Posts by Insomniac

21

My dream last night: an ache in my heart

by Lady Lee in

when i was 9 my mother escaped for her life from my abusive father.

there were 4 children in the family and she took the two youngest to leave with her sister while she went to find a place to live (this is pre-jw).

she left the oldest of the boys (18 months younger than i was) and i with the parents of one of my school friends.

Insomniac

Lady Lee- what an awful amount of sadness you've been carrying around with you all these years. You must be a woman of incredible strength, because even with all that, you are always so kind and humane to everyone on this website, and you seem to have the clearest head of all of us here.

I had a messed-up family, too. I've lost track of my brothers, and they of me. It hurts every day, mostly just a dull ache that I can handle, but when something big in my life happens and I'm not even able to pick up the phone and tell them, I'm so wrecked by the loss that I find it hard to act happy on what should be a happy day for me. My advice to anyone in this situation is, do what it takes to at least have contact with family members. It may be expecting too much to think that the relationship will be perfect, like nothing ever happened. But if you can at least talk on the phone every month or so, you'll at least have the chance of re-connecting emotionally with them, in time.

Your brother is lucky to have a sister like you, I think.

38

POST YOUR REALLY HARD JW QUESTIONS HERE SO I CAN CALL BRANCH

by tresbella in

jw
friends

i plan to call up the branch office and pose as an 'interested one' and ask a bunch of difficult questions i am almost positive no jw witness will be able to ansewr.

1. if the supposed "light is getting brighter" then does that not mean that it is possile that many of the teachings that the society is teaching now may be false such as blood transfusions and the 1914 teaching?

2. since any witness who speaks against the wt and refutes one of their teachings and is therefore disfellowshipped for it, what if the very teaching that they spoke against turned out to be wrong later on?

Insomniac

I tried this one a couple of months ago:

I called Bethel, and said I was a woman who was interested in their religion, but had some questions, and could I talk to someone? They put me on the line with a pleasant sounding young guy. I asked him, if I were to become a member, would I have to observe Sabbath? OK, how about all those dietary restrictions and quarantining of menstruating women and animal sacrifice, all from the Mosaic Law. Of course, he told me that was obsolete stuff, negated by Jesus' sacrifice, and modern-day witnesses aren't subject to the old laws.

Then I dropped the bombshell. "Oh, no...there's been a horrible misunderstanding, then. I was told that, rather than give my child a blood transfusion, say, in case of a bad accident, I'd have to just stand there and watch her die. But the blood thing is from the Old Testament along with all that other stuff you people don't believe, so that can't be right...can it?" He told me it was, and I asked him how they decided which laws to keep and which ones to pitch, and dude had no answer at all. It made me feel pretty good, to have given him such food for thought. Good luck to you when you call-maybe you'll get the same guy.

37

JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES & Book BURNING (CDs TOO!)

by Smoldering Wick in

ok, i admit it...as a jehovah's witness, i burned a book.

when i was about 10 years old, a sister gave my mother a box of books.

i had been baptized for over a year and was quite the "little witness.

Insomniac

In Laurelin's defense, I, too observed some creepy stuff a number of years ago. My family lived in an old house that was occupied by some other entity. Was it a demon, telekinesis, a ghost, my brother playing tricks on me, or just the imagination of a twelve year old girl? I don't know. But I know that we humans don't know everything, no matter how much we like to think that we do. Whatever she experienced, it left a big impression on her, and I respect her for sharing it with us.

15

What caused you to get out?

by Country Girl in

jw
friends

.

for me it was that i knew it was lie from a young age.. cg

Insomniac

Stuff I'd been told, but hadn't believed, a number of years ago. While learning to use a search engine not too long ago, I googled some of the "ridiculous lies" the person had told me about Jehovah's wunnerful organization, so I could prove that smartass chick wrong once and for all. Thus began my other "personal study", and the more things I learned about what the witnesses really are, the more I knew I had to get out. I guess I'd always thought that my experiences were unique, not part of a worldwide epidemic.

Also, I date a worldly guy, and I could not accept how badly the dubs were treating him. Me, I could have handled it, because I knew I was breaking a rule, and what the consequences would ultimately be. But they were openly hostile to my partner as well, and since they forced me to choose between him and the congregation, I chose him. He's more fun, anyway.

16

Yay ... another exam out the way, just one more to go !

by Simon in

jw
friends

i've just passed another exam and now have one more to go before i can add "mcse for windows 2003" to my 'credentials'.

these last few have been a bit of a slog 'cause active directory and infrastructure stuff are not really my thing.

i originally intended to just do the developer ones and then added the mcdba because, well ... some of the exams i'd already done counted towards that, then i could just do a couple more for mcsa ... oh look, now i only need another ... well, you know how it goes.

Insomniac

Simon- What a lot of hard work you've done! I had to take a couple of computer classes for my degree, nothing advanced, just beginner stuff; they were the toughest classes of all for me. Best of luck to you on your exam, smart guy!

58

Age Difference?

by simplesally in

she is older, he is younger.

what's the largest spread in years that you have heard about that is.

1. fun.

Insomniac

Aalena- I agree with you, that the situation with your sister is not a good one. However, Danny did not mention any specific cases, just talked in a very general way about his feelings on older/younger relationships, and ridiculed older people for a physical infirmity which is all too common with people just a bit older than he is.

I don't appreciate it when people speak contemptiously about others' choice of romantic partners, or lob childish insults at the elderly. I'm quite sure that Danny would like to be treated with respect by those younger than him.

At any rate, he's a grown man, and quite capable of answering for himself, so I welcome his reply to the concerns that I've voiced.

16

Have you ever been asked by witnesses if you have the internet?

by JH in

jw
friends

being inactive, not going to meetings, and having the internet is a nice combination.

the last time i went to a meeting, a brother asked me if i had the internet... first of all, it was none of his buisiness, so i answered, "do you have it"?

he said no.. i know elders who do have the internet, so what, big deal... so, it's ok for elders to have the internet and not ok for non elders to have it?.

Insomniac

Dang, Cyber-sistah, I think we must live in the same area!

A lot of people here have internet access, but it not something they like to talk about. One elder even went so far as to ask me directly if I was involved in any online groups, chatrooms, etc., and what name I posted under. It was sort of creepy, and left me wondering what might have led him down that train of thought, maybe he was a troll here or something.

49

The Lyrics That describe your life right now the way it is.

by Stefanie in

jw
friends

november rain

when i look into your eyes.

i can see a love restrained*.

Insomniac

Is This Love?

By Bob Marley

I want to love you and treat you right.

I want to love you every day and every night.

We'll be together, with the roof right over our heads.

We'll share the shelter of my single bed.

We'll share the same room, while Jah provides the bread.

Is this love is this love is this love is this love that I'm feeling?

I wanna know, wanna know, wanna know now. I've got to know, got to know, got to know now.

I'm willing and able, so I throw my cards on your table.

Each time I hear this song, I get a little bit closer to finally throwing my cards on the table and proposing to that man of mine.

58

Age Difference?

by simplesally in

she is older, he is younger.

what's the largest spread in years that you have heard about that is.

1. fun.

Insomniac

Undaunted Danny, that's pretty offensive. What makes you think that every person who marries someone older is doing it for status? It's possible they just fell in love, like humans do. And your comments regarding adult diapers seems unneccessarily cruel, IMHO. I come from a culture where the elderly traditionally are revered, so this hit me pretty hard. Making jokes about the physical problems many people (like my grandmother) inevitably suffer as they age is just hateful and wrong.

110

How Many Here Are "Technically" Still JWs???... Who's Not??

by minimus in

jw
friends

what i mean is according to the society, there are a number of persons that are "technically" "inactive" yet are viewed as jws still.

i'm sure that i'm viewed as a witness still because i am not df'd or disassociated.....what about you??

?

Insomniac

I'm not sure what I am. As far as I know, I'm not disfellowshipped, unless they saw fit to do so without informing me. I stopped going to meetings about two years ago, and I haven't gone door-to-door since who knows when. When I missed a few meetings due to illness (I almost died), nobody even bothered to check if I was alive or not, so it was really easy to just quit altogether. Best decision I ever made!

I've not disassociated myself, because that feels to me like playing their game by their rules, and I don't owe them a damned thing- not an explanation or a goodbye. So, I guess that makes me still officially a witness!