the results of the last australian census are trickling out, and the results offer an insight into the changing concepts of contemporary aussies.. in 1966 only 0.8 % marked 'no religion' on their census form.. in 2001 those marking 'no religion" had grown to 16%.. and in 2016 those marking 'no religion" had grown to 29.6%.. so more non-believers than any other group.
catholics (the previous largest group) were now only 22.5% of australians.. ________________________.
the other interesting change is language,.
I saw a post on Instagram today from a uber-righteous pioneer sister who quoted the statistics about languages from the census, and followed with a comment:
" if you want to expand your ministry and serve Jehovah more, learn a new language like mandarin "
two weeks ago marked one year over my disassociation.
time for an appraisal.. quick summary of my story for those who came in lately: my mother brought me into the witnesses when i was 4, grew up the role-model jw boy, baptized at 16, married a zealous reg.
pio.
great thread!
thanks for the update.
for all lurkers and new members, please see that this proves that there IS life after waking up and leaving! A GOOD life too!
i have posted the full story on a fb site.
so my apologies to anyone who's already read it.
some of what i've written is what was told to me by my father.
Wow...
well written.
thanks for sharing!
i realize that prayer is a really personal thing, but representing a group in prayer has become so full of cliche's that i just want to vomit sometimes.
co week almost every prayer has the phrase "special week of activity" in it.. then there's "please look after the sick and afflicted.".
not so much anymore, "please bless this food and the hands that prepared it.".
Any prayer that asks god to help guide ones home, or while travelling makes a mockery of the concept of god!
What about those who have been killed in bus crashes on the way home from a convention?
Or one's killed in a car accident while out in service?
Did God forget to "guide and protect" those ones?
Was he asleep that time?
im giving up guys.
i've reached the end of my patience and now i finally refuse to waste any more time on part-time witnesses.
i've text all of my active jw family members and told them to delete my number from their phone and never contact me again.
I just read this quote this morning:
GIVE THE GIFT OF ABSENCE TO THOSE WHO DO NOT APPRECIATE YOUR PRESENCE
Sadly, that even applies to family members.
If they don't want to benefit from your company, it is their loss.
Warmest love from all of us mate!
there is no holy spirit.
i lead a double life.
i post on apostate web sites, swear like a sailor, covertly subvert the watchtower religion and do many other things i'd rather not mention.
During my fade, I spent years at the meeting on apostate sites like this while operating the sound equipment...
somehow god's spirit never knew....
just curious how we all think.. what prompted or influenced your choice of username for this forum?.
there are some really amazing names, and it would be great to hear the stories behind them.... mine was nothing fancy.
i just felt "stuck in a rut too" along with so many others.
Keep them coming please.
As misfit says, this is a great way to get to know one another. Kind of like "an interchange of encouragement" (sorry, couldn't resist)
i was just thinking that most witnesses can not approach a controversial topic without turning it into an attack of the person who raises that topic.. as we all awaken to ttatt (the truth about the truth), they simply can't discuss the actual facts or issues we discover without turning it into an attack of us as "apostates" with all the negative connotations that word entails.... how truly narrow minded and sad!
.
they would rather attack the person than the topic..
Great replies!
how did they ever get away with that and how does it go down now, in today's society?.
its fucking mental.
.
haha! fedupjw!
Love it!
i realize that prayer is a really personal thing, but representing a group in prayer has become so full of cliche's that i just want to vomit sometimes.
co week almost every prayer has the phrase "special week of activity" in it.. then there's "please look after the sick and afflicted.".
not so much anymore, "please bless this food and the hands that prepared it.".
The prayers that sounded like they were teaching Jehovah something. As if he didn't already know whatever they were saying. "Jehovah, we learned tonight about the point of....and then we were instructed on ..... and we then learned about...."
Or
The prayers that were simply a review (or preview) of the entire meeting! I would stand there thinking "Yer yer...I JUST heard all of that, you don't need to give us (and god) another summary of the exact same stuff!"
