let's hear the weirdest comment or suppossed logical thought you've ever heard a witness say.. i'll start: out in service once a sis and her son were in the same car group as i was.
he was having a nose bleed and told his mom that the blood was running down the back of his throat.
his mother said " well don't swallow it yo uknow how jehovah feels about blood don't you!".
A visiting c/o once suggested that the sisters should reconsider the wearing of long black skirts or dresses ( can't remember why but possibly to do with Gothic trends)
Needless to say, after that, the older, nosy sisters used every opportunity to bring this up when answering up by way of drawing attention to the women who still were wearing black.
When I think back to it now........ how dare they!.
Paws
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i wondered if anyone would give me their stories of how the wtbts stole their selfesteem....doesn't have to be long.. need to show someone that this is indeed what happens to some..... as a good friend of mine said .
'if i'm no good for god, i'm no good for anyone' .
So, so sadly, the 'all humans are imperfect' indoctrination gives those people who are already unbalanced in their perspective on life and their role as parent, the permisssion to further damage the self-worth of those they have control over.
may i ask a few questions?
i'm sure some have already been asked, and some are not meant to be hurtful, i just don't understand.
backround- i am not jw, in fact quite anti jw, husband has been studying for about two years, not baptized, not field service, i know doctine quite well, flipflops, un, new 1914, etc......... do any of you feel 'guilty' for getting someone 'in'?
Yes.....I have felt great regret about introducing the org and its teachings to others including my children.
One young lovely couple in particular come to mind because the wife is fighting breast cancer that has not been helped by the past difficulties brought into her marriage by the org and indeed some individual JW personalities. The husband who studied first has now been encouraged to 'open his eyes' by my example and so is now 'free' but much damage has been done for which I have felt responsible.
However, I have to remind myself that I would never have been so presumptuous as to attempt to direct their spiritual journey had I not whole-heartedly believed it all.
Self-forgiveneness is my key as well as forgiveness for the org who led me into the situation using emotional blackmail (death and destruction)
Paws
hia everyone...i have only posted in response to other topics so far and thought i'd take the plunge and start my own.. over the weeks i've read so many of your heart wrenching experiences within the org which spans almost every variation of initial contact with the jw's possible imaginable and often times i have read with tears in my eyes.
i am always sending my love and respect to everyone:.
.... to those having successfully freed themselves....your example is a beacon of hope.
Hia everyone...I have only posted in response to other topics so far and thought I'd take the plunge and start my own.
Over the weeks I've read so many of your heart wrenching experiences within the org which spans almost every variation of initial contact with the JW's possible imaginable and often times I have read with tears in my eyes. I am always sending my love and respect to everyone:
.... to those having successfully freed themselves....your example is a beacon of hope.
....to those who are struggling between a longing to live genuine Truth and the fear of losing the presence of loved ones in their lives.... Please Know that eventually, living 'Your Truth' will set you free beyond your dreams.
As individuals with our own unique set of circumstances from birth we found ourselves vulnerable to the promises of a righteous and loving future which we were 'unrealistically' invited to taste now, within the org. and yet we and our beloved children were also under threat of 'death with no hope' should we not comply!
For some, whilst delving deep within ourselves to find the courage to find our own spiritual truth we also have to learn to' forgive ourselves' for any damage we may have unwittingly caused to those we have dragged along with us into what is perhaps the greatest deception of all time. Whether it be our innocent children or people we have contientiously studied with because we fully believed that we were on the side of truth.
Such is the legacy of our once upon a time search for spiritual truth which led us to believe it could be found within a structure created by mere mortals!
LOVE is the prime command and objective and it starts with 'us'....forgiving ourselves for the mis--takes in our lives can free us to forgive all things....
I now Know that responsibility for my spiritual growth belongs only to me as a unique individual and that equally, I have no right to either instruct another on their own journey nor critisize them for their choices.
Much sincere affection and respect to everyone
Paws
i just got word that the bookstudy attendance in one of the groups at my hall has dwindled off to numbers so pitiful that they're dissolving this particular bookstudy group and splitting up the remainder and shipping them out to other bookstudy groups.
I had the book study group in my home for many months about 16yrs ago because no one else was willing. I was pregnant at the time with my third bairn at the age of 37.
I use to try really hard to make the brothers/sisters very welcome...making drinks and snacks after etc.
Then one night, the elder who was taking the study had the most enormous full on row with another brother in front of everyone. It was awful. I was very pregnant and very distressed. After that I refused to have either brother in my home and the group was moved to the hall.
Warmest wishes to everyone here
Paws
yesterday i turned 30.
(i am so wise now.
) being startled enough that i came to this age so damned quickly was nothing compared to hearing from my mother.
Happy Birthday Miss Peaches
from a new member to the board, and her son!! (sorry bout the red writing, cant seem to change it to black!!! is this cos black signifies the devil??????
I'm here with my mum, and i hit the big 30 last september. Mum was a JW when me and my sister were small, (she isn't one now......she saw the 'light' too!!!!!!!!), so i went thru it all too. No birthdays, christmas etc, no choc egg at easter. When you're a kid these occasions mean so much. I turned my back on the witnesses when i was bout 15, cos i'd had enough of being made to feel that seeing my friends, going out etc was a bad thing. My mum remained a witness but I have total respect for the fact that she didn't treat me any diff. She didn't turn her back on me or view me as 'one of Satans'!!!!!!!!
yeh, I missed my birthdays. Going to school the day after and your friends ask you what presents you got, and you have to say, "i didn't get any, we dont celebrate birthdays" god, that was a killer saying that, cos as a kid, all you want is your friends to like you, but they treat you kinda different, cos you dont do something as simple as celebrate birthdays!!!!
Anyway, i now have two little boys of my own, Flynn (aged2) & Luka (aged3mths), and there is no way in the world i could not celebrate their b'days with them and all the family!!! And how bad is it really??????? all we wanna do, is celebrate the birth of someone close to us!!!!!!
the witnesses do my head in for so many reasons, but this issue of b'days always and still does, confuse the living hell outta me!!!!
MANY HAPPY RETURNS TO YOU!!!!!!!!!!! AND WE'RE DELIGHTED FOR YOU THAT YOUR MUM HAS ACKOWLEDGED IT WITH YOU TOO!!!!!!! : ) X
from http://www.cnn.com/2005/us/02/18/church.abuse.ap/index.html
this is the headlines that should ber facing the wt organization!
- randy
organised and structured ANYTHING that restricts people in such a way as to attempt to place them into a jam jar with the lid screwed down can only produce the opposite of the life that everyone has the God given right to.
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1. everyone in the congregation knows that you're still a virgin.. englishman.
Love your sense of humour Englishman. Thanks
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1. everyone in the congregation knows that you're still a virgin.. englishman.
Love your sense of humour Englishman. Thanks
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1. everyone in the congregation knows that you're still a virgin.. englishman.
Elsewhere.....I can just see all the youngsters going along with the play-acting, pretending that what their parents expect of them is what they really want for themselves. The sadness of it all!
My daughter gave up the chance to go to college to train as a child-care nursery nurse (her heart's desire), having made me so proud that she'd passed the exam but being mentally manipulated into believing that if she didn't Pioneer instead her love for Jehovah was seriously in doubt!
