The Art of the Question?

Question

I am an ex-Jehovah's witness.

My reasons for leaving their religious organization were myriad, but to encapsulate, I learned that they were in the "business" of speaking for God rather than the reality of it. This was demonstrated by issues coming to NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ATTENTION.

Beyond doctrinal errors and inconsistencies, there are LIFE AND DEATH ISSUES of INVALID DOCTRINE ABOUT REFUSAL OF BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS and SHIELDING OF MOLESTERS WHILE PUNISHING THE VICTIMS.

These are horrendous acts. To confront them in an innocuous manner can be challenging because of the emotions on all sides.

Some of us have had questions removed because of the wording. We should be careful to focus on issues rather than personalities.

The facts will speak for themselves.

If this community's managers delete a thread because of facts alone, I will report them to the highest possible levels.

Can we continue the debate?

http://allistinawt.by.ru/some/punkt/DECLARATION.htm

http://silentlambs.org/education/CNNtranscript.cfm

http://www.rickross.com/reference/jw/jw203.html

http://jehovah.net.au/datedoctrine.html

Is a false hope better than no hope at all?:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070620093324AAoravk

I knew I could expect at least one comment like this:
"...the real and only reason is that you did not develop a relationship with Jehovah God through his son Jesus and appreciate the work that needs to be done in the last days. Instead you focused too much on the people."

Right. I was an active witness for 35 years. While raising a family and working full time, being regular in "service" and attending all the meetings, including dragging along my children from birth, I occasionally arranged my time to pioneer. I had foreign delegates as guests in my home for international conventions. Focusing on personalities is not something anyone could ever accuse me of.

No relationship with Jehovah! HA!

As I brought out above, these are not stories someone has made up. I knew a witness elder who was raising his brother/newphew -- a boy who was the son of his JW father and his sister. I don't know what happened to the father. The sister killed herself.

There is a CNN transcript at the silentlambs link.
The Louisville Courier-Journal was the first American media outlet to break the story of sheltered abusers and punished victims. These are credible sources.

This groups of active Jehovah's witnesses believes there are serious issues with the Watchtower's dictates regarding medical blood. Because they want to influence change from the inside, they must work anonymously. If they revealed their identities, they would be disfellowshipped. It's an individual's RIGHT to DECIDE what blood he will accept or refuse. But the Watchtower DICTATING it is WRONG.
www.ajwrb.org

Answer 1

OK I am going to be brave here and I better not get abused...(more)......Some of you have asked what grudge I have towards the Watchtower society, and Jehovah's Witnesses in general....Well here goes..I was one of Jehovah's Witnesses...My father is an elder and a pedophile...Still practicing..as far as I know....I am out He is in...I have no idea how many children besides me that he has abused,and there is nothing I can do about it...The elders require 2 witnesses LOL..The state requires one.
I never had my dad say "hay I am going to abuse my daughter, would anyone like to watch."
Be very careful what you say to me...how you judge me...and most of all, keep a close eye on your kids....They are out there.
How many of the Jehovah's Witnesses are going to say that I am making this up to make them look bad?...I don't need the grief...i have a life...now anyway



ALL you Jw's that are privately e mailing me and calling me a liar.....Jehovah knows what the truth is and I don't have to prove anything to you.

Answer 2

Why don't you simply tell the truth rather than jump on the anti-Witness bandwagon with someone else's propaganda.

There is nothing wrong with refusing blood transfusions.

There is no shielding of molesters or punishing of victims. What people do is a personal choice and does not involve the Watchtower or the congregation. But it is so easy for opposers to just use those generic situations to attack.

Also, you are not honest when you said "My reasons for leaving their religious organization were myriad," when the real and only reason is that you did not develop a relationship with Jehovah God through his son Jesus and appreciate the work that needs to be done in the last days. Instead you focused too much on the people.

This is not a place for debate.

But what is the debate? What is there to debate. Those child abuse issues are not relevant to the religion and are only part of the hate speech that you against us. But what happened in those specific cases are unique to those specific cases and are not to be blamed on the religion because some people are unhappy with the results. And silentlambs is a farce because it is not real. One can look up any religion and abuse and find that there. But what is the issue is the teachings, not what the people do within.

And yes the community managers should delete these attack threads and child abuse threads as I flag them as this is not the place for that stuff.

Answer 3

Dear Suzanne,

I have to echo what Primo said: I'm so glad you got out.
After you asked the question yesterday I started clicking on the links but had to take a breather after reading Connie Chung's interview.

Taking a breather couldn't even begin to prepare me for Princess Lemming's answer. I am weeping right along with the LORD!

Forgive me for reacting rather than answering.

For His glory,
JOYfilled

Answer 4

Sorry the only question I see is "Can we continue to debate?"

To which I'll reply "Sure! Why not?"

I will dismiss all the nonsense between "I am an ex-Jehovah's witness" and your actual question. While such an attack may make you feel better it presents a distorted view of Jehovah's Witnesses and what they believe.

Answer 5

It is a good question. I think the reason they report is because they want absolutely no bad publicity. They want to appear as morally upright as they can and attract as many people to their cult (if you will) that they can. They must adhere to the statement that you attract more flies with honey than vinegar. They don't want any of the so called vinegar uncapped. Although there is a lot of it.

Answer 6

I never knew about that. I am interested in learning more, please e-mail me with some facts. I agree that they will pull a question when it offends someone who reports it, simply to pacify that person. This allows the other to take away our free speech rights. The Internet should not be censored because we do not have the same "No yelling fire in a crowded theater"-type restrictions that vocal speech has.

Answer 7

I don't think this is the place to debate, only to ask or answer questions.
I am not a Jehovah's witness, but to their credit many of them live lives above reproach, I've seen it.
But as you say a little leaven leavens the whole lump.

Answer 8

Can we continue the debate?

Since that's the only actual question you've posed, I guess the answer is "yes."

Next?

Answer 9

I hope that you find the peace that you are looking for.

Answer 10

I'm glad you got out of that cult....

Now please come home to Christ....

Unless you already have