i will get around to telling you my story as soon as i figure out where to post it!.
i was a witness for 19 years (i left/df'd when i was 19) and was always told that i wasn't allowed to participate in after school sports because it was getting involved in competition which is frowned upon.
so how come it's ok for the williams sisters to play professional tennis, have a career, earn loadsa money and wear totally immodest short skirts which show their knickers shock horror!!
Gopher:
Didn't the elders of Michael Jackson's congregation announce his disassociation? If they did, then the elders did take action that put him in the same situation as disfellowshipped members It's not an important point. But the elders and the Watchtower Society usually like "the last word."
i dont know if im putting this in the rite place.... .
when a young jw teen ( 13-16) disassociates themselves, or is disfellowshipped, will the parents kick them out of the house?
or are they required to let them stay?
Richie:
I know how difficult this situation can be. My wife and I have been separated from our daughter and her children for 20 years now. We have always made it very clear that our house would always be opened to them and we would always welcome them back should they desire to come back. And we continue to pray to God that their hearts may be softened by Christian love to have association with us once again.
No matter how painful or difficult the situation, God always seems to provide faith along with patience and long suffering to endure this trial. You have found the key. You are not drowning in your own selfpity and regrets. You have found a new life filled with new associations. And God has blessed your life.
Congratulations!
i will get around to telling you my story as soon as i figure out where to post it!.
i was a witness for 19 years (i left/df'd when i was 19) and was always told that i wasn't allowed to participate in after school sports because it was getting involved in competition which is frowned upon.
so how come it's ok for the williams sisters to play professional tennis, have a career, earn loadsa money and wear totally immodest short skirts which show their knickers shock horror!!
Leslie V is right. The Watchtower puts up with a lot when it comes to celebrities who have been connected with the Watchtower or are still active. Undoubtedly, some of the laxity may be the sizeable contributions that these individuals give the Society. Certainly it was true in the case of Michael Jackson. The eyebrows of many JWs throughout the world were going up long before some action was taken. Probably the Society had to be very defensive when letters of inquiry came into the headquarters. But a point came when the whole problem could not be ignored.
Something similar is being done in the Church of Scientology. The celebrities get royal treatment and don't fall under the usual rules that apply to the "grunts" of their organization. Their positions of recognition draw many new converts into the organization. Therefore, they are always insulated from the power abuses felt by the ordinary members.
The Watchtower Society is, by no means, the only religious institution filled with contradictions and double standards. But it is one of the few that claims to be "different."
i dont know if im putting this in the rite place.... .
when a young jw teen ( 13-16) disassociates themselves, or is disfellowshipped, will the parents kick them out of the house?
or are they required to let them stay?
Garybuss:
Thanks for including a report on the assembly held in Spokane in 1996. I was unable to attend. And I never heard about the contents of that program. We can be grateful to men like Ron Frye, James Penton, Richard Rawe and others who have exposed the treachery of the Watchtower Society and have been instrumental in publicizing the heartache and pain that many experience upon leaving the organization.
A lot has happened since 1996. The sexual abuse cases have taken our attention in recent times. But we do not want to forget that many families are hurting because of the cruel practice of shunning. It is obscene for the Watchtower to use scriptures that apply to the anti-Christ or to serious sinners to justify its own policy based on revenge toward those leaving its organization because of questions or doubts about it role as "God's sole channel of communication." These victims are not the "anti-Christ" nor are they unrepentent sinners. They are victims of a unchristian organization!
hello.... i don't really know if this has been posted yet.
i know there are quite a few postings regarding the release of the new "childrens" book at this years convention but i don't know if any of them have focused on the articles i've quoted here.
if so, sorry for the repeat.
Your situation is similar to one that I knew. The husband became a JW. The wife studied for a while but came to the conclusion that it was not the truth. She began to attend another church with her children. The wife really didn't want to break up the marriage because of the children. But the conflict in the house over religion became too intense. Finally, they decided on an agreed on a separation. She had the custody of the children. But they still brought the children to their meetings and services. The young woman met regularly with her minister for counsel.
This young man had a very successful business career and became a potential "catch" for some young women in the congregation. The elders began to follow the whereabouts of his wife by sending out their "congregation spies." Because she frequented the house of her minister when he was alone, they concluded that she was having an affair. The elders decided that he had "scriptural grounds" for a divorce. The divorce wasn't even "cold" when he married a sister in the congregation. He began to legally fight for the custody of his children.
The strange outcome of all this was that she met with her former husband and his new wife. She laid out the terms that she wanted regarding the custody. The new wife fully agreed to them. And that was the end of the bitter struggle between the both of them.
The strange part of it is that the elders and their spies didn't see any acts of adultery firsthand. But they reached a decision by "circumstantial evidence." Yet, in the child abuse cases, the elders refuse to take the world of only "one" witness even when circumstantial evidence abounds.
good afternoon everyone,.
does anyone know what daniel the prophet meant when he talked about the abomination that causes desolation?
the book says that when we come to understand what the abomination that causes desolation is to flee to the mountains.
The Jews probably felt there was a fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy in the days of Antiochus IV, the Seleucid king who ruled the Jews. As noted, he invaded the temple and installed an idol and polluted it by sacrificing pigs. Antiochus seemed to fit the description as he was "an abomination" and he did "cause destruction". Of course, what resulted was the revolt of the Maccabees and the overthrow of Antiochus.
The Jews would also probably see a parallel with Rome in the days of Jesus. The Romans erected their standards in the Temple precinct. Many Jews were killed trying to remove them. Of course, Rome eventually destroyed the Temple and its worship. It too was "an abomination that causes desolation." Jospehus gives a vivid account of both events.
Jesus did make reference to Daniel's prophecy. And many Christians felt that another fulfillment would occur in the "end days." It remains to be seen exactly how this will be fulfilled.
i dont know if im putting this in the rite place.... .
when a young jw teen ( 13-16) disassociates themselves, or is disfellowshipped, will the parents kick them out of the house?
or are they required to let them stay?
There are wide differences existing on how Jehovah's Witnesses treat disfellowshipped or disassociated family members. Some will use the phrase "important family matters" as an excuse to see their family all the time. Others read into it that no association should be had except under extreme circumstances.
I know of one example that illustrates this: A person approached an elder to ask about disfellowshipped parents who had not seen or heard from their daughter and her children in about 20 years. The elder's response was that the decision of the daughter must have been a "personal one" since the Watchtower had no rule forbidding contact. Technically, this elder was probably right. But in practice the opposite is true. Jehovah's Witnesses who try to slavishly obey the dictates of the Watchtower Society know that the intent of the Watchtower is to punish those who leave the organization. Enough articles have been written especially in recent years about the dangers of association with anyone who is considered by the Watchtower as an "apostate." And one can be disfellowshipped for merely asking questions about doctrine or expressing doubt about the Watchtower's role as "God's channel of communication."
considering the majority, if not all of rutherford's teachings are all but dead, the only two i can think of that are still strongly supported are........... 1) heavens doors closed in 1935 (which is probaly on it's way out the door as well).
2) changing the name from international bible students to jehovah's witnesses.. so to completely eliminate rutherford what would the jehovah's witnesses change their name to next ?????????.
this should be humourous !!!!!!!!!!!!!
If Jehovah's Witnesses would only read further on in Isaiah, chapter 43, they might not even want the name: "But you have burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your offenses." (Vs.24)
i know that jehovah's witness say only two birthday celebrations are spoken of in the bible and that neither were held by persons who worshiped jehovah.
or were there any other celebrations that were simular to birthday celebrations?.
inquiring minds need to know.
It is just another example of how the Watchtower tightened its control over its membership. Birthdays afford an opportunity of families coming together for a happy occasion. Of course, it also meant that Jehovah's Witnesses would be in association with non-believers...something the Watchtower tries to keep at a bare minimum. Over the years the Society eliminated all those occasions. The last that I recall was the proscription of Thanksgiving.
However, it is amusing to see how many JWs get around the rules. I've known those who had "special days" where even the exchange of gifts were made around this time of the dates of these celebration...but never on the same day. Also, I always had the feeling that JWs who had "unbelieving mates" enjoyed the excuse of partaking of the festivities in deference of their mates. They enjoyed the best part of both worlds.
i remember being told that one of the reasons jehovah rejected ancient isreal was that they had put too much emphasis on the 'oral torah', that is, they placed more importance on the laws they came up with themselves rather than the mosaic law they had received from jehovah.
isn't that the same situation we have today with the wbts, and so wouldn't they be rejected by jehovah because of this?
how does the society explain this one?
Gadget:
That is a very good observation. Of course, eventually the oral tradition was written down. That is why the Jews today have volumes that make up their Talmud. It consists of commentary and commentary upon the commentary. To show how extreme the rules became consider this. The Torah forbid the cooking of a kid in its mother's milk. From this one simple law, the whole concept of keeping Kosher orginated. Rules about keeping separate dishes for meat and diary products are still observed by orthodox Jews.
What is even worse in the Watchtower Society is that they have added its own arbitrary rules under the guise of being a Christian organization. The Bible is explicit about not being under law but under grace or "undeserved kindness." The leaders in the Watchtower Society are more like the Pharisees who demanded obedience to their "traditions" rather than to the spirit of the law.
