Yay me! I've come a long way in a year, for proof of this, here's my first ever post on this board:
Hi all, I have just joined this site after having been visiting as a guest for a few months. I am searching for answers so please be patient with me. A friend of mine in the Congregation has directed me to this site as he has been having doubts about the Organization, though he said he never posts on it. Despite expecting to find nothing of any interest, I've been amazed at some of the things I've read and the fact that this might not actually be 'The Truth.' Whilst I'm not going to deny that there are obvious problems within the Organization, there is, however, one thing I'm having problem understanding, how could people become anointed ones without the holy spirit and Jehovah on the side of the Organization? There's an anointed one in my Congregation, he's been a special pioneer for many years and is the PO of the Congregation. He only became an anointed one a few years ago when an older anointed one in a nearby Congregation became unfaithful. Whilst I understand that you don't need to be from the same area as a former anointed one to replace the anointed one, the fact that it seemed an almost instant change made me think there was a link here, and that this was evidence of Jehovah making sure there would be that an exact 144,000 number of people in heaven. I witnessed first hand the change in this brother's outlook on life once he became 'anointed.' I'd had many conversations before this with him about the paradise, and he was always very excited about the prospect, but after this he had no interest in going to the paradise, and instantly looked forward to a time when he would rule as a king in heaven. As most of you will know, 'The Society' teaches that you are only anointed if you know you are beyond all certainty. The fact that basically all the anointed ones (except the obviously mentally unbalanced ones) have clearly dedicated many, many years to Jehovah, shows they have a real love for Jehovah. I can't believe it's a coincidence that 8000+ people who have dedicated their lives to Jehovah will today be able to believe beyond all certainty that they are anointed. To me it shows that whilst there may be issues with the Organization that need improvement, it still has Jehovah's approval, and it must therefore be the closest religion to having the Truth, even if it does get things wrong sometimes. I would be interested in hearing everyone's thoughts, and I'm willing to listen to everyone. As I said, I'm searching for answers. Thanks.
Well, I have no problem with this now, I can read my post and laugh about it. I started out with a bit of an apologist agenda, and when I came here, there were a few apologists around, (most notably scholar) but when I saw apologists arguments get ruined by you clever apostates, I decided against joining in debate, and so it didn't take me wrong to realise I was wrong. I don't believe this is the Truth now, in fact, I know it's definitely not the Truth. So I quit pioneering, I got a real job, and I've been fading since then, I'm hoping to finish my fade by the end of this year, or early next year, and aim for Uni from 2009. Possibly 2008, if I'm really good, but since I left school early, I need a few more exams before I could get accepted to Uni, which might not be achievable by next year. I can see freedom, and it is good. There's so many people here who have helped me see the light, I'm not going to name them, and I'd no doubt miss a few, so I'll just take the easy route and thank you all! You lot are great. Here's to the next year!