my brother is definitely a "bad example", he's going to college (gasp) and he has a beard (sort of, actually it's better to say that he shaves real infrequently, maybe once every two weeks!
) and he never goes to meetings, but he's not disfellowshipped.
he tells me he was with some college friends at a restaurant/coffee bar type place and a group of youths (i'm still stuck with jw terminology after all these years!
Why thanks Voltaire!
I've always been kind of a liberal JW.
Besides, when this happened, it was right after I had stepped down as a MS and was starting my own study of the Bible to address some age old questions I had. So I could relate to this guy very well.
my brother is definitely a "bad example", he's going to college (gasp) and he has a beard (sort of, actually it's better to say that he shaves real infrequently, maybe once every two weeks!
) and he never goes to meetings, but he's not disfellowshipped.
he tells me he was with some college friends at a restaurant/coffee bar type place and a group of youths (i'm still stuck with jw terminology after all these years!
Who knows, it may have just been them avoiding what they thought would have been an uncomfortable situation.
I remember a number of years back I was with some JWs at a club and we saw another JW that we knew but hadn't seen in a few years, except now he had long hair. Everyone else with me said things like "Is that so-and-so? Is he still a witness? What's his deal?" But they were too embarassed to go up to him. As soon as they pointed him out to me I went up and said Hi. He acted like nothing had ever changed so I asked him if he was still a JW. He said no and briefly explained to me how he stepped down as a MS and did a study of the bible and decided he didn't believe it. Then we went on talking about other run of the mill things you talk about when you are in a club with loud music.
a few weeks ago the pastor at our church gave the sermon from the book of esther.
this sparked some old wt memories.
i looked through my old bound volumes and found this gem of misguided scholarship from the writing department.
RunningMan - Very interesting post! I will have to print that out and research it later.
JeffT -
But he has a doctorate in theology and speaks both Greek and Hebrew, so I would think he knows what he's talking about.One thing to remember...there are a lot of men (and women) with doctorates, but they often disagree. So having a doctorate doesn't necessarily equate to having the answer.
what could amaze old ozzie?
that so many we knew for so long within dubdom are now living happy lives in freedom.
the common experience is seeing the borg "caught out" on one thing, and then, bingo!
BTW, what is "shiraz?"
It is a red grape varietal (called Syrah in most lands) that the Aussies think they are particularly good at (a little wind there.) Ozzie, I've gathered from other posts that you treasure your anonymity. Are you still a JW "undercover"? Just curious. I am still a JW in order to keep my friends and family, so I prefer to stay anonymous myself.
how do witnesses view aa meetings and aca meetings?
are they ok with the 12 steps?
the reason i am asking is because i think it might be beneficial for my jw-wife to attend some aca meetings but i'm unsure of how "anti-aa" the witnesses are.. also, if anyone care to make any comments re aca meetings, i'm all ears.
AA is simply a tool. For some its the right tool, for some it is not.
I agree with the many who have said the elders reaction will depend on the elder. My dad went to AA meetings for about 8 years after he was reappointed.
an open letter to bod at the london branch .
dear bod .
i have personal knowledge that one of your duties, at the london branch is to monitor this discussion board as well as freeminds and silentlambs .
Sorry, but I have a thing for bespoke tailored suits, so you must be thinking I'm someone else. That means you can stop stalking me now.
august 26, 2002 .
kids lost in wreck mourned
alcohol believed factor in accident that killed 5 on trace .
That's horrible. If he is found to have been DUI, then I hope he gets the fullest sentence the law allows.
while it is not impossible to have a happy marriage in the jw religion for many it is hard, for some it is very hard to maintain happiness in their marriage.
the watchtower raises the bar so very high in every aspect of life, marriage included.
the watchtower literature encourages a jw married couple to be practically perfect, or at least that is the goal set before them.
I am glad that you are in a loving relationship, however, I do not think that bad or good relationships are exclusive to any religion, race, whatever. You had asked:
Not only do we have an equal relationship, but we are best friends and have a lot of fun with eachother...what JW can claim the same?When my wife and I were active witnesses, we could definitely claim the same (and still do though I'm not an active JW.) We were, are and always will be best friends and have a mutual and equal respect for each other. I attribute some of it to pioneering together. I was raised in a house where the father worked and the mom went out in service. Dad comes home and gets to relax all evening while mom does all the work. I might have easily followed the same path if it weren't for pioneering. When we pioneered we both had the same schedules and the same workloads, so I couldn't rationalize the old "I bring home the bacon so you do the rest" mentality. I'm glad we pioneered early in our marriage because it taught me all that is involved from both sides. I now work full time and my wife works part time, but I realize that she works all day despite working part time, so come 5pm everything is 50/50. I love my wife and I love my life. It would have been nice to go to college at an early age, but then again I probably wouldn't have married my wife and had my two beautiful children. So I have no regrets about being a JW. Sorry for going off on a tangent, just a slight reaction to the general feel of many on this DB and the idea of hanging on to regrets.
Syn,
I've yet to see a single person here say anything like that - in fact, oddly enough, everyone who's commented on this has been saying how horrible it is that these people had to die like this.
That is true here, but if you look at the thread below you will see otherwise...
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/forum/thread.aspx?id=35131&site=3
an open letter to bod at the london branch .
dear bod .
i have personal knowledge that one of your duties, at the london branch is to monitor this discussion board as well as freeminds and silentlambs .
funny amac, when your buddy eriefly ranted and raved and called posters liars, without any reason whatsoever, you couldn't get your nose up his ass fast enough...........
Figures...here we go again...Dedaisy, for the umpteenth time, please stop stalking me. Why are you so obsessed with me? I know I'm a looker but geez!
