Benefits of being a Dub as a child (page 3)

FlyingHighNow

Not having the chance to know girls as a teenager.

This is sad. I think you would have been a sweetheart to any girl you dated.

I wasn't raised a JW, but became one in my early 20's. However, when I did move from the country of my birth to England I did have a whole set of built in friends there. It was pretty cool.My mother was telling me, "I don't know why you want to move here, you'll have no friends" and I told her don't worry about that.

Other advantages is that I'm not scared of approaching strangers, heck if you can go house to house and knock on someone's door and tell them about the Bible, .... :)

Man... I must have been crazy back then.

mamochan13

yes, I think you do have the "club" experience of "instant friends" in other organizations. Its different in several ways, though.

JW's share a bond that is cultural, familial, religious, social, and it can go back generations. The bond touches at the most deeply-guarded portion of ourselves, so it feels much closer.

I find an instant bond with individuals who attend the same university I do, or who speak the same language in a foreign country, or who were born in the same home town - but it is based on only a single criteria. JW's bond goes much deeper and is more complex. It often crosses all cultural and geographical lines. I respect that connection and find it an interesting topic for research.

But where would you find a comparative bond? I would suggest that any high-control-type cult/religion that touches most aspects of individual and family lifestyle would have a similar connection - Mormons, moonies, Christian scientist...etc.

caz

I don't think that finding a bond is 'exclusive' to the jw's.

I know when I come in here and read a post put in by a fellow Aussie, I feel a bond and I have never even met them!

Think on this.

If one were to travel to the other side of their country and meet a stranger from their home town, they would chat with a common bond.

If one were to be in a foreign country, amongst a large group of people and meet a person from their own country, they would instantly share a bond.

And if it were possible and you were stranded on another planet and were to meet another 'Earthling', you would feel a connection!!!

I have not seen too many benefits for children brought up in the 'truth'.

One family I know, were very strict.

Every time i was at their house, the children were 'studying'.

These kids missed out on everything that makes being a kid fun. Then after all of the hard work by the parents and the children's own dedication; 1 son has ended up in jail for armed robbery, another son married out of the religion and D Ass'd himself and the daughter was an unmarried mother by the time she hit 19!! Although this is the worst case...... I have seen many children brought up this way only to get into trouble later and gosh when they find out the 'secrets' of the world, don't they jump in????

CaZ

Nate Merit

I went from 'cool' to 'fool' by getting involved with the Dubs at fifteen. I got welts all over me from being touched with an eleven foot poles.

I had JayDub friends all right. One picked his nose almost nonstop. Another one had really bad teeth and his breath stank. Another one's face had dozens of pimples bursting out on his face like skyrockets on July fourth. Another one was weirdly tall (6 feet 9 inches) and was dumber than a sack of hammers and would hurt me by 'accident'. Another one was a klepto. As in maniac. Three of them were chicks. One of them gorgeous and she was the reason I got involved in the first place. The other two were sisters. One was short and mean and ugly, the other one was skinny and tall and sweet, but wouldnt shut up NO MATTER WHAT AND SHE DIDNT HAVE AN 'OFF' BUTTON!!

Thankfully, I gave myself a breather when I was about sixteen and a half, and partied and got laid till after I graduated. Then I spllit for Californy and ended up involved again. After all these years I have no idea why. The friends in San Jose were everything the WTBTS says Witnesses are. I had never before or since met a warmer, more loving, accepting, inclusive, sociable bunch of people. Had I stayed in San Jose I would probably still be a Dub if for no other reason than they would be my dearest friends.

I moved back to MI and everything was the exact opposite of San Jose.

Nate

RichieRich

Benefits:

I can speak before an audience. Any audience, any subject.

I look damn good in a suit.

I have met some very nice people, and seen what happens to nice people in a mean world.

I learned to lie and hide things. I can have 4 running stories about an evening's events, and never cross them up.

I can save money. $25 a month in the contribution box ... sure!

I can maintain a superficial, artificial, meaningless relationship, and make that other person feel special.

I know how to get 300 friends together and build a building in a weekend.

I know all the best doughnut shops in Raleigh, NC.

And most importantly:

I can tie a tie.

Tara Dawn

Hi Dave,

Yes, I have had that experience being a Kinette (a female Kinsmen, if you've ever heard of them.)Anyway I was disfellowshipped because I became a Kinette and I guess it was the fact that they stood up for O'Canada and thay were "worldly association". The Kinsmen and Kinettes are just a volunteer organization that raIse $ for the communities greatest need whether it be the Cancer Society or Abused Kids. I was raised a JW so I lost my whole family in the process. But before that happened I married a JW (he was a regular pioneer) and I moved from Nova Scotia to B.C. and he ended up being very abusive. I finally went to the elders who encouraged me to try to work it out with him (because divorce was wrong). He beat me so bad that I thought he was going to kill me and then I decided that I would end it and I drove from B.C. to N.S. with 2 cats! Anyway I'm going to stop rambling on...

please write back,

Tara

misanthropic

Welcome to the board Tara Dawn.

Why Georgia

I personally feel badly for any JW children - especially today.

It's Veterans Day here in America which means no school.

I know my nieces and nephews are out in service. That stinks...they should be home watching cartoons and enjoying the day!

WG

ScrappyKat

I found that there were no benefits, and worked extremely hard at keeping the secret all through school from kinder to college, and still today will not admit that I was ever a JW. There was one other person in my grade who was a JW and spent just as much time covering up as I did. As for others in the congregation, well, my sister and I weren't 'cool' enough for them, and copped a lot of flack there too. Loving JW's are NOT.

Benefits of being a Dub as a child

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