Posts by Sail Away

18

Ministry experiences

by Freedom rocks in

hi does anyone have any bad ministry experiences to share or really funny ones?.

some of mine were:.

- having water sprayed on us with a hose.

Sail Away

I remember a few more. This one makes me smile--

Going door-to-door in August-- hazy, hot and humid. Standing in the hot sun talking with two Catholic women accompanied by a rising star, former drug addict, later to become Substitute CO brother. I was in my first trimester-- no one knew except Mr. SailAway. I grew faint, started to black out, but was able to grab an iron railing nearby in the shade. I pressed my forehead to it.

One of the women asking in an accusatory voice, "Is she pregnant?" Newbie JW says, "I don't know! Don't look at me!" She got me some orange juice.

29

Are YOU Shunned By JW Family or Friends?

by minimus in

jw
friends

some who are not disfellowshipped are still shunned i also know there’ are disfellowshipped ones that family still associate with..

Sail Away

I guess I would go with ToesUp's soft shunned. When I cross paths with the locals, including elders, former COBE and MSs, they are warm and chatty (with the exception of one former elderette b*tch). That said none of them initiate contact. This hurts the most coming from one especially dear former "friend".

It's all a little strange. I walked away in 2011. I am clearly on the Do Not Call List at my adamant request-- no contact for official congregation business. Ever. I wrote a letter of resignation threatening to sue their sorry asses if they made an announcement from the platform, so not officially DF'd or DA'd as far as I can tell.

I sent my letter of resignation to the secretaries of two local congregations I attended. Not sure if I would greet them should we meet. One is the elder that led the hit squad to DF my son. I might have a few choice words for him. Hypocritical, self-righteous b*stard comes to mind.

My husband's parents shunned him (and by proxy me and our children) for most of his adult life-- necessary family business only. He was neither DF'd or DA'd. Faded before we knew what that meant.

Now that my MIL died and my FIL is rapidly declining, my husband has daily contact with him by phone. His father lives 500 miles away and has been targeted by a scam artist. We are trying to protect him, but he is stubborn and won't listen to his son, lawyer or accountant. We have hired a lawyer to advise us, and my husband travels out to see his father about every other month.

18

Ministry experiences

by Freedom rocks in

hi does anyone have any bad ministry experiences to share or really funny ones?.

some of mine were:.

- having water sprayed on us with a hose.

Sail Away

Being given a tour of a home owner's pet goat cemetery in her front yard. Creepy.

Didn't happen to me, but I was in the car group when a naked woman wearing only a trench coat jumped out of the bushes and flashed an elder. He returned red faced and stammering. His wife, a FT Pioneer, teased him mercilessly for the rest of the morning.

18

Since You Left The Organization Do You Celebrate National and Religious Holidays?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i know of people who were disciplined because they observed the fourth of july fireworks celebration.

and i know many people who celebrated thanksgiving but just didn’t call it that because they could get into trouble with the elders.. do you now celebrate birthdays and other holidays or is that something you really don’t care about?

?.

Sail Away

Yes, I celebrate holidays. For me it's all about family, especially my grandchildren. They are visiting from Guatemala this month, and my daughter, son-in-law and husband gave me my first birthday party ever for my 60th birthday today.

We had a picnic at the beach, playing in the waves, a raspberry cream tart with candles, presents and happy birthday songs in English and in Spanish. So much love and fun!

We also had a barbecue at the town beach and watched the fireworks for July 4th. We celebrate Thanksgiving here in the States with our son and Christmas in Guatemala. My husband is uncomfortable with holiday, but he makes an effort for me. I don't care too much about Easter or Halloween, but might get into it if my grandchildren lived nearby.

27

Re: the woman parking attendants and real life

by carla in

with much amusement i read the thread on women parking lot attendants and it got me to thinking about life at home for the average jw.. i believe i am correct in thinking that anything to do with jw-ism requires a penis, except all the leg work (fs & pioneers).

meaning the mic's, talks, etc... but yet the same guy who thinks his wife (or any other woman) is not bright enough to run the sound system for example doesn't mind his wife hauling hay, digging in the yard, managing the checkbook and other various physical jobs as well as jobs that do in fact require a brain larger than that of a gnat?.

let's say a guy is a bit technologically challenged but he can manage the sound system at the kh ok. i imagine he feels proud that he is getting to do this great privilege?

Sail Away

JWs (sisters) used to tell me when a sister's unbelieving mate became a JW (seldom) the sister was DTR (down the road) -- done! ~LV101

I've seen this happen twice.

27

Re: the woman parking attendants and real life

by carla in

with much amusement i read the thread on women parking lot attendants and it got me to thinking about life at home for the average jw.. i believe i am correct in thinking that anything to do with jw-ism requires a penis, except all the leg work (fs & pioneers).

meaning the mic's, talks, etc... but yet the same guy who thinks his wife (or any other woman) is not bright enough to run the sound system for example doesn't mind his wife hauling hay, digging in the yard, managing the checkbook and other various physical jobs as well as jobs that do in fact require a brain larger than that of a gnat?.

let's say a guy is a bit technologically challenged but he can manage the sound system at the kh ok. i imagine he feels proud that he is getting to do this great privilege?

Sail Away

Just Google: YouTube Samual Herd Jehovah's Witnesses Women's Brains 10% Smaller, but have a barf bag ready.

114

The biggest news of the year for Mr. and Mrs. Totally ADD

by Still Totally ADD in

jw
friends

this is bigger than christmas and birthdays wrap into one.

thanks to the australian royal commission our youngest son has woke up.

we received a e-mail from him tonight where he apologized to us for shunning us all these years, how bad he felt for doing this.

Sail Away

This is absolutely fantastic news! Looking forward to more of the story and hoping the rest of your family wakes up soon!

29

Anyone ever know gays in the hall that are lying to them selfs or others?

by blownaway in

i know of three situations i saw myself.

the first one was when i lived in arcadia.

all the people i use names on are dead and gone so no probs.

Sail Away

I know a gay JW who is currently DF'd for the third time. The first time his wife was not given "scriptural grounds" for divorce. Since he had sex with a man, it was not considered adultery. The second time around the definition of porneia was changed to include homosexuality and bestiality, but she still didn't leave him. Said she was too old and needed his pension and medical coverage.

This last time they separated (not legally) and now live on separate floors in the same house. She was not considered "exemplary" and was not allowed to pioneer for about 10 years, because of their living arrangements. That finally got straightened out through the C.O.

She has convinced herself that not being granted freedom to remarry was a blessing from Big J, because it kept her from foolishly dating a worldly person. She was Df'd for "conduct unbecoming a Christian" before this marriage. They both knew he was gay, but thought they could make it work. Deluded.

This is what happens when WT interferes in people's personal ives!

80

Are we losing our way a bit at JWN?

by nicolaou in

firstly, i want to be crystal clear how grateful i am for jwn.

it's been my place of support for over seventeen years and it's the first online space i direct anyone to if they are taking steps out of the cult.

i am not bashing jwn - i love this place and appreciate the hard work and expense simon puts in to keep it going.

Sail Away

I have just seen the bloody lamentable arguments back and forth....so I have switched off-- Punky

I'm with Punky. I'm an American, and I'm bloody sick of American politics too. I don't believe we had a good option in the last election. That said, I think the move to quash anti-Trump sentiments on this sight has silenced others voices. It has mine. I often wonder why people who are not citizens feel the need to heatedly debate another country's politics.

47

I Ain't Got No Religion No More ... (But I Like to Get Myself Some Gospel Music)

by Simon in

i love gospel music.

i don't feel like i need to believe in "jebus" to appreciate the music.

i can't go into a gospel church because i might just get religion again - that or i'll be grabbing the mic on be on the stage waving my hands and praising the lord.. i particularly like dylan's gospel period.

Sail Away

I love Hallelujah by Lenard Cohen.