^^what Birdie said^^ The ability to access the site is so important to the members, even if the posting ability is gone. I, too, was a member of the Yuku group before joining here. It was a tremendous help, and I made a good number of valuable contacts. I still go back to look at old posts now and again.
Message from Designer Stubble to the former JWR members
by Designer Stubble 123 Replies latest jw friends
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nonjwspouse
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jwundubbed
@DesignerStubble,
I voiced my opinion of the JWR admin fairly succinctly on another thread. But I do respect you for coming here and helping people to understand the closure and your part in it. Thank you for seeing that the people of the community needed a voice speaking for them. I do appreciate that. And thank you for all the good work you did on that site.
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KateWild
DS....it's very nice and caring of you to start this thread and answer PMs this shows how much fellow feeling you have.
Its refreshing to see that many xJWs are infact more compassionate than JWs.
Good luck with your moving on.
Kate xx
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sweetgrass
Sorry DS, I hope you can pass this on to the owner of JWR. I realised after eating my dinner how angry I am. I am 'recovered' so the closure is sad but ok, but what about those in the middle of their recovery? What kind of therapist guides you through some of the most important decisions or difficult times in your life only to find when you next check in to read a note on the door telling you they have moved on and go and seek help elsewhere????
What about responsibility, decency and understanding how this could cause damage to fragile people. A therapist takes weeks to bring therapy to an end. Shame on the owner!!!
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marlborobarbie
DS- You and Pal were my favorite admins, by far. I loved Rifter's attitude and how he was "business as usual", and in all honesty, this is exactly what I'd expect from him. He's keeping true to his form and I can't blame him for that.
Thank you for still offering us support and helping us through this transition. You're an amazing guy, and I hope you still pop in every once in a while. :) xo
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JaneM
I like you DS. Your posts were invaluable to me. And on a personal level we've had a few private conversations that really made a difference for me, like pushing me to go to college. We all do things we regret and I'm glad you acknowledged that it should have been handled much differently. I also appreciate the effort you made/are making to see if we can save our posts. Someone said it perfectly by saying that many of us poured our souls out over there. I know I did. So it does feel personal. We all contributed to the community, the members and the admins. The lack of notice is really the only issue here for me. People have said it shouldn't erase all the good that came from the site. It doesn't. I will always remember JWR being crucial for me as I woke up and had so many questions as I tried to figure out where I stood on the bible, religion, god, fading, disassociation, education, waking others up, science, evolution, etc etc.
But if you're a great worker everyone loves and depends on then the day you resign you jump up on your desk and scream "F**k you all. I quit effective immediately."….well yea, that's what many people are going to remember as they try to put the pieces together with the lack of notice and impression of disrespect... Even if they have no choice but to acknowledge at some point that the person was diligent before the departure.
Like I said, I didn't even depend on the site as much anymore. I've moved on in many ways. Now that I'm starting school I feel the distance even more. No way I'll be researching JW related topics when I can put that time and effort into my education and career….Like the other day a witness asked me to research all the info on witnesses and compile it for them and I said hellllll no. Do your own research if you're interested. I spent over a year and half immersed in it and I have to move on. Okay, I digress…My point simply is many of us may not need the site and will certainly live without it. (Someone implied our reactions mean we were overly dependent on it, but that's not really the point….although a few may have been.)
I still just feel like we all were treated as less than respected by not being given notice. I think you and Mickey Mouse get that and I hope the other admins recognize it also. Maybe they're lurking. If I did what they did, curiosity would make me take a peek at the reactions I must say.
Side note: I don't think that archive link works well. Everything I click is not found, so I don't think it's a fitting alternative at all to the resolution that was originally proposed.
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TimeBandit
DS said :"Let me state that JWR was kept in the air for eight years by a small group of admins. It was a tough decision, as we see the support JWR has offered to many, but we all really reached the breaking point were we want to leave everything JW related behind us and move on with our lives. We had some discussion among the admin group and felt it was time to bow out."
"The perceived sudden closure is thus not so sudden, but had been brewing for quite a while."
(It was sudden for US.)
"I understand the sudden cut-off may not be elegant, but we contemplated on a lot of fall-out, if we had made an announcement well ahead of time."
(In other words : 'Let's just pull the plug, that way we don't have to deal with anything...)
"This was the group decision of all admins and moderators."
(I thought MickeyMouse said she had no part in the decision, that you were determined to do it this way despite her plea to give us a little time to prepare ...Which is it? You all agreed, or you did not.I guess maybe she reluctantly agreed out of loyalty to Rifter and DS.)
I liked you DS, but your own selfish part in the closing down of JWR has made me see you differently. Total loss of fellow feeling and respect for you. Back peddle if you want...It's not helping. If you were truly the intelligent helper you seemed to be, you would have given us more consideration during your support of Rifter's decision. All of the help and support you may have been a party to now seems null and void to me after knowing you supported unplugging people who are vulnerable, scared, and thought they had found help.
Why bother posting anything else and staying until the end of the month? You've said enough already...
TB-
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Mickey mouse
TB I did not say I had no part in the decision. I said I disagreed with it and I voiced that in the discussion. I was not alone in expressing the opinion that it would be better off the site was left up but not live. I voiced the opinion that the sudden closure would cause anger and upset.
I didn't concede because of loyalty. I conceded because it wasn't my site, my decision. In my experience Rifter isn't the sort of person to alter his decisions once made so I didn't hold out much hope of persuading him otherwise.
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Designer Stubble
Mickey, I think you and I need to leave this peace and let the dust settle...
Rifter did a great job hosting for eight years...even with this exit, he does not deserve this shit...
Heading out as TB suggested
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Mickey mouse
I don't think I can explain any further. But unlike the rest of the JWR staff I am not done with my ex-JW journey. Take care DS and go well.