New here, never baptised (thank god)!

by olongapo joe 20 Replies latest jw friends

  • olongapo joe
    olongapo joe

    Just signed up and wanted to introduce myself.

    I had 1 x-mas and 1 birthday before both my parents joined the JW's around 1966 or 67 being 1 year old I don't remember them (the holidays), to this day holidays are nothing to me (thanks JW's). I never really believed the Bible or JW literature. My parents literally had to drag me to meetings and FS, until about 16 yrs of age when I finally just wouldn't go anymore. In the 5th grade I actually thought about baptism, and being a missionary in some exotic island on the other side of the world, this was around 1975 and looking back now was probably brought on by all the hype for 75, I quickly lost the desire to be a missionary, but not the desire to travel, at age 20, in 1985 I joined the U.S. Navy, retired in 2005, now living in the Philippines. Both parents are still active JW's, and one of my 2 siblings is active.

    Don't know why, but about a year ago I decided to look up something about JW's and found Cedar's site which led me here, this is by far my favorite site, thanks to all who post your stories and experiences for the betterment of others. I hope I am able to contribute thoughtfully to the discussion.

    Will write later about my pops, his 3 favorite subjects in order, guns, booze, JW stuff.

    I am from Piqua, Ohio (30 miles north of Dayton) Been living in Olongapo Philippines since 2007.

    That's it for now

    P.S. I have been told I have an odd sense of humor, and can be extremely sarcastic, you have been warned!

  • Wasanelder Once
    Wasanelder Once
    O-Joe, you must know that sarcasm is almost impossible to convey in text because of a lack inflection. You will probably piss people off and spend time explaining yourself so don't give up. So happy for you that you had a life mostly free from WT shackles. Not many of us had that. Keep posting, it will help someone I am sure.
  • olongapo joe
    olongapo joe

    Wasanelder

    Yea, I'll try and keep the sarcasm to a minimum, and use lots of those emoji thingys.

  • careful
    careful

    A lifer in the navy—is Olongapo as crazy as it was in the 70s? Didn't the navy pull out of there in 1992 after the Mt. Pinatubo eruption?

    I went to Piqua once. It was brief but there was nice park there.

  • olongapo joe
    olongapo joe

    Careful

    Things have slowed down in Subic and Po city a lot since the base left, think a few dozen clubs now, versus the hundreds of clubs then. Angeles City still has some clubs with over a hundred girls working there. I don't go to girly bars anymore, just hangout with old retirees drinking San Miguels and flirting with the waitresses. Beer at the girly bars will run almost $2, I normally hang out at the cheap Charlie bars for $1 beers.

    Ohio was ok to grow up in, but I wouldn't want to die there!

  • The Searcher
    The Searcher
    Welcome! Enjoy your time here.
  • Heaven
    Heaven

    Welcome olongapo joe! I was also never baptized. Neither were my 2 brothers. It's been a rough road but at least our parents didn't shun us kids totally. Do your parents and sibling who are still active JWs still speak to you?

    If it's one thing I can recommend to anyone contemplating getting baptized it is this... DO NOT DO IT.

    I figure this is the only reason I was able to maintain some sort of relationship with my folks.

  • finallysomepride
  • careful
    careful

    O-Joe, thanks for the reply. You'll find this forum, well, quite diverse, though a core of atheists/agnostics run the show. Those not of their persuasion are tolerated. I hope you're glad you never got baptized. If you had, your parents would likely have cut you off. Now you can still deal with them. They must have been bummed out when you joined the military. Now you would indeed have been pressured to get baptized in 5th grade, have been disassociated by the org for having gone in the navy (= being DFed), and your parents would have shunned/ignored you.

    So I figure you're enlisted, not officer. What was your rate? Did you make chief (O-7) or go beyond that? I can picture a group of lifers in Po City now. I think the same sort of thing happened at the Panama Canal Zone, for I knew a guy who did the same kind of thing you've done, and he joined a group of retirees there. A buck probably still goes far in PI. Are the Jeepneys still running? Have you learned any Tagalog?

    Did you ever marry and have a Westpac widow and kids?

    Keep posting please. Love to hear more of your story.


  • KateWild
    KateWild

    Welcome Joe,

    Glad you escaped and had a fun life

    Kate xx

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