A Testimony of Filth?

by Perry 29 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Scully

  No offense people, but how can you classify and entire organization or congregation as filth when only talking about relatively few incidents. Sad story however, for i've seen the same.

  
  

  
  Excuse me for pointing out the obvious, but if those experiences were occurring in a Catholic parish, or in a Methodist congregation, or in a Lutheran congregation, wouldn't the JWs use those examples as "proof" that those particular churches did not have Jehovah's spirit operating on them? Why shouldn't the JWs expect to be judged in the same manner that they judge other churches?

  2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. ~ Matthew 7:2
• 

  Gill

  Scully - Excellent point!

  This comes from page 6 of the Watchtower, September 15th 2006:

  'Having a form of godly devotion but proving false to its power.' (2 Timothy 3;5) 'A former prostitute in the Netherlans accknowledged that opposition to legalisation of prostitution comes largely from religious groups. She paused, then said with a grin that when she was a prostitute, several religious ministers were among her regulars. 'Prostitutes always say their best clients are from the religious community.' she laughed.' National Catholic Reporter, newspaper, United States.

  I wonder how many of her clients were JWs?
• 

  Crumpet

  I'm sorry, but its just hard for me to realize this for the fact that they were at one time people that the congregation looked up to.

  saki2fifty - I just want to say that I never respected the elders as much as I do the ex-elders here who have had the guts and intelligence to realise so many JW teachings are not only wrong but disasterous for all those conned into following them.
• 

  done4good

  Saki2Fifty,

  I'm not so sure where to begin here, and I don't know if I can say anything that has not already been said. But I'll attempt to put it in my own words, based on my own experience.

  The one thing that separates the witness organization from most others, is the REQUIREMENT to do or not do certain things. If this is violated somehow, one is subject to a JC and their very life, (in the form a social existence), hangs in the balance. The problem with this is, life just isn't that black and white. One can try to live by principles, and that certainly is admirable, and should be strived for, but sometimes those principles can/need to be broken in order to maintain sanity, and for the greater good.

  Example of what I mean: jws are told they cannot divorce except on the grounds of adultery. They may have an awful, abusive marriage, that NO ONE is benefiting from. They continue to put up with this situation for years, beacause "it's the right thing to do". What happens? You guessed it, one, or both partners goes nuts. Aldutery is usually committed just to get out of the bad marriage. Been there done that. Not to mention the issues with pornography, awful arguments, and MANY hurt feelings. Had there not been such an "absolute" policy, much of the pain could have been avoided. This is REAL life.

  I have seen way too many bad witness marriages. Not that all non-witness ones are perfect. But, I would make an assumption that percentage wise, jws are probably worse off than many.

  btw: This experience leads many out of the org. It woke me up.

  j
• 

  Gregor

  No offense people, but how can you classify and entire organization or congregation as filth when only talking about relatively few incidents. Sad story however, for i've seen the same. Matt.7:15-20 talks about the basic rule of judging a "tree". Bad trees bring forth bad fruit, Good trees-good fruit. etc... "By their fruits ye shall know them"(vs 20). The WTS uses this rule to condemn other religions. "What's good for the goose"...etc. As a former elder one of the things that began to open my eyes was the huge percentage of problems dealing with sexual immorality that arose from a modest little congregation of about 100 publishers (150+ including unbaptized family and friends). Near the end I once told the body of elders that I strongly believed that our congregation (and JWs in general) when compared with an equal number of people, randomly selected from off the street, would have a much higher incidence of sexual transgressions of all kinds. It was an awkward moment, but no one disagreed with me.
• 

  jason bourne

  I totally agree with your points Arthur!!
• 

  hemp lover

  "For any that don't know, Six and I were roomates back then. "
  And, as I recall, you were the roommate from hell. Remember when you got locked out and so you broke Six's bedroom window (not your own) to get in and then you told the apartment manager that it was a burglar?
  
  I was just thinking though, that if I hadn't been hanging around with you, Six and I might not have ended up all married to each other and our daughter might not exist. Hmmm....THANKS, Perry. And congrats on number two kid!
  
  Okay, back to your regularly scheduled topic.
• 

  Perry

  Hemp!!!!

  What wonderful memories! Yes, the ole "I-don't-have-ADD-and-lost-my-keys-but-a-burgalar-broke-in-trick. I could have been reproved for that... wait, I think I just was.

  I still have pictures in my photo album that you're in. Showed them to Six one of his times down. Your daugher was freaking me out when she was here because I haven't seen you in almost 20 years and her facial expressions, tonal character of speech, body language.... everything was like you. It was like seeing you at Slidemasters. You have a wonderful daughter.

  See ya.
• 

  Pistoff

  To me, the problem is not that people in the congregations are having affairs; it is the families that suffer. Even that is not uncommon. Real damage can be kept to a minimum if the parents and new mates are emotionally mature.

  The problem is the SELF RIGHTEOUS STINK of every witness I have ever known, and I was raised a witness. We/they think we are morally superior and of course it is not true.

  Even worse is when the divorces and scheming happen, most witnesses assume that they parties will automatically get the boot. NOT always true. How many of us know someone who got rid of a mate, and did not get df'd.

  The JC's have NO business in people's marriages or bedrooms in the first place; and when they are involved, they screw it up.
• 

  Perry

  As a former elder one of the things that began to open my eyes was the huge percentage of problems dealing with sexual immorality that arose from a modest little congregation of about 100 publishers (150+ including unbaptized family and friends). Near the end I once told the body of elders that I strongly believed that our congregation (and JWs in general) when compared with an equal number of people, randomly selected from off the street, would have a much higher incidence of sexual transgressions of all kinds.

  
  

  Good point. Here's why I think:
  

  The apostle Paul called the LAW an "enticement" , a "curse" and arousing our sinful passions; but also a tutor leading to Christ. I never could figure out how those seemingly opposite statements could be true.
  
  But, we all know the power of wanting something you're not supposed to have. The power of the allure is not in the object or action itself, the tease is in the wrongness of it and especially circumventing the punishment or accountability associated with the aftermath.
  
  Because the JW congregations operate under a climate of punishment and they erronously teach that we are living in Judgement Day now, then it makes sense that witnesses live in a state of heightened sinful arousal, fear & agitation. The WT. leaders rely on the fear portion of the social construct to trump the arousal to sin incitement caused by the rules of the WT. Of course the sin of judging others ("the self-righteous stink") is encouraged and provides a pressure valve that can releive the internal pressure from these two powerful and destructive forces. "I might be a complete mess inside but at least I'm not like those Christians, athiests, karma nuts, weak witnesses etc."
  
  If the WT ever started teaching the Christian doctrine of Grace which means that after re-birth you are not judged on the basis of your sins but on your reaction to Gods Grace, then it wouldn't be such a bad place to be.
  
  But as it is, it is very unhealthy, even dangerous. While I'm not an athiest, it's easy to see that from a practical standpoint it would be far healthier to not believe in God at all rather than tiptoe your whole life through an eternal Judgement Day as a sex crazed emotional wreck.
  
  Christianity does not teach that thank God. Their twisted bastardized view of God has produced its fruit as predicted.

  
  
  
  GAL. 3:10 - All who rely on observing the law are under a curse