there are two things.
in the early and mid 80s there were witnesses saying that the cartoon characters the smurfs were not acceptable for witnesses.
i had two smurf cartoon books and my mother made me throw them away.
An elder related to us how his father (PO at the time) wouldnt allow him or his brother to put 'tiger tails' on their car aerials because they were demonic!!
For those of you to young to remember, 'tiger tails' were a promotion gimic by a petrol company in the UK back in I think the 70's.
Maybe englishman remembers them?
women did have an active part in the first century congregation.
the following account shows that a woman did have a prominent position in the congregation.
jc with his admonition did not say what the heck are you doing teaching...dont ya know you should be only doing no 3 assignments.
Good point ISP.
Another one I have often used is the fact that JC first revealed his identity as the messiah to the samaritan woman at the well and not to his male disciples.
please, anyone broken their children's heart over the wtbts?
i've been away from meetings for quite a wwhile now and have finally had to face the fact that i am responsible for my childrens 'lost' looks lately.
i've tried to sow a few little gentle doubts to ease them into the thought that were not going to meetings as 'the org may have got some things muddled up'.but its so strange to find yourself in this position; the worst is seeing their little faces as you struggle to find the right words that won't upset them.
Hi termite
sorry to read of what you are going through with your children.
As others have said a lot depends on their ages.
If they are at school there is always lots that you can let tham join in with especially as I assume that you are no longer hamstrung with JW controls.
If younger than school what about playgroup etc.
Older teens are a lot harder and maybe others have got ideas.
Would you consider letting them get involved in St John ambulance cadets or other similar organizations. Maybe you also could do something along those lines.
Mine were 19, 21 and 22 when we started our slow drift and it isnt easy for them to find their feet socially and start again.
Just a few thoughts.
Please email if you would like to.
Hope you enjoy your hols.
Anglise
i have been trying to find a wt quote but all has failed and so i turn to this discussion board for help.
i am beginning to wonder if i imagined it in one of my wierd dreams.
i cannot give it exactly, but it went something like this.... (following discussion of "worldly" bombs that kill good and bad alike)... if only a bomb could be constructed that only destroyed the unrighteous.... ps - hello sirona.
Hi Mr Ben and welcome to the board.
I am curious/nosey. Are you named after the tv prog?
Bye the way I am glad someone found your quote for you.
i've been inactive for over 4 years now but i'm still attached though - loosely.. i will occassionally attend a meeting or portion of an assembly or convention.. i get a mixed reception at these gatherings.
generally my experience has.
been that the larger the group, the more inclined i am to run into some who.
HStep
I agree with you it might not be a kindness to undermine the cherished faith of a 70 year old.
But that is exactly what the JW'S are hoping to do everytime they knock on a door or informal witness or place a magazine.
There isnt any compassion or fellow feeling when any faith other then the good news according to Brooklyn is involved.
Those of us from dubdom can testify to the truth of this because we've all done it and seen very elderly and even infirm ones baptized having ungone the love bombing process to get them into the org.
The ones I can recall didnt really even understand what they were getting involved with.
I remember one elderly lady who had lead a very simple life getting baptized and yet still celebrating all the 'worldly' holidays and joining in with the communal bingo etc at the retirement home where
she lived. Until of course some busy body sister reported it to the local gestapo elders who soon put a stop to it, and then this elderly sister became quite isolated in her once happy and innocent environment.
f-ing propoganda.
i read it, only because i recognized an old friend in it.
(he was interviewed) makes me mad that he's a propoganda pig, though.. whitewash.. btw i hate getting these damn things, but my in-laws spam us with them.
Hi A
I take it it was somebody they indentified as a JW in the articles.
here is an excerpt from a letter from the society.. jehovah has endowed us with free will.
as such he has implanted in us the faculty of choice.
he does not force us to act or think in a certain way, nor does he employ his sevants to do so ( 2 cor 3:17).
Hi sleepy
that is a good reply but hardly lives up to your name.
I'd say you were very Awake.
Hope it gets the response you would like but I think you will be dissappointed.
The WTBTS is a F&D slave but only to its own ideologies and then only when it suits. They can bend and twist their rules with seeming impunity ie the UN issue.
I hope that whatever the outcome is, it will help you to gain some sort of closure as regards the JW influence in your life.
my son and daughter from my previous marriage have just been kicked in the teeth by witness teaching.
they have never ever been jws, which makes it worse imo.. they have just been dumped by their jw grandfather, dumped by their uncle, dumped by their aunt.
when my dfd ex-wife lost her mother a couple of years back, her jw sisters and brother decided to put a stop to my exs alienation.
Hi Eman
another sad mad JW situation.
I assume your children are not little ones and so are open to your reasoning about the true dub nature that is showing itself here.
One thought that struck me was how this would be viewed in the light of the recent law passed in the UK on inciting religious and racial hatred or words to that effect?
Maybe others have more info on this.
Hope you can sort it without too much emotional fallout.
gossip is nothing new... we hear it everywhere, at work, with friends, even on this message board.
it's nothing special, and it will stay with humanity for a long, long time, if not forever.. however, if one claims to be in god's only organization on earth, part of god's plan for a *paradise earth*, then one must therefore be free of such *petty* things as gossip.
at least that's what the gb says, right?.
Good points Mindfield.
One of the reasons we were dissallusioned with the church we were in 18 years ago was the petty back biting and gossip. You know the sort about the Womans Group taking up space on the shelves belonging to the sunday school and the back stabbing that such heinous crimes called for!!
Anyway when I mentioned such things to the sister that was studying with me she told me how differant those in Jehovahs organization were etc etc, in fact in was a defining mark of it being Jahs true people.
So along with many other things I swallowed it.
A few months after being baptized I remember going back to a sisters house with the rest of the group after FS for the ususal cup of tea and guess what?? GOSSIP!!.
I sat there quietly listening as I didnt really know who they were talking about anyway, but after thay had verbally decimated this sister the elder who was present and who had been quite vocal then realised I was there and made a comment to the effect that maybe they shoudnt be speaking that way as they had a new sister with them and I might get the wrong idea!!!
The shame of it was that it took me another 17 years to gain a full appreciation of what the TRUTH was really about and leave.
They are worse then the churches in many ways, but mainly because they claim to be better.
theres little else in life that is more ludicrous than a pompous jw.. correction.
there is little else in life that is more ludicrous than a pompous male jw.
especially one of the elder variety, one of those guys what tell people what to do.. think about it, it just isnt natural for a man to be the head of the house .
I remember a self important elder telling a sister in a divided home to come and tell him when she was down and emotional due to her 'time of month' problems and not to go talking to the other sisters. He just knew everything and was HEAD of his household.
