Posts by Whiskeyjack

Welcome Muse! Please accept my best wishes for a happy outcome for your family. I won't bother adding to the already copious supply of good, actionable advice provided by the earlier posters. Just remember that you'll be there for your dad, even if it means "rubbing elbows" with a bunch of JW's for a short time - this is not the time for fighting.

W.

19

In the end, I can't help but laugh

by Texas Flood in

jw
friends

i'm new too posting here but i've been lurking since the summer.

how i came across this site?

a brother at one of them conventions warned us about 'sites on the internet that can threaten our faith' and i was like "psh if this is the truth, what information could possibly do that?

Whiskeyjack

Welcome to the forum. I think the org. hierarchy are going to have their hands full trying to keep your techno-savvy generation under control. I know most of my peers back in the early 80's would have been checking this stuff out if the 'net had been available to us!

I remember thinking "do they think I'm that stupid and gullible?"

W.

26

Does anybody else feel this way?

by boy@crossroads in

jw
friends

a little background........ been fading for more than a year now.

i think i have done a good job of transitioning out of the borg.

i am now comfortable with many of the taboos i was raised to fear.

Whiskeyjack

I try to give all people I meet the "benefit of the doubt". I had a lot of "remedial" soclial work during my first years "out" but I still use Jesus as a human interaction model (some habits die hard) and I'll take the first injury on the chin (within reason untill someone shows their quality) rather than being preemptively dismissive.

There are a lot of high quality human beings out thee as well as lot of poor quality ones. You've probably heard the expression "people are shit" but I prefer to think that too many people have been conditioned to act "shitally"; but I'm a card carrying organizational behaviourist.

W.

26

question for all

by bonnzo in

jw
friends

most of you are ex-dubs, so what if world events proved that the jw's were right.

for instance, governments turning on religion, matthew 24th chapt events really increasing at an alarming rate, enough to make you think: " maybe they were right?

" if that happened, and the wts left the "door on the ark", so to speak, open for a little while, would you go back to the wts?

Whiskeyjack

Nope.

I'd be willing to worship God if he proved His existence (even grovel!) but not with that outfit.

W.

12

Were you an elitist?

by DevonMcBride in

jw
friends

how many of you felt superior as jw's because you had an elite level of knowledge that only the society could give you?

Whiskeyjack

Not so much when I was a youngster but anytime somebody would start going on about their "christian faith" I'd mentally roll my eyes thinking I was a member of the "toughest" outfit there was (even after I left!).

W.

70

What is you (or somebodies) best blooper in the KH?

by DannyBloem in

for example: we had a 'faithfull' brother getting older and confused.

when something did not really went as he liked it (didn't get the answer etc) he shouted very loudly 'god doom me in the hell!

one time i had to do the closing prayer on the midweek meeting.

Whiskeyjack

I was probably about 14 years old when one of our elders (an ex-navy man) was giving a talk on the ancient Israelites (I forget what the theme was) but he called them Israeli's right up 'till about halfway through the talk when he caught himself. Everyone laughed out loud when they realized he thought it was as funny a mental slip as the audience did! The weird things one remembers!

W.

32

Do you "now" look for more reasons to dislike or hate the JW's?

by free2beme in

jw
friends

i have noticed from reading over this site and from having contact with former witnesses in my personal life, that a lot of time is consumed in the beginning of your exit from the witnesses, with finding further reasons to hate or dislike the jehovah's witnesses.

with this i was wondering, is this done to give yourself more reason not to return or is it an expression of your freedom to find out what you want without borders.

from a pure psychological stand-point, i am prone to wonder if it is a means of feeding an inner anger to bring one a faults sense of security, when they are challenged from within to decide if what they are really dealing with is correct thinking or a path that is truly wrong.

Whiskeyjack

NO! To answer your question.

For me it was the learning opportunity that started me lurking on this site and still makes me stay. I was surprised about how little I knew about the history of "my" old organization. I may use some of the information I've learned as ammunition in my occasional debates with my folks who are still in. I don't feel any hatred but disgust with their leadership and their collective actions over the decades. As a former management major at school, I'm interested in the organizational experiences related by others on the board as well.

It's hard to explain the residual effects (social, developmental, emotional, financial, etc...) to "worldy" people and it's great to converse with members of our unique community (even if it means a lot of typing!) all over the world. Most people post for a few months and "move on" while others have formed the backbone of this online community trying to provide 24/7 help to many people in need. I respect their efforts greatly (and I don't respect much!).

Message "boarding" is still a novelty for me and the number of intelligent, compassionate and funny people has impressed me greatly so I hang around (though I try to ration my time now!).

W.

69

Honestly, do you think that JW's really like going to 3 or 4day assemblies?

by JH in

jw
friends

.

honestly, do you think that jw's really like going to 3 or 4 day assemblies, especially when it's out of town, far away, and you have to take a motel room, and all the gas money and food money it takes, as well as having to sit down all day listening to endless talks...and that for 3 or 4 days in a row.. and often, they have to take a day off from work, to attend the friday meeting, so no pay for that day.. i think that the jw's are glad when it's finally over, not before.. .

Whiskeyjack

As a youngster I enjoyed them (DC's) since it constituted our annual vacation and was the only time you could see other young JW's. It was at an "international" Montreal assembly I bought my first legal beer (the legal age was 18 in Quebec as oppsed to 19 everywhere else.)

The PO's son and I would disappear downtown right after the sessions down to St. Catherines all night (neat experience for a small town kid). I still laugh about the day when Dad decided we'd take a walk for a few Subway stops one evening back to our hotel. We sauntered right through the red light district past seedy bars and strip joints when all the prostitutes were just showing up for work!

W.