12-14-2010, 02:25 PM
Original post by Malkah....
Malkah Wrote:
Hello TryingToBuildYouUp and a hearty welcome to the board.
I think the reason the WT comes either under fire or is, at least, focused upon in many discussions is because the vast majority of posters here have some connection with the WTBTS. Either they have left, are struggling to leave, have family members who are still JW's etc. Although our aim here is to simply be a place where Christians of all denominations can meet and discuss theology, we have to remember that most members have history with the WTBTS and its difficult to turn that history off, although many have suceeded in leaving the WTBTS behind.
I may actually be unique here, as I was never a JW, but rather Jewish, raised in Israel, who came to know Jesus in my early twenties. I became interested in the WTBTS when I did my M.Th. in contemporary Christian theology, and I got to know the folks here on another board and I consider many my dear friends.
People here run the gauntlet of beliefs from full WT to full evangelical with a LOT of variation in between. There are people who think the WTBTS is a satanic cult, others who believe them to have become corrupted, others who see them as fulfilling propecy, others who just think they're no better or worse than any other religious organisation. All views are acceptable provided they're put forth with respect.
This board is amazing in that trintarians speak with non-trintarians and non-tritarians speak to trinitarians without(usually) getting nasty. Out of all the JW/ex-JW boards I've visited, it's the only one that tries to look at all the sides of an argument. There's a great deal of respect for everyone here, even though our beliefs often don't match. It's not a church, its a discussion board so we don't have to agree. It can certainly be interesting here sometimes.
So join in. Hopefully, this board will one day be less WT focused and simply Christ focused. It took me a good bit of time to stop being Judaism focused, because that was what my life had been about until I met Jesus and started spending time with the Father. It was learning to rest in His presence that caused me to begin to stop looking back at where I'd come from, and forward to where I was going.
Take care XXXXX
I think the reason the WT comes either under fire or is, at least, focused upon in many discussions is because the vast majority of posters here have some connection with the WTBTS. Either they have left, are struggling to leave, have family members who are still JW's etc. Although our aim here is to simply be a place where Christians of all denominations can meet and discuss theology, we have to remember that most members have history with the WTBTS and its difficult to turn that history off, although many have suceeded in leaving the WTBTS behind.
I may actually be unique here, as I was never a JW, but rather Jewish, raised in Israel, who came to know Jesus in my early twenties. I became interested in the WTBTS when I did my M.Th. in contemporary Christian theology, and I got to know the folks here on another board and I consider many my dear friends.
People here run the gauntlet of beliefs from full WT to full evangelical with a LOT of variation in between. There are people who think the WTBTS is a satanic cult, others who believe them to have become corrupted, others who see them as fulfilling propecy, others who just think they're no better or worse than any other religious organisation. All views are acceptable provided they're put forth with respect.
This board is amazing in that trintarians speak with non-trintarians and non-tritarians speak to trinitarians without(usually) getting nasty. Out of all the JW/ex-JW boards I've visited, it's the only one that tries to look at all the sides of an argument. There's a great deal of respect for everyone here, even though our beliefs often don't match. It's not a church, its a discussion board so we don't have to agree. It can certainly be interesting here sometimes.
So join in. Hopefully, this board will one day be less WT focused and simply Christ focused. It took me a good bit of time to stop being Judaism focused, because that was what my life had been about until I met Jesus and started spending time with the Father. It was learning to rest in His presence that caused me to begin to stop looking back at where I'd come from, and forward to where I was going.
Take care XXXXX