i've been "lurking" around here for a while now (on-and-off for a couple years).
today's the day i'm going to take "the plunge" into "apostacy" and introduce myself here.
i am a 39-year-old single mom of 6, i live in the interior of bc, canada, and work in a doctor's office.
Rose,
You are an amazing woman, quite honestly I don't typically read through long stories, since I'm on so infrequently, but I could stop reading yours...thanks for sharing that....and welcome. Unconditional love on the outside is what I found too :)
Eva
are there any other people here who are into bicycling or handcycling?.
last year, my husband got a handcycle (he can't use a bicycle due to handicap) and i got a new bicycle and we have been enjoying cycling.
last september, we went on our first cycling tour and did the 20 mile.
I love cycling too! I will be doing my 2nd Century ride (100 miles) around Lake Tahoe in June with Team in Training. I'm actually a former runner, but have really just gotten into biking the last couple of years. It's a great recreational sport and good to your body, meaning fewer injuries then most other sports.
Enjoy!
i'm looking through the new awake magazine (great article on shoplifiting by the way) and this older sister comes and sits beside me.
she started talking to me about this great little piece in the magazine about fish or something that should be on my dinner plate, something that i don't really care about, then she turns to me and said and i quote " where else but jehovah's organization can we learn such things?
i sat there with a dumbfounded look on my face thinking " are you kidding me?
I remember telling one "sister" about something interesting I had read in some health journal while sitting in the doctor's office, not even sure exactly what the subject matter was, however her comment to me was 'I don't believe anything that is written unless it is printed in the Awake!' I was mortified by her ignorance. I didn't know what to say, although I didn't leave the organization until 10 years later, that was one comment I never forgot.....it was clear evidence of their brainwashing.
what are some stupid analogies that you here dubs use all the time to explain their faulty, destructing teachings?
or maybe ones you've used in the past that when you think about them now, make you cringe?.
here are a few that come to mind:.
Suppose you had a computer but one of its electronic files was corrupted by an error (or virus) that someone had planted in an otherwise perfect program. That illustrates the effect of what Adam did when he deliberately disobeyed God, or sinned. Let us continue the illustration. Whatever copies you might make of the corrupted electronic file would be affected. However, all need not be lost. With a special program, you could detect and purge the corrupting error from your files and computer. Comparably, mankind has received a "virus," sin, from Adam and Eve, and we need outside help to wipe it out.
this analogy must have been used after I left in 95, not many people had a computer to relate...I still remember the one about the baking a loaf of bread in a dented pan and all the bread you bake in it after that will always have a dent in it...illustrating inherited sin...the above I guess is a more modernized version.
the exact day, lost in a memory that was unconcerned with the details of the moment, is unimportant.
what is important is that three years ago -- in may of 2002 -- i left the jws.
it was at the end of the month, for i realized soon afterword that this would be the first month since becoming a publisher that i did not turn in my time.
Congratulations! This July will be my anniversary...10 years! A Decade! I remember that 1st year being the hardest too, starting all over again, making friends, and questioning everything, I had a hard time trusting people...kinda wierd. I did a lot of reading as well, I've always been very introspective, however, I've learned to let go, and really lighten up a lot, laugh more, enjoy life more. It's been a great journey for me.
I have a quote from one of my books that I carry with me always. 'The true self is always in motion like music, a river of life, changing, moving, failing, suffering, learning, shining.....you must freely and recklessly make new mistakes....for what is true to you today may not be true at all tomorrow, because you see a better truth' ~Brenda Ueland (If You Want To Write. A book about Art, Independence, and Spirit).
Good luck!
P.S. You should really consider coming down to the city tomorrow for my charity pub crawl :)
Take Care. Eva
Eva
it is a mistake for former jehovah's witnesses to think that just because they are shunned by friends and family, they are no longer loved.
isn't shunning a horrible experience, one borne from twisted psychological reasoning?
mandated shunning from a powerful and misguided religious organization is a great sin against both the person shunned and those who are obliged, yes obliged, to shun them.
i briefly read through this thread......too much to page through....too over-analyzed...sorry.
Anyway to answer your question, yes, absolutely I believe my parents still love me even though they shun me.....I think they truely believe they are doing something righteous. All I want to convey to them is just because I am not longer a part of that faith, I still love them just as much, and it has nothing to do with them. I am still a good person, with a good heart, the only thing that has changed is how I worship God....what I feel is right for me. I wish they could see the hypocrisy in the organization and how controlling it is, but...unfortunately, they don't....and they are convinced that if they don't shun me, they lessen the chance of me coming back and not getting destroyed.
I always try to keep in mind the saying...'seek to understand, Before being understood'.
Happy Birthday! call me when you get into Chicago next week, we'll celebrate!
Eva
i know this might seem like a big laughable joke, but i was wondering what will happen when all of the gb members die off or get too old to continue as gb members?
will they start to pick jw women who claim to be of the annoited and or old enough to be alive during 1935?
evidently the chosen will get too old to carry on and there will be "new light" to say that young jw can be of the annointed and gb.
you never know,,,, as long as they wear that little 'doile' (sp??) or a piece of kleenex even on their head. I remember my mother conducting a book study when no "qualified" brothers were available. If a baptised brother is not necessarily in good standing than a sister can do something like that.
for those that have been out of the borg awhile...now that you are no longer part of the dubs, what positive things do you like to be involved in?
what is your' purpose in life?
Let's see there so much more time to focus on living now. I can enjoy my hobbies without guilt of worry that I should be reading spiritual material instead or be out more in the field.
I've joined running groups....I've involved with Team in Training for the past 2 years raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and will be doing a 100 mile bike ride in June. I love reading so I got some reading groups together (those kind of turned into wine parties ) As a result, I've found some really great friends, diverse friends from all walks of life and faith. I've learned there is a really great world out there, yes there is a lot of bad things happening, but there is definetly a lot of good as well and being out has taught me to see the good, and cherish and relish every moment of my life....and not wait to live "forever" to do it.
i have posted this story before on some other boards, but after "lurking" for a long time here, i have finally decided to come out and tell my story.
it is really long, so i'm going to tell it in a few parts.
that way i can also tell if i'm boring everyone to death, haha!
Welcome Chia....I remember getting those horrific questions, I just thought, why do they need to know details? So I didn't answer most, and because I wasn't willing to fully confess, I was Disfellowshipped, but it was the best day of my life!
Enjoy your freedom! It'll be 10 years for me in July and they have been the best years of my life!
Eva
