Posts by truth_b

16

Squandered Life of Jehovah's Witness Youth

by silentbuddha in

08:30 - 15:30 = school.

truth_b_known

Growing up and elders kid made things worse. More sacrifices for dad's spiritual career. Coming home from school on Tuesdays and Thursday meant homework and then studying with mom to prepare to answer at the meetings. So, no time to be a kid on those days. We had to try to answer to make dad look exemplary

Wednesday night after dinner was my one-on-one study with dad. Friday night was preparing doo-to-door presentations for Saturday morning field service. I think Monday night was the only school night I didn't have some "spiritual" activity.

Weekends were a train wreck. Get up early on Saturday to go out in field service. Come home, eat lunch, and now it is time for the family study of Sunday's Watchtower study. It was about 3:00PM before I had time to myself on the weekends. Not too much time. I had to get to bed early so I could get plenty of sleep so I didn't zone off during the meeting.

Sundays were pointless if it was our congregation's turn to have afternoon meetings. Even worse, that meant a full year of Sunday morning field service before the meeting. Either way, Sundays were bad. My dad would be asked to give public talks on Sundays to other congregations. Sometimes they were a good hour's drive away. Those were also the days where it was custom for someone to provide "hospitality" to the guest speaker. That often meant sitting at some stranger's home for the hours after the meeting. Many times it was an elderly couple who would have us over for lunch. That meant hours of staring at the walls while enjoying the refreshing odor of moth balls.

It is no wonder Witness kids grow up resenting the religion and their parents for forcing it on them.

18

If all GB members died at once?

by Jofi_Wofo in

i don't suppose anyone knows for sure, but do we have any kind of hint of what would happen if all of the governing body members died at the same time- such that nobody was left to appoint successors?

in lieu of any solid evidence, i'd also be interested in hearing some speculation based on what we already know about the organizational structure.. it would certainly throw a wrench in either the teaching that the faithful and discreet slave will survive into the great tribulation and/or the implied doctrine that the the gb succession arrangement is justifiable biblically.

let me firmly disclaim any implication that i am encouraging violence or wishing death on the governing body.

truth_b_known

The way things are going now with Jehovah's Witnesses it really wouldn't make a difference. You have a group of people who will live or die at whatever JW Broadcasting tells them to do. Whatever reasoning given for the Governing Body's replacement will be accepted because, if you don't, it means being disfellowshipped.

10

Question for parents with a believing co-parent

by Anony Mous in

my daughter is being raised in a pimi household and spends a significant time with me in a pomo household.

i don’t pressure her to believe, so she is thinking/pressured about becoming a jw from the other end, so she is reluctant about celebrating holidays and birthdays, but as any kid, she loves the gifts and attention, so she will “not celebrate but still do things”.. she is becoming a teenager however, and showing interest in not-so-jw-things.

her mother forbids star wars for violence and magic, but she wants to watch it, she wants a few horror video games, she wants to shoot things and go hunting but guns aren’t allowed, so i’ve compromised for archery.. what do parents of teenagers do?

truth_b_known

Telling your daughter you want her to be free to be herself would probably be the single greatest thing you can do. Let her know whatever decisions she makes for her life you will support. I find it highly hypocritical that Jehovah's Witnesses sing a song about "Make the Truth you own" and yet they demand that the religion be imposed on their children.

If your daughter wants to be one of Jehovah's Witnesses let her know you would support her decision. Let her know it would make you feel better if she made that decision after:

She thoroughly examined the history and teachings of the Watchtower
She is familiar with the practice of Disfellowshipping based on the Watchtower's own articles
She makes the decision as an informed adult
She makes the decision because that is what she wants and not because it would make her mother happy or our of fear from being kicked out of her mother's house.

In other words, she really does make it her own.

112

Afghanistan-Kabul falls to Taliban - U.S. Embassy staff evacuated by helicopter

by fulltimestudent in

jw
friends

in a scene reminiscent of the fall of saigon, the usa embassy staff have been evacuated by helicopter.. for a third time in asia ( a fourth, if you count usa supported chiang kai shek's defeat in mainland china) usa supported forces have been defeated.

more than 1 trillion dollars wasted and a huge deathtoll (both sides) afghanistan is back to where it started,.

will the taliban behave differently this time ?

truth_b_known

I understand why the West went into Afghanistan - to clear out the Taliban and catch Bin Laden - but they sadly didn't really have a long-term plan.

The U.S. invaded Afghanistan to locate and apprehend/kill Osama bin Laden, the Al Qaeda leader behind the 9-11-2001 attacks in the U.S. The Taliban, sympathetic to bin Laden's cause, gave safe haven to bin Laden. The Taliban had nothing to do with 9-11 and had no intent on attacking the U.S.

When the U.S. located bin Laden's hideout in Afghanistan and bombed it military forces soon learned that bin Laden escaped. That was the time for the U.S. to pull out of Afghanistan. That failed military strike was in 2001.

32

Why is there a large cat in this picture?

by slimboyfat in

i wonder if anyone can explain this.

ezekiel 34:25 says .

and i will make a covenant of peace with them, and i will rid the land of vicious wild beasts, so that they may dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the forests.. the land is said to be rid of vicious wild beasts, so why does the watchtower picture in the new pure worship book show a large predatory cat on the tree in this picture?

truth_b_known

Probably because the Watchtower is mixing up Isaiah 11:6 with Ezekiel 34:25. One says Jehovah will rid the land of wild beasts and the other says the lion will lay down with the lamb.

You sure that isn't the Cheshire Cat and Alice?

10

Question for parents with a believing co-parent

by Anony Mous in

my daughter is being raised in a pimi household and spends a significant time with me in a pomo household.

i don’t pressure her to believe, so she is thinking/pressured about becoming a jw from the other end, so she is reluctant about celebrating holidays and birthdays, but as any kid, she loves the gifts and attention, so she will “not celebrate but still do things”.. she is becoming a teenager however, and showing interest in not-so-jw-things.

her mother forbids star wars for violence and magic, but she wants to watch it, she wants a few horror video games, she wants to shoot things and go hunting but guns aren’t allowed, so i’ve compromised for archery.. what do parents of teenagers do?

truth_b_known

Anony Mous:

I am not sure where you live. I live in the U.S. and the state I live in treats teenage children of divorced parents a little different then when the child is younger. There comes a point in time where the court will let the child decide which parent he or she wants to live with.

Of course, this would mean filing to modify the orders previously handed down and that will require money. If your ex decides to contest the modification you will need an attorney. That will require a lot of money.

Here's a comprise - when your daughter is with you she is free to decide on her own to do as she pleases as long as it is legal, safe, and not against your house rules. In exchange your daughter is free to have your ex impose her religious practices on your daughter with one caveat - no baptism until your daughter is a legal adult and living outside your ex's home.

If your ex is not agreeable to the arrangement I would sue for primary custodial parent under the premise that your ex is damaging our child's growth by imposing the Jehovah's Witness religion on her. You are agreeable with your daughter attending meetings, assemblies, etc., but your daughter should be able to chose whether she is going to dedicate her life to a publishing company once she is an adult.

My wife got out before I did. I agreed that our children would choose their own path. In fact, I think the only thing I was opposed to was having a Christmas Tree in the house. There was no argument. A few months later I was out and that December I bought our first Christmas Tree.

13

Don't take my booze!

by David.L.Henson in

jw
friends

a direct confirmation that judge joseph rutherford, 2nd president of the watchtower organization, had a weak spot for good whisky, can be found in the following hilarious watch tower article.. the u.s. congress had passed the spirit prohibition law, and the judge was absolutely furious that these "servants of satan" tried to take his booze away.. the watch tower, which according to fred franz had jehovah as editor during these days, directly stated that christians could not "participate in" such a prohibition.

in other words, they had to smuggle and drink booze to be loyal to god.

the jws are unfortunately a much more boring sect these days.. the watchtower, november 1, 1924prohibition.

truth_b_known

Wow! This is the same organization that states that Romans 13:1-7 is sufficient reason to obey the earthly authorities as long as what is being required is in direct violation of God's law. In the same article we see 2 statements - 1) liquor and saloons are evil as well as 2) prohibition is evil.

Why is prohibition evil? Because it is Satan or mankind trying to rid the earth of evil and that's Jehovah's job. I guess murder, rape, robbery, and theft laws are also evil because that is just mankind doing Satan's bidding.

14

Debating Disassociation

by B_Deserter in

it's been about 10 years since i posted here.

a lot's happened of course.

but here's where i'm at right now.. i was never (to my knowledge) disfellowshipped.

truth_b_known

If you want to be free you must stop thinking in Watchtower terms. Words are tokens or placeholders for ideas. If you are wondering if you should Disassociate yourself you are still practicing the religion in your head.

The easiest way to protect your daughter is to let her grow up free and happy. How many birthday parties has she had or attended? What is Christmas like at your house? How many friends does she regularly play with who live in the neighborhood or are classmates? Does she have any hobbies that require associating with people such as organized sports or other activities?

Most of my own children got a taste of life as a Jehovah's Witness. All of them at some point started experiencing normal life events like birthdays, holidays, and peer related activities such as school sports or clubs. All of them are in agreement - Being one of Jehovah's Witnesses is not for them.

13

It's VERY DIFFICULT for some JWs to accept the Truth-------But for other not so much------WHY?

by pistolpete in

what is it about some jws that they can't see the flip-flops of the wt's changing doctrine?.

some of the flip-flops involved the death of many of it's members, and it was not even biblical based.

yet for some reason they can't seem to grasp the significance of the matter.

truth_b_known

One Word: PRIDE

This is probably the simplest answer which is why it makes the most sense.

36

Overweight Jehovah’s Witnesses

by minimus in

jw
friends

what was your kingdom hall like when it came to overweight witnesses?

i remember counseling some people on their drinking habits.

a few snickered that if we were going to counsel them because they have had way too many at a wedding reception, what about very overweight witnesses that have a lifestyle of overindulgence?

truth_b_known

I don't advocate for disfellowshipping, but the principle for disfellowshipping for smoking applies to overeating or eating food known to be unhealthy or that leads to heart disease, diabetes, etc.

There are factors that make gluttony or overeating a serious offense. In the case of one who gluttonously overeats, his desire for food has gotten out of control. He greedily consumes it without consideration for the fact that he has no right to misuse God’s gifts. Hence, by disobediently overindulging in food and making a glutton of himself, he fails to show love for Jehovah God. Why so? Because, as the Bible says: “This is what the love of God means, that we observe his commandments.”—1 John 5:3. Watchtower, March 15, 1974

What is the quickest way to tell if someone overeats? Simple - the person is overweight. If you consume more than your body needs you are overeating.

truth_b_known

Posts by truth_b_known