful that I was a witness during that time. If I didn't have their support I'd probably be a homeless drug addict now, or worse, instead of a successful engineer. This is a separate topic but I wanted to bring it up because the elder that's trying to contact me now was like a brother to me. He spent a lot of time and effort helping me. I still have a little guilt today never saying goodbye and thanks to him for all his efforts and for truly loving me. That's why I find it so difficult to just return his call and talk to him.
Anyway, my plan now is to do what I did 10 years ago and just ignore their calls and see what happens. Hopefully I'll be free from them for another 10 years before they look me up again. :-)
thanks again,
David
unbelievable... the guy i studied with called my house tonight after 10 years i left.
fortunately my wife answered and told him i wasn't available so i have time to think about my options.
he left his name and number.
Unbelievable... the guy I studied with called my house tonight after 10 years I left. Fortunately my wife answered and told him I wasn't available so I have time to think about my options. He left his name and number. I never officially disassociated myself, I simply left. They finally found me, probably through my mother or brother who are witnesses.
What's current JW policy on disassociated ones? What kind of contact can believers have with disassociated ones? The only reason I don't disassociated myself now to stop any harassment is because I still want to associate and be able to talk to my brother and mother. Alternatively I suppose I can write a letter saying please never contact me again without explicity saying I'm disassociating myself but I doubt that will stop them.
What are my options? I want them never to call me or visit me at my home but at the same time I want to be able to talk to and associate with my mother and brother. Is this possible?
thanks!
David
