Posts by phil78

28

Worlds Apart (Movie) now on Youtube

by Billen76 in

sara is a teenager who lives with her family, who are jehova's witnesses.

the family's devout image is questioned when the parents divorce as a consequence of the father's infidelity.

one night at a party sara meets teis, an older boy who takes an interest in her.

phil78

I havn't posted here for a long, long time. Years, I think. I just log in to read and stay in touch with the JW goings on. But i just watched this movie, and the memories came flooding back. It is well done, complete with the assembly, and the opening scene of the baptism; they have kept it as real as possible.

The blindness and short-sightedness of witness is all to aparent, it really is as shown. I know that some of the behaviour is cultish, but for the most part, JW's are just followers.

Fading is the only way to leave if you want to keep your extended family intact. We have been on the fade for over 6 years, and still have the majority of our family. The hardest part is having to start building your friend base all over again.

Shunning is a cruel and harsh punishment that does work. We are strong enough now to deal with it, if it was imposed on us. And it will be, one day, because the final step really is to cut the ties and face up to your own beliefs, to let others make their own decissions to interact with you or not.

Phil.

41

Wow a long list of Famous active JWs and xJWs

by Lady Lee in

jw
friends

i didn't know of some of these and question the status of others.

many i have never heard of.. list of famous jehovah's witnessesa range of participation is represented by these individuals, from full activity to disaffiliation.. george benson - jazz guitarist maurizio bianchi - musician cheryl bradley - executive housekeeper ivana brkic - croatian musician richard cameron- dutch musician valerie campbell - mother of naomi campbelltom edur - former nhlice hockey player.

ida e. eisenhower (mother of president eisenhower) leopold engleitner - buchenwald concentration camp survivor and centenarian.

phil78

Dont know if its true or not, but I heard ages ago that the lead singer of Wheatus, (put out track :Teenage Dirtbag) was raised a jw. And that he stole from the contribution box to buy a guitar or amp or something. Replaced the moolah when he made it bigtime.

52

Why are angels always white?

by slimboyfat in

jw
friends

in pictures of conventions or the new system they tend to show a mixture of races, but the angels always seem to be white.

.

slim.

phil78

It helps them blend in with the clouds.

28

Should I Stay or should I go?

by Tyrone van leyen in

i have been pondering a dilema.

it is one which has repeated itself many times over the years.

my parents have been helping me, and being very nice to me in the last couple of years.

phil78

We made the decission to attend the Sunday meeting about 10 months ago, as it was my younger brothers first PT as a MS. As the entire family and extended family was going to be there, we thought it would be easier to go and then leave in the middle song before the watchtower started. As it turned out, our son (2yo who had never been to a meeting) wasnt real receptive to the idea of sitting still and quiet for 45 min, and i ended up out in one of the back rooms for the whole talk. Incidently, we shared the room with the PO's son, (17yo?) who was feeling "sick", who spent the entire talk listning to his ipod and doodling in the back cover of his songbook.

Going to the talk showed the family we were not deviding the family, that we were there for anyone who needed support. Leaving at half time showed we were serious about our decission. However, when we left we sat in the car down at the beach for an hour to recover. My wife cried at the fact we felt we were somehow doing the wrong thing. We decided then that we would never go back to another meeting.

Your decission is probably made by now, but i think the important thing to considder, is what do YOU want, and how will your decissions make YOU feel. Your parents have had their chance to make their own decissions in life, and they expected everyone else to respect them. And now its your turn. No one has the right to impose their demands on you, and expect you to fold and turn, just because they asked you to. We need to be confident in our own abilities, and have pride in the fact we are living our own lives and making our own way.

Your parents are helping you out, and thats great. But there has to be a distinction between helping you, and buying you. Giving you money doesnt mean they now have bought the right to allocate how you spend your time. Love, Kindness, Goodness, the fruits they work on displaying, should help them to see that.

But this is just my opinion.

Phil

11

If you were disfellowshipped would you become an active opposer?

by yesidid in

jw
friends

on auld soul's thread: statistical effect of disassociating the inactive; http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/121008/1.ashx.

mary made an interesting comment, she said:.

i can tell you right now, that if they do try and enforce shunning of inactive ones, i will go from being a passive ex-witness to a very aggressive ex-witness and will make sure that the media and everyone in the area i live, know what the witnesses are doing.

phil78

I'm sorry to say that I'm not sure what I would do. But I can tell you that I think DF'ing inactive ones could very well be a reality!!

My mother asked me yesterday if she could tell the elders where we have moved to. At first I thought this was just another "we'de just like them to know your there and for them to call on you and say hello, we're here to help (Help what I don't know, didn't know i had a problem!!!), but then she told me that THE ELDERS HAVE ASKED PUBLISHERS TO TELL THEM OF ANY INACTIVE PERSONS THEY MEET IN FIELD SERVICE. Sounds to me like the roundup has already started.

If this is the case (me and my family will be df'd) I will not hesitate to tell my extended family the exact reasons behind the df'ing. Including my reasons for becoming inactive in the first place, but would i publicly "bash" a religion for excommunicating me - not sure.

how will this effect the in-laws!?! my wife is an only child - the death of her toddler brother took her parents out of "the trueth" almost 30 years ago. her near death expierence took us out 2 years ago. i'd say our df'ing would certainly make them think seriously about leaving again.

14

HELP!!! I am new to this and not quite sure how to get started

by hambeak in

jw
friends

i have 2 jw's coming every freaking saturday to my auto repair shop (going on for about 9 weeks now) trying to get me to come back into the organization.

any suggestions on how to let them down easily?

a lot of them are my customers.

phil78

Welcome!

This can be a difficult time, but you need to do it right. If you give excuses that are not true (eg gay depressed) You will need to back them up and build on them in the future, with more lies. Remember, you dont have a problem. For you own personal reasons, you just dont want to associate with them any more. If you give them reasons that make it seem you are weak or vunerable, soon you will have JW's dropping in on you every day. There will be a roster made up to ensure you are getting the support you need to come back into the fold.

In my opinion, take it or leave it, you need to tell them a diluted version of the truth. Then later you can build on it with more real reasons. But dont say anythind incriminating, like "I hate witnesses." Try saying " I just have some personal issues that i have to sort out by myself. I really appreciate the time you spend coming around, but i just need some time and space to work these things through." That will get rid of them for a while, and give you time to build your confidence to tell them respectfully to not call at all.

My wife and i have been out for about 2 years. After 26 years of being brought up in the truth. No witness will really understand why we left them. Our family is only now starting to get pushy for real answers. But the above excuses has given us 2 years of near peace. Let me know what you think.

26

Crisis of Conscience

by south african beef in

jw
friends

ive just ordered "crisis of conscience" from amazon.

.

i am already totally free from dubdom but will this book make sure that i never return?

phil78

I had to order mine in from the US. I had already left and just wanted to make sure i wold never want to go back. The book is definately full of anti GB experiences. I still have not fully read it. Its pretty full on. To go back or not is in your own heart, not in this book. We were all part of the witness religion because we believed without question everything we were told and everything we were told to read.

11

Well, bugger me, I got a visit by the local E Team

by Deleted in

jw
friends

it was august 1998 when i attended my last kh meeting, and i have been unrepently out for 7 years.

i had my last (and only) visit from an elder i respected six months after that.

i have been a reader of randy watters as i was leaving.. the two elders at my door at 6:15 this evening were new to the congo - no one i knew would go out in service on a saturday night!

phil78

I got the invite to the KH and The Memorial. I said that they wouldn't want me there as I would Partake (I just wanted to mess with their heads) And then I said they should read John 6:53, thanked them for coming, and shut the door.

No!

bugger ME!

I dont know how or why, but it seems to me that John 6:53 says we are all invited to partake in the memorial.

I havent opened a bible in 2 years but i had to check that out for myself. I read it in context. I read the whole chapter. I even read all the reference scriptures for that piece. In the JW New world translation. I looked for an explanation as to why jesus would say that, and then why the GB would say only the anointed are able to partake. After 26 yrs in the org, i dont think i ever read that verse.

But i must have. Im feeling so confused again. Im sure there must be an explanation.

How did I miss that.

18

Looking for some guidance from those who have been there!

by disowned&alone in

i was so excited to come upon this website today!

it's so nice to read logical, educated voices who have been brave enough to walk away from this organization.

i was raised a jw, and every person that i personally know that has left has ended up miserable.

phil78

Welcome to the board.

I just use this place when i need to remind myself how crazy my JW life was. Although it seemed normal at the time, life in the "truth" is a shielded and guided existance. What to think and how to feel.

But you already know and accept that, being out for as long as you have. My family has never cut me off, so i cant really offer any advise on that front, but it is important for them to see that you have not gone crazy, or "off the rails".

Just have faith and confidance in your own decissions, and while you are here, ask the questions you need help answering. But dont just accept all answers as right (thats a very JW thing to do), rather compare and research what you already know and what you are told, and the answers will be right in front of you. I think religion and faith is different for different people.

Phil.

14

I gave Blood today...

by zeroday in

jw
friends

one more step in becoming a human being again.

i gave blood for the first time in my life.

it felt good.

phil78

, if the JW's now allow fractions who do they expect to give blood so that they can live?

That, my friend, is a great question. I often wonder that, and i dont know the answer.

Mabey there is no answer. Just one of the crazy rules of the org, that no one is supposed to question.

My wife needed blood after chidbirth. That was the defining moment when we realised god would not ask us to die, with life being so sacred to him.

Although we left the "truth" from that moment, and were confident it was the right decission, my wife still felt guilt over the transfusions (after a lifetime of growing up as a JW). So i went out and gave blood. Just to help her share the burden around.

Congratulations on you're decission to help save anothers life.

Phil.