Posts by dubstepped

33

My parents found out

by BlackWolf in

jw
friends

so in my last post i talked about how i had told my younger siblings how i didn't plan to get baptized or ever be a witness.

i thought i could trust them but i guess i was wrong, they're just kids after all.

my oldest brother (who's 11) told on me today.

Whew, a tough situation just got tougher. I disagree with the notion that you're learning valuable skills by sticking it out. You already have those. Staying in an abusive situation isn't educational after a point.

Your aunt sounds like she's been there, done that, and woulf be a great place to go start a new life at some point. I've told you that my wife and I are willing to help too if we can.

This is tough, but you don't owe your parents or siblings anything. They may all turn their backs on you. Certainly parental love there is largely based on your ability to conform to the cult.

Get a job, work hard, and pile up cash. Cash gives you options, and you need them. Play the game at home as long as you can stomach it, but don't allow them to hurt you beyond what you can psychologically take. This is YOUR life, not theirs, and clearly you're the only one looking out for your best interests.

I'm sorry you got outed. Now you'll really see what your parents are made of, real love of you, or the cult. I'm so sorry.

6

book advice about the 'jw experience'

by cobweb in

jw
friends

i'm looking for a book recommendation about the jw experience for the audience of a non-jw friend.. here is a scenario: you have recently left the jw religion and have made a friend who has little knowledge about your old religion.

you would like them to understand more about you but at this point you feel awkward about explaining your religious background and don't feel confident that you can make them 'get it'.

you decide you would like to give them a book that will do the grunt work of explaining it all; one that will give them a deeper insight into your former world than you feel able to provide, which will additionally explain why it is that you are now in the position you are, friendless, unsure of many things and adrift at an age where most people have got their life sorted.. if someone were in this situation and needed such a book, what you recommend?.

dubstepped

Not to toot my own horn, but my new podcast " This JW Life" might help, and it's free to listen to. This weekend's episode is about what JWs teach, in fact, and my goal is to make my story understandable for an audience unfamiliar to JWs. Just a thought. It's not like you can give them CoC.

14

More boring baby stuff and wife's first birthday

by Darkknight757 in

hello just giving a quick baby update again.

we went for another growth scan yesterday which marks 26 weeks, 4 days and the genetics dr. felt that we needed to head to hospital for labor and delivery.

so as of now the wife is being monitored and the hope is she can stay until delivery which hopefully will be a few weeks.

dubstepped

Oh man, so many feels. I'm so happy for your wife's first birthday. My wife had a big party for her first just last year. Happy birthday Mrs. DK!

On the other hand, you're in my thoughts and I wish you all the best in this trying time. You two deserve it. :)

11

1975 EX JW Critical Thinkers video.

by WHATSGOINGON in

hi everyone.

jt and lady cee have posted an awesome video about 1975, its very interesting.. check it out, i just watched it and its great.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6nocaq0x-8 .

cheers wgo..

dubstepped

I subscribe to their podcast (imagine that) and just listened yesterday. I agree, that one was good.

71

Wow i do not reconize this religion anymore...

by _Morpheus in

had the misfortune of stopping by the "regional" convention yesterday.

i promised my daughter i would come to sunday afternoon so she wouldnt have to ride home with her mother.... holy crap it was weird!

im sure all of this has been covered on the forum but to actually see it.... just wow.

dubstepped

Of course they've been anti internet, they're just pro their site. Remember, everything is bad unless they are the ones doing it.

20

Episode 3 of "This JW Life" is now available.....

by dubstepped in

episode 3 is now out and available on itunes or whatever you use, as well as my site, linked below.

this one is heavier and about life at home growing up as a jw.

i even had an epiphany while recording it, which you'll hear as you listen.

dubstepped

Thanks stuckinarut and jambon! I'm so glad you're enjoying it. I worked some on episode 4 last night and had some fun writing about what JWs believe. I think you'll like it when you hear it. I hope to have it wrapped up and uploaded this weekend. This is our long week of work and I'm finding time hard to come by until the weekend.

16

My disassociation story

by Roger Kirkpatrick in

following is a summary of events leading up to my decision to disassociate from jehovah's witnesses and the unforeseen results of that decision.. a young man named joel engardio produced a documentary about jehovah's witnesses called "knocking" which aired nationally on pbs.

i purchased the dvd from joel before it was even released and we exchanged emails.

joel had been raised by his jw mother and had been active in jw activities during his adolescence, but he was never baptized as a jw.

dubstepped

Wow, what a story, thanks for sharing. JWs strain out the gnat and gulp down the camel, don't they? I'm so sorry that your wife reacted so poorly. That is heartbreaking.

20

Episode 3 of "This JW Life" is now available.....

by dubstepped in

episode 3 is now out and available on itunes or whatever you use, as well as my site, linked below.

this one is heavier and about life at home growing up as a jw.

i even had an epiphany while recording it, which you'll hear as you listen.

dubstepped

@Libby - I think it's really cool that you went back through my posts on here and my journey out. Yes, my wife's first birthday party was so much fun. It's about that time again, though this year will be more subdued. We can't do a big blowout every year.

As you get farther away from the cult the fear of Armageddon will fade. At first I felt a lot of "but what if they're right", but hanging around a place like this reinforces how wrong they are and keeps you from backsliding into the brainwashing.

As far as purpose in life, life has the meaning that you give it. Think about it. JWs gave it a certain meaning and you and I bought that. If we were in India the Hindus might give it a totally different meaning and we likely would have bought that. So instead of getting your purpose from your culture or religion or other influences, you now have the ability to decide for yourself what that purpose is to be. I look around me at the plants and animals and they all have a purpose on this earth even if it isn't some eternal purpose. Sometimes they're food for another creature, sometimes they help some other creature grow, etc.

What is my purpose? I don't think it's clearly defined, but I can't go wrong with try to do no harm, help others, and be the best version of myself that I can be. If I've done that, at the end of my life when I look back, I'll be satisfied. Will I struggle with the thought of death? Maybe. I do struggle with that quite a bit. Okay, a lot. But I also know that's just because JWs put the idea of permanence in my head. Buddhists believe in impermanence and teach that as a concept. Had I been raised with that, I'd have no problem. Let's face it, everything around us points to a cycle of life and death. Whether it's the seasonal patterns from Spring to Winter or life on the plains of Africa for the animals that wander, death is as much a part of life as anything. Life goes on though. Life is quite the indomitable force. Will my life or your life go on after death in some other realm? Nobody knows. If there is some sort of loving creator that gives us an afterlife, then my life plan of doing no harm and trying to be the best version of myself and helping others surely will be enough. If there isn't, then I'll have lived a good life and mattered to the people I've come in contact with, and that's more than a lot of people get out of life.

20

Episode 3 of "This JW Life" is now available.....

by dubstepped in

episode 3 is now out and available on itunes or whatever you use, as well as my site, linked below.

this one is heavier and about life at home growing up as a jw.

i even had an epiphany while recording it, which you'll hear as you listen.

dubstepped

mentalclarity - I think there is a big spectrum in the hall of JW's - looks like your family was definitely on the more fanatical side.

I've joked before that my family were JW extremists, and they kind of were, but lots of them were. In any fundamentalist type religion you seem to get a higher concentration of extremes. There were certainly congregations that had different personalities, so to speak. Most that I ever went to were quite fanatical. It can also be a regional thing, and I grew up in the "Bible Belt" of the United States where people tend to be more extreme.

Like you said, and I think I even said on one of the episodes, it is kind of a spectrum. In the end though, at both ends of that spectrum is crazy. Whether fanatical crazy or just your everyday run of the mill crazy, it's all crazy.

22

Reunited With My Brother

by pale.emperor in

my little brother on the left exited the cult after 29 years.. me in the middle.. my older brother on the right stopped his bible study after discovering ttatton youtube videos.. never lose hope guys!.

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dubstepped

Great pic man, thanks for sharing that!