Posts by Muddy Waters

79

Your final WTF? Moment!

by restrangled in

jw
friends

it was a long time coming for me.....when i read about the extened generations, after being raised on1914 being the be all end all, and millions would never die....that was the end.

i was part of the 1975 fiasco, the 6 month only truth book studies, suffered through a disifellowshipping and their version of a rewind.

i finally am free and hope others can eventually look in instead of inside looking out!

Muddy Waters

My final WTF moment was a culmination of previous moments and thoughts, those previous thoughts all submerged obediently.

- the generation teaching which changed & became "over-lapping"

- the acceptability of blood fractions

- reporting field service time

- feeling like you're on a constant treadmill, never good enough or doing enough

- the elders "going beyond the things written"

- and finally, the WTF culmination moment:

I was going to give the book, "My Book of Bible Stories" to my little grandchildren (who, thank goodness, were NOT being raised as JWs!). I looked at the book through their little eyes and was shocked. So many scary, frightening pictures! So much blood, so much violence!! Who could put out and approve such a book for little children?? When I realized that the governing body would have to approve this book, it stunned me. I also knew that most of the GB did not even have children of their own, yet here they were putting out a nightmarish book which would terrorize children. How could a book such as this make children want to draw close to God?? I wish I had seen this with my own little children.

When I began questioning the wisdom of the GB, when I began doubting them, it all began to fall apart. I started to see the WTS as another man-made, man-led religion, and the house of cards began to fall down. It gave me courage to read Ray Franz's books, and that was the end of it for me.

14

Were you surprised when you went in service for the first time....

by Muddy Waters in

were you surprised when you went in service for the first time (this question is prob for those who were not born-in) --.

when i first had the "privilege" of going in field service as an unbaptized publisher, i remember feeling so surprised at everybody's apparent slowness.

all the talks at the kh emphasized how we were in the last days, doing a life saving, critical, never to be repeated, work, etc., yet you get in the car group and ignore people walking right by or coming toward the car, and then slowly walk from house to house.

Muddy Waters

Were you surprised when you went in service for the first time (this question is prob for those who were NOT born-in) --

When I first had the "privilege" of going in field service as an unbaptized publisher, I remember feeling so surprised at everybody's apparent SLOWNESS. All the talks at the KH emphasized how we were in the last days, doing a life saving, critical, never to be repeated, work, etc., yet you get in the car group and ignore people walking right by or coming toward the car, and then SLOWLY walk from house to house. The sisters would fumble with their book bags forever in the car, some would start going over presentations with each other (weren't you already supposed to be prepared??), people would start long rambling monologues about what they would say to their return visits, and tell you the whole boring story of the person they were calling on & what literature they placed with them last time, etc. Then you would sit in the car sometimes while others would go visit their RVs, and when you finally went for coffee, nobody talked to anybody in the restaurant or deli... We sat there with our coffee and donut and talked only with each other. What happened to witnessing in the streets and marketplaces, synagogues, etc?

I just remember feeing so surprised, because field service wasn't at all what I expected or thought it would be, according to how the gospel accounts depicted it, and how the meetings emphasized it so much. I was also surprised to see how inept and nervous most people were at the doors, and how so many brothers and sisters appeared relieved when nobody answered the door. Field service often felt so pointless, and even when I was a zealous super-dub, it was hard not to feel discouraged and depressed after being out for a morning. But of course I always felt that the fault lay within me somewhere. I was the one not doing it right, or not going out at the right time, or not having Jehovah's blessing, blah blah blah.

Anyway, were YOU surprised when you went in the ministry for the first time/times....? (or half a time, lol ...)

23

You know, I recently believed that Jesus was a cool guy....

by Muddy Waters in

after leaving the jdub world, for awhile it still seemed like the bible was still a holy book, something valuable, worthy, etc., and that the jw religion had just corrupted it and used it to their own ends.. i thought that jesus was like a bhudda, a guy going around taking about peace and love and who exposed the hypocrisy of the religious leaders.. .

but he also said some hurtful things, harmful things, things like dividing up your family, things like whoever had more affection for their family than for him was not worthy of him, to not take time to bury your father but go preaching instead... to send out his followers without any food for the day but to rely on the kindness of others and believe that that kindness and charity expressed gods blessing and favour.... bah!.

i now believe jesus was just another man, saying both good things and stupid things.

Muddy Waters

After leaving the Jdub world, for awhile it still seemed like the bible was still a holy book, something valuable, worthy, etc., and that the JW religion had just corrupted it and used it to their own ends.

I thought that Jesus was like a Bhudda, a guy going around taking about peace and love and who exposed the hypocrisy of the religious leaders.

But he also said some hurtful things, harmful things, things like dividing up your family, things like whoever had more affection for their family than for him was not worthy of him, to not take time to bury your father but go preaching instead... To send out his followers without any food for the day but to rely on the kindness of others and believe that that kindness and charity expressed gods blessing and favour.... Bah!

I now believe jesus was just another man, saying both good things and stupid things. And he didn't even write his own stuff down, but other people wrote stuff about him and made a whole new religion and following-a-man thing out of him....

Why cant people just do good things and be good people just because it is a good thing to do?

28

A wife's submission

by Mark_C in

i'm relatively new to the faith, and struggle with many concepts and teachings.

i am getting married soon.

part of the teaching i've experienced is that a wife must learn submission to her husband.

Muddy Waters

The apostle Paul was never married, yet gave marital advice.

it reminds me of the GB, who, for the majority, don't have children, yet give advice on child rearing. They also give advice on field service when they themselves rarely go, if ever.

headship, submission -- bah! As a female totally-believing-it-all good little JW, all it made me do was learn how to be manipulative and passive-aggressive with my dear husband, who, thankfully, was much more balanced than I was in the JW world. I was a self righteous little bitch who controlled the tv, the family's recreation, anything we chose to read, watch, or do... All "submissively"' of course.

29

Arrogant Titles for Elders and Company Men

by punkofnice in

i was thinking of the arrogant titles jw's give up the pecking order.

teachers.

glorious ones.

Muddy Waters

"... A heavy crag...

a shelter from the windstorm

a place of concealment..."

yes, even humble servants....

42

Well, what can you say???? I am speechless.

by DATA-DOG in

exhibit a:.

awake!

"if you are a young person, you also need to face the fact that you will never grow old in this present system of things.

Muddy Waters

Marking... :(

162

...The WBT$ Theft of Kingdom Hall Bank Accounts and JW Elders...

by OUTLAW in

.. the new wbt$ donation arrangement/ jw kingdom hall bank account theft... is a very hot topic right now... the wbt$ is literally going to clean out kingdom hall bank accounts,filled with donations from jws... that theft is going to happen world wide..the wbt$ is going to steal from 7 million plus jw`s... .. we have jw elders here on jwn,that know whats going on... they "serve" in kingdom halls,they are "supposed" to be looking after the welfare of the average jw... they know there is a 4 page letter,only one page will be read to the congregation..the rest will be kept secret... they know the wbt$ is about to steal jw donations..on a world wide scale!!!...

.. i would like to know what you active jw elders are going to do about this??!!...

are you going to let "your" congregation know about the other 3 secret pages?...