Posts by Sail Away

67

EdenOne, Mrs. Eden & Son: DISASSOCIATED!

by EdenOne in

great news!.

we are free!.

as of the 9th of june, me and my dear wife mrs. eden handed over our letters of disassociation at bethel in portugal, thus making official our departure from the jehovah's witnesses.

Sail Away

Enjoy your freedom! So glad your family is out too!

26

Can a Person Resign From Being One of Jehovah’s Witnesses? (JW.org FAQ)

by Da.Furious in

found this in my rss feed of, as new faq on jw.org:.

the answer was .

a person can resign from our organization in two ways:.

I resigned and threatened legal action if they announced my name from the platform. So far I am not officially being shunned. Old JW friends will say hello and chat in public when we meet. That's all I really wanted. I didn't want to deal with public shunning in my small town.

Of course, not one of my lifelong "friends" will actually initiate contact, because I've been out for nearly five years. I imagine things will change for the worse with the message of loyalty being hammered into their brains at the Regional Conventions this year.

I can't wait to retire and get out of dodge. I'm noticing more and more carts in my area. Saw another today with two sisters dressed like cult drones. It makes my blood boil. I hate being reminded of all of those lost years and of the pain inflicted on our family. At least I have a safe place to go grocery shopping-- Fresh Market doesn't allow distribution of literature of any kind on the premises. If they show up at the town Farmers' Market I might just lose it!

21

For Dog Lovers-- Meet Stanley!

by Sail Away in

have you ever had a dog that was dumber than a box of rocks?

i have; his name was dave matthews.

we loved him anyway.

Sail Away

Sorry to be so late in getting back to this thread!

Cangie, LOL! Thanks for the laugh. Give a call sometime this weekend. We need to catch up!

rebelfighter, my daughter and son-in-law have to labs. The same thing happened to them. The first time I saw the size of the pups paws, I knew they were in trouble-- now 120 lbs. each! So sorry your baby was traumatized by the boat. :(

panhandlegirl, nice to see you back on the forum! Yes, we love them no matter what! My shih tzu poodle mix Emma is the first dog I actually paid for. I always had rescue dogs/cats before her, but decided I was getting too old to deal with large dogs with issues. I trained her from a pup, and she is the best dog I have ever had!

Diane

GrreatTeacher, some sneezes can be intimidating! My husband's is so loud it rattles the roof. One of his Bethel buddies back in the day referred to it as "the call of the wild pit mongoose". I kid you not. Glad you wuz your kitty anyway! My favorite cat was named Oliver. He looked like he was wearing a tux and was a love. RIP Ollie Cat.

44

For those who are still in... What do you do about field service?

by Wait For It in

jw
friends

for those of you who are still in because of family circumstances, what do you do about field service?

do you still go regularly, sporadically or not at all?.

if you do still go, how do you manage?

Sail Away

First of all, the regular pioneers in my former congo employed all of WiFiBandit's methods, so now I'm wondering if any of them are actually awake!

Two years before I walked away I stated a "Bible Study" with a young married mother. I just couldn't in good conscience "teach" her from the Bible Teach book. I even went to the conductor of the TMS at the time and told him I just couldn't cause her the kind of pain I felt in raising children with an "unbelieving mate". The elder said, "Well, at least she would have Jehovah." and walked away. Fortunately, she got a job and couldn't meet with me any more. Sigh of relief.

I decided I needed a new plan. Doing "service" the way the pioneers did it was such a waste of time and gas money (mine), as I was always the one to drive, because I had a good "service car". I noticed that they were always harping on doing business territory to get it caught up before the C.O. came, so I made that my mission. Trust me, no one wants do do business territory, so you will be on your own.

Walk in the door, assess the situation, and walk out if they are too busy or just decide it's time for another coffee. Leave old mags in church doors for a laugh. If you are a female, you will be advised not to go to garages, because of all the porn hung up on the walls. I kid you not. This was a directive from the C.O. IMO, pretend business territory is the way to go! Worked for me!

21

For Dog Lovers-- Meet Stanley!

by Sail Away in

have you ever had a dog that was dumber than a box of rocks?

i have; his name was dave matthews.

we loved him anyway.

Sail Away

LisaRose, It's the mutts that steal our hearts! My son picked him out because he was the most pathetic dog at the pound, and that's how my son felt himself at the time. Dave was a true healer-- heart of gold. RIP Dave

41

Non-JW music teacher talks about JW.org

by Watchtower-Free in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnzgd8oa2re .

Sail Away

Millie, thank you. I am happy to know you as well and always enjoy your comments!

21

For Dog Lovers-- Meet Stanley!

by Sail Away in

have you ever had a dog that was dumber than a box of rocks?

i have; his name was dave matthews.

we loved him anyway.

Sail Away

DY, here's a photo of Dave (the not so very bright dog) Matthews-- not hairy. I am rather certain he would not have passed the Doggy IQ test! Emma, our sailor dog, passes it in spades :)

(

21

For Dog Lovers-- Meet Stanley!

by Sail Away in

have you ever had a dog that was dumber than a box of rocks?

i have; his name was dave matthews.

we loved him anyway.

Sail Away

Have you ever had a dog that was dumber than a box of rocks? I have; his name was Dave Matthews. We loved him anyway. Maybe Stanley is smarter than he lets on, but I still have my doubts about Dave.

https://imgur.com/gallery/GMJTI

41

Non-JW music teacher talks about JW.org

by Watchtower-Free in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnzgd8oa2re .

Sail Away

Simon, I too am so sorry to hear that your deluded parents allowed that wonderful opportunity to be taken away from you. It breaks my heart. I want to thank you for providing the discussion forum to explore our thoughts and feelings about our own experience as Jehovah’s Witnesses. I find that I am rather torn about the subject.

On one hand, I think all teachers are entrusted to be compassionate, approachable role models who can also challenge and inspire our children in the classroom setting. My daughter is a teacher, and I admire her more than I can say. On the other hand, I do believe that parents have the right to raise their children as they see fit.

In retrospect, I would like to retract my statement that this teacher crossed the line in trying to “de-convert” his student. Actually, I think he acted in a responsible manner by approaching the parents for a Bible Study. He was up front in his approach. I do still have misgivings about a teacher taking a student aside privately to attempt to “de-convert” a student. Teachers are not cult experts of any kind, and they will never have the full story about what goes on behind closed doors. Because of that a teacher may not be aware of the full impact of his actions in a given situation.

My initial response was coming from the place that his man, even though he thought himself a friend, likely knew little of the student’s reality (his “norm”) at home. For me, as a teen in an abusive family, it would have been a blessing if my parents had been reported to Child Protective Services. Children from abusive homes are taught not to tell, so that didn’t happen. When my parents took away my prospects of going to a High School for the Arts, it wasn’t because they were JWs. It was because they were just not functioning at a level to support any of their five children in that manner.

As teen I personally adopted the JW family model as a norm that looked better to me than my experience and gave me hope that I could one day have a happy family life of my own. Yes, it’s a cult. I know that now, but I chose cult over crazy. I chose it for structure, and it served me well at the time. Let’s just say that, in my opinion, not one of the seven siblings in my blended family faired as well. There is the perfect storm of mental illness, drug and alcohol addiction and domestic violence in my family that is being carried on to the next generation to this day. I was able to put an end to that in my own family, and we are all out of the cult. It was a painful path, but it was mine to choose.

Who knows how things would have played out if a teacher had tried to extricate me from the cult. I like to think that I would not have turned down the scholarships I was offered, and I would have gone on to college and explored my many interests and talents, but realistically, that is not what happened in my family of origin. I guess I’m saying life is not black and white, and each situation is different, so I guess the only thing we can really do is use our best judgement, act out of kindness and tread lightly. I think this teacher did that, and is now doing all he can to educate the public and protect other families. He seems like a good man who is doing a valuable service by shedding light on damage done by the teachings of fundamentalist religions in general, not just JWs. All religions that teach that we as individuals are nothing and only live to serve god destroy human potential.

41

Non-JW music teacher talks about JW.org

by Watchtower-Free in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnzgd8oa2re .

Sail Away

I know from experience growing up in an abusive family that a teacher who reaches out to an isolated, troubled teen literally saves lives. I went to 5 different high schools and can remember the Earth Science, Biology, Chemistry, English and French teachers by name who helped me see that there was something "normal" beyond my experience of "normal" at home and at the Kingdom Hall. None of these beautiful people hurt me or behaved inappropriately in any way. Kids need good, aproachable role models. That said, not one of them ever tried to de-convert me. That crosses a line that shouldn't be crossed.