I remember starting to read this book to my son when he was about 3 yrs old, and he became frightened at one of the pictures in the beginning of the book. I remember thinking this is too graphic for little children, and I put the book away. One of the first things I purchased on my way out of the org was a secular bible story book. BIG difference. Most are age-appropriate with sweet little pictures and speak of God's love for them.
Momof4
JoinedPosts by Momof4
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70
My Book of Bible Stories
by Taylor S. ini just got my hands on a copy of my book of bible stories ... (1978).
at first i was excited when a friend pulled it out of his bag, said he'd gotten it as a kid.
then i started flipping through, looking at the pictures, feeling the memories spin in my brain.
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6
My dear niece was DF'd
by AK - Jeff inafter my brother died - my sis in law made sure we had little contact with his kids, since we were 'weak'!
the truth was, we were fading due to becoming aware of many things about the organization.
fast forward two years, and i hear that my niece - an absolutely sweet kid (now about 20) - was being df'd.
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Momof4
Good luck Jeff! It's very wise to take things slowly. The poor girl is going through a lot right now and too much, too soon may not be a good thing at this time. Enjoy your time re-establishing your relationship, I'm sure you will be a great help to her.
tripletmom
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Momof4
Missy,
Sorry didn't see this thread til now. My hubby and I, mom and best friend are all from central Ilinois. I'll send you a pm later
Momof4
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66
OK, I HAVE to meet with the judicial committee. Advice?
by AlmostAtheist inhey guys,.
" you say, "no you don't, you mind-controlled idiot.
tell 'em to fark off.
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Momof4
AlmostAtheist,
For the record, x-mas is still a disfellowshipping offense, at least here in central Illinois. Actually, we were D/A in December for celebrating it. Only four days before my aunt's memorial service at the kingdom hall. They wanted to make sure they got the word out so everyone would shun us.
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Do "they" care?
by peggy ini attended the meeting today, hoping for some encouraging words.
i arrived while the prayer was in progress, i waited, then found my way to a familiy i enjoy and sat with them.
the speaker was visiting from another congregation.
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Momof4
I think some do. I was very surprised to hear of the brother's prayer for ALL those affected by the disaster. How encouraging! I feel that there are very loving brothers and sisters still in the org but then also just the opposite. However, it has been my experience that the judgemental and unloving individuals outweigh the kind ones. My mother just spoke to a witness last night and their CO only mentioned in his closing prayer the "brothers and sisters" affected by this tragedy and the sister was disgusted. When I was fading and still attending meetings, it was difficult to listen to things like this and cruel comments by the friends during the WT study and not say anything. It made me feel powerless, not to speak out against these wrong things. I had been in the org. long enough to know what would happen if I did say anything or spoke out. So my fade did not last too long, I just couldn't take it any longer. I still feel love in my heart for these people because I feel they are misled, but it really makes me sad with this recent tragedy because this could really provide them with an opportunity to display the love they boast about. I feel if someone who claims to be Christian won't even pray for victims of a tragedy how can that even be remotely close to love?
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Only One Religion's WebSite Ignores the Desaster in South Asia
by GermanXJW into whatever religion's website you surf, all have a comment on the tsunami in south asia: be it catholic, protestant, adventist, mormon, new apostolic or whatever.
they try to give comfort and encourage people to donate for the suffering people there.
but if you go to http://www.watchtower.org or http://www.jw-media.org there is no mention of it (at least by now).
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Momof4
This doesn't really surprise me at all. I remember when the 9/11 tragedy occurred I went to the service/school meeting that night and not one person even brought up the event!! It was like nothing had happened that day out of the ordinary!!. When it came time for final prayer I thought surely they will mention something.....but nothing and no one said anything afterwards either. The next week, however, was our CO's visit and I remember the only thing mentioned was whether or not there were any of "the friends" in the tragedy. He also said the brothers were at ground zero witnessing, and he made fun of "one of Christendom's ministers". He said the brothers asked the minister when he was leaving "what did you bring the workers? and the minister replied water, and the brothers said we're bringing the good news of the kingdom", and the whole congregation just laughed. It really disgusted me because this was all told in a very condescending manner, and I just thought people in this disaster need water too and I'm sure they're thankful someone is bringing it.
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31
Pathetic
by peggy ini am new to forum.
my concerns with this group as with any group is the anger displayed to others.
i was emotionally abused for years for my association to the truth.
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Momof4
Hi Peggy and Welcome!!!!
When I first started lurking at this board I too thought that there was a lot of anger but also a lot of support from people who had been in my shoes. Once I looked in a little deeper I realized that these angry ones had been severely hurt by the organization. People have lost parents, mates, children all because of the mandates of the society. So I realized this is a lot like grief. Everyone grieves differently, and who I am to tell someone not to be angry (maybe they lost a child due to lack of a blood transfusion only to find out later the blood doctrine was wrong all along) I feel like you though, I don't hate witnesses at all. I love them very much, and as a Christian I pray for them. I really hope you stick around, I'd like to hear more of your experience.
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My Testimony
by snakeizz inokay you guys here is my story.....it might be a lil' long winded, but please bear with me....it's interesting.... well i have been away for 8 years...i stopped when i was 17 and i'm 25 now.
it all started when i became a non baptized publisher at age 14. i was a very good speaker/reader.
the elders were waiting for me to get baptized and encouraged me to do so.
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Momof4
Welcome Snakeizz, I think it's great you have found a true relationship with God. As a witness I used to think I had a relationship with Him, now I realize I had a relationship with only the organization. I totally agree with what you said about having a sense of peace nothing can compare to it. One thing I decided when I left the organization was that they weren't going to take God away from me. It took me quite awhile to discover Him and establish a "real" relationship with Him, but it's been worth all the tears, prayers and heartache.
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You Will Know By The Love They Have Among Themselves
by Corvin inthe organization of jehovah's witnesses boasts of having true brotherly love for one another.
i always believed they did, although i never felt it growing up in it.
i reckoned that there was something wrong with me since i never felt that "joy" and "spirit of love" that supposedly permeated the congregations.
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Momof4
In my old congregation we had an older long-time brother in failing-health. He was in and out of the nursing home for rehabilitation. My husband and I really enjoyed him and his wife they were sweeties. Anyhow, he was to the point where he could hardly walk anymore and needed to go to his next Dr's appt, so his wife called the PO of our hall for help and a ride, but he wouldn't help because....get this....he said "it was a possible liability for the brothers". His worldly next-door neighbors took him. This just DISGUSTED me and it was at the time when I first began to have doubts. Also when I was planning meals for the family (when they got home from the nursing home) it was like pulling teeth to get the sisters to help prepare meals for them. I couldn't believe it, and it really helped me to realize that, unfortunately, the bros and sisters don't do a lot of helping out unless they can count field service time for it.
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Hello...ex .jw. intro & background.
by Nigel inmy name is nigel.i am 50,married with five kids,early teens to late 20,s.i live in the bush in australia.i have cruised this site for a couple of months & feel comfortable enough to talk now.those of you who were long term jw,s will understand that.only my direct family know what i am about to tell.i have never told anyone else as they would not understand.i was born a jw in the u.k. and some of my first memories are of going door to door.i was scalded when i was 4 & i remember some brothers coming to see me.my parents emigrated when i was 13 as my dad didn,t get on with the inlaws.my dad drank a bit at home at home & was violent.it was never spoken about outside of the family and at 15 i left home.i was the eldest of four.i continued to go to meetings,lived on my own & learnt a trade.at 20 i married a good jw girl as was expected & became a regular pioneer.i was a good public speaker & as far as the congregation was concerned had a bright future.i believed in what i was doing as it was what i had been taught.when i was 22 we had a baby & was witnessing one sunday morning & was involved in a head on car accident in a 60mph zone.my wife & son were minor injured but i was lucky to survive.i had many bone fractures & head injuries & i did not know who i was,what had happened,nor recognize my wife or child for 3 months.i was in hospital for 6 months.i was unable to do anything for a year.by this time i was in financial difficulty & due to this & my mental state grabbed what i could get in court,which was not much.during this time no one helped...no one.i continued to go to the meetings but my heart was gone & the downhill slide had started.over the next 7 to 8 years i worked a normal job but started to drink & by mid 80s was not attending meetings.my wife was a good jw & did not understand my feelings.although i had much respect for her & still do,by this stage we had 3 kids,& there was a chasm between us.i knew that i was affecting my wife but she would never divorce me.so i figured the best way was to give them all the reason not to want me around.i was called to the meeting & i told the elders how i felt & that even i did not know why.disfellowshiped.fair enough.we divorced late 80s.she married an elder.i married a so say worldly person.about 3 or 4 years later my new wife & i had 2 kids & were getting along fine.i had started talking to dad but i did not want to go back to meetings.my dad was disfellowshiped for smoking & could not give it up.he became ill & very depressed.he overdosed on anti depressants.my mum knew what he had done & left him on the floor for 24 hours before calling an ambo.she rang me when he was dead.i don,t talk to her any more.she remains a jw.no comment.my sisters are jw,s.
nobody talks anymore but.three weeks after dad died my brother had a lot of problems,financial,legal & grief.he was only 29.he shot himself.i buried two in three weeks.and so began a new chapter in my life...violence.and baby wasn,t i good at it.i king hit everyone within arms length for a year.didn,t lose a fight,the anger was immense.did the maximum weekend detention,lost my job,my second wife took the kids & went.
understandable.i held a gun in my mouth so hard i bled for two days.but i couldn,t do it.i love my present wife & kids & i believed that jehovah would understand & forgive me when i die.i did my best with what i was given.from that day i never looked back.i fixed it up with my wife & we get on great.my three oldest kids to my 1st wife are jw,s but i see a bit of them.my wife now hasn,t much time for religion.understandable.she is a nurse.i don,t work any more.i still look outside & appreciate what god has done for us but i don,t need other people to feel that.too much damage done.i don,t slag the witnesses nor the wts.their business what they do.i just don,t agree with the procedure of df,s and the climate of fear & guilt.i have seen much & will contribute where i can.you seem like a decent bunch.good luck to you all.nigel
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Momof4
Welcome Nigel! Thanks so much for sharing your life's experiences with us. It sounds like you've come a long way. I find it therapeutic to discuss my past experiences with the wts so I appreciate it when others share theirs as well.