Update: Elders on the move....

by drew sagan 43 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Highlander

  24 Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!"
  But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."

  In all my years as a J-dub, I never did hear anything from the platform about 'doubting thomas'.

  In fact it was here, right now, that I'm first reading that scripture. Obviously, I'm not surprised that they never quote this example, while they have their hateful shunning doctrine!
• 

  Balsam

  I was a member of the YMCA for a while. I took some scuba diving lessons. The Elders never bothered me about it, but then I was an active witness. I even went to the Elders and asked them about it and they so no problem with it so long as religions had not donated to the YMCA and they did not get their funding from religion. So far as I know being a member of the YMCA is not a disfellowshipping offense. For one thing the YMCA does not get its donations from religious organization but from memberships. Check out the WTS library and check it out. I think your MIL is old school thinking on this and it is no longer something that should bring you problems.

  Balsam
• 

  skeeter1

  I, too, had never read that scripture until Easter weeekend. I picked up the bible, and wanted to read about Christ's ressurection. When I read the story of doubting Thomas, I received "New Light" on shunning & disfellowshipping for questioning the religion.

  Skeeter
• 

  cyberguy

  Hi Drew,

  It’s strange that the WT takes such a position about membership to use the gym or swimming pool, but has no problem renting-out such facilities for baptisms during assemblies. I was baptized in 1973 at a YMCA in Rochester, New York. And it was a common practice to use such facilities for a fee (although they probably didn’t call it a membership fee at the time, but what really is the difference?). So, it is okay to pay a fee to rent the pool for baptisms, but it isn’t okay to pay a fee to have access to the same pool and gym (or other facilities)! Go figure!

  Hope everything works out with you and your family!