Posts by Sail Away

18

A & E documentary - family fall-out

by Tallon in

just seen this on exjw reddit - sickening beyond belief!.

long story short, we have not seen hubbys non identical twin nephews (jeremey and jerome) since we gave the middle finger to the jw's 7 or 8 years ago.

we last saw our nephews when they were 9 or 10ish.

Sail Away

silas hobbs, I'm happy to hear your family has reconciled and that your daughter has forgiven you and is pursuing an education and career.

May I ask what woke you and your wife up? For me, the prospect of shunning my son when he was disfellowshipped was the last straw.

My daughter walked away at age 17 and committed the exact "sins" he was disfellowshipped for. Because her transgressions were not known to the congregation, I was told I could have a relationship with her. She would have to "make things right when she returned", but my son was "being disciplined by Jehovah", and if we were back in Israel, I would have to have thrown the first stone.

It was all about appearances. Half the elders told me I would have to shun him when he moved out, and the other half (who, by the way, had relationships with their DF'd children) advised to go ahead and check in with him about his well being, but not let it be known in the congregation. Hypocrites!

18

A & E documentary - family fall-out

by Tallon in

just seen this on exjw reddit - sickening beyond belief!.

long story short, we have not seen hubbys non identical twin nephews (jeremey and jerome) since we gave the middle finger to the jw's 7 or 8 years ago.

we last saw our nephews when they were 9 or 10ish.

Sail Away

So happy these boys had a soft place to fall and will be loved and supported through the aftermath.

May the GB and their corporate drones go down in flames. Parents like this don't deserve custody. They deserve time in jail. Any parent with an ounce of humanity would not abandon their own choldren. I do hope A & E does a followup.

18

A & E documentary - family fall-out

by Tallon in

just seen this on exjw reddit - sickening beyond belief!.

long story short, we have not seen hubbys non identical twin nephews (jeremey and jerome) since we gave the middle finger to the jw's 7 or 8 years ago.

we last saw our nephews when they were 9 or 10ish.

Sail Away

I'm with dubstepped on this. My husband was raised in by two fanatical JW parents. Father was an Elder and later the presiding overseer. He was a school teacher, and my husband was not allowed to ride the bus to school. He had to go with his father in the family work van and wait for hours after school doing his homework even in sub-zero winters.

Absolutely no contact with "worldly" children allowed. Even association within the congregation was severely restricted. During breaks at assemblies, as a young child, he wasn't allowed to leave his seat while his father worked on staging and his mother gossips.

During summers, Instead of normal childhood play, my husband worked every week day digging foundations by hand, framing walls and later doing roofing for the family real-estate business. Of course, the WTBT$ gets it all. Book study and service from the family home every Saturday. Meeting and field service every Sunday. The only vacation ever was to the 1958 Polo Grounds District Convention.

They never had a television and only a radio with one station. My husband was not allowed to use the phone. His curfew was 9 p.m. until he moved out. That meant lights out at 9 p.m. sharp.

My husband pioneered out of high school and was accepted to Bethel. Upon departing his parents told him to never come back, not even for vacation. This was when he was in good standing. Imagine how they were when he faded.

I won't even get into further of abuses, because that is not my story to tell. Let's just say the severity of "discipline" required a judicial committee meeting on more than one occasion.

49

Motherly Love, that "Unbreakable Bond"

by Simon in

my father died a couple of months ago.

he'd been ill for some time and had many health scares and heart troubles over the years but always managed to keep on going.

then one time he didn't.. i'm glad i got to know him again and spend some more time with him after so many years missed because of the wts but those years will always be lost forever.

Sail Away

Simon, I'm so happy that you and your son got to spend time with your brother and family at his wedding and that you had some precious time with your Dad at the end of his life.

It has always been important to my husband to stay in contact with his JW parents even though they have shunned him (necessary family business only; they never initiated contact) for nearly 50 years.

When my MIL died a few months ago, I asked my husband how he felt about her passing. He said she was, "just some crazy old bitch that hated him", so no great loss.

Now that my FIL needs help running his real estate business (he is 90 years old, and my MIL always handled the business admin), and my FIL's congregation elders have made it clear that it's not their job to care for him other than spiritually, my FIL expects a call every day at 6:30pm sharp. My husband is glad for the brief check in and has travelled 500 miles to see him 4 times in as many months, and we have just retained an attorney to try to protect him from a local scam artist.

We did not see my in-laws at all in the last 7 years. My MIL was definitely the hardcore JW, and it's hard not to feel used now. The thing is we all get to choose how we respond to other's behavior. We choose not to let others define who we are. At the same time, there is absolutely no reason to subject ourselves to abuse. Sometimes no contact, as with your mother, is the only option. It's a shame it has to be this way, but it's on her, not you.

Diane

75

Why Are Schools Targets Of So Much Gun Violence?

by Brokeback Watchtower in

why are so many youth flipping out and gunning down fellow students?

is there something seriously wrong with society?

does the public education/indoctrination system need some serious tweaking?

Sail Away

I don't know the media is at fault by reporting it as news. --Brokeback Watchtower

Reporting it as news is one thing. Sensationalizing it by interviewing the survivors and the families of victims, seeing and hearing their pain, showing the crime scene, reading Facebook rants and manifestos by the perpetrator(s) and trying to surmise motive is another story altogether.

Stop watching this crap. Ratings run the news cycle. It's not the solution, but It's a start.

9

meet ups or support ?

by lonliwon in

jw
friends

my wife and i have been long time lurkers here and are now members .

we were wondering if anyone is aware of any groups or individuals that meet periodically within ( or a short drive from ) connecticut ?

we aren't looking to bash the past ... just to connect with others who understand and move on .

Sail Away

Mr. Sail Away and I live in CT. We are at anchor in St. Vincent right now and are celebrating our 40th anniversary sailing in the Grenedines. Would love to meet up with you when we get back to the States!

6

"We havent seen you in...

by zeb in

jw
friends

warning, zeb is having a rant.. i have become so pissed off at jw i bump into who come out with "we have not seen you in ages" and with "we miss you.." my answer is the same "miss me?.

i still live in the same house.".

just recently one sister said she missed my comments and jokes.

Sail Away

Zeb, I agree with moreconfusedthanever. They just don't know what to say. The last time I saw a car group parked in a driveway in my neighborhood, I walked up just to say hello. I don't play their stupid shunning game.

The sister in the driver's seat was clearly uncomfortable. She squirmmed and stammered, "Oh, I see you have the same dog." Two of them gave the standard line, "We miss you so much!" I just laughed and reminded them that I live in the same house I've lived in for 30 years. I didn't point out that I know that I'm on the Do Not Call list. The fourth just glared at me and said nothing.

I simply don't care. They can be as self-righteous and judgmental as they want. The fact is, they've been driving around the same neighborhoods, in the same cars, with the same people, knocking on doors that nobody answers for their entire adult lives. They look old and hollow. Their lives are small, sad and pathetic. I don't miss them.

The Borg has turned them into robots. I pity them. They can keep their "best life ever." I'm living mine every day. Oh, and I made sure to let my neighbor know that the Witnesses were contacting his foreign-born wife and warned him what they were up to. He thanked me. Don't let them get you down!

79

Role Reversal: Placing 1969 Awake with JW's Manning the New Portable Literature Displays

by snapdragon4 in

jw
friends

in recent weeks the jw’s here in the uk have been setting up their new portable watchtower literature displays in my local town square on a saturday morning.

as they hadn’t knocked on my door for at least five years, and consequently feeling somewhat neglected, i thought that i would pay them a visit instead.. .

the first thing i needed to do was arrange my literature.

Sail Away

Sour Grapes

I was a victim of this 1969 Awake article.

I'm so sorry to hear about your cancer. My husband and I are in a similar situaton. He has cancer too and needs to retire, but can't, because I am 7 years younger and need healthcare. Neither of us went to college, but we did OK in the computer consulting business together. We won't be able to stay in the home we raised our children in much longer.

23

What happned to the Quick Builds

by blownaway in

so the qbs were huge in the 80s and 90s, now i hear nothing.

have they stopped?.

Sail Away

My former congregation had a total remodel in the early 90's-- down to the cement slab due to mold. Fifteen years later we had to do a complete do over also because of mold. Neither was a quick build. This was months upon month's of daily labor for the local congregation-- Sunday WT on-site.

For the second rebuild the RBC came on weekends. I organized food service during the week for the local brothers, because they assigned a clueless FT Pioneer/Elder/Service Overseer/questionable landscaper (I also took on hedge trimming after he assaulted our beautiful rhododendrum with an electric trimmer) to the job. He was happy to let me do it as long as I reported to him and submitted receipts for purchases. You know the drill-- I don't have a penis.

The idiots didn't do something right with the soffits. There was a torrential downpour. All the sheet rock was soaked. They had to tear it all out and start over again. The elder in charge of the project walked away in tears that night. We were all exhausted.

This was at the same time that my son was coming unhinged. I begged for a shepherding call only to be told to wait until the project was complete. By the time they met with me it was too late. I was already on my way out the door.

They use and abuse free labor and funds until they can't anymore.

5

Have the Kingdom Hall's discontinued using mailboxes?

by longgone in

about one month ago, i sent my disassociation letters out, one was addressed to their headquarters in ny.

(usa) and three were addressed to the kingdom halls in my area.. now the strangest thing has happened, two of the letters that i sent to the local khs were returned to me by the post office labeled "return to sender-no mail recepticle-unable to forward.

" one came last week, and another one today.

Sail Away

My former congregation in the US did not receive mail at the KH, rather they used a post office box for as long as I remember. I mailed my resignation letter to the homes of the secretaries of the two local congregations I had been associated with.