Just want to gain insight on the overall attitude of most on here. (page 4)

anewme

I'm getting tired of this whole spiritual effort, but cannot seem to stop trying.

I need to get another all consuming hobby.

Maybe cello lessons

tetrapod.sapien

Maybe cello lessons

you'd like that anewme. if there's a soulful instrument, i think it's the cello. :)

ts

LittleToe

A JamesThomas moment coming up:

I'm getting tired of this whole spiritual effort, but cannot seem to stop trying.

If attempting to attain spirituality itself is an effort, is it inately spiritual?

Stop trying and see what blossoms

Being a history buff all my life--I realized that JWs are hardly unique in the pages of human history. As long as there has been people on this earth there have been religions, philosophies, systems of belief which were based on erroneous ideas of reality. People have been living and dying in ignorance for thousands of years, exerting themselves for goals and causes which eventually proved worthless.

I'm just glad that we live in a time where knowledge and information are freely available and where a person has the freedom of choice to accept or reject a belief system as he sees fit. To be filled with bitterness and animosity will not do much to stop JWs--it will only stress you out and is basically wasted emotion. My advice--get busy living. Enroll in some college courses, take up a hobby, get out and meet people, travel, whatever--just do something. Before long you will be too engrossed in your new life to give much thought to fretting over the past.

AlmostAtheist

>> I'm not bitter in the slightest, as I let it all go when I stepped off the stage.
>> I'd rather concentrate on living a normal life and helping out whomever I can
LT, this sounds like bitterness is a choice for you. May I ask, how do you control that? In other words, you would "rather" do something else instead of being bitter. This sounds like choosing to not have a cold, or deciding cancer just isn't your thing.

I'm not being a cynic, I'm genuinely interested in how you decide stuff like this. Share a little insight?

Dave

peacefulpete

The worst part for us is not knowing what best to do for those still in but troubled. My folks for instance have found some sort of inner compromise by continuing meeting with us privately but not publicly. They are literally afraid of the people they at other times feel are their closest friends. Yet they are content to be where they are, so we don't even hint or drop seeds as it were. I hate to see their unrest but they are fully aware that we will be here for them regardless of their choices.

We just had an intersting long conversation with a WI synod Luthern who was "disfellowshipped" by her church after her father reported her for having sex and failure to attend church. She was raised young earth creationist and extreme moral conservative. After 6 years in college she is just now finally letting the facts sink in and opening her eyes to the diversity of human experience. Yes the JWs are backward and narrow and cultish, but they are hardly alone. Maybe awareness of that fact kept us from lingering in selfpity or insisting that everyone around us listen to our stories. They may well have their own to tell.

atypical

Hi Stilla,

I would have to say that anger and bitterness are only two of the many emotions I have been dealing with. My wife, my parents, my siblings, and some of my in-laws are all very active witnesses. I have only recently stopped attending meetings and going in service. I am not df'd, so everyone thinks there's hope and is constantly trying to think of new ways to get me to a meeting or to read a new magazine that comes out (I keep telling them that I am willing to bet I read much more of the society's publications than they do).

So I guess the biggest struggle I have is the constant frustration of living this way. I can't really say how I feel, because then the brothers would have an excuse to df me. I want to distance myself from the entire witness culture, but I can't because of all my family ties. The anger and bitterness that I do feel is mostly toward the impossible mindset of most jws.

The way I deal with it is by trying to be aware of the hardships and sufferings that go on around me, and think about little things I can do to make someone feel better. When I think this way I realize how small my problems are. The other day I had a chance to talk to an autistic kid (well, he's about 22) and I tried to talk to him like an adult. I asked him about music, movies, etc. I could tell people don't usually talk to him like a real person. It was just a tiny little thing, but when I focused on him and what is in his life, it seemed to change my whole perspective.

fahrvegnugen

Maybe awareness of that fact kept us from lingering in selfpity or insisting that everyone around us listen to our stories. They may well have their own to tell.

Excellent point. I recently followed a link to this site: www.xfamily.org and spent the better part of a day learning about the so-called "Children of God" cult AKA The Family International. If any of you think we had it rough as JWs, you should read about what many of these kids went through.

Margie

Hi StillAWitness (I like your new avitar, by the way, and if I played for that team I'd definitely be all "call me"...but I digress...),

I think I'm a minority on the board but I'm actually kind of apathetic toward the whole JW thing. About a year and a half ago a friend who knew I was raised as a Jehovah's Witness IMed me with a question about JW doctrine. I didn't know the answer so I googled "Jehovah's Witnesses" in hopes of finding it, but I found this site instead (ha!). Since I joined here, I've learned much more about the only religion I ever participated in than I ever learned about it while I was actually participating in it. The absurdity of that amuses me.

Having written the above, I'm about to contradict my claim of apathy. What I'd like is for the society to become more mainstream and abandon its fringe elements like the stand on higher education, the constant armageddon's-coming-yesterday-so-you'd-better-place-all-those-Watchtowers! bullshit and the general pressure for Jehovah's Witnesses to be so closed off to non-Jehovah's Witnesses. In my mind, the blood doctrine is in a separate category and is evil. Clearly, it has to go.

fullofdoubtnow

I'm not long out, and I must admit I am a little bitter towards the wt, but I am more angry than anything - angry with them for all the lies they told, and angry and more than a little embarassed with myself for actually believing them.

I missed out on a lot through being a witness, some of which I cannot get back. I am happy to be free though.

Just want to gain insight on the overall attitude of most on here.

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