Posts by happy camper

56

DO YOU KNOW THE KINGDOM SONG WORDS?????????????

by vitty in

jw
friends

after being in the org for 20 years, being regular at every meeting.

i must have sung the songs hundreds of times, but i cant sing the first line of any song off by heart..

i asked my husband, kids if they could, they also cant.. can you?.

happy camper

we're Jehovah's Witnesses

we speak out in fearlessness

ours is the God of true prophecy

what he foretells comes to be

...thats all i can remember right now...

27

over the years i have become less of male chauvanist pig and much more chivalrous - my wife says she as a woman likes men to be men and hold doors open for her and stand up on an airport shuttle bus etc .

if there are no seats left.

to me the wtbts is very chauvanistic and not very chivalrous.

happy camper

Whether a woman wants to admit it or not, she wants a man to be chivalrous. It makes her feel loved, safe, and protected.

37

What was your favorite thing about service?

by Dustin in

jw
friends

i used to love break time.

especially if it was afternoon service, and we stopped at taco bell.

i used to be damn good at eating tacos in the car without spilling anything.

happy camper

I never liked anything about going out in service, it was pure hell. Having to wake up early on Sat. mornings, going out in a small town, being scared that I would go to someone from school's door, (and yes, it did happen to me in the 10th grade) seeing the other little kids watching cartoons while I was standing at the door with my parents. Although I have to admit the coffee breaks were the best thing about it.and of course planning my Sat. night out with my girlfriends(and it usually involved guys, drinking, partying, smoking) that is what we did in service when I was a teenager, plan, plan, plan, usually on how to sneak around so our parents wouldn't find out what we really did.

35

having a hard time making friends

by happy camper in

jw
friends

i was wondering if anyone else has had a hard time making friends since leaving the organization.

being raised as a jw, it seems difficult to me, as i was never allowed to have any friends who weren't other jw's.

as a result, i have isolated myself to only my immediate family.

happy camper

AK Jeff & Mystery,

Thanks for the websites. I'll try them.

22

How do you feel about.....

by bagpuss in

jw
friends

going back to a kingdom hall?.

recently i've had a couple of visits from jws while i was at work.

each time they left a message that the co was going to be visiting this week and that it would be good if i went to the meeting.. i was really surprised at the strong reaction i had to the thought of going to a meeting again.

happy camper

I'm kinda surprised that they keep contacting you, especially at work. In the 10 years I have been disfellowshipped I have NEVER once been contacted by the elders or anyone else for that matter. And they say that they contact a person once every year or so, that's a bald face LIE. I know that for a fact, and I have also been in two different states and have not been contacted by an elder, so it's not just one congregation that is not contacting. As for going back to a meeting, why do you want to put yourself thru that when you have already said that the thought of it makes you sick? I think it just makes the emotional damage all that much more worse. People that leave cult's dont go back for "one more meeting" with the cult. There's a reason why they dont. Think about it. You have to fight the urge to go back there,sometimes we go back for our family and friendships, but we're not really going back to learn about god, were going back purely for the social aspect of it. And remember, they can be VERY persuasive in trying to get you to go back, they are very good actors. Be strong.

6

? Need fellowship with ex-Dubs . Is there a WS by geographical location ?

by disciple in

jw
friends

exez,.

i have managed to meet up with 3 ex w in houston tx and through the grapevine have heard there are at least 150 active in houston area .... any way you know of to start bringing those together.

is there a message or post board that is primarily geographical in nature?

happy camper

I too am looking for some kind of meet up in the Dallas, Texas area. I am new to this board, but would like to meet some others in my area who are ex JW's. or if anyone would be interested in starting one in this area, or just someone who would like to meet. That would be great.

Thanks

25

wanting to leave jw org

by min79 in

jw
friends

.

i am a baptised jw and am wanting to disassociate myself.

i am looking to find someone who has left this org to give me some idea on the letter to write and how they dealt with their friends who shunned them

happy camper

Hi Min,

As far as dealing with being shunned, there really isn't an easy answer. You don't have a choice but to deal with it, because your previous friends WILL NOT speak to you. The friends that I grew up with, went thru school with, laughed, cried with, all left me, and never spoke to me again. That only made me realize even more that they were never my true friends to begin with. How could they have been, after all we had been thru together. But somehow I made it thru, although I still miss them dearly sometimes when something reminds me of them. I just keep reminding myself that they are the sad ones, to still be in that pathetic religion, having their minds controlled. It's good that you travel alot, because living in the same town as all of the people in the congregation can be very stressful, especially when you see them at the store and they don't say a word to you, they just stare with glaring eyes. It's hard at first, but it gets easier to deal with as time goes by.

Good luck to you

20

Do you have a better career now that you're out?

by wanderlustguy in

jw
friends

just dawned on me that i couldn't do my job if not for leaving.

i'm a director of marketing for a telecom company and travel the country constantly, different city and state every three months or so.

part of the job is "having" to take people out for drinks and dinner, etc all the time.

happy camper

I am a medical assistant, and I have noticed that I am nicer and friendlier to both the people that I work with and the patients. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I no longer think I'm better than the average person. I've learned that people that you come in contact with are really actually nice people, and not the horrible creatures we were taught to believe.

35

having a hard time making friends

by happy camper in

jw
friends

i was wondering if anyone else has had a hard time making friends since leaving the organization.

being raised as a jw, it seems difficult to me, as i was never allowed to have any friends who weren't other jw's.

as a result, i have isolated myself to only my immediate family.

happy camper

oops, I did post twice

35

having a hard time making friends

by happy camper in

jw
friends

i was wondering if anyone else has had a hard time making friends since leaving the organization.

being raised as a jw, it seems difficult to me, as i was never allowed to have any friends who weren't other jw's.

as a result, i have isolated myself to only my immediate family.

happy camper

Thank you all, you all sound so wonderful. I posted a reply back earlier, but I dont think it worked, so, I hope I dont post this twice. I will definately try some of your suggestions. They are all great. It's so nice to hear from people who understand this. I never really realized how much this has damaged me emotionally, but I'm glad I'm not alone. At least I dont have to think I'm crazy. Thanks for being here.