Congratulations on following your heart and guarding your thinking abilities . My kids say to "just do you" as a mantra and I think it's worth saying to you. Guilt is an awful tool used to manipulate another's free will and self condemnation results. Depression has been described as anger turned against yourself and internalized. Stick up for yourself respectfully as it appears you are doing; positive and encouraging self talk is vital for mental health, listen to and follow your gut. No longer pioneering is not a sin, working full-time is not a sin, not acting as a ms is not a sin. You are choosing your life. If you feel good and strong about yourself in your career then it's what's right for you in the moment. You don't owe any an explanation at all. I'd let your happiness show at the hall, chin up. When asked you can say I love my life, life is good, what's not to be joyful about? The witness reaction is def cognitive dissonance as they've been trained to goad you to feel bad about yourself like the violin player convention video. If you want to step down, summit in writing with a simple explanation and don't comment further when pressed citing you've prayerfully and scriptural determined this to be what's best for you at this time. Period. Our tendency is to overexplain ourselves to justify a different opinion when we don't need to or owe it to anyone. If you remain respectful, joyful, calm and humbly confident they can't blame it on the boogeyman, but will accept it as your decision. Calm respectful firm Decisiveness puts them on defense. If someone gives you 'advice-opinion", thank them and say you'll prayerfully reflect on it and that's it. I wish you happiness, and blessings for a full life. Keep talking...here and with good friends (worldly lol). As stated by others here, it can take years to shake the fear, guilt-induced thinking and give yourself permission to truly enjoy your life. Don't quit, it's worth the effort and journey.
Awakenednow
JoinedPosts by Awakenednow
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63
Life is changing for me: no pioneering, got a job!
by Skepsis ina month ago i decided to register in this board.
i had decided to step down pioneering but was frightened about the consequences.
i had finished my university degree some months before (despite disaproval from brothers in my congregation) and i had to choose: continue pioneering and working in jobs with no future or starting a career, working full-time.. i was thinking to postpone the decisiton but... i was fed up with preaching.
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Who is Gog/Magog?
by Cold Steel inezekiel spends two chapters (38-39) describing a war that either will never take place, or which has yet to take place.
according to the prophecy, the warlord gog, of magog, will 1) sweep down on israel, covering the land like a cloud.
this will happen in 2) the latter years when israel will 3) be a people “gathered out of many nations” and peoples.
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Awakenednow
Haha Cofty....exactly
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Who is Gog/Magog?
by Cold Steel inezekiel spends two chapters (38-39) describing a war that either will never take place, or which has yet to take place.
according to the prophecy, the warlord gog, of magog, will 1) sweep down on israel, covering the land like a cloud.
this will happen in 2) the latter years when israel will 3) be a people “gathered out of many nations” and peoples.
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Awakenednow
What always bugged me about any explanation is they apply it to JW's. the context is geographical and seems to me to obviously apply to Israel if taken literally as the GB takes at least a portion literal in asserting Gog is a coalition of nations. Also interesting is the 2520 year thingy closely matches the time Israel became a nation last century and the historical date of I think 587(?) when Babylon conquers Jerusalem. Apologies for any inaccuracies, it's been years since I attempted to surrender my brain to the subject.
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Jehovah's Wonderous Creation - The Guinea Worm
by pale.emperor inyou're not likely to see this in an awake!
magazine, but here goes.
for those that believe in intelligent design please explain this one to me:.
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Awakenednow
Gross
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Do you believe that Jehovah is using the Organization today?
by Iamallcool inany elder has never asked me that question so far but i want to be prepared to answer that question if any of them ask me that question in the future.
i hope that they will never ask me that question.
any suggestions on how to answer that question would be very much appreciated.
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Awakenednow
I vote no!
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Mass JW exodus
by stockholm_Syndrome inmaybe there will be a mass exodus from jws when thinking people read feb 2017 watchtower telling them the governing body stuff up, shouldnt expect correct/ perfect information and basically make up guff as they see fit.....ya reckon?.
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Awakenednow
I view active dubs as if they are in a coma, they individually will wake up on their time when ready. You can't get mad at them, they don't get it, so let them keep bobbing their heads until they realize it's time to wipe the sleep out of their eyes. I think for most it's a comfort to blame the world and devil for the drama and not take personal responsibity for the state of their lives or communities. I'm grateful to be free of it all personally. When I meet the comatose around the community, I love them and bob my head right back. Lol
I vote no mass awaking unless we get new Wikileaks revelations lol. Maybe then....?
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The Story of My Sister - Lurkers: Is this logical?
by Funchback inmy sister got baptized at 17 or 18 years old in 1983. she was ripe for the jw picking as she was shy, quiet, naive and with low self-esteem even though she was tall and beautiful and she attended one of the best high schools in philadelphia.. she wasn't outgoing and she only went out on a couple of dates prior to her baptism.
she worked at a day care center.
she loved children and animals.
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Awakenednow
Hi Brian...your sister woke up and is happy and lived her adult life being loved and raised a family. Try to let go of the bitterness of the past (which is justified) and enjoy every rich moment of your life and relationships now that you are awake. As someone being shunned by my only sibling I feel your loss and can only encourage you to focus on all of the fun things you and your sweet sister and family can now do together. Make precious memories to replace the lost ones. Stay involved in your sister and nieces lives, they'll be so glad about that and what a good example for your niece to know her own mind going forward. I agree on your opines about the damaging cult policies. My comfort is they will be judged equally as harshly as they have judged the innocents in their care - karma just is. When the anger wells up inside use it to a purposeful outcome. I like serving the hungry on xmas and stuff like that. Nice things that dissociate myself lol. Wishing you all the best. Stay strong! K
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Is the watchtower preparing the rank and file here?
by Thisismein1972 inhttp://jwtalk.net/forums/topic/28736-that-most-beautiful-of-2015-videos-is-now-live/.
above is a link (if you can stomach it) from jwtalk.
have a look at the comments.
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Awakenednow
Anyone watch the movie The Island? ( Evan macgregor and Scarlett Johansson I think) totally reminds me of the paradise earth carrot...guess I followed the butterfly. I think if they discard that teaching, it's all over for the org. It's about the only reason people put up with the negs... the hope of living that way in the future is the only true incentive. How else can anyone justify the dumb sacrifices we make in this system, such as no college, dead-end jobs, giving up talent careers, no children, shun friends and family, knock on doors instead of doin something more appealing, giving up ice-cream money, letting your kids DIE refuse the blood, on and on. The 'spiritual paradise' sucks in reality. Really, I'm just sayin....
HAHA philJones I remember my parents bought a little camper in 74 and all the friends were shocked, oh the fun of it all. Glad your mum still thinks enough for herself to keep you in her life. From my understanding the pioneers hours have been cut quite a bit from back then when we all did it. I'm thinking it's more like the old aux pioneer hours of 60 but I'm out for 6 years and don't care enough to check to know.
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Question for those that have been Disfellowshiped for apostasy VS succesfully fading
by NikL inthere are quite a few here who have been disfellowshipped for apostasy.. then there are those that have successfully faded.. why the different outcome?
are the ones that got df more out spoken?
or does the discrepancy lie with the elders?.
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Awakenednow
I successfully faded with the exception of my sister and brother-in-law elder shunning me. I was a very happy Jw for most of my life, but my painful experiences were at the hands of prominent Jw's. I was molested for 7 years by the a-hole ms who studied with my parents, first elder hubby bethelite pioneer decided he never loved me and made a mistake marrying me after surviving cancer, ok life goes on... I married a newby jw I knew as a teen I originally met at a job who I renewed a friendship with after my divorce. We eloped after his baptism and had a couple amazing kids, after 15 years of marriage I divorced him because the last few years I discovered serious fraud, was physically threatened and so over living like that and still trying to be a sub,issive loving wife , Yadayadayada. He was arrested and sent to prison for a couple years, so I divorced him. The 2 elders came by and said I had no grounds so I told them that I served more time in my prison for a hasty decision years ago doing my best to make the most of it and I was out! If they love him so much then they can have him but I'm done. They laughed and couldn't argue that. Btw, my ex was being considered for elder. We had a very ideal looking family life, followed the rules, by the book. He was just a con that I fell for....no biggy. But, I decided that if I wanted to raise my kids to make wise personal choices and model that I would need to seriously reflect on mine and begin with the common thread....jw living. I allowed "mother" to dictate my life choices, doubting my own inner voice. So obviously I came to the conclusion to fade, but my whole life was in the Org. - my parents (dad/elder) , friends, sister....everyone in my entire world and support group. I was homeless due to the business disaster that led to my ex's incarceration, no income...scary stuff. And, I lived with my parents at this time for about 8 months while I got work and therapy for my kids who were traumatized. I was helped by ....drumroll....worldly people! They were the proven good sams. No witnesses outside a couple of older loving friends of my folks even bothered to call. The worldly people lent me a car, signed for a rental agreement on a house, donated funds. Those bad worldly people treated me and my kids with love and kindness. What I always believed and tried to be as a witness. So, because I moved twice, the infamous 'cards' kinda got lost in the shuffle as I stopped attending meetings while living with the folks. For 3 years no contact, then 1 elder tried to call and encouraged me to go to meetings and I said I'd think about it. Then I moved in with an amazing man who's now my husband and great father to my kids, I told my family that we had made a vow of faithfulness while we worked out legal issues to civil marriage (73 wt article I think. I printed it and gave it to them ). Several convos with the folks who actually agreed with me and because of the familial trauma of sexual abuse made the choice to support me instead of punish me with shunning like my sis does. So I told them that based on the ARC and like issues I am a "conscientious objector" of the Orgs policy on child sexual abuse and I can't in good conscience go out to people to covert them into this org until they implement policies that better support and protect victims. The beliefs argument doesn't fly because of the cult personality. In my cases, being a survivor, I use the ARC and personal abuse to empower me and the Congo leaves me alone. Side note, my folks came to my wedding and were called before the CO for attending in support of a marriage to unbeliever...my dad stepped down and told me that he wouldn't have missed it and he chose me over his position. Hooray! So, bottom line, my experience at successful fade is this: drop off attendance, change congos if able, don't return phone calls, stay polite in public run-ins with friends, when pressed state the ARC report concerns you and you are inactive as a conscientious objector due to the policies found by experts that disadvantage abuse survivors and it bothers you , you regularly check the orgs updates via online videos and stay up to date, etc., and thank them for their encouragement when they recommend you go to meetings. I personally have read Coc etc., done my research and am a full-blown malcontent to doctrines but who cares. They don't need me to impose my views on them and if I'm ever asked would share freely what I've learned, but the "cult personality" as defined by Mr Hassan, takes over and it's not worth it. Better for me to live my life blessed and happier then before and that's a better witness for my choice then arguing right or wrong. My kids say, just do you! Great Advice. I don't recognize their view the Congo has authority over me so I don't bother with the elder thingy. Don't open the letters, return to sender, don't return calls. The elders need to reply to CO that they tried, they will drop it. Most, I'd bet, don't want to pursue a former friend. Anyway, that's the long and short of my experience and perhaps it helps. I'm happy to talk to anyone who needs a friend, please message me. Happy Living! Love conquers all.
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Angel of the True God
by StarTrekAngel ini usually open posts such as this one with disclaimer for the atheists/agnostics out there.
i respect your position and what i tried to do in posts like this one is discuss the bible, wether you believe the stories or not.. i believe it is well known that in jw doctrine it is thought that no one has ever seen god.
this teaching is also supplemented by the accounts of moises, where jehovah told him that no one can see him and yet live to tell the tale.. i, however, was always puzzled by some of the grammar in the bible where it seems to imply that god appeared to people.
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Awakenednow
I recently read an article stating that passages of this sort are codes for Kanbalistic tree of life progressions... And then there is always Ancient Aliens theory😱👽
I wish for all truth seekers we can finally have an honest answer but I'm discovering it's best just to live in the moment and embrace what's real, beauty of creation, loving relationships etc., turning away from empty arguments and conditional so-called friends and "theocratic family" .
Gaiam TV is fun if you are looking for possible quantum multidimensional explanations for passages such as these.
Best wishes to you and I hope you find what you are searching for! 😀