Questions Young Peeps Ask, answers?

by zev 7 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  zev

  What if I meet someone from School?
  from the Awake, Feb 22 2002

  Sorry, if it seems rather late in coming, but after only 7 weeks,
  i finally just started getting my subscriptions to the "asleep"
  I'm also sorry i cannot scan the article, as my scanner doesnt work with Winblows
  XP, but a new scanner will be on my desk Sunday, and all will be well.

  This is an article about fear. A fear of being found, out in the "publishing" work.
  This is a fear i know all to well. and why i decided to post about it.

  Growing up as dub drone I remember the fear they are talking about.
  I hated working in areas where I knew people. Especially in my home town, Cumberland, RI.
  I'd pray to God we would end up elsewhere, anywhere, even a coffee shop
  Inevidably we would end up working place where I knew people. This fear also carried
  into High School, and there i lived in torment for 4 more years. I never told anyone what i was, but there were other JW's in the school, as well as my sister, and you know, word gets around anyways.

  Even after I graduated in 1980 and sought out a life of my own, I would never tell anyone who or what I was. Fear.

  Now I ask, why do people of other religions, not seam to have this type of fear? Why does it seem to me a unique thing to JW's? Why make lite of this fear, and even make it sound as like its a form of "persecution" and make it seem wrong to feel this way, as the article so apply points out (hurl).

  This fear stayed with me all my life, and fortunately, as i matured, certain aspects no long bothered me. Some still did however. I am a "ham" radio, or amatuer radio operator. I used to belong to radio clubs. I would never tell anyone of my being a JW. I never spoke about it at all. Every job i had, it was the last thing people found out about me, IF they found out at all.

  Fear. Torture. "Persecution". Ridicule. Peer Presure.

  To say nothing of how mean people can be, especially kids in school.

  This is ok to JW's? This is normal? Don't they realize what they are doing to the mind, and body of such fragile young humans? This is a NORMAL part of worship to God?

  The caption under the picture in the article says "Mnay youths fear running into fellow students out in the ministry"

  I say.....no S@$T Sherlock! Thats normal! It was a normal part of my life, and what wasn't normal was having it stay with me throughout my adulthood.

  Till now Now i tell people, I'm an EX JW. Now i have no fear. I'm a free man and I no longer fear.

  -Zev
  Learn about the Wtbts and the U.N.
  ** http://www.geocities.com/plowbitch69 **
• 

  closer2fine

  I was so lucky when it came to that. We lived about 30 minutes away from the hall & from the territory. (Dad was an elder & asked to)

  I never ran into anyone from school or anything. That would have sucked.

  closer

  Solid stone is just sand and water, baby
  Sand and water, and a million years gone by - beth nielsen chapman
• 

  mindfield

  I just read that article in the "Asleep..."... They always have the knack to make us feel like if it isn't normal to feel different from others. Like if it's normal to wear no "wordly" clothing, have no real "wordly" friends, be a 24-hour "bible salesman", have no real life except preaching (oops, selling).

  I mean, that's just disgusting. So we need to feel guilty if we feel that being accepted is important? HURL.

  [b]This picture courtesy of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society web site...
• 

  Joyzabel

  Hi Zev,

  I'm glad you are felling free. Thanks for posting this topic.

  This fear issue not only weighs heavy on the young, but a woman I know is a middle school teacher and she won't go to the congregation where the school is located. Even adults have fear of running into people they know from school!!

  j2bf
• 

  SoulJah

  Growing up I had all of these fears. these days it's my excuse.
  when people give me a funny look for what ever reason I say :
  don't mind me , my parents are jehovahs wittness!
• 

  zev

  personally, i dont like reading the rags anymore.

  i try not to. but as time goes on, i find myself still peeking at them.
  normally as a dubbie drone, i would NEVER read the ypa articles. this one caught my eye and was something i could relate to.

  my fondest memories of reading the rags, were sitting on the toilet......

  use your imagination.....

  -Zev
  Learn about the Wtbts and the U.N.
  ** http://www.geocities.com/plowbitch69 **
• 

  Quotes

  Oh man, I hated when we worked an area where my high-school friends lived. All I could do was hope that either (A) no-one was home or (B) their parents didn't recognize me. Fortunately, it didn't happen too often.

  Come to think of it, hoping for a not-at-home was good all the time, not just at my friends homes!!!

  Come to think of it, I think my dad had the fear of preaching directly to his immediate street neighbours. He (an Elder, and Secretary for many years) never signed out the territory which contained our own home. I don't know if he knew that it would embarras us kids, or perhaps more likely, he knew that it would embarras the hell out of him.

  He probably wanted to avoid conversations like this:

  My Dad: "... and we are offering this book to our neighbours called Making Your Family Life Happy"

  Neighbour: "Yes Mister Mxxxxx, you live just up the road, don't you? Tell me how this book you are trying to sell me, called Making Your Family Life Happy was able to help you deal with that party your eldest son had while you were away last week... you know, the one where the cops had to break it up????"

  ===========================
  For interesting Watchtower Society literature quotes, complete with references but without any editorial, check out:
  http://Quotes.JehovahsWitnesses.com
• 

  Quotes

  I almost forgot the "flip-side" to this situation. Having the JWs call on you... back when you were still a "Heeb" (to use Beans vernacular).

  For some reason, my normally devout family would never take part in the "service afternoon" during the convention. We would just go home early.

  On these occasions, people come from all over to convention, so the territories for the city are given to people from way out of town, and it is not worked by the usual local congregation.

  So there we were, talking the afternoon off and NOT knocking on doors, relaxing and in short pants and t-shirts, half of our large family doing something on the front lawn (fixing the lawn mower as I recall) when we saw JW "brothers" working their way up the street, door-to-door!!! I noticed some of our neighbours pointing to our house before closing their door. OH NO!!! We've been made!!! BUSTED!!! Caught enjoying an summer afteroon, when we are supposed to be out door-knocking.

  These strangers came up our driveway, and said something like "Your neighbours tell us that you are fellow brothers..." Wow, you could have cut the tension with a knife.

  ===========================
  For interesting Watchtower Society literature quotes, complete with references but without any editorial, check out:
  http://Quotes.JehovahsWitnesses.com