being born in to me was devastating.
when you are a child born in and raised with the they vs us and they are evil and worldly and going to die.
not allowed to form relationships with anyone not one of you.
Being raised by parents who apply the teachings of a high control group such as JW's will almost certainly impede maturation to some extent. Lessons normally learned by trial and error in developing youngsters just don't happen to the same degree when all one's choices are clearly laid out by the controlling group.
That's not to say that the effect of such an upbringing is irrevocable, but I've seen many cases of what I can only term as a delayed adolescence in the newly departed.
having learned more actual christian beliefs since awaking from the org, looking back we had such strange and unhealthy obsession with demons compared to any other denomination that i know of.
i recently remembered this article from when i was a kid.
https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/101986604?q=talk+to+the+demons&p=par#h=23.
WT, Dec 15, 1966:
>>>>INVESTIGATING
HOUSE AND HOUSEHOLD OBJECTS<<<<One under demon attack should calmly, not in hysteria, investigate his house and household articles. In some few cases the house may be the cause of trouble and the best thing to do is move out. Some demons delight in haunting a place. So if you experience trouble shortly after moving into a house, investigate. Was the house unoccupied for a long time? Why? Did people frequently move in and out? Why? Does it have a history of being haunted? Neighbors usually know, though the seller of a house almost always keeps the fact concealed.
But if a house has a clean history, instead of moving out, investigate objects in the house. If you at one time practiced black magic, witchcraft or other form of spiritism, did you burn up all articles relating to demonism upon learning of God?s truth? Get rid of every vestige of demonism. What did the early Christians in Ephesus do? On learning true Christianity they burned up all their magic books, even though their value was an astounding 50,000 pieces of silver! (Acts 19:18, 19) It would have been exceedingly dangerous to keep such works on how to perform the magical arts; in fact, to keep any appendage of demonism is perilous. One must be absolutely free of any relics of spiritism, so as to allow the demons no beachhead.
A vital question to ask if one experiences trouble with the demons is: Have you accepted any gifts from relatives or persons who dabble in spiritism? Any kind of article from such a person can cause trouble. In some actual cases it has been a radio, a sewing machine, a pair of shoes, jewelry, a "good luck" charm, a bathrobe, a blanket, a book. One woman had her bed tipped up at night when she tried to sleep on a mattress given her by her Spiritualist mother. A young woman had a fever of 106 degrees when wearing a garment given her by a Spiritualist.
Another Christian woman kept a handbag given her by an aunt who was a fortune-teller. Using the handbag in the ministry, she experienced powerful thoughts of "Go home!" Bad thoughts rushed into her mind almost audibly, all of them anti-kingdom. She could not understand herself, as these negative thoughts entered her mind as if by telephone, so that she complained of "hearing herself think." Only after getting rid of the handbag did she get relief.
Sometimes keeping a letter from a spiritistic relative has brought trouble. Some persons have reported gaining relief by burning letters from relatives who dabble in spiritism. Even if an article from a spiritist is an expensive one, is keeping it worth the danger? One woman was tormented for years by the demons; finally she got rid of many household effects that came from a spiritistic relative. "The material loss," she wrote, "was worth the peaceful calm that came over our house and family."
That objects from spiritists are implicated is clearly evident because relief almost invariably follows getting rid of them. The principle is similar to that used in sorcery, in which the demonist wishing to cast a spell will transfer an object into the possession of the intended victim.
However, sometimes objects through which demons make contact resist burning, indicating demonic anger at efforts to destroy them. Some persons have found it difficult to burn up ouija boards or books on occultism. Others have reported experiences similar to that of the woman who had much distress at home after wearing a dress originally belonging to a witch. Learning of the source of trouble, she set out to burn it. "We poured gasoline on it, so it would burn quickly; but what amazed us very much was the fact that the dress did not want to burn." Persist in your efforts to get rid of suspicious objects and relief in some measure usually follows.
When investigating objects, be reasonable, however. Do not burn up everything in fearful panic. Pray for Jehovah?s direction in your investigation, and he will deliver you from the wicked one.<<<<<<
just wondering..my step-grandfather, (he eventually persuaded my widowed jw grand-mother to marry him and he was already well into his 80's but had lusted after her for some time, she being an incredibly bonny woman)..i digress..he eventually converted to the jw religion, but because of health issues was baptised at home in the bath..
Just wondering..My step-grandfather, (he eventually persuaded my widowed JW grand-mother to marry him and he was already well into his 80's but had lusted after her for some time, she being an incredibly bonny woman)..I digress..He eventually converted to the JW religion, but because of health issues was baptised at home in the bath.
1.just been listening to this lady's innovtive tool as music instrument.
incredible story too.. https://youtu.be/_nlmm9kcbks.
2.listening to this gives me so much peace and relaxes me .
I got into the whole folk music scene when I left dubdom. These guys are pretty old now, but this was the first song I learned on guitar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJLi0k3Q4s8
i remember whenever we had an upcoming district assembly they would usually cancel the weekly meeting so it would be about 1 week (if you didn't do field service) until you would see members from your congregation again.
and also other members from other congregations you may have attended in the past.
do you remember how some members would embrace and scream for joy whenever they came across someone they hadn't seen in a while?
Who's a pretty boy then?
for me it’s freedom!
you are not bound by an organization’s man made rules and whims.
you don’t have to account to mere men for approval.
The time factor. My time is my own, to do with as I choose.
the longer i’m out the more i feel that disfellowshipping is cruel.
i understand the organization tells parents to not even accept emails or texts from their disfellowshipped children.
while i was a witness they tried to discourage families from association but there was some leeway if it was considered necessary business to interact.
No, it is not bad at all. Because you can choose to remedy that. It is up to you to get reinstated and the shunning will stop.
Sorry pal, but JW-type shunning has no basis in Scripture.
the longer i’m out the more i feel that disfellowshipping is cruel.
i understand the organization tells parents to not even accept emails or texts from their disfellowshipped children.
while i was a witness they tried to discourage families from association but there was some leeway if it was considered necessary business to interact.
The people who shunned me in my earlier years are pretty much all dead now. However, back then, I sometimes was on the end of an approach from a JW so that he could explain to me why he wasn't going to speak to me anymore!
The conversation would go something like this:
He: Sorry but I can't talk to you anymore.
Me: Why's that?
He: Because you're disfellowshipped.
Me: Why's that? What did I do that was so terrible that you have to pretend that I don't exist?
He: Er..I don't know the details..the um..committee have um.. made that decision..
Me: So you don't even know why you have to pretend that I don't exist. You're acting on the instructions of others. Are you really content with that? Really?
Exit one confused dubbie.
i bring this up now because i haven't seen any postings about that practice because i got out in 1977. when did wt quit soliciting private homes for accomodations?
or have they stopped?.
i hated it, but it was the only way we could afford to go.
Elders and others who are aware of their circumstances have lovingly extended help, which is commendable.
Pfftt...That word "Lovingly" has to be the most over-used word in the whole wide world. Stick it into any sentence and the dubbies will swallow it. Loving discipline, loving disfellowshipping, loving reproof, just a spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down.
i bring this up now because i haven't seen any postings about that practice because i got out in 1977. when did wt quit soliciting private homes for accomodations?
or have they stopped?.
i hated it, but it was the only way we could afford to go.
You could count the time when you went on the "rooming work". My ex was a pioneer from southern England and she'd been sent up to Edinburgh, Scotland, several weeks before the convention was due to start so as to join in the rooming work.
