JW friends, did you keep any?

Victorian sky

Hi all. Just wondering. How many of you have kept any active JW friends? I have a few I've known for years. They aren't happy that I'm inactive yet they want to remain friends. I know, JW friendships are conditional but somehow, the friendships survive when we don't talk about JW things. I think they are fascinated by the fact that I'm so much happier since I left and I'm not living the wild life the borg says those who leave will. Anyway, here's my problem, I love my friends but when they do bring up JW stuff it gives me this queazy feeling. I don't like the reminders. In some ways I don't want to lose the friendships and in other ways I do. Does anyone have any suggestions? - Victorian Sky

Elsewhere

For me, the questions is "Did any JW friends keep me"

Answer: No

As it turns out, they think that a book publishing coporation is more important than their friends.

unbeliever

I have a few active jw friends. For the most part they have stopped trying to get me to come back. There is one that likes to give me jehovah and his people love you speeches. I just change the subject and it works until the next time. She knows I have an apostate way of thinking so does not want to get into deep discussions. What has allowed me to keep these friendships is the fact that I was never baptized. If I had been I would have been DF'd years ago and I know they would not talk to me. These friendships are superficial. If I lost them I would not lose sleep at night. I enjoy their company most of the time so I keep them as friends. My closest friends from my dub days are either inactive, DF'd or DA'd. They are so much cooler.

shamus

I have several.... just because I faded away, and did not get DF'd or DA'd, or whatever their rules are...

Had I gotten the boot, that would have been a very very different story.....

Special K

The big key here, in my opinion,... is that you made the wise choice of

NEVER GETTING BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!

WHAT that has done in this case.. is give you

FREEDOM OF CHOICE, as to who will remain your close friends, or not.

FREEDOM OF CHOICE, for many, are those who were Baptized and then were DISFELLOWSHIPPED, whereupon..most don't have this FREEDOM OF CHOICE that you now have.

:LIFE IS ABOUT CHOICES... and you can exercise your rights now.. to make them.

Special K

maxwell

I didn't really have any close friends in the organization. But this post did get me to thinking. In the weeks before I was DF, there was one couple that called me 2 or 3 times to find out why I was missing the meetings. Of course, the calls stopped after the annoucement. At the time I didn't really feel like talking about it, and if I had told them my reasons for not coming, it may have been taken back to the elders and the process of leaving may have taken longer, but now that I think back I wonder what would have happened if I had given them a chance to talk with me.

And now that I think about it, there is one older sister who was in my wife's original congregation that specifically invited me over with my wife when we went back home to visit. There was no JW talk and she was just as sweet as she always was. Of course, I also have some family who don't shun so much. There's a few JW who don't follow the JW rule to the letter and I think that's particularly interesting when you are not even family. It kind of makes me look bad because when I was in, I shunned with the best of them and that included shunning family members. I've got some apologizing to do.

Maverick

Only the ones I have sex with! Maverick

tinkerbell82

not a one. not a single, solitary one. and i GREW UP with these people.

i guess i must be that bad association theyre always saying spoils useful habits :P

seriously, though, i was totally hurt. i had to make completely new friends, and i'm really shy. i've had a tough go of it.

Mulan

Yes, we have a few liberal thinkers who still call us and with whom we socialize a bit. One couple are very fun and intellectual, and they call us to find out "the scoop" on things and then we go out to dinner and talk for hours.

My best friend of 33 years calls me everyday, and was here this morning for coffee. But, as I said, she is a liberal thinker, and her husband isn't telling her not to, so she does. If we were df'd, he would tell her to stop calling me, but she has already told me she won't do that............but he will think she is obeying him.

She called me everyday on my cell phone while we were camping last week with the big gang.

Vivamus

Nope, none of them.

-

And the world shall tremble in the wake of the Blue Bubblegum
Dutch District Overbeer

JW friends, did you keep any?

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