i was raised roman catholic but stopped going about 25 years ago.
i was talking with someone i work with who is a jw and suggested i might look into it.
so here i am.............
steve2! I'm shocked! Are you suggesting that afin needs to be "noble-minded"!!! Why, that's apostate thinking!
Well, I must admit that noble-minded is perhaps too loftier goal at this stage. I'd settle for less knee-jerk reactivity and perhaps just a simple capacity to answer people's questions without deviating into the alleged "motives" for questions. I guess I can dream, can't I?
i was raised roman catholic but stopped going about 25 years ago.
i was talking with someone i work with who is a jw and suggested i might look into it.
so here i am.............
If you want true information about Jehovah's Witnesses go to .... www.watchtower.org ...
Perhaps "A friend in need" is actually in need of a fair and unbiased mind instead of a closed and biased mind.
someone on this site mentioned they got a km off ebay that praised those that sold all their belongings and preached.. does anyone know which km that was?.
interesting, when going through the society's cd-rom i noticed that the drama for the district convention in 1975 was about noah's ark and was something along the lines of "there's still time left!
" (i'm paraphrasing).. -dm
Sure enough, by 1977 many of these families were facing bankruptcy."
I sure do agree with this. There's selling your house because you're encouraged to do so (albeit not so directly by the watchtower) and there's going into debt because you think the end's coming. You cannot blame anyone but yourself for the latter - because the watchtower never encouraged people to do this!
someone on this site mentioned they got a km off ebay that praised those that sold all their belongings and preached.. does anyone know which km that was?.
interesting, when going through the society's cd-rom i noticed that the drama for the district convention in 1975 was about noah's ark and was something along the lines of "there's still time left!
" (i'm paraphrasing).. -dm
Reports are heard of brothers selling their homes and property and planning to finish out the rest of their days in this old system in the pioneer service. Certainly this is a fine way to spend the short time remaining before the wicked world?s end.
Of course, we know that the tactic here is to not overtly state exactly what good witnesses should do, but instead cite examples of specific, desired behaviour and say that this is a "fine" example. Then, years later, the Watchtower can literally be telling the truth when it tries to explain away its pivotal role in the 1975 fiasco: Yep, it did not exactly say the system was ending in 1975, nor did it tell JWs to sell their possessions. A very clevel tactic.
This re-writing of events is unfortunately part of what happens in many settings in the world, governmental and religious. A monolithic organization with considerable influence over others can tell the story the way it wants to tell it. And the people, far too caught up in their need to believe are also swept along. God, as far as I know, my friends who sold their house in 1973 and began to rent still believe all of this is the "truth". Yet, bacing up to the futility of it all would probably just be too much for them.
my ex-best friend still lives in the area and we haven't spoken since i was announced as being df'd although i had left years before.
anyways, i decided to call her up.
we used to hang out, we went on trips together, we had a blast!
The story was more about me feelings, although I do wonder if she is happy.
I understand. I too think about some good JW friends I had, especially the issues they were facing in their personal lives when I knew them. Given their rigid thinking on many life issues, and the limited range of acceptable options to personal problems, I kind of imagine they're probably still stuck. This seems to be especially true of married JWs who are unhappy and unable to communicate even with their mate who is a JW. I noticed that some just steel themselves for a miserable life together, perhaps too guilt-ridden, fearful or lacking in sustained motivation to get out of the rut.
My impression is that, an unhappy JW is easier for the Watchtower to control than a happy one - although ultimately the fruitage of chronic unhappiness is a lethargic, "heavy" kind of lifestyle where the individual tries to get by doing as little as possible.
someone on this site mentioned they got a km off ebay that praised those that sold all their belongings and preached.. does anyone know which km that was?.
interesting, when going through the society's cd-rom i noticed that the drama for the district convention in 1975 was about noah's ark and was something along the lines of "there's still time left!
" (i'm paraphrasing).. -dm
Reports are heard of brothers selling their homes and property and planning to finish out the rest of their days in this old system in the pioneer service.
There were a couple of local families who did this in my congregation. I was close to one of the families: They sold their home in 1973, started renting in a lower socioeconomic part of the city and began to full time pioneer. The sister talked me out of buying a new suit and accompanied me to a second-hand store where I purchased an over-sized, mishapen suit and trousers for about $30.00. I felt so proud. I remember expalining to my non-JW paternal grandmother and I will credit her with confining her verbal reaction to "Oh really. That's nice"; but I swear I caught her rolling her eyes.
I learnt heaps from this experience. What stands above all else is how absolutely convinced we were that THIS WAS IT - THE END WAS COMING - IT FELT SO CLOSE YOU COULD FEEL IT - THE MEETINGS WERE ELECTRIC.
What a lesson for me: Something can feel absolutely real, inevitable and beyond doubt and end up being just a pathetic figment of our desperate imaginations fuelled by religious leaders who should know better. What else stands out, looking back, is the hilarity of it all. The only genuine thing that emerged was my dear departed grandmother's admirable restraint. She really was way to restrained - but she undoubtedly knew it would be hopeless to say anything to me, God bless her insightful heart.
my ex-best friend still lives in the area and we haven't spoken since i was announced as being df'd although i had left years before.
anyways, i decided to call her up.
we used to hang out, we went on trips together, we had a blast!
Anyways, it was interesting, I doubt we'll talk again... but it just confirmed again for me how much wonderful it is to be on the outside.
Sounds like talking to her was helpful for you. I think that's really good. I remember after I'd been out of the JWs for about 6 years, one "accidentally" called on my house. She was new to the city. I didn't know her and she didn't appear to know me. I did not tell her I was an ex-JW. I was still collecting my thoughts and wondering about what her purpose was.
She introduced herself, got into the usual spiel and I realised in perhaps just a few seconds how much I had moved on and how stuck in the past she appeared to be. I honestly felt like there was nothing I wanted from her or wanted to tell her. I politely stopped her, said "Thank you for calling but I'm not interested" and she said "Okay. have a nice day" and left. I always look back on that moment as an important one for me in terms of acknowledging to myself that I had left the JWs behind. I did not have any desire to reach out to her and "correct" her or share my story.
At the same time, I knew that had she known me and inquired, I would have talked.
i was raised roman catholic but stopped going about 25 years ago.
i was talking with someone i work with who is a jw and suggested i might look into it.
so here i am.............
Masturbation seems to be one of those grey areas (no pun intended) that constitute "frowned upon" behaviour but there is no explicit condemnation in terms of, If you do it, you have committed a serious sin that needs to be cleared up with the elders. However, there is still enough low-level indirect condemning that sensitive young people who have a "problem" in that area will probably feel really bad and even compelled to seek "help" from the elders. But, they may even end up feeling worse after talking to the elders.
i was raised roman catholic but stopped going about 25 years ago.
i was talking with someone i work with who is a jw and suggested i might look into it.
so here i am.............
*** w83 3/15 p. 31 Honor Godly Marriage! ***
yes, oral sex certainly is frowned upon in the Watchtower. But that was over 20 years ago. I wonder if this line is presently pushed in the literature. Has anyone a more recent article on this topic?
i was raised roman catholic but stopped going about 25 years ago.
i was talking with someone i work with who is a jw and suggested i might look into it.
so here i am.............
Lots og JWs do have oral sex anyway.
This is a worry. The elders don't know but you do. And you found out by.....? Please provide details.
