i got reinstated in the last month and had my record cards sent to a new congregation.
i went to a few meetings until i heard the cards had been sent and now i am looking to do a complete fade, no longer go at all.
the new congregation does not know me well and further away from where i live so i am hoping they will give up trying to make contact quickly.. any advice on do's and dont's and what to expect?.
It would help if you explained why you are going about it like this, because it really depends on family or whatever your objectives are.
because the Elders will get someone you trust to try and get the information out of you
it's no secret that both remaining a jw or leaving the wts can take a toll on mental health.
some will suffer from depression and ultimately some will have thoughts of suicide and a few will succumb to those.. but i don't recall ever seeing any hard stats or studies on it though.
i'm sure we all know of some people who have committed suicide but i don't know if, because you may have loose association with a much larger pool of people through the religion, that this only seems higher or maybe not be actually higher than the general population.. what i mean is, you go to a kh here there maybe 100-150 people, you attend circuit and district conventions with many tens of thousands - if any one person commits suicide then you likely hear about it and it becomes part of the anecdotal 'evidence' that is then put forward as a fact that there is a higher rate ... but is there?.
We don't have good data on the subject. But it's worth noting that a major reason we don't have good data is because the WT leadership has consistently prevented researchers from gathering this sort of information on members.
We know that the WT organisation gathers all sorts of information about the membership through circuit overseers in particular. I think it's reasonable to assume they have surveyed their membership at various times on various levels on mental health and suicide issues. If the results had shown the organisation in a favourable light they probably wouldn't prevent others from gathering the information.
the watchtower (study edition) april 2017 .
“you must pay your vows to jehovah.”—matt.
5:33.. * to all intents and purposes, he presented himself as one who was wholly dedicated to god.
13 There is no way to undo a dedication vow, taking back what we promised God. If a person tires of serving Jehovah or of living a Christian way of life, he cannot claim that he was never really dedicated and that his baptism was invalid.
Well that's their opinion. In my opinion I was 14 years old and not fully informed what the choice meant, therefore I do "claim" it was invalid.
a circuit overseer friend of mine serving in latin america called me today to say hi.
i asked him what's new and he dropped the news that they have received notification that the branch in mexico will be closing!!
this branch also called the central american branch (although located in mexico) oversees all of mexico's 800,000+ publishers plus all 7 countries of central america of over 100,000 publishers.
When are they going to introduce the change where Governing Body members get a job and support themselves. Ridiculous? I don't see why not, those that are young and able. They could work part time or part of the year, to pay their travel and living expenses.
Which makes me wonder, suppose a wife of one of the GB one day said, "I fancy getting a job", or even pursuing some sort of career. I wonder what they would say to that. Or what if they tried to stop her but she did it anyway. It's funny that the JW organisation is such a rigid system that such a natural everyday thing as a woman wanting a career or indepdendent income seems a far fetched notion at the top of the organisation. In other churchs, being a leader of then church is no barrier to the spouse having an indepdendent career.
for those that still care to read the bible of course.
those that don't, please keep the snarky comments to yourselves :-).
i am assuming nwt is not very popular?.
When I was at uni I did a few courses on Hebrew and the New Testament. In all the courses I attended the NRSV was used as standard. It was regarded as the best translation available and I guess I have internalised that bias. If I want to know simply what "the Bible" says, I look up the NRSV first. It is in easy to understand modern English, uses good base texts, and was produced by a team of very capable scholars. It avoids the extreme sectarian bias of some translations (it's commonly used as an ecumenical version, acceptable to Catholics and Protestants), the translators were neither extreme conservatives nor extreme liberals, and the version retains a flavour, but does not follow slavishly the King James tradition.
So all around I think there is a good case to be made for the NRSV as one of the most reliable, accurate, and useable translations.
But I like a lot of other translations. In particular I enjoy where translators have gone to the trouble of translating individual books with lots of footnotes amd explanation. Robert Alter's translation of Genesis for example is excellent, as is Raymond Scheindlin's version of The Book of Job. For a readable and interesting version of the New Testament I like The Authentic New Testament by Hugh Schonfield. The Jerusalem Bible is a well respected Catholic version with loads of helpful footnotes.
i'm think with the president having the ability to use nuclear weapons the need for a psychological exam should be a must for world safety because of the very real damage an easily offended narcissist could do if in a narcissistic rage he had access to nuclear weapons.
since he has clearly shown he has all 100% of the signs that he is one,, surely he can be impeached over this even in conservative run house and senate.
i think the united states owes the world that precaution to not let a mad man have access to nuclear weapons.
Jehovah's imaginary angels going to destroy more than 99% of humans - fear mongering.
Real nuclear weapons of the superpower in the hands of an unstable narcissist - not fear mongering.
There is no real comparison here.
Anyone not concerned about the future of the planet under Trump has not given it enough thought.
i'm think with the president having the ability to use nuclear weapons the need for a psychological exam should be a must for world safety because of the very real damage an easily offended narcissist could do if in a narcissistic rage he had access to nuclear weapons.
since he has clearly shown he has all 100% of the signs that he is one,, surely he can be impeached over this even in conservative run house and senate.
i think the united states owes the world that precaution to not let a mad man have access to nuclear weapons.
If China can only destroy the planet once with its weapons is that less concerning than the US and Russia who can destroy the planet many times over?
Plus I'd be astonished if the Chinese don't have more capability than they admit or the US is even aware of.
Plus if a smaller power is convinced, because of Trump's erratic behaviour, that the US will attack, they may strike first, even against overwhelming power, because they perceive it as their only choice.
i'm think with the president having the ability to use nuclear weapons the need for a psychological exam should be a must for world safety because of the very real damage an easily offended narcissist could do if in a narcissistic rage he had access to nuclear weapons.
since he has clearly shown he has all 100% of the signs that he is one,, surely he can be impeached over this even in conservative run house and senate.
i think the united states owes the world that precaution to not let a mad man have access to nuclear weapons.
Yes that is also a concern. Trump's instability and inconsistency may prompt some other world leader to conclude nuclear weapons are their best option. It could be Russia, China, Pakistan, Iran... who knows.
as far as i know, the "creation" book is out of print ?, am i right?.
well, i was searching for new watchtower articles trying to debunk, for instance, human evolution.
so, i did my homework, for the first time, so as to read past and updated papers and books on human evolution.
For Russell the ransom was the main theme of the Bible. For Rutherford the main theme of the Bible was the vindication of Jehovah's name, and the ransom was secondary.
JWs can change any belief or doctrine they wish. The could claim God produced an Adam and Eve by evolution, and sin came through them, which I think is a position some Christians take. Or they could redefine their understanding of the origin of sin.
Or they could cling on to their version of creationism indefinitely...
i'm think with the president having the ability to use nuclear weapons the need for a psychological exam should be a must for world safety because of the very real damage an easily offended narcissist could do if in a narcissistic rage he had access to nuclear weapons.
since he has clearly shown he has all 100% of the signs that he is one,, surely he can be impeached over this even in conservative run house and senate.
i think the united states owes the world that precaution to not let a mad man have access to nuclear weapons.
It is not fear mongering, it is a realistic and serious concern.
Even a thoughtful and intelligent president such a Kennedy brought us to the brink. Averting disaster in the nuclear age is a demanding task, even for a good president.
And yet you say we should not be concerned about a man who:
1. Has uncontrollable rage.
2. Has no empathy.
3. Has an all consuming ego.
4. Has said: "if we have them why can't we use them?"
There are very good reasons to be very concerned.
