Posts by fiddler

38

Was it worth it?

by John Aquila in

for those of you who left family and friends and had to start over from scratch just to get out of the organization, was it worth it?.

.

I don't regret leaving the religion. It was the single most important choice I ever made in my life. If there was ever anything I was supposed to do in this life, that was it. The things that happened in the aftermath; the loss of all my friends and especially family was and is still hard but I don't regret the choice. I have 3 out of 4 of my kids out with me and some cousins. I have many new friends who accept me as I am. Each day I wake up is a gift and I Can alter and refine my beliefs with each day of added information...today's 'truth' may not stand the test of tomorrow's facts. I'm good with that!

Yes, it was absolutely worth it!

7

Pretend you were still a JW, would you have secretly wanted hospitals to force a loved on to have a blood transfusion?

by EndofMysteries in

i'm curious, even though jws must fight and resist, how many secretly hope that their loved one is forced a blood transfusion so they can live and their conscious is cleared of having done everything possible to not have one?

or you have felt guilty and upset about it no matter what?

fiddler

During my pregnancies I always took comfort in the fact that the state would intervene in behalf of my child over the blood issue if necessary. But, I mostly didn't like to think about it.

47

"Make a list of people you want to meet in the New System!" (New September Watchtower)

by FusionTheism in

watchtower september 2015 study edition, "stand firm in the faith," paragraphs 16 and 17:.

following jesus example, we must read the bible daily, study it, and meditate on what we learn.

along with general bible study, dig into topics about which you may have questions.. you can imitate jesus by meditating on the wonderful promises jehovah has made to you.

fiddler

OnTheWayOutan hour ago

Christopher Hitchens
Charles Darwin
Jimi Hendrix
Freddy Mercury
Marilyn Monroe
James Dean

Like your list!

I would add:

Einstein

Mozart

Hypatia of Alexandria

the 'Jesus' responsible for the sayings of the Buddha

the Buddah

and YES! Neanderthals!

54

What's the Worst Gossip You Heard About Why You were DF'ed, Faded or Left and Never Came Back? They say "I am gay!"

by PhilsWager2 in

your going to enjoy the latest rumor i heard why i have not been to meeting for around nine months, i am a homosexual!

i was caught having a drink at one of the gay bars for business, yes people still talk business in bars.

revelation 17:4).and murderers, and fornicators (cf.

fiddler

I suppose there was enough circumstantial evidence to suggest the possibility that I was a witch, that I was a stoner, that I was lesbian...none of it true. I have no idea what has been said about me but from the absolute terror some seem to have of meeting me eye to eye (seriously, one sister did the most ridiculous dance of darting into recesses of businesses to avoid me it was comical) it's just wierd. They call US mentally off!

No, I am a 57 year old woman who has a dog for company and teaches music for a living then comes home to a quiet evening of TV or a book to read and of course, a little time spent here!

25

Would you like to live for ever on earth?

by fulano in

i was discussing this topic with two friends of mine, ex jws, a few nights ago.

i think it would be boring after a while.

you can't smoke, have to drink with moderation (difficult in europe with all the wines).

fiddler

I would like to be able to live a longer healthier life and die peacefully then be reincarnated so that I could experience childhood again and make different decisions and hopefully better ones. I'm already putting in my request for non religious, highly intelligenct parents who believe in education LOL!

22

Should I Shun My Dog?

by snugglebunny in

some background:josie the miniature schnauzer is now 12 years old, so she's old enough to know the difference between right and wrong.

however, she insists on peeing in the middle of my beautifully tended lawn, which, as a consequence, is now covered in brown patches.

i've remonstrated with her a number of times and each time she purports to show a diplay of repentance, that is, she slinks away on her belly with her ears flattened down tightly to her head.

fiddler

Do as Jesus said and forgive 70 x 70 and give her Grass Savers!

64

What triggered your doubts / awakening?

by Tornintwo in

i am sort of new here, used a different username for a while but things got 'difficult' at home so i've since been lurking.... what i would be really interested to know, if you don't mind sharing, is what it was that triggered your doubts and initial research which led to awakening, was it a bad experience, injustice, changed doctrine?

for me, it was seeing mistreatment of young ones in the congregation, they're under so much pressure and as soon as they go even slightly astray they are shunned, either informally (as bad associations which pushes them further into the 'world') or formally - with elders dying to throw the book at them so they even lose their family.... ...then reading about child abuse issues in the press.... ...which led me to silentlambs.

...then jw facts, this forum and coc, wham!

fiddler

I actually had a bit of a melt down...mid life crisis...and ended up doing something that was DF worthy but there was so much that led up to the melt down. Lack of love and gossip within the Congregation was certainly a big factor but so was the Bible itself. The change in generation doctrine in 1995 bugged me but even more than that was listening to the paralells in radical Islam and what I was reading in the Bible. Being a woman I felt very offended by the patriarchal attitudes of the Bible. It is sad that the JWs actually can point the finger at me and say I did do something DF worthy (in their book) but there are so many Jdubs that are accepted back into the congregation after doing the same. The difference was that I didn't go back. They think it is because of 'pride' but that is not the case. My mistakes are my own and I own them and have been forgiven for them by most everyone that mattered (with the exception of my JW daughter).

I didn't go back because I dug deeper and found the whole belief system AND the Bible to be seriously flawed. My journey out was probably the culmination of a lot of cognitive dissonance but unfortunately, I will not be taken seriously by most Jdubs because of my early mistakes. I'm so glad that there are so many now that left solely because of disbelief. So many of you are sticking with your JW mates while being treated abhorently in the name of this religion.

14

What did you think when you visit the museum as a JW.

by James Mixon in

when you stood there in front of that dinosaur display did you connect the.

dots, or did you like me believe that they made a mistake in calculating their.

ages.

fiddler

I believed what my dad told me, that Dino's were big massive vegetation lawn mowers that would later die and provide oil for humans later. He believed this was all in Jehovah's plan...yeh right...oil!!

when I was young there was a lot more church attendance and a higher percentage that believed the Bible was from God so it was not just JW'S. I recently was viewing an old Looney Tunes cartoon, black and white so really old, and in it was a caveman alongside dinosaurs. I think it was more or less the general opinion in the mid 20th century among the bible believing populace that Dino's and humans coexisted. No one really Thought about it so when we saw Dino bones at a museum we just went "ooh, isn't that big?"

It wasn't until the Internet for me that I started putting the time frames together and THINKING about it and it truly was wtf moment. Before I just didn't go any deeper than what I was told and I think JW'S aren't the only ones that did that.

58

If the Watchtower truly collapsed, how would you deal with your JW relatives?

by nicolaou in

jw
friends

imagine the best case scenario.

the watchtower society implodes from within even making final printed admissions that it is voluntarily dismantling it's mission and legally dissolving the corporations.

oh happy day!

fiddler

I would embrace any of my family or friends that sought me out. I would hold them while they cried and I would assure them that there is a whole universe out there and lots of places to go....baby steps at a time but as many here know, those baby steps often take off running pretty quickly when the scales fall off the eyes. As for the older ones with few years left that would be harder. While I don't believe in a god in the manner that they do, I wouldn't push my views. My spirituality is my own personal thing as it should be (IMO). For the older ones I think I'd just say that God is about love and no loving God would abandon them because of an organization gone bad. If they just continued on with the most important 'commandment' to love and also 'be modest in walking with their God' then that is their most important obligation in this life.

Something like that.....

21

A Toast to All the Brave Kids Who Broke Up with Their Toxic Moms

by rebel8 in

jw
friends

sometimes holidays can be hard on us.

some of us deserve a little toast today.. a toast to all the brave kids who broke up with their toxic moms.

fiddler

I suppose my JW daughter could read toxicity into me because anything I say including 'I love you' threatens her faith.