Awesome OP! Best wishes on your new journey! And don't sweat the past. You did what you thought you should do under extreme pressure, but at least you tried to help where you could.
dubstepped
JoinedPosts by dubstepped
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58
My introduction and confession
by elderINewton inwell another big bad elder here just wanting to say sorry.. i'm sorry that so many were treated like crap, and shown that god's love is not to be found around jehovah's witnesses.
i'm sorry that inadvertently i've likely taught many to judge and as such see that racism permeates every corner of the jw world, else why else would someone be of the world, or even inactive.
i'm sorry i sat in on a jc, and voted to df.
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33
How Many JWs actually Watch JW.TV?
by Oubliette ini'm curious.
what do you know from your own experience and talking to other active jws?
i know from my own informal, non-scientific survey that most jws do not watch jw.tv.
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dubstepped
Not only do they watch it, but previously tech illiterate people now have media players on TVs so they can watch it. Watching people buy Roku boxes not understanding that one must have internet connectivity was funny. You mean the box alone doesn't deliver them right to my TV? I bet Roku's stock crushed it for a while. -
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Something that my devout JDUB cousin said...
by yogosans14 inwe used to be so close before she got heavily involved in the jw religion.
she actually got me into it (i actually believed all the nonsense) and i went to meetings with her and everything, we were like brother and sister.
she lives in texas now in a remote area where their is no cell phone signal or anything with her dad and mom (i think they said they moved their to get closer to jehovah which is weird).
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dubstepped
I recently went to see my brother who is DF'ed. My family refuses to hear anything about him (or his wife who has nothing to do with any of this) and won't let me talk about the trip to the area he lives in either. Oh, and they now shun me too for the most part, so I guess we aren't really talking anymore. If you're DF'ed, they don't care about you anymore. It makes it easier to shun you if you are vilified. If you talk to the DF'ed, you take a huge risk. I'd rather be shunned for doing the loving thing than loved for doing the shunning thing.
It really is a great reflection of Jesus Christ who loved his enemies, turned the other cheek, went against the current religious culture of the time, ate with the sinners, loved his neighbor, errrrrr.........or maybe it isn't. That's okay though. They had a convention about imitating Jesus, so I'm sure they'll change those things. <sarcasm
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Thinking of Going Full Disclosure With Wife. Sorta
by freemindfade insoliciting any and all opinions.
as some of you may know, wife is full in pioneer.
my fade has gone from us fighting.
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dubstepped
As to how much you should reveal and when, only you can really judge. However, I just want to caution against expecting her time for awakening to coincide with yours. You were allowed time to see things and digest them as it was fit for you. You now cannot go and shove it down her throat and expect her to react well. Not that you were going to, as you've already revealed things progressively. However, I've seen people wake up financially and want to get on a new money program (Dave Ramsey) and then challenge the integrity of their spouse because their spouse isn't ready to see it yet. For some reason when we awaken in any way we then have a tendency to expect others to see what we see when we now see it. That's not fair, as we were allowed to see it in our due time. To equate one's love with their ability to see and accept a whole new perspective isn't fair. -
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How do you deal with Anxiety!
by little_Socrates inso the other day i was walking through the huge local regional outlet shopping mall.
i see this sign "how do deal with anxiety" didn't take very long at all to confirm it was a jw booth.. that sign bothered me.
do jw actually think they have something to say about anxiety?
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dubstepped
Thanks LisaRose. Don't worry, I too have ADHD and other issues, and I'm 1000 times better than I once was. I do some mindfulness meditation currently, and just live a more authentic life, and I'm happier than I've ever been. -
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How do you deal with Anxiety!
by little_Socrates inso the other day i was walking through the huge local regional outlet shopping mall.
i see this sign "how do deal with anxiety" didn't take very long at all to confirm it was a jw booth.. that sign bothered me.
do jw actually think they have something to say about anxiety?
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dubstepped
I've battled anxiety my whole life, and much of it a result of association and being brought up as a JW. Never had high wages because I pioneered instead of going to college despite numerous scholarship offers, so I struggled to make a decent wage. When I did make good money I had no clue how to handle it because money was always just a means to an end. No need to save any because this system will end soon. I struggle with social anxiety because I'm so different from others and was bullied so much growing up. Now that I'm fading I'm constantly thinking the car doors closing outside are elders coming to talk to me. Screwing up and getting disfellowshipped and losing all of my family was a constant fear, though I've pretty much lost them without even managing to get disfellowshipped due to the organization anyway. I've always been worried that I was going to be thrown in some sort of horrible camp where I would be tortured for my faith during a great tribulation that has been held over my head since I was a kid. And if, IF, I managed to do all of the right things there was a chance that I MAY be concealed in the day of Jehovah's anger and not be thrown into everlasting nothingness, but if I messed up it was all over, which I guess part of me feels now that I can't buy into what I was taught growing up anymore. Oh, there was always a fear that you'd listen to the wrong song and someone would rat you out, or say the wrong thing or talk to the wrong person. People are always watching us as JW's to catch us in a slip up whether inside or outside the organization. And I could have stumbled someone and been worthy of having a millstone tied around my neck and been hurled into the sea because I read a book that another brother or sister didn't approve of and they were so easily stumbled.
I could go on forever. As to what you saw, I don't think they're actively recruiting the mentally ill. For one, they don't have to, they flock to the organization and the congregations I was in were full of such illness, probably me included (though miraculously so much went away as I distanced myself). I'm sure that it was just a marketing message to attract people that face something so common today, that of anxiety, and to try and offer comfort from the scriptures. Of course, along with that comfort that they'll point to will come a whole slew of new things to be anxious about. Don't forget that the Devil is running about like a roaring lion, seeking to devour you at every turn. See, new anxiety for the uninitiated! You're welcome. :)
Just to be honest, I should probably add in that I come by anxiety naturally as well, and I'm an over-thinker. Look at my posts. This is probably one of the shorter ones, lol. My brain just goes and goes naturally.
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JW Org Flags at R.C.
by ToesUp inphoto was posted on jw-archive.
j.w.org flags flying at the 2015 r.c.
in fribourg, switzerland..
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dubstepped
WTFlag? That's crazy. -
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Anthony Morris III goes on an eight minute rant over child abuse
by Richard_I inthis is in the july 2015 monthly program on tv.jw.org cedars wrote about it too.. starting at around 42:30 in the video, morris talks about the child abuse situation for almost 10 minutes.
link to video.
i'm writing a transcript right now.
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dubstepped
steve2 - Joe's opening line is fraught with poor logic. Who said the alternative to the two-witness rule is to act on every accusation? Talk about a false choice. And the phrase "I know people hate this rule" damns with faint praise.
Let's get this straight: I hate the Two-Witness rule not because of the false choice outlined in that sentence but because it is an archaic leftover from the Mosaic Law Code that has been arbitrarily imposed on a modern-day setting all in the name of (the organization's) reputation.
Objections to the two-witness rule have nothing to do with going to the police/not going to the police or the complexity of issues that surround Child Sexual Abuse.
Arguments about how elusive evidence is in instances of child sexual abuse are an entirely separate issue.
Parents and/or court-sanctioned caregivers need to be supported by their respective communities to act decisively for the child's safety - which is paramount; they do not to be confronted by the elders with the requirement that two witnesses are needed before anything will be done.
Depending on the circumstances, the approrpiate action may involve different steps - but the parents and/or caregivers need to decide untrammeled by the powers that be in the local kingdom hall.Joe didn't write that, I did. At least call out the correct person. I wrote other things too, but you probably didn't bother to read them either. Boy, you sure sussed out my hidden motives with my false logic and faint praises.
I agree that the powers that be in a KH shouldn't have any say on such a matter, and said as much. However, since it is being taken to them, there has to be some sort of corroboration in order to act with regard to disciplinary action within the confines of the congregation, which is what we happened to be talking about, even if you don't deem it reasonable. It is something that exists whether you like it or not, and as such I was merely discussing how to handle the situation within existing parameters. In large organizations like this things are often better handled in an either/or mindset, as allowing such untrained men to use judgement as to the circumstances is often disastrous.
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A difficult yet necessary decision
by Brother Jeramy inthe past five weeks have been perhaps the most painful in my life as a witness.. some months ago a young man (i'd say in his late thirties or early forties) began attending meetings at my kingdom hall.
he had just moved to my area from another state.
he had disassociated himself from his home congregation many years back, when he was 20 years old and going through many of the typical trials and temptations most young men experience.. two of the elders met with him initially, and they later shared the details with the body of elders.
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dubstepped
Hi Jeramy,
I can identify with what you saw and it is painful to watch. I have recently been shunned by my family for associating with a relative who was disfellowshipped a long time ago but that lead a clean and upstanding life even though he's not a JW, which many seem to think is an impossibility. It only takes one act outside the bounds of what they set for you and boom, you're dead to them. They view people as throwaway objects, even when those ones want to come back.
Jeramy, I know from some pm's that you highly value your "family" of brothers and sisters. I would advise you to take a few months to get past this before making a decision that would cut you off completely from people that you seemed to hold dear. Your "family" is highly dysfunctional in areas, and although for me that dysfunction leads me to stay away from the toxicity, maybe for you it isn't as toxic and it gives something to you even if you aren't a staunch JW supporter anymore. I've mulled over disassociation as well, and honestly don't have anything to lose at this point that would affect me today, but I look down the line toward the future and know that if someday down the road a family member were to awaken somewhat that disassociation might be a hindrance to them reaching out. So, you have to decide if you want to put that wall up. Once it is up it can't be taken down easily. You can't un-ring a bell. Once it's done, it's done.
I wish you peace, though I know it is hard to find when faith (whether in God, a religion, or certain people) gets shattered.
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Anthony Morris III goes on an eight minute rant over child abuse
by Richard_I inthis is in the july 2015 monthly program on tv.jw.org cedars wrote about it too.. starting at around 42:30 in the video, morris talks about the child abuse situation for almost 10 minutes.
link to video.
i'm writing a transcript right now.
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dubstepped
@ Joe Grundy
I think you and I are on the same page regarding the separation. I think that attacking the 2 witness rule is going after the wrong thing. In my opinion, we should all be attacking why the elders are even trying to handle these matters in the first place. Child sexual abuse is a CRIME, not something that elders should even be hearing. If someone in the congregation murders someone, do they take it before the elders who then refuse to report it and keep it all in house? It should all be taken directly to the police as a criminal matter.
It is a shame that people give the organization such power and esteem. They give up their mental faculties to those men and let them tell them how to think, how to feel, and what to do and how to do it. Even something as private as sex between consenting married adults can become a judicial matter in some cases. Sometimes things that go on are none of their business. Something as serious as child sexual abuse should never go to them in the first place.