Just out of curiosity, why were they talking about you? Was she trying to get them to go after you to punish you? I ask because I have parents like that. Or was she just upset about your status and they were comforting her? Hopefully it is closer to the latter. If the former, my heart goes out to you.
dubstepped
JoinedPosts by dubstepped
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14
I Was Told That The Elders Have Not Gone After Me Because They Hope I Will Return!
by minimus inthe elders told my mom they obviously could have come after me but are holding hope that i will return to jehovah and be reunited to the congregation.. isnt that nice?.
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JWs With A Financial Interest In The Org
by JW_Rogue inthrough personal experiences which i'd rather not relate because it would give away my identity i have come to a realization.
many brothers own businesses that a greatly supported by witness activities.
when local congregations need some service they will prefer to do business with a jw.
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dubstepped
purrpurr: I also know on a smaller scale that there is an expectation in the Cong that if you are a small company you should be giving goods/ services either at a big discount or for free!
I know a former brother (DF'ed) whose business revolved around many of the brothers and sisters. They took advantage of him and really put him in bad positions time and time again. Of course, he bears some responsibility for allowing that, but it was really sickening. Myself, I have a business, and I would always avoid working for brothers and sisters. On the off chance that I did, they were told straight up front that this is purely business and they'll pay the same as anyone else. I never really had problems because I put up strict boundaries from the first minute of our interactions, but I know many that have been ripped off in doing business within the brotherhood. There's an unwritten expectation that you're going to take care of them and look out for them in a way that you wouldn't for anyone else.
I not only wouldn't work for them if possible, but I also refused to ever hire brothers for anything that I needed done. I'd always go find a "worldly" company. Made some mistakes when I was younger with hiring brothers to do this or that, and it never went well.
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Isn't that what they use to deter people from escaping prison?
by dubstepped inthe title is what a person today told me as i was explaining the changes i've seen and made in fading from the watchtower.
he got a smile on his face and asked that question about watch towers being manned with men in guns to prevent people from escaping prison.
man, i never thought about it like that, but he nailed it with such a simple observation.
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dubstepped
The title is what a person today told me as I was explaining the changes I've seen and made in fading from the Watchtower. He got a smile on his face and asked that question about watch towers being manned with men in guns to prevent people from escaping prison. Man, I never thought about it like that, but he nailed it with such a simple observation. -
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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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dubstepped
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. -
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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.