Hey folks, sorry about the WAC reference. That was from MRP's first thread.
MRP said most Bethel folks are humble, honest, hardworking, and not getting rich, etc. and WAC agreed with him based on his own personal experience.
Later,
Open Mind
We have the truth - part 2
by MutualRespectPlease 100 Replies latest jw friends
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steve2
Okay MutualRespectPlease: you sound decent and sincere. You criticise our seeming lack of respect, but if you want a real dose of a lack of respect try telling the loyal brothers that you are starting up discussions on the internet. Now, you'll really know what lack of respect is!!
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mrsjones5
I don't think MRP said he's been lurking 7 years. He's gone back over 7 years of posts and read them.
I don't believe that either
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ozziepost
I don't believe that eitherI don't think MRP said he's been lurking 7 years. He's gone back over 7 years of posts and read them.
Neither do I.
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Seeker4
MRP, you wrote in your first post: "I do know however of hundreds of elders who protected children, and families that raised happy children. I am one of them. I do feel a lot for you here on this site, and I can relate to what some of you say. Especially "Seeker4" for some reason, he is so sincere but respectful."
Thank you for the compliment. I just now read your posts, and as many of the replies as I had time for. You've gotten some good advice here, and plenty to think about.
I didn't leave the Witnesses because I was stumbled by the friends or the UN/NGO thing. I had wonderful friendships, and there are JWs that I ache to see and talk with to this day.
I left because of inconsistencies and problems that I had seen in WTS teachings and in the Bible from the time I became a Witness. For instance: today I was working on an article about an archaeological dig in my state where they are unearthing Indian artifacts dating back 11,000 years. There is solid scientific evidence to back this up, but if I was a JW, I couldn't believe that. Why not? Because WTS chronology tells me that Adam was created just 6,032 years ago this October.
Now, I might be the most loving, Christian man you could imagine. I might be a wonderful father to the fatherless boys and girls in my congregation. I might totally give my life to help those in need around me, and preach like a house on fire - BUT, if I were to say, "Man can't possibly have just been created in the Middle East 6,032 years ago, if there is evidence all over the globe of humans being here for 20,000 years or more," I would be considered a wicked man, I could not serve as a Witness elder, and if I dared to mention this fact to others, I would be disfellowshipped. Why? Because the Witness are not so much Christians as they are followers of the WTS and worshippers of the Bible.
The examples you gave about Witness love and happiness and not going to war can be found in parts of all religions everywhere. I know, I've read them by the score, and I know that, just like Jehovah's Witnesses, these other religions are led to feel that their experiences make them unique from all others.
Take these few examples and multiply them by 1000, and you get to where I was in the mid-1990s when the WTS changed several things: the King of the North disappeared, and everything the WTS had prophesied about that just went down the tubes; after being told we were doing the all important seperating work for decades, we were suddenly told that the seperating of the sheep and goats hadn't even begun yet; and the clincher was when they backed off from that mainstay of Witness theology - the 1914 generation. That did it for me. That's when I decided I'd been made a fool of far too often, thank you, and I took the time to investigate all the questions and concerns I had about WTS teachings and the Bible.
As others have stated, the WTS, and believing that the Bible is an inspired, perfect book, are simply houses of cards that collapse under careful scrutiny. There is a reason the new September KM outlaws outside research - the WTS cannot stand up against the wall of evidence contrary to what it teaches.
These are just a few of the things that made me leave the Witnesses. I agree that there are some wonderful brothers and sisters, and I know as you do that none of them are getting rich off their life at Bethel or elsewhere. But that is hardly a basis for claiming that they have "The Truth."
I'd be glad to talk with you personally if you want to PM me. I'm glad you're here, and I hope you stay for a while. Unlike one of your comments, this is not anything like a religion or an organization. It's something far more wonderful - it is a forum for the free and open exchange of ideas, and a place where the merits - or lack of merit - of those ideas will be hotly debated.
Welcome! This is a place for freedom of thought, and it can be a bit overwhelming at first for a JW. But stick around, it's quite an experience.
S4
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Seeker4
Sorry - double post!
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Quandry
One day, my husband (an elder at the time) were visiting another elder and his wife and family. I mentioned that we'd been on vacation and went to the La Brea tar pits in Los Angeles.
I mentioned that there were bones of prehistoric animals such as camels, mammoth, saber tooth tigers and dire wolves in the tar pits. The saber toothed tigers and wolves had of course gone after prey animals, thinking they were stepping in water, only to find themselves stuck in tar under the surface of the water.
The woman looked horrified and quickly told her ten year old daughter that of course these animals did not eat meat, because they lived before the flood of Noah's day.
I suppose she thought the saber toothed tigers had mistaken the mammoths for giant vegetables?
I could not say anything because I realized to my surprise that I could be labeled an apostate if I disputed her word. Oh, yes, I remembered that the WTS says that all life on this earth was created in seven days that were each seven thousand years long. That makes the oldest dinosaur bones found only a few thousand years old.
What's wrong with this picture?
No matter how absurd something is, you must NOT have an opinion other than the WTS or you are unfaithful?
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Confession
Mutual Respect Please, I did not leave because of having been treated badly. I left because, as difficult as it was for me to admit, I found that the Watchtower Society was not what it claimed to be.
As others have noted you make gratuitous assertions about the abundance of love within the organization--and the lack of it elsewhere. They are the same assertions we all used to hear--and most of us used to repeat. You can hear them (and say them) so many times you get to believing them. In this world, it seems SO OBVIOUS that it's The Truth. What's missing? A willingness to closely consider all of the information. You claim to have done that, but your statements demonstrate that, either you haven't--or you haven't done so with a strong degree of seriousness nor openmindedness. As others have said, you are simply saying the same things we used to say--until we finally allowed ourselves permission to find the answers to the BIG questions.
What will happen to you if you continue reading here? We all know, from experience, that the greatest likelihood is you will come to see what we have. Indeed Simon, the man who started this very forum, began it as a place for honest-hearted Witnesses to come. It's possible you may refuse to see it, but I doubt very much that it will in any way strengthen your faith in the Watchtower Society.
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Just as I am
I can believe he read through posts from the last seven years. I did it in a couple of months time too. I couldn't stop reading, I just had to know everything.
MRP sounds like my brother: He defends the org's positions and beliefs fiercely, even though he has not attended meetings in 20 years. I noticed the MRP repeated a few times "give him some time". He may be trying to convince himself that he's right, but in the back of his mind has some nagging doubts.
MRP, I wish you all the best in figuring this whole thing out...
HE loves me,
Just As I Am
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ozziepost
Even Witnesses tell me about their lives and they don't know I am a Witness
Folks, something smells!