From Lurker to Newbie (page 2)

Nathan Natas

Welcome Warlock!

You said, in part:

I woke up one day, not that long ago, and realized I have just lost over 20 years of my life, waiting for something that is probably not going to come in my lifetime, but I was told that it would be coming "soon".

Mull this over: not only is it not coming "soon," it is not coming at all. Period. You have been sold a Marvel comics, technicolor 3D called "the Paradise Fantasy." You're not alone. Almost all of us here stood in line either ahead of you or behind you, bought our tickets, watched the movie and bought the t-shirt, too.

Then you observed,

I did not prepare for the future, which has become the present. Couldn't they have said, from the platform: "Brothers, we feel that we are living in the last days. We are not sure how long this time period is going to be, so you need to live your life in such a way, that if you should get old and die in this system, you will have made the appropriate plans for the future. This system may last longer than we think, since no one knows the day or the hour."

You understand how addiction is all about DEPENDANCY, don't you? Having a congregation that is upwardly mobile and self-sufficient runs counter to the aims a dependancy cults like the Watchtower.

What can we do? Join with THE WHO in singing "We won't get fooled again..."

Warlock

Thank you all for such a WARM and QUICK welcome.

Merry: That's the part I discovered. You try to live your life according to what you have been taught, bible standards. No shortcuts. This is a spiritual war. Then you find out that, many times, but not always, those who preach it the loudest are doing it the least.

juni

Hi Warlock and welcome to our discussion group.

I used to feel the same way as you had expressed: Why can't I keep up w/everything like everyone else seems to do? The answer is if they do all that the WT Society wants them to do others around them besides themselves will eventually suffer. A person can't keep up that pace and be able to do justice to the rest of his responsibilities.

I know an elder brother and his wife who had 2 kids. The couple were "gung ho" w/everything. They dragged the kids all the time w/them as they pioneered. Hot summers and cold winters. Today, the son is DF after 3 failed marriages and the daughter is a single mom after a nasty divorce from a brother. I don't know if she is still a witness.

There are plenty of other cases of this happening so don't torture yourself over it.

Look forward to more postings by you. Take care.

Juni

Good Girl or Bad Girl?

Welcome, Warlock! I feel your pain like a fresh flesh wound.

It's funny what you say about how you live your life the best you can and follow the Bible standards according to what you've been taught, no shortcuts. Then to find out that everyone around you has been taking shortcuts. Just yesterday my older sister told me on the phone that if I was unhappy as a Witness because I couldn't live up to all of the requirements it's because I was trying too hard. She basically said I was a sucker for falling for it and thinking I had to do everything. WTF? That's what they drill into your brain from the platform. I guess I'm a sucker for buying into the "confess your sins and be healed" bit too. Turns out most everyone (if not everyone) around me was basically doing whatever they wanted anyway and just keeping up the pretense that they are "perfect." Either way it's not something I want to be a part of.

There are lots of good people here with good advice and listening ears. And pure hearts. (There are people here with not-so-pure hearts too, I think. )

Good Girl

AuldSoul

Welcome to the fray, Warlock! Post to your heart's content, and don't trouble yourself overly if someone disagrees with you. It is just their way of saying they dislike you intensely. Just kidding. It is just part of the real world most of live in now, many use this playground to get accustomed to the strange world outside the one they have become silenced by.

Your thoughts matter.

Respectfully,
AuldSoul

wednesday

I have been inactive now about 10 yrs, but mostly still chained to the org mentally However since joining the board, it has helped greatly for me to unchain my mind and see the org for what it was, . Without attending another church, it is not as easy to locate friends. If you work, yes your workmates can be a source of friends, but to find a high volume of friends, you almost have to join a church. However, if you ever went to AA, I imagine you were able to find friends there.I do so hope you have not stayed to yoursefl and now find yourself without a much of a support system. That can make life so lonely. I spent all my lfe waiting for paradise and now that I know it is not going to happen it is sort of odd, I keep thinking I should replace it with another hope, but that won't work either. this is life, it has good days, bad days,and if we can spend it helping others, we have accomplished a lot.

You know, back in the 60's/70's they used to scare us to death with stories in the awake like yours. Warlock finds Jehovah, ,etc (i'm assuming you took that name due to your saying you dabbled in spiritism). I must have read all of them. I was always for some reason interested in the occult. perhaps the reason is jws talk (or used to) so much about that stuff. They themselves are obessed with that stuff. I have noticed they don't write those articles so much anymore. So after I stopped attending, I allowed myself to pursue my interest in psychics and the such a bit. What I found was, it was not nearly as interesting after the "forbidden " issue was removed. I still and always have believed in the existence of the spirit world, and find some things interesting, but find myself always faced with this, if the dead are alive somewhere, why don't they try and contact the living? It would seem to me that if they could they would. so that makes me feel that most likely they can't. (I used to joke that my family was so mean and generally all disliked each other, they seldom visted each other while alive, can't imagine why they would drop in for a chat in the after life)

welcome to the board. also, I just wanted to say, yes the jws may have saved your life, but if the mormons had come to the door and offered the same help., or the church of christ had stopped in or AA had been there, you would be thanking thme for saving your life. I'm glad someone stepped in to help you but jws prey on people in bad situation. they can then love bomb them and make you feel it was angelic direction. Don't waste too mcuh time on this.

FairMind

Warlock, you are right, you story is very similar to my own. I am still a JW but since I now use my time as I see fit I don’t actually feel like I’m being used. A question to ask your self is “am I better off now then I would have been if I had never been a JW”? If the answer is yes then now that you are free from the shackles and chains of the WTS you might want to readjust your thinking about having wasted so many years of your life. Look at it as a trade-off and then march forward.

Warlock

Once again, thank you for all your kind, welcoming comments.

G.G./B.G.: I don't know if you are old enough to remember this, but some here are. We had a talk at the D.C. entitled 'Beware, Music that Debases', which was eventually turned into a W.T. study. While trying to live up to the standard of that talk, I missed most of the fine music that flowed thru the airwaves of the 1980's. Come to find out later, many of the friends had not only continued to listen, but they purchased the music.

The same thing with movies. Remember, "G stands for Garbage. PG stands for Pure Garbage"? After that talk, I didn't go to the movies for years, and I still don't. What a sheep I was!

Warlock

Seeker4

God, I remember all of that! I remember burning my Electric Ladyland album because of the song Voodoo Chile. Sorry Jimi!

Eventually I realized that all of that was so stupid, and then I lightened up slowly. I loved the day I began to rent films based on what I wanted to see and never ever looking again at a rating!

Yes!

S4

Warlock

Wed.: You are right about the name, but I was not contacted in the door to door work. I hated when the J.W.'s or anyone else would come to my door, so I don't think that would have worked. I cannot tell you how I came into contact, because some may remember my story and put 2 and 2 together. Too bad some of us have to live in fear of being discovered here.

Warlock

From Lurker to Newbie

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