my sister and i were talking the other day and she told me that when you are first assigned to bethel they make you sign a letter of secrecy or something like "secret service agreement"?
i was just wondering if this is true.
if it is true then don't you agree that it is a hot bed for paranoia?.
Not sure about bethel, but would be interested to hear if they did have to sign something. I know that when I went through pioneer school I was told that the school was special to us as pioneers and although they did not directly say don't share the experience - it was implied that it was to be kept private.
Kind regards
Scots lass
you will soon be cordially invited to the kh.
its mem-bore-ial season and the hunt is on.....for you!.
plan your escape today!!!!
I have not been for years but think I may go this year to hand out some info about the whole UN issue. It would be great to ruffle a few feathers! I will have to give this idea some serious thought.
i just thought that i would share my life as a jw.
i was born into this cult in 1973. i was born as a hermaphodite (both sexes) this was of great shock to my parents, apparently the confided in one of the elders asking him what thay should do?
his respones was that i should be made male (the doctors at the time said i should be female) my parent took the avice of the elder and i was the made to be a male.. as i was growing up i beged my parents to allow me to be the person that god had wanted me to be but the elders kept reasuring me and my parent that god wanted me to be a male so that i could one day be a elder or s/overser.. in my teen years it became very apparent that my parents had made a mistake as i would act in a very female way.
You have been through such a horrific experience but are on the mend! What a truly amazing person you are. I hope you find as much comport and healing as I have in this forum, it is a great place to be. Be assured you are among friends who truly care about you and your future.
If only the Watchtower, Bible & Tract Society, could be sued for spiritual-malpractice as doctors can be for medical, you'd be set for life. If only.
I agree ? but all churches and organisations must have public liability insurance; in fact they must display their certificate in a public place. I am sure that there must be a way to bring these elders to justice either by bringing a lawsuit for abuse or for giving false information. It would be worthwhile finding out where in law stands where you live on this subject.
My thoughts are with you.
http://www.chuckchamblee.com/dom/fun/yankee_dixie_quiz.htm
closer
What a laugh - I was more dipsy (bbc teletubbies!) than Dixie and more LaLa and Po ( more teletubbies) than Yankee. We ahve very few of these terms over here but I tried to answer based on my memories from living in US as a small child.
last night, i decided to finally finish off the book.
it takes me forever to read a book, and after a year, i've finally completed it.
quite a good book, although i found myself skimming through the last chapter called "perspective".
I would like to read this book - will try to get hold of it asap.
Has anyone ever written to Ray about this forum? Maybe someone should. He would be a great guy to have on board.
i was off work.
i bought my "friend" a pair of expensive jeans.
a "starter" red shirt.
Hi Tatiana,
I am new to this forum but was really moved by your story.
Here is a wee tip from Bonnie Scotland!
If you have any claims to the house no matter how trivial or small the claim is - here is what you should do -
By the time he getts all that legal stuff sorted you can be long gone - livin the good life.
Oh and who said you were alone from what I can see there are lots of people out there who care -
The world is waiting for you!
from a wee scots lass
i was raised in 'the truth ' from the age of 9, when my parents came 'into the truth'.
i was the perfect little witness girl, went out in field service - without complaint, gave talks (well the way you do in two's when you are female!
), i was even on the list of people they called on when someone did not turn up to give their talk and would get up with only 30 min prep time!
You mention your friend and the abuse scandal - was it at the congregation on the TV panorama programme? They were in scotland and their elders had to step down and admit they hadn't reported abuse to the authorities.
No it was not that girl, although I did know of that family. The whole abuse thing is so much more widespread than anyone would imagine. Lets hope for the kids sake they learn from their mistakes, although I have never yet heard of a cure for arrogance!
Why don't you go to Uni now - it's never too late!I did actually go back to college and now really enjoy the work I am involved in.
Thanks to all who gave such a fantasic welcome to the forum. You are all a little mad, but then it takes one to know one!
hi friends!.
i've finally made a decision: i wil leave the wt in december 2004 or january 2005. please let me explain how i would manage this and i will also like to know your point of view or any other thing you would want to say.. i live in spain (as some of you know) in a city where there are 20 congregations.
i think that the elders would like to know the reason why i'm moving to another congregation.
I too understand the whole problem with family & DF. If you can - say you want to move to another hall to stand on your own two feet - and to build on your spiritual relationship with Jah. Then do as all the others say and just fade away. If I could turn the clock back I would have just sliped away quietly.
Good Luck.
i was raised in 'the truth ' from the age of 9, when my parents came 'into the truth'.
i was the perfect little witness girl, went out in field service - without complaint, gave talks (well the way you do in two's when you are female!
), i was even on the list of people they called on when someone did not turn up to give their talk and would get up with only 30 min prep time!
I was raised in 'the truth ' from the age of 9, when my parents came 'into the truth'. I was the perfect little witness girl, went out in field service - without complaint, gave talks (well the way you do in two's when you are female!), I was even on the list of people they called on when someone did not turn up to give their talk and would get up with only 30 min prep time! As well as this I did not associate with those who were not deemed spiritual enough!!! When I think of that part I really cringe because at the age of 13/14 I was told to stay away from one sister who was seen as a bad associate ? what was her crime you may ask ? well she was being abused by her father and she was told that it was her fault as she was wearing to much make up and her clothing was too worldly! That ?brother? went on to abuse another girl in the hall and still no charges were brought and it was all handled inside the KH. I am lucky to have made contact with the girl I was told to stay away from and now keep in regular contact (she too has left the JW?s)
My mum had always questioned things and was seen by the elders at times to be hard work, but they always seamed to be able to convince her it was ?the truth?. Although they saw her as hard work they did think she was pretty spiritual and they did respect her. I got baptised at the age of 15 and was determined to leave school to pioneer. At this point my mum was determined that I go to university as I had got really good grades at school. I had a chat with the elders about it and they told me that I was doing really well to endure persecution from my parents and not to give in. They encouraged me all the way to give up education and pioneer. I became a pioneer at 16 and went through pioneer school very young.
At 20 I began having doubts about my choices in life. As I struggled to support myself in part time work and pioneering full time, I began to notice that the very elders who had encouraged me to endure my persecution had sent their children to University and they now had good jobs with prospects. As I began to open my eyes I saw that there was a rule for the rich and a rule for the poor. The class system is very much alive and well in ?the truth?!
My best friend at the time ? a fellow pioneer (who actually defied this theory as she came from a wealthy family) and I began sharing confidences about our doubts and we began to go out to pubs and nightclubs at the weekends. The elders found out that we had each been dating a worldly boy and we were brought up in front of them. They asked me if I was sorry for my actions and I answered honestly that I did not know if I was sorry or not. I explained that it had only just hit me that night what I had done and I asked for another day to think about it and I would give them an honest answer the next day. They said no - that I had to give them an answer there and then. I told them that my conscience would not allow me to say I was sorry when I didn?t know if I was or not. They said that they would just have to disfellowship me then.
My friend also up in front of the elders that night just after me, was asked if she was sorry (her father was an elder and rich) - she said no. They asked her again are you sure you are not sorry, again she said no. They then asked her to go outside for 10 mins to think about her answer. She came back and still said no, she was not sorry. They then had a chat amongst themselves and must have decided that they did not have any other option but to disfellowship her too.
So just before my 21 st birthday I was disfellowshiped. My parents, friends and family were told that they were no longer allowed to speak to me. I did not talk with or see any of them for about 3 years. During this time I began to rebuild my life. Eventually, my parents did begin to talk with me again as did other members of my family as ?new light? came out about families and disfellowshiping!
I have had various other issues and upsets with them including issues over family funerals in the hall. I have to admit that although it was horrendously hard to deal with at times I just kind of got on with it until I met up with old friends from the KH who are now ex JW?s themselves. As we got chatting we began to doubt so much of what we were taught and I think began to realise the enormity of the lies we were taught. We each began to research sites like this one as well as other sources of information and just uncovered lie after lie.
I am happy to say that my husband has been a steady rock through all of this. I met him very shortly after leaving the JW?s. When I told him about my ?religious? past he sent me the best card in the world it said simply ?
?Welcome to the world!?
We are raising two lovely children and live in hope that my family who are still JW?s leave and those who have fallen away a bit but still believe never go back!
well, i've posted a few topics already and responded to a few.
and spoke with some of you.
well i just wanted to give you a little background on me.
This is my first port - so here goes!
Delighted to hear about your family - it has made me think that there could be hope for mine. My parents had 'fallen away' for a while but are studing with plans to return. I left 15 years ago and got D'shiped for something that I should never have been d'shiped for. Although I did not want to go back I had no objections to them going until recently. I have been doing a lot of thinking and checking things out for myself and cannot believe how stupid I was to blindly believe all I was taught. I am now going to do everything in my power to make sure they never return!
Great site for ideas on what to say to the Jw's when they call at my door - boy are they in for a roasting next time round!
