Young Witness Calls on Me with the Tract - We Both get Educated !

by flipper 34 Replies latest jw friends

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  flipper
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  flipper

  Sorry about this ! Such an exciting post I pushed the wrong button and submitted it before I wrote it ! Check my next post. Sorry ! Peace out, Mr. Flipper
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  hubert

  I'm waiting ........?????

  Let's get going here! I ain't got all night !

  Hubert

  Okay, I got till midnight.
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  still_in74

  no kidding....... been 30 minutes now? What the heck ya doin Flip?? ;)
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  crazyblondeb

  ?????????

  Wow, that must have been exciting! LOL
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  troubled mind

  Ummmmm .........flipper out of the pool already and clue us in ...
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  OUTLAW

  ..............................OUTLAW
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  flipper

  Anyway - This young witness lady about 27 years of age came and tried to place the new tract with me. She was talking a mile a minute , you know - " Just want to tell you about the paradise, there will be a resurrection of our loved ones, no more sickness ! " Yadda, yadda, yadda - all at 90 miles per hour ! So I slowed her down for a minute and asked her how long she had been in the witnesses. She said she had been in it since age 14 , but had gone away from it for awhile, but came back into it a few years ago.

  I mentioned to her that I noticed in other religions like the Mormons there was a lot of control going on right now in regards to the leaders paying out millions of $$$ to pass proposition 8 and the leaders were telling the people from the pulpit in the church to donate money to prevent gay marriage. I explained to her that some in the Mormon church were offended by it and ashamed their religious leaders were pressuring them to be prejudiced ! She stated, " Well Jesus said not to get involved in political issues, they tried making him King and he backed down saying to worship Jehovah ! " I thought, " Oh brother " " this ones gonna be tough ". So I continued , " The point I'm making is the leaders of the Mormon's are trying to " control" all the members views of what they should or should not do. They were being made to feel guilty if they voted against Prop. 8 . "

  So then I mentioned how controlling a lot of religions are in regards to their reputation. I gave examples of the Mormon's trying to insist minors get married under age, how the Catholics allowed child abuse for years until a class action lawsuit was brought against the priests - only THEN did the church take action to discipline the offending priests. She agreed that it was awful that this was allowed to go on . Then I asked her , " Does your witness church have any problems with child abuse ? " She stated, " Well, 1 person in our area was just sent to prison, a witness, so if it happens in our religion the person is disfellowshipped and put out of the organization. " I asked her, " Did you know that the witnesses settled an out of court settlement with 16 child abuse victims last year ? " I went and got the news release , and she went to her car to get the Oct.8th Awake on " protecting your Children from the Internet " . We exchanged literature to each other at the same time and the look of dread on her face while reading this news article was interesting. She obviously had not heard of the abuse settlements.

  I stated to her that my family were witnesses who had tried to get me into it , however because of questioning the WT societies handling of child abuse - I had real issues with it. I told her that the problem is that many who were abused were prevented from going to the police about it , and that it was only handled , " in house " so to speak by the committee of elders . She agreed that if that happened , it's wrong and that everyone should report it to the police if child abuse happened ! I stated that some innocent victims were even expelled from the organization for reporting it to police. She stated, " Well if that happened , the elders are not perfect and make mistakes and errors in judgement - and I assure you Jehovah will correct that situation very soon. " I emphasized that it's not a matter of imperfection to minimize child abuse , as it's considered a felony type crime worthy of many years in prison for offenders. Then I quoted her Romans 13 : 1,2 which says essentially that God puts the authorities in power, if child abuse is prevented from being reported to authorities , it's taking a stand against God who put the authorities there to punish wrongdoers.

  Then , she changed her tune and agreed saying, " Well, it's everyones's responsibility to report it then, not just the elders ! " I agreed with her. I told her I considered myself agnostic because of the offenses of different religions like Moromons, Catholics and Jehovah's Witnesses . I asked her, " Do you see similarities in covering over child abuse at times between the Mormons, Catholics , and Jehovah's Witnesses by some of the leaders of these churches ? " She said, " Yes, I do ! And if a leader in our religion is acting that way, covering it over , Jehovah will remove them in time. "

  She did hand the news release back to me as she looked nervous about having it and said, " I'm aware of this now - so I don't need it. " I said, " I'm just concerned for you my friend that you were made aware, that's all. " I continued, " I just am concerned that you keep having an open, free mind to think objectively and use your critical thinking skills to be alert and aware of everything around you ! Are you afraid of this news I have shared with you ? " I asked . She said, " No , only false religion uses fear to control it's members. You know like a burning , fiery hellfire ! " I interrupted , " Or Armageddon perhaps ? " I continued, " You seem like a nice young lady, I'm curious, What if there was not a paradise hope, or what if there was not such a thing as Armageddon, or what if you didn't have to turn time in at the end of each month and report - would you still have come to my door and talked with me ? " She said, " I really care about people , so yes, I would be here talking with you even still if none of those things were true. " I commended her and said, " Well, you have good motives then ! That's commendable ! " At that point it had been an hour or so and her middle aged witness lady car driver came and got her from my door. So , she didn't leave of her own accord .

  So, hopefully I planted a few thoughts today. Isn't that all we can ever hope for ? So , I look forward to whatever thoughts or observations you have here. It was fun ! Take care, and peace out to you al, Mr. Flipper
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  flipper

  Another interseting thought I wanted to share : My wife and I couldn't help but feel sorry for this young woman that she is so mind controlled. Felt compassion for her. But there were glimmers of real, authentic thinking there somewhat, you never know what may transpire in the future for her ! Peace out, Mr. Flipper
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  oompa

  good effort flip...but somehow i do not think you will be a return visit....i hope i am wrong....oomps