by Simon 63 Replies latest jw friends
Nelly,
:simon is there anyway of changing my email address on my profile without being sent back down to 0 posts all over again?
just wondering
It doesn't matter anymore! Simon had to quit giving out free toasters for making "Jedi" months ago! You don't even get a lousy tee-shirt!
Farkel
"When in doubt, duck!"
Hey Farkel,
So you've moved to Pitcairn Island? Is that so you can live with the other "Christians?"
Regards,
Thirdson
'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing'
Thanks everyone for the encouragement. Stealth, LOL, the target is for the several car accidents I have been in. I always seem to be the target. Stop signs don't count. They just plow into me.
OK, now for something that has always bothered me. This business of Satan being given 6000 years to prove his claim, otherwise the angels in heaven may believe him. In Revelation we are told that he took 1/3 of the angels with him anyhow. Had he been destroyed right away, he couldn't have done that, and as for the other angels, they would have seen what happens to terrorist angels. So just to prove a point, mankind has to go through terrible suffering. It doesn't matter, though, because they will get resurrected in the end. I think it does matter to those doing the suffering. And He is a god of love?
And why did the miracles have to stop?
I do believe in God and the angels because of the demons. I have had a few different experiences with the demons myself and know of a couple of others who have also. I know they exist and they came from somewhere.
What really bothers me know is the "kick myself" syndrome. I look back over the last 30 years and I feel so stupid. When my husband's younger sister married, I made her wedding dress. We were very close, but we did not attend the wedding because it wasn't right to be in a church. The many family gatherings we missed because they were for birthdays or whatever. The really good job my husband quit when he wanted to get baptized because it was second shift. The list is very long. I lie awake at night thinking about all the stupid, stupid things we did for the truth.
Next Friday my son is taking his wife out for her 25th birthday. First time. He says it is something to celebrate. She is now old enough to rent a car. LOL. She runs her own internet business but can't rent a car. So I get the little grand kids. I am so glad they will not be raised with the who is good enough for whom in the congregation. If Daddy isn't a servant, the kids are not good enough. 25 years in that last congregation. It feels so good to never see it again."The Truth will set you free". No doubt about it.
Target
Lots more ranting to come. How about some of my "demon" stories?
Thirdson,
I'll see you hanged from the highest yard-arm in the British navy!
Englishman.
Stay Alive 'Til '75!
Blimey!
This is an old thread isn't it?!
Someone noticed.....
It dragged one person out of the woodwork at least. Hello Target.
i dont suppose I'll ever be as old as you farkel
welcome to the newbies I was so rude to forget when I posted,
being of short concentration I meant to say hi then got distracted with my mail boxes and I'd pushed reply before I remembered why I was on this thread in the first place.
nelly
Hello everyone. Although I have made a couple of one or two sentence comments here on the board before, I still must admit to being a lurker for the most part. I enjoy reading the opinions and viewpoints of all the regulars here, as well as those who like to come in and stir things up a bit, you know, just to keep everyone's brain active. ;)
A big reason I come here is to try to find some justification for the way I feel, that hopefully thoughts and feelings that I have are not exclusively felt by me, but that there are others as well who share my thoughts and feel the same way. I am jealous of all of you that have the freedom to just put all the years of being a part of that organization behind you. I would love to be able to do that, but unfortunately for me, I see that day as being a date sometime in the future for me. Not that I wouldn't want that time to be now, believe me. If you'll permit me, I'd like to explain why it is that I feel that way. And if I stretch this out a lot longer than it could have been, please forgive me.
I was raised a JW by parents who were also raised in "the truth" (I am in my early twenties now), third-generation I guess it is called since both grandparents on both sides of my family were studied with and were baptized before my parents were born. I've never known a life outside of the organization until just a little over a year ago, when I first started opening my eyes.
The very first thing that I had actually started taking note of was the total lack of love from a religion that preaches about love constantly. I always figured it was just something pointed toward me personally, especially since the elder body always made it clear they were not very fond of me, something I thought was attributed to an incident that occurred several years ago that led to my being publicly reproved. But after four years of regular meeting attendance and service activity, I was told I was still not doing enough to warrant reinstatement. I'd seen people be reinstated from being disfellowshipped in less that a year, but here I was going on five years being told I needed to do more, being told "I needed to prove how truly sorry I was for what I had done." Needless to say, my meeting attendance and service activity dropped dramatically after that.
I had already started having certain doubts about different aspects of the religious doctrines that were being spout out like a broken record at every meeting, week after week. When I started researching different sites on the internet and reading anything I could find of Jehovah's Witnesses that actually wasn't written by one of them, things became that much more clearer. It's been five months since I last attended a meeting, and I have to say, I don't even feel as if anyone has even noticed that I'm not there anymore. Oh but I definitely believe that if I were ever to come out publicly about distancing myself from "the friends", all hell would most assuredly break lose.
Here's the breakdown: Because of the size of the town I live in, easily finding a well paying job is extremely difficult, so although I am working I don't make enough to live on my own, so I still live with my parents and my one younger brother. My parents are the shining example of what a good JW couple should be. They never miss a meeting, never miss field service, and talk "Witness-talk" constantly. My brother misses meetings every chance he gets (he's 19), but for him I think it's more of a convenience factor, he'd just rather stay home than get dressed up and go out. So I am under constant bombardment from the parental units to get back on track with meetings and such. On top of that there's my job. The owner of the company is a JW, the managers of all the departments are JW's, my supervisor is a JW, and my fellow employees are JW's. Out of a workforce of 14, only one is not a JW. And I think the only reason she is there is because she's absolutely gorgeous and the boss likes to have some eye candy walking around.
So you see, it's very simple. If I ever came out with how I truly felt, I'd be kicked out of the house (my mother made that clear years ago to me and my brother, if either one of us ever left "the truth") and most likely be fired from my job, with some other "made-up" reason on the dismissal slip. And along with that would go the immediate congregational shunning, and the loss of all of the only friends I've ever known or had. I'd be left with nothing. So since I'd really rather not have that happen right now, I'm forced to keep it all inside, at least for the time being.
I apologize for having rambled on for so long, but this is the first time I've ever actually taken the thoughts from my head and put it all down in writing before. But as I said from the beginning, I really do enjoy reading the comments from all the other posters who frequent this board. Speaking for myself, I'm always able to find encouragement here when it's needed, and realizing I'm not alone always makes me feel better.
Still Not Sure,
Welcome, friend. Thank you for sharing your story. My gosh, you are in a tight spot. At least here you actually be yourself. That is so important. Keep posting!
--LisaBObeesa
Okay, this thread title gets my vote for best ever *lol* I don't care if its old, I missed it the first time! Good one Simon!
Welcome to Target and Still not sure. Glad to have you out in the open! See it's not so bad :)
Still, I'm so sorry that you're in the tough situation that you are. I'm glad to know though that you are looking ahead to a time when you can get out. It [i]will[i] happen if you keep going. (there was a time when I didn't think I could possibly get out, but eventually I found a way) Someday you'll be giving encouragement to folks who are still 'in' and longing to get out. Welcome to the board.
Any more lurkers debating joining in? Jump right in. We don't bite (well, most of us :)
Essie
p.s. Hey Target! I, too, thought you liked shopping at, well you know. I do! They have great picture frames *lol* I was sad when I read the real inspiration to your nickname. Maybe you should consider going by "Moving Target"? After all they're harder to hit! :)
