Posts by gone for good

17

Guns, Politics, and Liberty

by Infowarrior in

i was raised as a witness in canada all my life.

the majority of my time attending watchtower meetings i was essentially never exposed to how spiritual beliefs relate to political belifes, even in terms with jw watchtower doctrine.

i grew up understanding that some witnesses had diffrent ideas on things, but was made to feel that the watchtower established many key beliefs that are required for witnesses in good standing.

gone for good

Infowarrior-

I made a fresh pot of coffee just so I could enjoy your post - thank you for sharing it, with the thoughtful people on this forum!

I too am a Canuck and was a JW for many years (early70's till mid 90's). I wasn't raised as a witness, so I didn't when young, and still don't suffer from the watchtowers narrow, myopic and intentional, misportrayal of the beautiful peoples of the world as 'Satanic'.

The term 'worldly' in the early days of global navigation, described those who were lucky (and hardy) enough to travel widely. What the worldy journalists and intellectuals saw and recorded by writing and illustrations, is the amazing study we now call history - it was astonishing news back then!

To be worldly was to have learned, to have experienced, to have seen with ones own faculties, the amazing diversity of races, beliefs, cultures and environments in which mankind was able to survive and thrive. To be worldy is to be curious, adventuresome, and in constant wonderment at the realityof the universe as it still reveals to us.

You sound like a worldly guy - researching and wondering. Good for you my friend - keep up the good work!

81

Would Elders You Knew Have Ordered Stonings If They Could Have?

by Cold Steel in

for those of you who used to be jws, or who are active, if the society was in charge of the earth, how many people do you think you would have seen stoned during your lifetimes?

i realize some elders can be zealous about their work, but if they'd actually had administrative authority to have kh members stoned to death, how many elders did you know who would have been zealous enough to really order them?.

did you know any elders who would have ordered stonings, even if the condemned people had been willing to repent?.

gone for good

In one of his (religiously themed) novels, John Updike wrote that

in the entire written, Jewish, secular history, there is not one cited

example of a girl or woman being stoned for adultery. Anyone know if this is factual or artistic license?

42

Just joined

by Gojira_101 in

this is my first time posting on here.

i've been inactive for 3 months now and my husband and i are going the fading way.

i was born and raised in this religion and now after almost 30 years, they have taken most everything from me.

gone for good

Gojira -

Good to see you're fading together. Help is to be found here. Welcome

14

Would a downtown NY public protest against shunning help or harm the Watchtower Corp?

by tootired2care in

so i was having an interesting thought the other night -- albeit probably not original, but interesting.

what would be accomplished if thousands of us banded together and held a huge protest of the issue of shunning family right behind the governing body's headquarters (25 columbia heights) in brooklyn bridge park?

the shunning of non-believing family is a strong issue that i'm sure everyone of us could get behind 100%.

gone for good

too tired -

Sounds like a great opportunity to finally see The Big Apple - and help give a great anti-witness before they flee the city.

About 600 miles for me too - I'd go in a heartbeat.

With serious pre-planning, concrete messages, ( regarding their interference with families and personal freedoms) ,

and significant participation, we can certainly have an impact- and a really fun time - it's NYC after all

4

Prayers

by Borges in

jw
friends

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[endif][if gte mso 10]> <style> /* style definitions */ table.msonormaltable {mso-style-name:"normale tabelle"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"times new roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif].

recently i was thinking about the prayers i used to say while i was a witness.. .

gone for good

borges -

Very personal and thoughtful.

What does it mean to invite 'to MC' ?

Thanks GfG

29

My Story

by nolongerconfused in

well...where do i start.... i was raised in the truth...always knowing that there was nothing better out there besides the wt...however, recently i have a made a determination to not go "anywhere"...in all of my almost 35 years of being part of this "organization" i can honestly say i never read the bible as i do today...my "personal" study of the bible has more meaning today than it ever did...after reading the bible i have found many inconsistencies in the wt organization...i hold no grudges or hard feelings towards anyone in the organization, including the so called governing body...i just believe that human imperfection has taken it's toll on this organization...however, that is no excuse to act as a false prophet or assume things that only belong jehovah and his son...the bible is the truth, and jesus said such truth will set us free...i served as a pioneer all of my youth, and served as a ms...as of today i don't partake in that kind of manmade "service"... i'm truly against monthly time reports, special titles of service, asking for donations, judicial committees, among other things...some people may ask why?...well, none of these things are biblical!...some have told me, well the gb is now the faithful and discreet slave...and i say, as determined by who?...nowhere in my personal reading of the bible does it say that there was or there would ever be a gb...this group of men was self appointed...anything self appointed or self made up is definitely not discreet or faithful...jesus never ever appointed such a group.... a family member of mine passed away 2 years ago...he was never a "witness"...but i did preach to him once in a while so he "knew" about god...he just never wanted to be part of this organization...yet, when he passed away i was told repeatedly by the brothers and resurrection publications that i will see him in paradise... i thought to myself, but jehovah is the only one that determines or says who will resurrect (weather heavenly or earth)...i always thought...we as men are nobody to classify or determine that being part of a certain "organization" is the only way to salvation...jesus never said such thing...yet some may say that jehovah has always used an organization giving an moses and the israelite "organization" as an example...but then i say, well jesus is the end of the old covenant...we don't need an organization to be our mediator between us and the true god...jesus is the only mediator.... i could just say so many other things, but i felt like sharing this with all of you...as i cannot share this with any family members or brothers since i would be considered an apostate...i truly believe god is the only judge and i will hold myself accountable to him and no one else.... thanks for reading.... .

gone for good

nolongerconfused -

Welcome,welcome,welcome!

So many bright and generous minds here. Enjoy your freedom.

65

New Jehovah

by LostGeneration in

gone for good

Waiting for newspectacles here- but I see a table ...and under the table dealings such as

1. Liars... lawyers.. can't make it out

2. Real estate cons..committed...

3. ...3?... looks like a professioal spin doctor

4. is easy... another Judicial Comedy - don't need specs for that one.

5. is logically the public disfellowshooting

6. are all the remaining sheep...looks like ones heading for disfellowshooting for not wearing a tie and

the other one is smiling about how well her 'fade' is progressing on this locely day.

Nope, no noo-lite here .. maybe I don't even need those glasses!

21

Question about this site

by free2beme in

jw
friends

i have come to this site for almost a decade.

even though i do not stop by much anymore, i wonder why it has not been upgraded or changed to a more modern format.

it seems like it has basically just been left to what it was upgraded to several years ago.

gone for good

It seems to me, that people are so happy to have a site like this, they would post and reply on birch bark if need be.

25

I had some fun today.

by Defianttruth in

i took the kids to a park at the center of our town today.

i say some inappropriately dressed people, and decided to investigate.

i keep a close eye on people at the play ground who don't fit in.

gone for good

Defianttruth-

What a shining example you are for us all! Thanks so much for sharing your fun!

234

Suicide - How many do you know within the JWs

by Lady Lee in

thw wts likes to play games with their statistics.

one interesting but truly tragic is the number of jwhovah's witnesses who commit suicie.. now i suspect that if a person commits suicide shortly before or after they are disfellowshipped then the elders would say that person wasn't a witness or that they had done something so terrible that they were too guilty to admit it and by their action of committing suicide they pretty much declared they were no longer a jw.. yup fancy talk to make sure any crap didn't fall on them.. so my question.. do you know of cases like this?

if so then can you answer a few more questions.. had this person been dfed or in real danger of being dfed or whatever the equivalent is if they were never baptized?.

gone for good

LisaRose -

Thank you for your kind reply.

This event happened 9 years ago when my son was 32.

Presently our lives are as stable as can be expected with 'theocratic' interference being what it is. Such a long and complex story!

Lady Lee ,who I think I remember from Woodbine years ago is the reason I responded to her thread subject.

Tec, Rip, Eva - the compassion and fellow feeling on this board never fails to inspire me - mucha gracias!