I attended and joined a United Church of Christ for a while before ultimately embracing the atheism I've always felt. The UCC offers a great amount of personal freedom and typically shies away from strict dogmatism. Additionally the UCC is very devoted to social justice, which was perhaps the biggest draw for me. The pastor of the church I attended remains a friend of mine and I still turn to her for her input on matters of faith and social responsibility from time to time.
ValiantBoy
JoinedPosts by ValiantBoy
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Any ex-JW's going to a different church? If so, which one?
by 1Robinella insince i've been out of the jw religion, i've had no desire to attend any churches.
although i've always liked the way many churches look with the (stained glass, etc).
growing up our kh was so ugly and boring to look at.
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I feel ashamed of some of you
by Lady Lee ini did not sleep well last night.
i tossed and turned until 4 am .
got up and decided to see what was going on.. i am so disappointed in some of you.. simon posted a thread requesting people not post links to the new shepherding book.
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ValiantBoy
Thank you for efforts Lady Lee...this thread reinforces my view that you are a voice of reason
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Weezer's new album cover - a WT picture?!?
by weezer1 ini'm a long-time lurker (and hopefully successful fader) who finally took the jump and registered on jwd.
thank you all for the great information over the years!.
as you can tell by my username, i'm a big weezer fan.
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ValiantBoy
F'n awesome.... Watchtower Kitsch at its finest
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Do you hate the person you were, in the WT ??
by wobble inwhen i look back, i can do so with rose coloured spectacles, but, in truth, i do not like the cult member i was.. o.k , in mitigation i was one of the most liberal jw's in a very liberal congregation, i never did the 100% shunning bit, i found nice seats (not at the very back, and next to their family if poss.
) for the df'd ones after giving them a proper welcome to the k.h for example.. but i still see clearly that my thinking was twisted by those mind controlling bastards who run, and write for ,the wtb$.
i did not trust anybody worldly to any great degree, i believed the "system" would end one day and so i didn't have to contribute anything to it,.. i could go on, but basically i hate all those things about me that were from the cult.. how about you ?
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ValiantBoy
I do hate who I was as a Witness. When I was young teenager I was a self-righteous jerk and a tattle-tale who had absolutely no confidence in himself and only found strength by doing what the organization told him to do. By the time I left, I was a total hypocrite, leading a double life and lying to everyone around me--but still demanding perfection of others.
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First official shunning was AWESOME
by SweetBabyCheezits inwe went to target this weekend to look at halloween costumes for the kiddos (and maybe me - i'm still a kid at heart).
my daughter and i were walking down a main aisle when an ex-friend - the very one who testified that i refused to discuss my doubts - came out of a side aisle and almost turned our direction.
we made eye contact and i gave him a nod as we continued to walk toward him.... but he stopped like he'd run into a brick wall, then turned and started walking with his back to us so that we didn't cross paths.. my daughter pipes up and says, "hey, daddy, isn't that [edit]??
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ValiantBoy
It's funny how our perceptions on shunning change once we are disfellowshipped. When I was still an active Witness I followed the rules on disfellowshipping and even totally shunned my older sister; I once cancelled a trip to my parents' house because she was going to be there---and then I counseled my mom for associating with her. I was sincere, but I was wrong (not to mention that I was a total a-hole) and I regret that now.
Similarly, when I was disfellowshipped my friends all shunned me. My best friend got married a few months after I was disfellowshipped. By that time I was working on getting reinstated, but I could still not attend the wedding. It sucked, but I knew that he was sincere and thought he was doing the right thing.
Later, after I got reinstated, I simply faded. My friends shunned me again, especially after I came out. It still hurt a lot. I missed them and, by this time, I thought they really hated me. But I still recognized their sincerity and tried to be understanding, remembering that I once would have taken the same course of action.
SBC, your friend probably feels really bad that he had to shun you. He may break the rules in a lot of ways that he knows he can get by with, but he's probably afraid that associating with a DF'd person would be too much. Hopefully, though, this will make him think and maybe he will wake up one day and wonder what the hell he was thinking when he quit talking to a good friend just because his church told him to.
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Not surprisingly, the rumor mill has started...
by SweetBabyCheezits inmy wife and i have not even been df'd for a week and an old friend on fb (an inactive jw who has active jw friends who used to be friends of mine) says there's a rumor going around that i'm gay.
wow.
really jws?
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ValiantBoy
As one of the gay friends on your facebook page, I've got to tell you that the whole situation pisses me off for you. I believe you've made your reasons for leaving the organization perfectly clear. I guess it is easier for them to believe that you have a moral deficiency rather than legitimate issues with their religion.
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I was wrongfully Disfellow shipped out...help
by pes0210 inin 04 i was brought before a comitee of 3 elders and admited to sex before marriage, given my situation at the time i fell short, i showed repentance for it and they said they were going to recomend i leave for awhile to find myself spiritually...(wow the only time they got one right) i did find myself spiritually through other means.
now i have a question since i no longer want to be a part of this organization and i was cast out from it, shouldnt my records with my personal information be destroyed?
if its in a file that i do not want to exist?
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ValiantBoy
I've never heard of a judicial committee or any other elders encouraging someone to leave for a while to find themselves spiritually.
As far as suing them for defamation, there would only be defamation if they shared the contents of the file with others and you could prove both intent to defame you and demonstrate a tangible loss of reputation, income, etc that resulted.
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Our Independence Day - Getting Disfellowshipped Tonight!
by SweetBabyCheezits inwell, it's the big day.
time to go over the checklist..... .
shoes shined.
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ValiantBoy
HAHA... you got the wimpy announcement..
The old hardcore "This is to inform the congregation that so-and-so has been disfellowshipped from the Christian Congregation" was so much better. . .
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Our Independence Day - Getting Disfellowshipped Tonight!
by SweetBabyCheezits inwell, it's the big day.
time to go over the checklist..... .
shoes shined.
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ValiantBoy
Tim, it is really good to be able to address you by name on here! SBC just doesn't feel right :)
Sorry that the grand-parent-in-laws were so harsh with your wife. That truly sucks. I remember how much she loves them.
I'd love to see your facebook letter...
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Joel P. Engardio's article on JWs (Washington Post)
by behemot injehovah's witnesses: a model for church and state begin blogger thumbs end blogger thumbs by joel p. engardio.
if i'm ever allowed to legally marry, my mother won't attend my wedding.. i'm a gay man and my mom is one of jehovah's witnesses.
to remain true to her faith, she can't in good conscience be part of a same-sex marriage celebration.
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ValiantBoy
As a gay ex-witness, I actually sympathize a lot with Mr. Engardio. I suspect our experiences are quite similar.
Each of us has our own unique experiences. For me, my exit was fairly painless. My JW family is good to me and I love them dearly; my love for my family moves me to be overly generous in my assessment of the organization at times.
I realize that JW's view my lifestyle as a sin and believe that I will be destroyed at Armageddon. However, I am happy that JW's do not actively campaign to legally restrict my right to marriage. I can't say that about all other religions. Similarly, unlike some other groups, JW's do not call for humans to carry out violent acts on homosexuals. I appreciate that as well.