No life of her own

by onlycurious 13 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • onlycurious
    onlycurious

    One of my employee's is jw. Actually, I have been blessed with 2 of them but one of them was raised a jw and the other was recently baptized and has been studying for 2 yrs.

    Both of these young ladies are very pleasant to be around and I truly enjoy being around them. The young woman who has been raised jw is a peach. My bro-in-law met her and immediately recognized that she truly isn't like any other witness he has met.

    She has a huge circle of friends outside her congregation. One of them is a pastor at my church. She was having turmoil in her congregation with someone and fled to the pastor and his wife's house. While there, she stated that "she knows they are her only true friends. All of her other friends are only her friends as long as she is a jw."

    Wow!

    We personally had a bit of a heart-to-heart the other night and she started crying. I asked her if she felt like she own her own life. She said "no."

    I asked her if she felt she is living her life to please others and she said "yes."

    Do any of you see any glimmer of hope in this or am I just being silly and hopeful?

  • Confession
    Confession

    I see a LOT more than a glimmer of hope, only. Right up until the day I discovered the Watchtower Society isn't what it claims to be, I was a zealous supporter of the organization and congregation. And even though I'd been an elder and third generation JW, even I left. JWs consider other religions to be part of Babylon the Great, the world empire of false religion, and they are warned to stay clear of them. For this girl to be so forlorn she actually flees to the house of a pastor, I'd say she's a prime candidate for leaving the organization.

    No guarantees of course. She could be pulled back in. But I'm betting eventually she'll figure it out and be rid of them.

  • onlycurious
    onlycurious

    Her mom is a 1st generation jw. Dad joined later on and doesn't do service. He WHOLE family is anything but jw's.

    There was a suicide last yr in her congregation. As you can imagine, this really rocked the boat. My pastor was asked by this young woman to provide counsel for these people.

    They are all in their late teens and early 20's. My pastor friend found himself in the midst of a bunch of grieving jw's and he was shocked. Can you even imagine?

    She might even be our babysitter coming up for our home Bible study. Lots of kids (she loves them) but it's small enough that we would rather not have one of us have to watch them every Sunday night. She is up for it. :)

  • Confession
    Confession
    My pastor friend found himself in the midst of a bunch of grieving jw's and he was shocked. Can you even imagine?

    No. I'm trying to, but (really) no. This is good news to ex-JWs like us who are always glad to hear the many stories of the loosening grip the WTS has on its adherents. And a bunch of JWs turning to a supposedly "pagan" pastor (the WTS view) demonstrates exactly that.

  • Abandoned
    Abandoned

    Do any of you see any glimmer of hope in this or am I just being silly and hopeful?

    There's nothing silly about being hopeful, but I do too feel nice that she's seeing the truth about "the truf." Let her know about this little oasis here. Sure we disagree about Saddam Hussein and George Bush and the universal importance of hooters, but we also know what it's like to feel that you've found out your everything is really nothing. We've stared down that barrel and we're still standing. Send her here....

  • onlycurious
    onlycurious

    Can you tell me what the view is of ME? I am a Christian, born-again believer. I am not asking anyone's opinion of my faith now that you are out. I am only inquiring as to how these 2 might think of me. Mind you, one of them is a friend of mine but I don't know that it necessarily matters.

    I have been told that once a jw figures out a person won't convert, move on. I have come right out and asked many questions (gently) and made sure to inform her the only reason why I wanted to know is to satisfy my curiousity. I explained I have no intentions on converting and that I am stong in my own faith.

    By the way, it seems this younger generation is much more liberal in their thinking. Am I correct? Or is this just a typical stage in life and they all get cloned once they get married and start living an adult life?

    I truly appreciate your input as I am here for that reason. I don't have much time for laborious reading at this stage in my life and I would much rather find out from people who have been there.

  • onlycurious
    onlycurious

    Abandoned -

    How would I approach that? Aren't they discouraged from reading anything outside the wt? Should I just ask her sometime if she is aware that there is a group of ex-jw's that have formed a forum and then wait for a response?

    She is also an employee so that could bring great grief in a couple different ways if not handled properly.

  • Abandoned
    Abandoned

    There are a lot of people with more experience in this than me, but here's my two cents: She already considers someone from another relgion as her best friend, so I don't think she's going to be too shocked to find out that others are sharing her same doubts. Tell her that a few of us who are feeling the same, meet here to discuss our concerns....

  • searching4truth
    searching4truth

    not all of the younger generation are more liberal just some got to feel em out just like the older ones. Just ask the questions they can't answer in a none attacking way.

  • Confession
    Confession

    Okay, their view of you. We'll first begin by qualifying this: They are individuals, and there's no telling for sure how they view you. That said, what follows will likely give you an idea.

    JWs believe that that 144,000 people (a "Little Flock") will be "bought from the earth" to serve as Kings and Priests in heaven. They teach that this ingathering began after Pentecost of 33 CE (shortly after Jesus' death,) but resumed again shortly after C.T. Russell began his work as a pastor (1870s.) Along about 1935 they began to teach that, apart from the 144,000, there would also be a "Great Crowd" of "other sheep" among them. These would have an "earthly hope." That is to say, after Armageddon, they expected to live forever in a paradise here on earth. This is what the great majority of current JWs look forward to.

    JWs believe that if you are not a JW, you will die at the soon-to-come Armageddon. While they encourage a personal relationship with Jehovah, it is a fact that a person's worthiness is measured by how loyal they are to the organization.

    "Those who desire life in the New Order must come into a right relationship with the organization." [Watchtower, November 15, 1981, pp. 16-17, underlining added]

    JWs often sidestep this. If you ask them, "Do you think you're the only ones who receive God's favor," they'll likely say something about how only Jehovah decides this, and that it's not up to them. But the truth is they ABSOLUTELY are taught that they are the only ones.

    It's true that many JWs maintain friendships with non-JWs (called "worldly people.") I myself did this. But, while they may enjoy conversations and other association with you, they are generally cautious not to let other JWs know the depth of your friendship. They are cautioned that "Bad association spoils useful habits," and that they should "not be misled" into friendships with "worldlings." If they really believe the JW religion is "The Truth," they definitely think you will be destroyed for your lack of recognizing their organization as "God's sole channel of communication."

    Many of us have also noticed that much of the younger generation is a bit more skeptical of WTS claims. For a long time, JWs were almost ostracized for attending college, since that would be "putting your stock" in this world. About ten or twelve years ago the Society slightly amended its position on this, probably resulting in a higher percentage of JW kids getting an education. Now the WTS is again asserting the danger in exposing yourself to the use of your mind this worldly environment, but it seems a bit late. Also, previously it was hard for active JWs to find out what ex-JWs knew, since there exists such an effective system of shunning those who dissent. Enter the internet. Now it's easy and free to be exposed to the real truth.

    If one or both of these girls is seeking the solace of another religion's pastor or suggesting that their life is not their own, they may not really be with the program anymore. They may have already accepted that it isn't "The Truth" after all. In this case, they may see you as a good person whom Jehovah would never destroy. But this would certainly be going against everything they've been taught. So it all depends on their present position about the organization. Is it still "The Truth" to them, or isn't it?

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