so, i have missed 4 sunday meetings now for different reasons mainly fatigue cause i'm still in school and i'm up late almost everynight. anyways..the lady i study with decides to harass the house with relentless phone calls disturbing my mum (who doesnt like jws) for the last 3 days. she finally got through to me today because she called SUPER early (before 7). Apparently at the midweek meeting there was a question segment where they asked how the studies are commoning along and persons specifically asked her about me (wth??) and she told them i try to get to a different congregation when i dont get there. so she was calling to make sure that was true...guess her conscience was bothering her that she might be lying...or she could be just looking for info. siiiiigh, so i said sure (which wasnt entirely true on my part. i do go to other congregations sometimes but for the last 4 wks i havent) because i really wasnt about having a lenghty phonecall when i was trying to leave home to make an 8 o'clock class. ok. thats the end of my rant lol. just needed a place to vent.
mafia-like chasing
by happy-n-alive 14 Replies latest jw friends
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Glander
great post! very interesting. I've got to read your previous posts. What general part of the world are you beaming from?
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happy-n-alive
hi glander, im from the Caribbean
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Branded Rebel
Oh yeah, they do that at mid week meetings - openly discuss their bible studies with the congregation in the hopes it will encourage others. In my opinion, all it is, is a puffed up way they blow their horn and make others feel inferior. I totally get the flood of phone calls. They were affraid to lose a bible study. If you're having doubts or concerns while you're studying with them, don't follow through and get baptized. You'll regret it and be royally screwed. They'll own you then. All the concern they have for you now while your studying will drop off the minute you're baptized and then they'll start attacking you and making your life a living hell. The only thing that matters is what you believe in your heart. If you love the bible, God, and do your best to be good to others - why do you need to be affiliated with a religion that claims to do all that on the outside, but on the inside is nothing but a cess pool of lies, gossip and back stabbing? Don't go there man... By the sounds of it they've already tried conditioning you to submit to their guilt trip tactics. Beleive what you want to believe. Don't let them tell you their interpretations. They will screw you up real bad. Good luck with it though. I don't know your circumstances of what you want from them, but if it's what you want, go for it and give it your best shot. Go to the meetings if they make you feel better, but don't let them trap you. Regardless of whatever else they say, it comes down to your personal relationship with Jehovah. He sees everything and understands why people do what they do. I don't believe you need a label with a religion to have a connection with your maker. That's just me though. I'll never forget the hell they put me through, and if wasn't from one congregation either but quite a few. They are just hungry for new numbers and then when you walk away from it they like to click their tongues and say 'tut tut, so many are leaving the faith' but they never stop to ask themselves why?
Mafia-like chasing.... you got that right - and you haven't done anything wrong! Wait until you do something wrong. You'll really know the meaning of the Mafia-like chasing... It's psycho!
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happy-n-alive
hey Rebel thanx for replying. i've heard stories like the one you told alot. On one hand i can see it happening but on the other it's like i'm in denial that it would happen. guess i'm kinda sitting on the fence. i also dont like the fact that members feel like they are entitled to an explanation when i dont go to a meeting. I had an experience once where i went to a meeting and a man (whose name i didnt even know) told me that he didnt see me in a while and if i had travel (which seems to be the only accepted excuse for not going) so i said no. poor guy just stood there waiting for an explananation. i simply said i just wasnt there and walked away.
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rip van winkle
happy-n-alive- Many Jw's do not understand boundaries. They are trained to ignore them. If you don't want people hounding you, you need to tell them. I would tell them do not call me at whatever time of the morning or not at all. That's up to you. And you definitely do not owe explanations to strangers at the KH asking where you've been.
And if you feel like you are being mafia- chased now, how do you think you will feel if you continue associating with them? JW's are a high-control group. In other words- a cult. Be careful.
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zeb
Happy n Alive
I guess she is another one with no life and the need to run others
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cobaltcupcake
Hi Happy! Welcome to the board!
Sounds to me like you've already got JW fatigue syndrome, and you're only newly associated. That should tell you something right there.
The prying into your life will only get worse if you proceed to baptism. That's when they feel they own you.
http://scottleblog.wordpress.com
The Odd Life of Jehovah's Witnesses
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Glander
Right now you are one of the "Bible Study" people. That is how you're referred to by the witnesses. They can't call you Brother____ or Sister____ yet. For now you are just Sister So and So's "Bible Study".
Baptism changes all that. Think of a young man walking into a US Army recruiting office to pick up a brochure. The recruiter is all over him with charm and affability. The kid is impressed, it sounds really good. Of course, as soon as he SIGNS the papers his ass now belongs to the Army.
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00DAD
happy-n-alive, Welcome to the board!
Ditto to what rip van winkle said about boundaries.
It's really important that you make your personal boundaries clear from the beginning and keep reminding others about what they are and where they are.
It's much harder to reclaim your personal territory once you've let them develop the habit of trespassing. Believe me, I learned the hard way!
Don't worry about answering their questions. They have no right to know anything you don't want to tell them. You can be nice about it, but be firm, "Please don't call me so early/late/often! It's not appropriate."
You might enjoy this recent thread on the subject of boundaries:
00DAD