i told my jw mum and jw brother that i'm pagan, i mean, this time i really told them.. previously i'd "mentioned it" to my mum, who seemed to accept it, but then chose to totally ignore what i'd said.. anyway, i suspect my jw brother reads this board, because of some things he said.... .
my mother said i'm "jumping on the bandwagon" which made me think she knows more about neo-paganism than i'd realised lol .
my brother surprised me very much.
Hi Sirona
You are brave. I am pretty straight with my JW son about what my position is regarding his religion. However, will not be telling him that I go to a 'spiritual' group where we explore spooky stuff. I just KNOW he would shun me for that!!
congratulations!!
once again hello to all and a grand saturday night (or sunday am to all you uk'rs) and yet another request for your opinion for research: .
quoted from the article "cults and families": .
"abusive groups implement their demands for purity through rituals of confession, in which members must expose their personal thoughts, feelings, and doubts to leadership's scrutiny.
Yes it was humiliating to have it announced in the congregation. At the time I was only 20 and in those days (dark ages:) they actually said what the 'offense' was ie fornication!
I think the worst thing for me, and the thing that I remember, is in my committee meeting an elder who I respected told me, "If you lived in the nation of Israel, you would have been stoned to death by now".
I don't think I felt like a decent human being for at least 20 years after that, and have to admit.......it still rankles that someone could say that to a young woman who was already going through a difficult time. My father was on that committee too ...... and he never defended me.
i have just joined this forum today.
am looking forward to getting to know some of you.
is anyone else from nz?
It is really difficult with my son. I do let him know what I think....but as you will appreciate, I don't want him to consider me an apostate and 'shun' me. I know he would do this because ........that is what witnesses do!! I managed to avoid being disfellowshipped this time around. I was disfellowshipped around 25 years ago and 'humbled' myself back into the org a few years later. Then decided it wasn't what I wanted, so kind of 'drifted' out. I think he will need his family in the future so I hang in there.........and try to add a little bit of balance to his views. VERY DIFFICULT TO ADD BALANCE TO HIS VIEWS!!!!!!!
i have just joined this forum today.
am looking forward to getting to know some of you.
is anyone else from nz?
Hello. I have just joined this forum today. Am looking forward to getting to know some of you. Is anyone else from nz? I have been out of the witnesses for around 17 years but still have one son (out of my five children) who for some reason has gone back to the witnesses when he became an adult. I have recently become organiser for the local exjw meetup where I live. Slow progress with only two or three people a time showing up.....but I'm patient!!
Just wanted to say hi to everyone and I look forward to all the new topics. I couldn't help but smile as I read through some of the things written because only an exjw would actually understand what it meant :)
I look forward to hearing from you all.
PS How do you get a photo on this site??
