Posts by LongHairGal

27

UGHHHHH Wife wants to pioneer. Our future together doesn’t look promising

by goingthruthemotions in

ughhhhh wife wants to pioneer.

our future together doesn't look promising .

i told her she doesn’t know what she is getting into.

LongHairGal

SMIDDY3:

Not to detract from the O.P., but they apparently have a more sensible attitude towards jobs/careers in Australia it seems..Unless, of course, the attitude was different towards women - and they’re treated like I was..which is to say like an outcast.

Luckily and perhaps because I was NOT raised a JW, I ignored the Witnesses’ attitudes and stayed in the workforce until retirement.

In the U.S. where I’m from.. JWs are expected to NOT concern themselves about jobs, money or anything apparently. They are encouraged to turn down jobs (even if unemployed) if it means they will miss any meetings. There is a recent thread about a talk given at a convention saying something along these lines.

27

UGHHHHH Wife wants to pioneer. Our future together doesn’t look promising

by goingthruthemotions in

ughhhhh wife wants to pioneer.

our future together doesn't look promising .

i told her she doesn’t know what she is getting into.

LongHairGal

IOWNMYLIFE:

Even though I was never a pioneer and had no interest in any titles,..your description of being put down and constantly scrutinized was something I remember experiencing - even if it was on a lesser scale.

Believe me, what you described was not something I had any intention of getting used to. It made me furious that, in effect, I was going to be poked and prodded by these older people..Unacceptable and I wasn’t having it. Now, was this because I was not raised a JW and had different upbringing/schooling?? Possibly.

When all the critics, oddballs and spiritual giants realized they weren’t going to get anywhere with me..that I wasn’t going to quit my full time job and pioneer..they just shunned me and made sure I wasn’t invited anywhere.

My condolences to the O.P.

17

"I still miss it Dad" My 41 Year Son Admitted

by 1234 in

jw
friends

on the 18th of september i turned in my disassociation letter in to the tigard congregation, 19 years ago.. my son turned in his letter in november 2001, 19 years ago shortly after me.

he was 21 years old.. two days ago we were working together on a wrap for his a/c unit on his bus.. out of blue, he says "i still miss it dad.

not the religion.

LongHairGal

MAGNUM:

I understand what you mean because I remember that hopeful vibe from the ‘70s and ‘80s you mention.

I confess that a while back I was looking at JW FB Friends lists and longing for the friendships I never had in the Witness religion. It was hopeless and out of my reach. I believe it was because I wasn’t born-in and there was a bias against people who weren’t born-in (which is particularly stupid for a religion looking for converts).. ALSO, it was because of my full-time job... So, I was relegated to the ‘fringes’. A few people were nice - mostly elderly.

When I looked back I realized it must have been obvious to these elderly that I was left out.. Even though it was sad these younger people weren’t my friends (and avoided me because they were encouraged to) 🙄 how would their ‘friendship’ have helped me NOW if I hadn’t had my job back then for Retirement planning?? These people wouldn’t be supporting me.

I can understand if you would not want to see certain people again - especially if you were treated badly or talked about. The JW religion causes people to treat others badly and this can never be forgiven, in my opinion.

19

JW Broadcasting: The new TV hucksters

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

w88 4/1 pp.

15-20. christendom exposed as the promoter of false worship.

7 now, in the age of television, we have tv preachers exploiting that medium with every kind of theatrical trick and psychological device to beguile the masses and empty the pockets of the flock.

LongHairGal

DATA-DOG:

The problem is that so many have lost precious Time in the JW religion..and along with that lost time are lost opportunities for education and careers.. I understand your resentfulness about lost money.

I really do think most of ‘service’ and the ‘ministry’ was a tremendous waste of time. Maybe here and there a nice conversation and admiring people’s lawns and gardens was the only thing I got out of it.

27

How do you switch off the thoughts of being raised JW and feelings of anger

by Zeds Dead in

raised as a jo blow and married into it.

37 years in it and now last 7 years out of it which feels great.. have memories of being a kid in school in the uk and just hating everything about being the jw kid.

bullied, embarrassed in front of others and self-esteem went into the toilet.wished i was born into a different family.. what angers me is the messaging i would receive at home when i talked about being bullied.

LongHairGal

1234 (K. Casarona):

That is wise advice, even for people like me who were not raised in the religion.

I was raised Catholic and grateful for family and good memories.. But, I still have angry moments when reminded of the bad future that COULD have been if I didn’t remember my father’s wise worldly advice - and instead caved in to JW peer pressure against careers!

Everybody, make peace with your JW experience and then move on with your life as best you can..Try to be happy..No sense letting them steal the rest of our lives as well.

22

The Re-Opening of the Kingdom Halls

by LetTheTruthBeKnown in

it's been six months since the kingdom halls have been closed.

i believe here in ontario, canada that you are now allowed to have up to 50 people congregate together.. that was the average attendance before they did all the merging of the congregations.

they should have went back to the original pre-merger congregations.

LongHairGal

LETTHETRUTHBKNOW:

I think they simply want to sell off as many kingdom halls as they can and Covid provides them with a perfect excuse to do so.

I could be wrong, but it appears to me (as an ex-JW observer) that the religion is going almost totally online..Possibly at some point they might have a large meeting in some rented convention hall maybe a few times a year.

So, it seems to be goodbye to the old way of Witness life with the hall and meetings. Gone is also that In Person association.

BUT, nobody counted on this: The brothers might have to make cold calls in the community to ask for money for ‘needy’ persons in the hall:..pioneers who ‘didn’t count the cost’; people who didn’t plan for retirement because they were told ‘they didn’t need to’; plus fired bethelites sent home, etc.

There is no physical hall with warm bodies to go up TO with an envelope looking for money! Those good old fashioned days are gone. And I don’t think Zoom is going to cut it.

23

So the elders gave my 19 year old daughter a shepharding call depression ensues!

by nowwhat? in

against our wishes she got baptised at 16 because she got brainwashed by her cousin.

the last year or so she hasn't been so gung ho about the "truth".

anyway the elders came down on her for not getting her time in the last couple months because she absolutely hates zoom letter writing.

LongHairGal

NOWWHAT?:

I’m sorry about your daughter and especially that she’s taking medication for anxiety. When I was her age that would have been undeard of. Just think..a religion that causes people to need medication? What’s wrong with this picture? My God. Get out.

TRUTH_B_KNOWN:

That is a very good philosophy and I read this years ago in a book. We ALL have worth and it is not tied to our possessions or occupation, etc.. But try telling that to some stuck up individuals with money. 🙄

However, the idea of anybody living their life enslaved to what others think or might think of them is absurd..In many cases, other people aren’t thinking of you at all, least of all the Witnesses.

I couldn’t care what they think or even if they had a brain to think with!

27

Never Forget 9/11

by minimus in

jw
friends

tomorrow is the anniversary of 9/11/2001.

i hope we never forget what happened that fateful day and learn from what happened.❤️.

LongHairGal

MINIMUS:

Yes, the anniversary has come for 9/11. This is a day we should never forget.

An aunt had said that when you leave the house in the morning...you don’t know if you’re going to put the key in the door at night. I was so grateful I got home from NYC that fateful day because so many others did not.

32

David Splane's 2020 Conventionl talk ....''Jehovah has to come first''

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

'' has your desire to put jehovah first been tested during this pandemic?

you lost your job and you searched for another one.

finally, after a long search, you found one but it was a job that would require you to miss all your meetings and field service.

LongHairGal

IOWNMYLIFE:

You are absolutely correct about this. This was my observation back when I was in the JW religion...They glorify the unemployed, but imagine the ‘sinful, meeting-missing, paycheck-drawing and fiscally responsible’ will support these people. Dream on...

Back then because of the negativity I got because of my full-time job, I was determined NEVER to give anything to any ‘exemplary Christian’ there who didn’t want to work.. Let their so-called spiritual friends give them money! You know. All the people who invited them to those special gatherings I wasn’t invited to!

Last year I explained this to an old JW friend. I told them I had NO intention of being targeted now to give money for anybody there who either didn’t want to work OR who didn’t work sufficiently or make plans for their future.

I’m sorry for all these JWs (including fired bethelites)..but they are going to have to get help from brothers with businesses.

32

David Splane's 2020 Conventionl talk ....''Jehovah has to come first''

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

'' has your desire to put jehovah first been tested during this pandemic?

you lost your job and you searched for another one.

finally, after a long search, you found one but it was a job that would require you to miss all your meetings and field service.

LongHairGal

RULES & REGULATIONS:

Absolutely sickening that the JW religion in the year 2020 is STILL going on with the hateful tirade against secular work..making it sound like ‘it’s no big deal’ if somebody is out of work.

Meanwhile, he and others in headquarters there are not paying for any of their own expenses of food, clothing and shelter, etc. Is this being in touch with reality?

I was knocked, shunned, hardly invited to gatherings back in the day because I had a full-time job that I refused to quit.. I cannot say it enough times that my life would have been ruined if I followed their advice. I was advised to quit my job with benefits; take up housecleaning (physical labor, no benefits - I hated it) and DO favors for the Users (which is what they tried to do with young women).

Thankfully, I rejected this advice (coming from hypocritical older people COLLECTING THEIR PENSIONS, I might add). These older people in the congregation were IN the workforce with decent jobs with benefits but yet they were telling ME I should quit everything and pursue poverty. It was as though I should jump from a plane without a parachute.

All those hypocritical older people have died after living a cushy life. The poverty being preached was certainly not for them, just some other unfortunate person! It makes me sick what I encountered back then. Again.. I wouldn’t not be Retired today if I had listened back then and this is a sobering thought.