Posts by rebel8

33

The continuing saga of being in love with a Witness

by starcrossedpimp in

i don't know how many read my prior post "problems with jw girlfriend and her family", but i feel the need to continue the story as it is very current and is taking quite a toll on both of us.

she and i also work together at a grocery store, so even if she does/did decide to break things off (because of her parents and the religion) we would still see each other (i'll get to this in a minute).

we both know that we still love each other and that we deserve to be together, but can this religion be stronger than true love?????

rebel8

My advice is a little different. I was a JW girl in a similar situation when I left.

A lot of JWs secretly question the religion but may never act on their doubts. Your GF has acted on hers in the past, and I suspect she is still having those doubts, since she is crying so much and driving by your house. I mean, according to the JW beliefs, she should be relieved and happy that she broke it off with you. Why the tears? Why the driving by your house? To me, that shows a longing for you rather than happiness that she broke it off.

If she transfers to another store, moves away, or otherwise totally eliminates all contact with you, then that's a signal for you to give up on her. If she hasn't done that yet, try to be kind to her and let her know regularly that you miss her, still love her, and believe you two were meant to be together. Avoid being pushy about it, as that will just push her back towards the JWs. Given time, she may come around and find the courage to leave the organization for you. She may not. The ball is in her court now. Only time will tell.

I'm not saying to hold a candle in hope out forever, but maybe for a while to see what happens.

48

congregational cliques

by chuckyy in

it was my experience during my 13 yrs as a jw that congregations usually had a social clique.

in other words, there would be a group of people in a congregation that would only associate (and sometimes only go out on field service too) with people within that social clique.

if you were in the clique, fine.

rebel8

I did experience that, since my dad was "unbelieving". However, in my teens, I was forced to go to pioneer school and was enrolled as a reg pioneer. I became an instant "in girl", but it changed nothing. In fact, seeing how people acted on both sides of the coin just made me realize even more how whacked and wrong that "religion" is.

FYI, It is interesting how the "in group" is allowed to do many things the "out group" is not allowed to do. I got drunk several times in front of many JWs. I swore. As a pioneer, I NEVER put in the hours required, and only reported what I actually put in. I usually reported only 15-20 hours per month, yet continued to stay on the rolls as a regular pioneer. It was only until I hadn't been going to meetings for a year, told the elders I didn't plan to come back, and turned in my pioneer ID card that I was finally removed from the rank of pioneer.

37

Steaming Angry - Forced to explain Shunning to my 5year old daughter!!!

by chok in

i am absolutely hopping mad angry!!!!.

to those of you who know me, you are aware that i have been fading for over a year now.

i have a daughter who is 5 and a son who is 2 y. in brief iast year i separated from my husband, left the organisation, met someone else and am now expecting with my new partner.. well i have had the usual ups and downs with my jw family.

rebel8

Let's keep in mind that leaving a cult is devastating and extremely difficult--socially, mentally, physically, financially, etc. A person in such a situation is likely to make some poor judgment calls because he/she has been prevented from developing normal good decision-making skills by the cult, and is having to learn by trial and error now. The dubs don't allow married women to make any decisions for themselves, let alone question the rationale behind the decisions being made for them. How could the OP have developed good decision-making skills without the opportunity to do so?

In some respects, it can be likened to a pre-teenager being let loose in an adult world and having to make adult choices, with none of the skills, logic, and maturity that the rest of the adults have. It's no surprise he/she is going to make some mistakes as part of that process.

OP--You're a grown up and I fully support your right to make choices for yourself, especially involving divorce, childbearing, etc. Those are personal choices that I wouldn't presume to criticize. There is not a set of rules that we all must follow (it's the JWs that believe that, not me). I just thought, for those that are criticizing your choices, perhaps it would be a good idea to step back and take a look at why it's so hard to be in your shoes.

11

JWs and Gnomes

by helios in

here in the uk we are very keen on gardening and many of our gardens are adorned with various features.

but one that stands out to many people is the love many uk residents have for gnomes.

now you must understand that whatever you read about political trends and devotions to various elected governments the real divisions in the uk are not along party lines.

rebel8

I remember in the 1970s being instructed at the meeting to go home and immediately destroy all Proctor and Gamble products. The WTS had just "learned" that the star and moon logo on their products was a symbol of devil worshipping, which was supported by the manufacturer of the products. When it was later found to be an urban legend, the JWs backpedaled and said, even if P&G wasn't into devil worship, it would be against the rules to have anything in your home that depicted the planets, so they should have been thrown away in the first place.

Then we were told to cease consuming any candy bars that had nougat in them because the nougat was made from blood. Again, a myth. Then the JWs backpedaled and said, since nougat contained gelatin (does it?), it was better not to eat it. But Jello was allowed. Go figure.

63

Stumbled Across the Forum

by UncleI in

i stumbled across this forum today as i was looking for information online as it relates to johnny carson and the whole john denver thing that was spread around years ago.

it's no surprise that i cant find a single thing on it on the web as i always thought it was an urban legend.

just angers me that things like that spread around and so many people just accept it as truth because a brother or sister told it to them.

rebel8

I don't think it's terribly uncommon for someone to still believe "it's the truth" in the first stages of leaving the org. People are all different and have different rates of healing.

If you still believe their doctrines are correct, there's nothing wrong with following them. I support people's right to practice whatever they wish, as long as they are not being hurt nor are they hurting others. That leads me to a bit of advice: No matter how much you agree with their doctrines, stay away from JWs. They are a high control group. That is unhealthy emotionally and psychologically.

PS--I would really love a picture of that fake wave, and the story you were told about it. [email protected]

41

Blood taking...is it a disfellowshipping offence or up to conscience.

by Gill in

jw
friends

can you tell me whether the taking of blood is a conscience matter or a disfellowshipping matter?.

i ask this because i have just come away from a heated discussion with my parents and they insist that taking blood or blood products has always been a matter of conscience and no one has ever been disfellowshipped for taking blood.

they say that a question was raised at the service meeting over the new blood card/documents whether taking blood fractions was breaking gods law and the presiding overseer j.h said that taking blood has always been a conscience matter and never was anyone disfellowshipped for it.. is this true?

rebel8

Blondie

I respectfully disagree with your statement that blood factors have been a matter of conscience since 1974.

Perhaps there is a misunderstanding of what the term ?blood fractions? means. Do I have it right that, when you say ?blood factors?, you are referring only to serums and vaccines prepared from blood?

There are many other products that are ?blood factors? that have been disallowed by the JWs for much longer than the ?70s. For example, Factor VIII is a product made from extracts of human blood. http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=3372 There are several other blood fraction products that come to mind as well.

In 1975, my mother was baptized and was directed to not allow me to be treated with Factor VIII. It was never presented as a matter of conscience to us?not in 1975, and not ever, even to this day, according to my mom. I came close to death many times because of this doctrine.

18

When did you notice the yearly pattern of JW life?

by truthseeker in

jw
friends

how long was it before you became aware that your activities as a jw were the same this year as last year?.

discounting the regular "5 meetings a week" and "saturday field service", let's look at the average year in a jw's life, beginning with the september service year... september.

if you haven't been to your district convention you will this month.

rebel8

I don't know that I ever noticed that actually, just accepted it....

All I can say is all that JW lingo you're using is really freaking me out. Haven't heard those terms in years....spiritual food, faithful and discreet slave, etc. <gag>

4

Ex JW T-Shirts & Merchandise

by rebel8 in

jw
friends

i created some t-shirts and other stuff for myself to celebrate being an ex-jw, and thought i would share them.

they can be found here: https://www.cafepress.com/escapewts.

it's a color logo depicting rapunzel (from the fairy tale) escaping from her tower, with the caption "escaped from the 'tower".

rebel8

Hi everyone

I created some t-shirts and other stuff for myself to celebrate being an ex-JW, and thought I would share them. 8)

They can be found here: https://www.cafepress.com/escapewts

It's a color logo depicting Rapunzel (from the fairy tale) escaping from her tower, with the caption "Escaped from the 'Tower". I ordered one for myself, and it's really cute!

30

Jehover's Witness on Discovery Health channel last night -- No Blood

by Elsewhere in

jw
friends

last night i was channel surfing when i came across a discovery health program that followed cases in an emergency room.

one of them was about a jw woman who had some sort of head injury.

to be honest, i did not watch the whole thing, but i did manage to record it on my dvr while i watched other things.

rebel8

The callous attitude is nothing new. If you think about it, they are totally focused on appearances--"a good witness" they call it, but it's really just caring what other people think. Sure, they have twisted ideas about what appears good and what appears bad to others, but they are still overconcerned about appearances, nonetheless.

27

I am hunting for the Truth...

by PinTail in

jw
friends

.

i am still hunting for spiritual truth in some form, heavens sake i am even considering checking out the mormons (morons).

anyone have a suggestion for a religion to pacify my natural human longing for acceptance (and or) this or that, you know what i mean?

rebel8

http://www.spiritualhumanism.org/what.htm