A question to people born in the Borg* (page 2)

slipnslidemaster

Kindergarden. "It's against my religion".

Slipnslidemaster:"The problem with Ireland is that it’s a country full of genius, but with absolutely no talent."
- Hugh Leonard

Most of my childhood experiences that I remember were painful ones. I would say that my first realization that I was different than "wordly" kids came during a meeting at the Kingdom Hall when I was somewhere around five or six. Our family had just moved to where the "need was great" in a little town in Nevada and this congregation was small and had hard metal folding chairs.

I was moving around and complaining about the seat during the meeting and my father told me that JW kids are different than other kids and they had to be long suffering and if I didn't sit down and pay attention he was going to spank me until I learned my lesson.

After taking me to the back room and beating me on three seperate occasions after that, I was still angry, had a sore bottom and was squirming around in my seat. My father asked me again if I understood the difference between JW's and worldly kids, and I don't know what I said that pissed him off but he grabbed me again and we were off the the bathroom for another spanking and I yelled out "Oh No...not again!" Well that embarassed my father and I really got it then and after the beating was forced to spend the rest of the meeting in the bathroom because my father told me I wasn't good enough to be a JW kid yet.

So, I guess you could say I got that lesson beat into me

Skipper

teenyuck

OOOHHHH!!!

Everytime I read stories like these I am propelled back into time...back to grade school, which was the worst...it makes me sick. I want to cry. I am crying.

We all have such similar experiences...that is why this board is so great. Unless you were born (or very young when indoctrinated) into it, it is different.

Perhaps posts like these will wake up some lurkers eyes to what they are subjecting their children to.

David Gladden

I was in the first grade and a kid asked me if I believed in Jesus... I said: "I'm not sure, who is Jesus?"

I also had to tell the teacher that I could not pray with the class since I was a JW. All I knew was that some how what they were doing was evil, at least thats what my parents told me.

WindRider

Like most it was school that really brought it home to me. I can remember the summer I turned 5, a couple of months before Kindergarten would start, and my mom and I sitting down and rehearsing what I would do and say in regards to why I couldnt say the "pledge of allegiance".

I remember then, feeling a weight of responsibility on me to not make a mistake and to always try my best to give a "good witness" to the teacher and all the friends in my class (who would never actually be allowed to be my friends at all!

By the time Halloween, Christmas and Valentine's day had rolled around I began to really see just how different a kid I was.

Sincerely, Windrider

LittleToe

At age four I pointed up at a church and declared "That's Babylon the Great and everyone in there is going to die at Armaggedon!".

I would blame my parents, but they had the same upbringing.

Valis

That would be the first trip to the principal's office while everyone was celebrating holiday in kindergarten. It would not be the last trip to say the least...

Sincerely,

District Overbeer

rem

I suppose I knew at a young age that most people were 'worldly' - probably at kindergarten when I was exposed to non-witness kids. But I did have a certain misconception until I was about 7 years old.

I remember the conversation with my mom. We were talking about how many religions there were and how many Witnesses there were. I remember my mom explaining to me that there were way more worldly people than Witness people. I told her that I knew that, but I had it all figured out. You see, there may be more Catholics (that was pretty much all I knew of, specifically) and other religions COMBINED, but the Witnesses had the largest single religion. My mom looked at me funny and gently corrected me.

I remember that day I didn't feel as special anymore about being a Witness. I thought we were the biggest religion out of all of them (and why wouldn't we be since we are the true religion?), but my little world was shattered. It was just a foreshadowing of more to come, as it turned out.

rem

"We all do no end of feeling, and we mistake it for thinking." - Mark Twain

plmkrzy

I can't remember not knowing either. I lived in the same neighborhood
grew up with all the same kids from kinder thru high sch. Their wer
about 1/2 dozzen other kids thru my school years that were either
JWs or studing with JWs. I never hung around much though we would bump into each other occaisonlly say hi thats about it.
The only time that really sticks out and I remember well was when
I was in the about the 3rd grade maybe 2nd my mom let me have a
party and sent out in invites to all the kids in my class and a few
others that lived near by that were my age.
All of them showed up! their parents were dropping them off and they
all had presents. As soon as I saw the presents they were carrying my
heart sank to the floor. I remember being really imbarrased. My
mom explained to all the kids that this wasn't a birthday party and
the gifts were really nice but I would be returning them. I remember
feeling like they all hated me now. when they all went home they
took their gifts with them iI remember some of the parents were mad because they went shopping for nothing. This one girl in my class was
leaving and handed me the present back and said "I don't care if
it's not your birth day" It was a Mr. Potatoe Head! AWSOME I wanted one of those!. But I never forgot how the other kids treated me after that. There were only a few kids that it didn't matter to. When I went back to school some of the kids made fun of me and ran around shouting to others mocking that I don't celebrate birth days. Then after that it seemed like every kid I would talk to wanted to know "Hey I heard you don't celebrate birthdays, is it true?"
I think I was probably easier for me then it was for others because I only had to go through that for a fairly short period of time because we never moved. The only time it would come up after that was when a new kid moved into the neighborhood.
OH My God.....I just realized how long this is. STop.

Simon

When I started school and was in a classroom on my own while the rest of the school was in assembly.

A question to people born in the Borg*