"Hey there all you lurkey ones..."

Simon

Hmmn, doesn't quite work does it? OK...we'll stick with 'thirsty' then
Why not register and make a post or two...ask a question...make a statement...whatever !
Please don't just lurk though !

Ben

Last count: 75 registered users. Where are you?!? Come on, guys and gals, join in.

Simon,
I know why you want more to join in. Allow me to list the top reasons:
1) You are trying to see if Fredhall has any more relatives.
2) You want to find more people to later deactivate, because everybody left you like.
3) You want to move up in the power rankings from 14,252.
Sorry everybody, I don't have a top ten. Maybe sombody can think of more reasons.

"Hand me that whiskey, I need to consult the spirit."-J.F. Rutherford

target

OK, I have been lurking for awhile. I have found this board to be most interesting.
I stopped going to meetings nine months ago and have been researching ever since.
The things I have seen go one in the 30 years I spent as a JW convinced me that no way is that Jehovah's organization. Some things I have had in my favor: neither my husband or I have any relatives who are JWs. None. We moved half way across the country along with our son and his family. They have also stopped attending meetings. That means the JWs in our new location do not know us. That makes it easier. There are a couple of them from back home who keep in contact. I guess it is time to level with them.
My main issues were the "new Light" nonsense and the idea that the elders were all appointed by holy spirit. One of the elders from our former congregation had sons show up on his doorstep that he had fathered by two different women before he married and learned the truth. He knew these boys were growing up fatherless and poor and "without the truth" and yet the holy spirt appointed him. Yea, right! And he was openly prejudice, which was interesting since these boys were conceived with black women.
When a young black brother asked his daughter for her phone number, he threatened this brother at the assembly with bodily harm. When we reported it to our presiding overseer, he just laughed and said "Well you know how ***** is, he is protective of his girls".
Well, when his boys showed up, it wasn't to start a father-son relationship! They came to tell him what they thought of him.
Another story that really irked me was that a sister who was baptized with me later got a real aggresive cancer and was going through a real bad time fighting it. She became really depressed and attempted suicide so she was promptly disfellowshipped. That was sick!
Like everyone else, I have a whole basket full of stories.
Yup, freedom has a whole new meaning for me.

Target

individuals wife

Hi target!!

Good to have you out of lurking and into the realms of posting! Welcome to you! I lurked for many months before I finally came aboard, by that time I already felt as though I knew many of the people here, it was much like being a wallflower at a party watching everyone having a good time then suddenly feeling the urge to get up and boogey! And what a nice bunch they are in here, well, most of them....

I agree with much of what you say, certainly that the witnesses are not Gods organisation, that is so clear to those of us who have left. Like you none of my family are in the org. anymore which makes life so much easier, and leaving it so much easier. My husbands family left in the 70's and my husband left at the same time as I did, last November. So it is still early days for us, things can still be a little raw and tender sometimes but we are getting there. It is certainly hard work trying to repair the emotional damage that they have caused over the years. We too are planning to move out of the area, we feel very enclosed where we live, a lot of JWs in our immediate vicinity, all shunning us, it can be very uncomfortable having the constant reminders that we were ever in the local congregation. So a new break, a new area, new faces would definitely help us in our healing process and would certainly help me to cope with the anger I feel when constantly shunned.

Please feel free to let us here some more of your experiences, especially as you have a whole basketful! I'm sure we will benefit from hearing them!

Had Enough

Hi Simon
I'm glad you offered this invitation. I've often wondered with so many registered ones and only a few posting, when others will feel comfortable to jump in. I see one has already...hopefully more will feel the warm welcome to join in too.

Hello Target

Welcome to our board family. I'm glad you took the plunge and joined us. If you've been lurking for awhile, I'm sure you've seen we have quite a diverse group, but the beauty of this board is that we are free to share our views but are still reminded when we step overstep the boundaries of decency and civility.

We are all in different stages of our experience with the JWs as you've probably noticed and so the healing process and levels are varied but at least we have an outlet here and I for one have benefited so much from the knowledge many have been sharing with us from their research, from their experience and from their ongoing contacts with those still inside.

I'm sure you will enjoy much more from participating as it gives such a rush of relief to be able to express yourself without fear of being muzzled or kicked out.

And the friendships formed here are strong because of the common bond we all have in being victims of being duped into giving our lives to a fairytale. I have been posting here for almost 6 months and feel very close to some really special people here and even met some of them personally...so there really is life outside the org! contrary to popular JW belief.

So...enjoy your stay with us

Thirdson

Hi Target,

Welcome to the board. It is good to be out in the open and thanks for joining us here.

Like you, I moved a long way away in order to quit. I still have some family on the inside. Of those, my parents keep in regular contact (e-mail, cards and phone calls) but my two remaining JW brothers do not.

Your account of racism reminded me of an incident in one British congregation I used to belong to. An elder was plainly seen moving his entire family to sit elsewhere in the Kingdom Hall after a Black African family sat in the row behind him. It was pointed out to him and to his credit he aplogized to the brother. However, he never seemed to get around his problem and for several years in the late 70's early 80's he applied to emigrate to South Africa. Maybe he had a noble effort to preach where the "need was great" but I think the lifestyle he desired in apartheid South Africa by being white was his real motivation. It could be that my view was clouded by my upbringing in multi-racial communities or the fact that my then wife and later my son would have been regarded as "coloured" by the SA government of the time.

Racism in the JW world is another matter and the topic often gets heated exchanges here. Just one variation of an old Apartheid joke:

Among JWs there is no discrimination, everyone is treated the same regardless of color. "Now, if you would like to take your seats, spirtually strong at the front, spiritually weak at the back!"

Thirdson

'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing'

D wiltshire

Hello Target,

Welcome to the forum, very interesting first post.

If someone lived a trillion X longer than you, and had a billion X more reasoning ability would he come to the same conclusions as you?

Stealth

Hello,

Welcome to the board, I am new here also. Thanks for the post. It helps us all to hear experiences of others like this so we know we are not alone in what we are going through.

Glad you could "slip out the back door" it will most certainly make life much easier for you. I too have learned more from my own research then the many years at the KH.

-stealth

"Hey there all you lurkey ones..."

Simon

Ben

logical

jayhawk1

target

individuals wife

Had Enough

Thirdson

D wiltshire

Stealth

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