Posts by Queenvelvet

28

If Jesus did not forgive a repenting satan, would He be a hypocrite?

by DavidChristopher in

he commanded us to forgive anyone who sins agianst us.

" like our current gb?

is the gb authorized to answer this question?

Queenvelvet

I have to agree with DavidChristopher on this one. It personally believe it is pointless to sit around and debate a topic about the eternal judgement of Satan or anyone else for that matter. DavidChris was not being disrespectful in his post. He was just pointing out the fact that we are not experts in spirituality here. We can not take the bible and predict what would happen. No one can. If we say we can, it makes us no different than any other religion or cult out there.

it's not like he is here to rain on everyone's parade or that it is not in good fun. He was just pointing out that taking scripture and making judgement based on that is what we USED to do. We don't want to be what we USED to be as witnesses do we? We don't want to be those judgemental assholes that we KNOW we all used to be. It is hard to erase those attitudes and even after almost 10 years, I still find myself judging people and actions all the time. It is habit because we have all been brainwashed to do it in society, but moreso as witnesses.

Spirituality and the modern day justice system are two completely different stories, so they cannot be compared. We can pass "judgement" and punish on someone who has committed a crime and try and get "justice", whatever that is. Passing judgement on what is going to happen on a person or spirit (whatever's) eternal soul based on what we THINK we know is ridiculous. Because in the end, we don't know anything. We won't know until we die, or maybe never.

I think this topic is hilarious personally. But I do see DavidChris' point here. I think everyone needs to lighten up a bit and take what he says with a grain of salt and maybe learn something from what he says, because his post is filled with what is a very good example of how a nice people should be acting. Just my opinion though as well.

31

Changes to the Shunning Practice ? We have just been spoken to !

by twinkletoes in

we went to lunch at our local cafe on saturday, and there were two families - still jws, also dining there, (in different parts of the cafe).

we expected the usual shunning treatment, but surprisingly they initiated the "hellos and how are you" and seemed genuinely pleased to see us (we have been out of the org for over 3 yrs now and we are always shunned whenever we see former jw friends) it was such a surprise to us and we couldn't help wondering if the governing body have issued "new light" on the treatment of disassociated ones.

especially as these two families have completely avoided us for a long time, even though we personally wrote to them to explain our reasons for leaving (un involvement etc+) .

Queenvelvet

Hi! First time post. I have to respond to this because I had the same experience about 2 months ago. It was VERY weird. I grew up in the same KH all my life til I was df'ed at 20 years old. I have been df'ed for almost 10 years now and have been shunned with NO CONTACT from anyone for all those years. Any time I ran into any of my parents friends, the MOST I would get was MAYBE a smile, but that was it.

I had to attend a funeral at the beginning of January. It was really strange and everyone was talking to me at the KH. They know I am still df'ed. There were a few that did not talk to me, but for the most part, the entire KH was smiling, saying hello, hugging, etc... I was very, very confused when I left. I actually went to my doctor before the funeral to get some xanax because I did not think I could handle being around all those people being shunned and it wasn't such a horrible experience to be honest. I mean, it wasn't great, but not what I expected.

The person who died was my mom's best friend. The days before she died, her husband (an elder) actually invited me to the house to come see her and say good-bye, bring food or whatever if I wanted. The entire family was very friendly to me. I didn't even expect them to talk to me at all. They never had before. ????

Anyway, after the funeral, I wrote about it in my journal, and I actually was questioning the policy on df'ing as well. Just thought I would add that in for emphasis :)

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Jan 8, 2006

Well, I suppose I should probably write a New Year's entry, but I haven't really felt like it this past week. It's been rough since Eileen died on NYE and then I had to go to the funeral yesterday. Not only going to my first real funeral for someone who I truly loved, but having to be around a bunch of witnesses was really hard. I hugged Melissa last night for the longest time and told her that I know what she is going through being df'ed and that I would NOT let her go through this without me. I hope she calls me. I want to be there for her. Listening to all the JW babble was even harder. Funny how even though years have passed nothing has changed. I suppose they would say that, "God doesn't change" and all that, but honestly, I truly believe they are waiting for something that is never going to happen and that saddens me. I certainly don't judge anyone for what they choose to do with their life and many of the people in that religion like my parents, would have nothing if it wasn't for their faith. The only problem I have is that if you chose a different path, you are shunned and lose your entire life and friendships and it tears so many families apart and that just isn't right. What kind of "God-given free will" is that?!?! Anyway, I've said this a million times over and it won't change anything, so I don't know why I keep saying it.

People aren't as weird as they used to be though. I don't know if maybe they have lightened the rules a bit on how to treat a df'ed person or what? Maybe it was just the circumstances of it being a funeral and 10 years passing since I have been around all those people at one time. Maybe some of them thought in their minds that it was ok to say hello and wave and smile at me considering the circumstances. It was really confusing for me to be honest. In the past when I went to the Kingdom Hall, all I got were blank stares and turning/looking down heads and frowns. A few people still do that, one being Jeanette Williams who is one of my mom's best friends. She has always kind of been a bitch though, so maybe that's just her way.

The bottom line is, I don't judge them for their choices, so why do they do it to me? Oh yeah... Brain washing....