by flipper 68 Replies latest jw friends
We were out of town a few days visiting my mom. Thanks for the comments.
JGNAT- Very true. All the WT society will accomplish is causing uneeded guilt in rank and file JW parents. And it's so true what you state- JW's are most concerned about what's being watched. Indeed. All about outward appearance
Recently (last week actually) my mother told my brother that she was hurt that none of her kids were jws (we all separately came to the conclusion that the jw cult was not for us). I think the jw guilt machine is working big time on my mother, especially since both of my parents have been doing a lot of pioneering lately.
MRSJONES- It's interesting that your dad & mom are pioneering lately. My older sister down south who has rheumatoid arthritis is getting back into pioneering as well- in spite of health problems. I think you are right- the JW guilt machine is alive and working well on fanatical JW's right now
I was baptized at 16. Not because I wanted to. I told everyone that since Jesus waited till he was 30 (when he was considered an adult), that I too should wait until I was an adult, age 18+.
Yeah, that didn't fly. The elders told me I had no good excuse for not getting baptized because I was raised in the troof, and had enough knowledge to pass their stupid test.
Because my family was going out to serve where the need was greater (for one week, in Buttf*ck, Idaho), I was TOLD I had to get baptized, since only baptized witnesses could go, and I was told there was no way I was going to be left at home by myself, because I wasn't trusted to not party-hardy, fornicate, shoot up heroin, or whatever it is the Elders think we do when they're not monitoring us like the Gestapo.
My not-so-secret boyfriend was also going on that trip, so I decided to go ahead and get dunked. After I got baptized, my not-so-secret boyfriend was forbidden to go on the trip, conveniently. I felt tricked LOL! I do remember, on my baptism day, that a few of my friends made jokes about how the pool water would part like the red sea as I tried to go in, and a voice from heaven would say, "No, she cannot be baptized! Her motives are impure!" (my friends knew how i REALLY felt)
If I could redo it, I would have worn the skankiest thong bikini to get baptized in, and sans the t-shirt. Or even better, not gotten baptized. Though I actually would have been thrown out into the streets if I had refused, I know I would have. Because my mom's a beyotch.
So anyway, I chose to get baptized for non-religious reasons, and the trip to Idaho blew donkey balls. I'm 28 years old, and still angry about it. OH, and get this: not only did I basically just sell my soul to the devil WTS, I was forced to use the money I had from my crappy minimum wage part time job to PAY FOR THE GAS FOR THE TRIP, all of my own food, and for my lodging. The expression "f*cked in both holes" comes to mind.
My mom doesn't understand why NONE of her 4 kids stayed in the troof. Though my mom (who I think is fading) has never shunned us. She's still a beyotch, but I think her Asian attitude about family obligations over ruled the WTS shunning policy. But I do use the shunning policy as an excuse to ignore her calls (because she's still a beyotch). I tell her in a syrupy sweet voice, "Oh mom, I don't want to trouble your conscience or stumble you, and because I deeeeeeeeeeeeeply respect your religious beliefs, I don't think you should call me anymore. Beyotch." Oh, by the way, did I mention my mom is still a beyotch?
Anyway, that's my experience.
I'm not bitter.
I don't know what to think. I was told (a few years ago) by a member of my former Cong. that young teens were 'begging' their parents to get baptised, but the parents were making them wait. So, either the parents are wising up and anticipating what is going to happen, or this person is delusional in believing that kids actually want to get baptised, and because they're not (getting baptised) there must be a 'logical' reason why not.
"I don't know what to think. I was told (a few years ago) by a member of my former Cong. that young teens were 'begging' their parents to get baptised, but the parents were making them wait. So, either the parents are wising up and anticipating what is going to happen, or this person is delusional in believing that kids actually want to get baptised, and because they're not (getting baptised) there must be a 'logical' reason why not."
LOL, I'm pretty sure that brother or sister was either high, or living in some strange bizarro universe.
I remember when the PO's daughter got baptized... at age 8. Everyone was talking about how wonderful it was that she got baptized so young. I was horrified, even as an indoctrinated fully believing JW. The PO (who was a power hungry jerk) had a complex, and needed to one up the other parents whose kids got baptized at 10, 11, or 12, like it was some sort of competition. /eyeroll
TRACYLEE- Wow ! Very great post and experience by you. Thanks. It's great hearing from somebody in their 20's who has felt manipulated by this JW cult. Like yourself I was born and raised in JW ville as well. It was expected that we'd all pioneer after graduating High School. I just wanted to marry my JW fiance at age 19 so I could get laid. Due to the fact we'd all get DFed if we had sex with not being married.
It seems your parents really tried to control you definitely. I hope you have moved on to experience real happiness outside the Witnesses. I'm glad to hear your siblings did not become Witnesses either. Good for them, and good for you. I think more and more young people aged 18-35 have been exiting the JW cult in recent years. And that's a good thing. Young people are becoming more educated due to the Internet and access to information so more are discovering the REAL truth about the WT society. Hope more get out !
MIDWICH CUCKOO- I do think parents are delusional if they think young people want to get baptized. Young JW's are basically being coerced to get baptized so they won't lose their families. It's insane how controlling this WT organization is
@Elorm: Hello, and welcome to this forum. I can see you weren't too pleased with some of our comments on here. It really helps to be "in the know" about JWs, because everyone on this forum considers the religion to be a harmful cult. Our anger is not because we don't want JW kids to dedicate our lives to God, we just don't want them dedicating their lives to this religious organization. Actually, they ask us questions at baptism and one of them asks us if we are being baptized in the name of Jehovah (the father), his son (Jesus), and the SPIRIT-DIRECTED ORGANIZATION. So, it's quite a contract there.
Some background knowledge you may not be aware of: the Jehovah's Witnesses are a "we're the only true way" kind of religion, they are fundamentalists, they isolate members from the outside world (it's supposed to be destroyed at armageddon, and only JWs will survive God's wrath), they believe all other religions (and the world's governments) are unwittingly under Satan's control, so certain things happen when you become baptized as a JW. If you choose to leave the religion (especially if you leave to become a different kind of Christian; for some reason, the other Christian groups in the world are demonized more often than any other major religious classification), you are subject to a shunning practice, wherein the defector is considered a bad person and, more often than not, are completely cut off from having all contact with friends and family who are still active JW. In fact, that's why so many of us are members of this forum. Many of us got baptized, left, and were shunned. This forum is the place we go to for healing after that.
And, for your other questions, yes, some of us are still Christians, and others are Atheists (like yours truly), some of us are between the two, some of us belong to completely different belief systems unlike the previously mentioned.
PIKA_CHU - Good point you make to Elorm by saying at Baptism JW's are required to commit to an alleged " spirit directed organization ". So it's not REALLY a contract between new baptized JW's and God - it's a contract with the WT society. A lot of difference between the two. And good that you mentioned this forum is a sort of healing for many of us who left the JW's and were shunned. Thanks for making those points to him. Very good. Peace out, Mr. Flipper
