I remember studying the "Your Youth - Getting the Most out of It", too. I think the only chapters that were actually interesting were "Growing into Manhood" and "Growing into Womanhood" or whatever it was they were called. My mom studied them with me when they did sex ed in school, when I was like 9 or 10. It was the first I'd heard about sex and I thought it was the grossest thing ever. I remember my mom saying "someday it won't seem so gross" (although she didn't actually use the word "gross" because that was on our forbidden word list).
Posts by lucky
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40What is the oldest witness publication you actually remember?
by AK - Jeff innot just one you have seen - or even researched since leaving.
but the oldest one you recall studying when you 'got the truth' or as a child?.
i remember "let god be true" - 'babylon the great has fallen'- and 'paradise restored - paradise regained' [the big orangish/pink book - hope i got the name right] - all 50's early 60's books.
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27
Were you caught, did you confess, or did you run?
by sass_my_frass inhi, fyi: d'f'd a month ago, and glad you're all here.
i'm just assessing the sum of the madness that happened since my parents guilt-tripped me into confessing what got me disfellowshipped.
i do very sharply recall that at the moment i decided to do so i had an overwhelming feeling of relief which at the time i thought was me hating the lying about what i'd done and wanting to come clean about that and clear my conscience as a witness, but have since thought might have been me hating the lying about how i feel about the organisation and wanting to come clean about that as a human, ie, whether i'd turned the corner as a witness or i was glad to be getting away from it.
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lucky
I ran. I had two episodes of falling in love with the "wrong" person. The first episode involved numerous meetings with the elders during which we both lied, and evenutally resulted in me moving away and ending the relationship, but under the guise of "moving where the need was greater." I was racked with guilt for years after that (especially since I was pioneering) and terrified that we would be found out (even though the affair had ended). But I just couldn't bring myself to confess and break up his family (he was married with young children), even though I thought I'd probably die at armageddon for my evil ways. The second time, years later, I ended up innocently spending the night at a worldy boy's house, talking (I was having serious doubts about the "truth" by this point, but was still in good standing and auxiliary pioneering). It was a saturday night. Nothing physical happened, but I knew that I would be in big trouble sunday morning with my three zealous roommates, so while they were all at the meeting, he and I borrowed a truck and snuck into my apartment and took all my stuff and left a note saying that I was having personal issues. It was a mad dash, and needless to say, resulted in complete panic on the part of my roommates, the elders, and my mom (who was in another state). I disappeared off the face of the planet for couple weeks (living with my "boyfriend") and hiding my car, but alas, I could not afford to quit my job and I was eventually tracked down at work and pulled out by the elders (my boss wasn't too happy). I wouldn't give them any details about anything, including where I was staying, and told them I just needed some time to myself to think things over. I never went to another meeting and the sense of relief I felt after leaving was ENORMOUS. I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.
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40
What is the oldest witness publication you actually remember?
by AK - Jeff innot just one you have seen - or even researched since leaving.
but the oldest one you recall studying when you 'got the truth' or as a child?.
i remember "let god be true" - 'babylon the great has fallen'- and 'paradise restored - paradise regained' [the big orangish/pink book - hope i got the name right] - all 50's early 60's books.
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lucky
Oh, and I remember studying "Choosing the Best Way of Life" for my personal study with my mom when I was going through a "difficult" teenage phase.
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40
What is the oldest witness publication you actually remember?
by AK - Jeff innot just one you have seen - or even researched since leaving.
but the oldest one you recall studying when you 'got the truth' or as a child?.
i remember "let god be true" - 'babylon the great has fallen'- and 'paradise restored - paradise regained' [the big orangish/pink book - hope i got the name right] - all 50's early 60's books.
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lucky
I remember studying the pinky orange book when I was little, too. Wasn't it called "Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained"?
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lucky
EQ=51
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37
When you left the JW's, did you keep all your books & magazines?
by Rod P ini had a collection of older publications almost second to none.
along with the 30-year publications index, i felt invincible in the research department.. then i got disfellowshipped and divorced, and my ex kept them all.
" i couldn't tell her "for research" because that would have sounded like i was going to write a book exposing jw's, which would have made things even worse.
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lucky
I threw everything in a dumpster except the Bible with my name engraved on it (and reasoning book bound in the back) that I got from my mom when I got baptized, and my pioneer school book. For some reason, I had a hard time throwing out all those hours and hours I spent cutting and pasting scriptures from an old bible into the margins.
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33
What age were you baptised? Do you regret it?
by doodle-v ini would have gotten baptised at the first "special assembly day" but i got sick just a few days before.
so i got baptised at the d.c.that same year instead.
i regret it, but at the time i thought i was doing the right thing, i sincerely believed i was dedicating my life to serving god.
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lucky
I was 16 and I regret it. My mom and I waited until the night before to tell my non-believing father. He was furious. He said he didn't want me getting baptized so young when there was a risk that I could get disfellowshipped and lose my family. I remember feeling proud of myself for coming back with "so does that mean I shouldn't get my driver's license since I might get in a car wreck?" Ah, those excellent witness reasoning skills!! If only I had listened to him....
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42
Political affiliation after leaving org.
by lucky inhow long did it take you to decide if you were a liberal or conservative after leaving the organization?
i find it interesting that even though it took me a number of years to get up the courage to vote, i knew right away i was politically/socially liberal.
i knew that i had strong feelings about protecting the environment, about civil rights, free speech, etc.
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lucky
How long did it take you to decide if you were a liberal or conservative after leaving the organization? I find it interesting that even though it took me a number of years to get up the courage to vote, I knew right away I was politically/socially liberal. I knew that I had strong feelings about protecting the environment, about civil rights, free speech, etc. Other things like abortion and the death penalty have required more thought, as has becoming educated about the whole political process, but it still seems strange that having spent my life in such a conservative organization being pounded over the head with the need to remain "politically neutral", my political and social leanings seemed to be even more an inherent part of me than the lifetime of witness brainwashing.
I'm curious about others' experiences, especially those who were raised as witnesses. Did you know right away where you stood politically and socially? Or did it take awhile to figure things out?
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what was the strangest or wierd thing that happen.......
by donald inwhat was the strangest or wierd thing that happen to you in service...or funny....???.
mine was i went to a door and a very lovely young lady came to the door...nude....man you talk about a hard time giving the presetation....lol.
then there was the time we drove up to a drive...and this dog on a chain came running out to us full speed...untill he ran out of chain...he fliped head over heals....donald
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lucky
I was working with a pioneer sister and the person who answered the door was in a robe and was obviously in the middle of a sex change. The sister gave her presentation but was quite flustered and kept saying "sir, I mean ma'am".
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33
Banned Food
by Nosferatu inthis was influenced by the toy thread, but what were some of the foods, drinks and candy that were banned by the jws (either in writing or hearsay)?.
black forrest ham (coating is made from blood).
red skittles (blood used to make the dye).
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lucky
Yeah, I remember my mom insisting that we check the ingredients in the cat food, but not having a very good explanation when I asked what we were supposed to do about our cat eating whole mice. Something about BUYING the food making us bloodguilty, even though the cat is the one eating it.