by Casper 36 Replies latest jw friends
When I was a witless, born-ins and recruits were treated about equally. And I have seen recruits that have gone ballistic as witlesses--some of whom are still solid. Born-ins, however, have fewer experiences outside the cancer to fall back on and are more likely to be held hostage by family.
And no, I was not out in 18 months. I wish I would have been, though.
WT,
From the comments this thread has received, it has become obvious that it depends on which congregation one is associated with. Some seem to be more tolerant and accepting of new ones, where others keep a shield up for years.
Unfortunately, I was associated with the latter. I'm sorry you didn't make it out sooner but, be glad you are here now...
Cas
I converted to the JWs when I was in my mid twenties. I gave up a lot of friends to join the cult and even dumped my fiance. Over the next 20 years I didn't have any friends at all, except perhaps one, who was a MS. He's the only JW who ever really gave me the time of day, so we went out drinking from time to time. He wasn't a born-in either, and very different from the rest of the JWs. The only time anyone ever called me was when they wanted some favour, and I always felt like I was on the outside looking in. I pioneered™ for years, but I could never fit in.
There were a few other new converts, but the only ones who were really accepted were the ones who had a lot of money. One guy came from a very wealthy family and everyone sucked up to him. They were training him to be a MS before he was even baptized.
W
Nope. I felt accepted "ONLY" i was a regular pioneer. It always felt conditional, and hinged on that fact. Other than that, there are ALOT of parties, get togethers, etc, I'm sure I'd have never been invited too. Only when I was .300 in service time did people bein to eeven acknowledge me. Other than that my mom and I were just taking up seats.
Reach out and we will talk to you basically.
I wonder if they are harder on converts in the more rural areas? Where I grew up, most of the dubs were 3 or 4th generation. Kids my age had great-grandparents who were Elders and such. They always seemed to feel superior.
I do think it is harder for the born-ins to leave. At least a convert has a life to go back to.
Of course they are , at least in my experience....
The Overseers that I knew as a young man were all men who had "come in" ..They had fought in WW2 , been around a bit and were, I think, of a much higher calibre than those of today who have only known life within the cult...In my young day those "brought up in the truth" were young and inexperienced.
It may be different today, A higher percentage of "Born Ins " are there, they are older now and more likely in charge.. I still do not think that converted ones are not accepted though..In my experience, if you take to it , do as you are told and show enthusiasm, you are one of the club...BTW they just loved ex criminals and tearaways who had mended their ways and provided a great "experience" for the Assembly .
When a person has experianced the true love of God they need not follow other men.( there is no stubbling block for the righteous one) If you look to man to make you happy you will always leave feeling let down. When you signed on to become a JW was there conditions attached to the promise you made God to serve him faithfully forever. If so, then you see why you left. Service to God is unconditional that is why we are called slaves of God.
I have been a JW for all my life and I am 48 yrs old. I have seen just about everything that could happen among JW's. I have read everything there is about JW's, studied many religions in my younger years and not one of them can compare to the Righteous worship that JW's offer.
All most always those who trash JW's don't use the Bible to defeat them. They use false accusations and lies. Even sadder they find where a JW has gone bad use that to support their beliefs.
Well if we look at every JW that has gone bad and used that as the standard to find true worship then I guess we can rule Jesus out since Judas went bad too. Then we can look at God himself, his two children in the garden went bad, does that make him bad also.
True worship of God is without conditions. All people are different and some are friendlier than others. ( stupid imperfection we are born with) but we keep running the race with or without them.
I have never come across this in my old cong. My mom came in when i was 13, so as a small child i experienced christmas, birthdays, etc. The kids in the cong would ask about this. I left in my early to mid twenties so i guess i was never a mature adult in the ' truth '. But my mom has always felt really involved and never left out.
May be it was because a few large families dominated the cong that you felt this way, they probably would clique together because of this history than anything else. May be it's the same for other congs with large dominant families aswell. I can only speak of my experience and have never came across this.
Paul
jadon......you described my mother in law's face perfectly......a stubbling block.....
FF,
I can relate to your experience, there were some lonely times for me also as a Witness. Sounds like you really tried too.
Funny isn't it, how money "Talks" no matter who you profess to be...
av8orntexas,
Oh yes, "The Numbers Game", that's what I referred to Field Service as, towards the end. It was so obvious, if your numbers were up, people liked you, if they were down, it was as tho you had the plague.... Just didn't seem to be any middle ground.
dinah,
I wonder if they are harder on converts in the more rural areas?
Could be, my old hall is rural. The air of superiority was rampant...
I totally agree, I do think it would be much harder for a born in to leave the WTS, starting all over, as it were. I know personally when I left, I went straight back into my families lives, as if I had never left. Born ins that leave or get DF, have my utmost sympathy.
Blues,
Thanks for sharing, as I said earlier, it seems to depend on which congregation you are associated with. Some will, some won't.
BTW they just loved ex criminals and tearaways who had mended their ways and provided a great "experience" for the Assembly .
So true....
Jadon,
Welcome to JWD...
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Paul,
That's a good point, large families would naturally feel closer to each other. They know each others past and present & have been thru it all together.
Ninja...
Cas
