Will you attend the Memorial this year? Why? Why not? (page 4)

Berengaria

I will not. Why break my record after 30 years?

dazed but not confused

Nope. This will be the 2nd one that I will happily not be attending. No need for me to give any inkling that I still believe their dribble.

If I wasn't a recovering alcoholic, I would love to go and when they pass the wine, drink it all down . Stand up and drop the glass like a rapper drops the microphone and walk off...

I will go because my mom asks every year if I'm going, it gives her hope and makes her happy. She is 89 . Since I do go every year, that allows me to say a few things about the org. without her thinking I am a crazy apostate. Apostates don't go to the memorial

jwfacts

OM - Attending the Memorial tells the JW's in your life that there is still hope that you will come back.

Exactly. Going indicates that you no longer go to meetings because you are some lazy sinner, but one day when you stop being so pathetic you will return to the truth. That may be a message some want to portray in order to keep the peace, otherwise don't go.

justmom

Hello everyone...

Have mentioned this before. We as in at least my husband and I and possibly our sons will be attending but not for most of the reasons here that any go or not go except for my dear sister Tec who when I read this I was so happy in my heart.

They have shut up the kingdom to any and all except for a few left on earth and now they keep squeezing them out and making members actually feel that the only ones that probably should be rightfully partaking is only the 8 governing body members. How they continually blaspheme the god of heaven and deny people life through a covenant that is open to ALL including the great crowd. John 6 tells us "Anyone" not just 144,000...

They have continually required all its members to abide by a covenant that promises everlasting life, a resurrection, forgiveness of sins through CHRIST etc etc etc.....and yet denies them the arrangement, the communion that allows this to happen, and the one who makes it all possible.

Instead they manipulate the sheep into thinking that it is through them as their mediator, NOT CHRIST, that they are to live forever in paradise on earth. This is a lie. They are false Christs and they seat themselves in this position ( like in the seat of Moses) acting as their mediator when we have one mediator between god and man now,..CHRIST.

They promote that everlasting life is available but only through THEM! This too is blasphemy!

So although we will never worship with them as they are the true apostates ...our families and our loved ones are still inside. We will go as an example out of love so that they can see there are those who choose to obey Christs invitation despite the organizations disapproval. And for those that our lord is calling out to as his sheep they can see others who identify with this calling and have not allowed the fear and condemnation that the WTBS puts on us to allow us to cower down.

So whether they approve of it, whether they are allowed by Holy Spirit to see it, or whether they choose to reject it, we will go out of obedience and love for our fellow brothers. It is only foreign and unacceptable to this organization that claims Christianity. All others don't look at you like you are a freak of nature.

Just my thoughts

love to you all Justmom

Open mind

jwfacts: " That may be a message some want to portray in order to keep the peace,"

To be honest, "keeping the peace" is the main reason I will attend for my mid-80s JW parents. They've already lost my gay older brother. I don't want to add to their pain at this stage of their life. For me it's a pretty small price to pay.

Beyond that though, even if my parents got hit by a bus tomorrow, I'd still attend for the purpose of having access to other extended JW family. There is one family in particular that my wife and I have pretty high hopes for. If they thought we were completely inactive and even refuse to attend the Memorial, I think our access to them would be curtailed. I played double-agent elder for about 3 years getting my immediate family out. I can keep up a tiny facade for the forseeable future in the hopes of reaching them.

om

mrsjones5

" Going indicates that you no longer go to meetings because you are some lazy sinner, but one day when you stop being so pathetic you will return to the truth. That may be a message some want to portray in order to keep the peace, otherwise don't go."

My situation is a tad different. I've got my boundries firmly in place and my mother rarely mentions the lie to me in except in passing like "I was out in field service today with a sister when you called blah, blah, blah..." She doesn't ask if I would like to go to the hall and she never asks about the memorial. I don't get hounded by her about the "truth" anymore. But I know if I ever step foot over the threshold of a hall again especially if its a meeting or memorial thingy that boundary I have with my mother will be gone. Kaput. The harassment will start again. I like things just the way they are now. Can't help if it hurts my mother's feelings that none of her children are in the "truth". She killed any sort of twisted empathy on my part for her feelings long ago.

MrFreeze

No. It is a bigger waste of time than even the regular meetings. Sit in a chair and pass crackers and wine to the person sitting next to me? Sounds like a fun evening.

NeverKnew

I am so going.... When is it?

tiki

wow - the last meeting i intended to attend was a memorial - honestly don't know when...but all day long i was in a fight with myself because i had it so deeply ingrained in me that i HAD to go, but i really did not want to. at one point in the day my husband asked me (seriously, i quote) "do you really want to go to the shindig"......his words..........mine were "we have to"..............then it got time to actually get dressed and i went downstairs where he was and just said "i can't --- i just cant...." and he was fine with it. we never entered a kh again until one very close friend died and we went to his event.

i will never go to anything there....i did my time. i am free now.

Will you attend the Memorial this year? Why? Why not?