personally, i don't think the organization is reformable.
while i was an elder, i tried to be a more moderate voice and as i grew older any harsher attitudes disappaited from within me.
as they say, all the good (and smart) elders have left.
This is a top down, power hungry, control group we are talking about here. If reform means being more Christ like...NO WAY
However if the reformation means more crackdowns, purges, and getting rid of all who question authority, then yes, I can see this happening.
Either way I'm never going back.
i just got off the phone with firefox.she wanted to tell me she wouldnt be calling me anymore.her boyfriend has her convinced that she should stay a witness "just in case".. i told her that i loved her whether she was a witness or not.im always here for her.i cant and wont judge her.ever.. she hung up on me crying.. .
damn it!.
Incubus, What you said was perfect. You sound like a fantastic person. Just keep on being reasonable, loving and open and hopefully your sister will cone around.
when i was 14 i decided to dissassociate myself.the elder flipped and met with me and my parents.i shared my feelings about the hypocrisy that i saw in the teachings and actions of the witnesses.i was assured that i simply needed to pray more and that i was too young to comprehend the incidents which had made such a negative impression on me.. .
then they went on to liken my feelings to a man who had a handful of diamonds but could only see the dust on them.. did you ever receive counsel that belittled the real issue?
.
I hadn't been to a meeting in about 5 years and then I went to a funeral at the KH.
An elder game over and said how good it was to see me and that we should get together some time and go out in service! I thought to myself "you're a total idiot, you don't have a clue" I just smiled and said something like "I don't think so." End of conversation.
Another elder told me he wanted to come by for a shepherding call, I told him he was too late and that he should have come by about 5 years previous. Then I get the old we really miss you and would love to see you here more often. I looked the fellow right in the eye and said "yeah right...I'm not interested" He buggered off.
Game set and match to me, I think.
when i look back, i think of some things that really angered me about the organization.
i was raised as a witness and i was taught from a very early age that "reaching out" was the most important things i could do in life.
i was to reach out for "privileges" and get baptized.
The double standards, when they give you instructions or make pronouncements they are spirit directed... but when they are obviously wrong then they are just imperfect humans.
I was VERY angry and bitter for a long time but I managed to get rid of those feelings. I refuse to let them influence me, good or bad ever again. The WT has done so much damage to so many peope for so long it's a crime, and I mean a real crime. They should be punished for screwing up so many lives and even causing needless deaths.
i told my friend "flawed" by i really mean a "fraud".
i had lunch with one of my old jw friends a few days ago, and then he asked me, where i went for "memorial".. uhmmmm.
i did not want to lie, so i told me i did not go.
It aways cracks me up when they refer to it as a *celebration* Wow this is the BIG JW event of the year. Let's celebrate.
Drone, drone, pass a plate Drone, pass a glass OOH AHH Go Home.
And why do they have to pass the plate and glass? Seems like everyone has to touch it for some reason, is it magic? Why not ask if there are partakers, come on down and tuck in. The whole thing has become a ritual, just an empty tradition. If you dont claim to be one of the 144000 whats the point? Give me a plate of fish and chips and a glass of beer (burp) anyday.
greetings, friends:.
this weekend i helped a friend - a professional photographer - with his photo shoot of nearly 200 little leaguers.
i was apprehensive beforehand as the paperwork (my job) can easily go wrong and i hate crowds.. well, everything went well and i discovered two things: .
The thing that's wrong with childrens sports is the kids will actually enjoy themselves and feel normal. Well, we can't have that. Children must be made to sit still and be quiet through endless, mind withering, spirit sapping meetings and then if that's not enough, be made to stand out as different at school.
The iron rod in the iron fist, that's what kids need, never mind fun, humbug, besides jesus never played soccer and the bible doesn't mention baseball...it's not in the bible for a reason, you know.
Face it...The Governing body doesn't like fun...Birthdays,Out - Christmas, No - Valentines, Are you kidding. Sports? I'm surprised you even asked, spirit of competition = Devil worship.
confession time!
i was raised in the troof and therefor never "chose" it.
i find it really hard to get my head around why anyone would ever join this organization as an adult.
The witnesses use the old "bait and switch" tactic Get "em with the pretty pictures and promises of never having to grow old or die and if you've lost someone, well soon you'll se them again right here after they are resurrected ...And they all lived happily ever after... That is until you discover you've been decieved, lied to and robbrd of your free will to do as you please.
My mother grew up in England during the second world war. She passed nights in air raid shelters as bombs exploded near by. Of course she wanted something better, a brighter future for her kids...the clergy didn't fill her needs, but the witnesses sure did. Here comes paradise, all aboard...that was 1960. She's still waiting. I'm not.
I remember at school thinking "of all the rotten luck, I get the mother who's a JW" Still, it took me a long time to escape but I made it.
i'm sure this article has come up on the forum.
can any one give me information on the numbers quoted below, in respect to them being inaccurate, correct, or what the number is more like, when you add in jw's that aren't elders, where it seems like they fail to mention here.
it almost seems they try and minimalize the the amount of abuse by only speaking of the elders here.
Let's see now...If Satan is the father of the lie then the watchtower society must be sons of satan because this is an out and out lie. Victims have been silenced for years.
well, i've told him "i don't believe this is the truth" like, 5 times now, just "i don't believe this is the true religion" tonight... don't know if there is any difference.... i get the feeling he thinks this "will just go away" although the other day he said he understood why i was depressed because "i'm deserving of death" and he would be too.
he didn't mean it, he's not happy on my new take on the jws.... anyways, i figure i'm gonna say everything i feel in front of the therapist, i need to tell him everything in front of a mediator... not just in a situation where he just thinks this thing will go away and can hurt me to guilt me into believing in the jws....
Wishing you all the best Cognac, It can be really tough taking a stand can't it? But as they say, "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything."
shropshire starapril 9, 2008. why would loving faith allow death?.
features news editor neil thomas examines the issues behind the tragic death of new mum emma gough.. words written by heaven knows who and attributed to moses have brought about the apparently needless death of a young shropshire mother, and blighted many other lives, more than 3,000 years later.. far-fetched, possibly.
yet, how else are we to interpret the death of emma gough?.
I feel sick to my stomach reading this. The WT are criminal. If christ Jesus stood by this young womans hospital bed would he have let her die? Would he have said her sacrifice made god happy? He had compassion, he would rescue an animal on the sabath. I can't believe he would not want Emma to live. The Governing body are cold hearted bastards.
