Posts by LongHairGal

36

DISFELLOWSHIPPING, How bad is it really?

by pistolpete in

i found this experience on reddit today.

disfellowshipping never really bothered me.

i always thought it was just another way of getting rid of members that weren't welcome anymore.. but i've changed my mind.

LongHairGal

OVERRATED:

That’s just the point. The religion isn’t going to take care of anybody (whether somebody’s elderly parents or people who never wanted to work). This is one of the Fallacies that went around when I was in and apparently still so today..(Of course, I’m not saying you have to do it because I don’t know how your parents treated you.)

The fact of the matter is: any so-called ‘help’ comes from the ‘friends’ cornered to give money. (This isn’t like the churches of Christendom with soup kitchens.)..Any gullible JWs still sitting there and believing in the fallacy they are ‘going to be taken care of’ are in for a rude awakening.. In all probability, nervy people will be looking to THEM for help.

Anybody who wants to stay there, good luck. That’s their business. But, just be mindful of the way things really are. I once had a friend who said “Blessed is he who expects nothing for he will not be disappointed”.

Look out for and provide for yourself!

58

Has anyone still in or otherwise heard anything about JWs think we only have 12 months before Armageddon?

by blablabluh in

i’ve noticed a change in family attitude recently, like there is just something extra on their mind.

i even had to call my brother to check if he was dying and too scared to tell me.

anyway, i saw a video last night my saying jws think we only have 12 months left before armageddon so thought maybe this is the reason for changes attitude.

LongHairGal

HOSER:

When I came into the JW religion in the late nineteen seventies, not a word was mentioned to me about the 1975 fiasco. I would have had second thoughts about joining if I had known about this!

As for people before 1975 cashing out life insurance policies, getting into debt, selling homes and living off the proceeds and the money drying up..I certainly believe it...I already know of a few JWs within the last decade who apparently dropped out of the workforce before retirement age in order to live in attractive exotic places..BTW, these are JWs who criticized me for my full time job and wouldn’t be caught dead in the workforce.

I think they thought the End would come before their money dried up..I last heard rumors of them asking the ‘friends’ to send fund$.

So, it would appear that history is repeating itself with regard to the attitudes right before ‘75. People don’t learn, it seems.

20

So telling that there are no little children

by eyeslice in

watching in on my wife's zoom meeting last night, there was an item about discipline is love.

they played a 'caleb' animated cartoon and then the instructions were 'if possible, ask selected young children' several questions.. it seems however, that there are no children in my wife's current congregation so the questions were all answered by retired brothers and sisters.

the congregation mainly consists of elderly people (like us) and the few of childbearing age seem not interested in having children.

LongHairGal

HOSER:

I also believe it is now pretty much a baby boomer religion.

It’s anybody’s guess what will happen once these older JWs are gone. I tend to doubt their children will stick around. It will probably end up like those other defunct sects in the United States.

36

DISFELLOWSHIPPING, How bad is it really?

by pistolpete in

i found this experience on reddit today.

disfellowshipping never really bothered me.

i always thought it was just another way of getting rid of members that weren't welcome anymore.. but i've changed my mind.

LongHairGal

PISTOLPETE:

You are being sarcastic and pulling my leg, right?

I read this article and it’s about a poor congregation sending this ‘extra’ money to the headquarters of the religion..instead of distributing it to the needy among them.

The point I was making in my previous post is that there is zero, nada, zilch material assistance (unlike the help churches in Christendom offer). Sad to say, any help any JW would get would be from begging from other fellow members in the congregation!

36

DISFELLOWSHIPPING, How bad is it really?

by pistolpete in

i found this experience on reddit today.

disfellowshipping never really bothered me.

i always thought it was just another way of getting rid of members that weren't welcome anymore.. but i've changed my mind.

LongHairGal

PISTOLPETE:

I read this experience on Reddit. I happen to know of two instances where JW children were compelled to move out of their homes. In one instance, the teenager was ordered out of his home. In the other instance, I believe the girl wanted out. From what I know, both these people turned into happy successful adults who never went back to the religion.

In other instances where JW children who don’t want the religion end up out of their homes, I am sure in some instances they end up receiving charity for a time from churches of Christendom who actually HAVE programs to help the needy like soup kitchens, etc.! This is in sharp contrast to the JWs who have nothing of the sort last I heard. (Anybody who knows differently please correct me.). And BTW those food boxes last year were a government distribution given to many organizations..so they can’t claim that.

Anyway, the whole gist of it is that disfellowshipping and ousting of a minor child with no way to fend for themselves is a cruel tragedy!

29

Do You Know Of Anyone That Has Seen A Therapist Because Of Being A Witness?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i really don’t know of many people who got into therapy because of their jw dealings but i would think that if someone remains depressed or severely affected by their past witness life, it’s not a bad idea to speak to someone to get you on the right path.

i think this site has been very therapeutic for many over the years..

LongHairGal

MINIMUS:

Yes, I know of more than one ex-JW who needed therapy because of bad experiences in the religion. I never did go for therapy but I suppose it wouldn’t have hurt if I did initially. But, I managed anyway.

I’m so glad I re-established contact with family and other relatives before it was too late. This was priceless to me and I didn’t care much about anything else. I was still working and glad I wasn’t stupid enough to quit my job!

Everybody has different experiences in the JW religion and they have different issues.

What did help me were forums like this and the book Crisis of Conscience.

20

So telling that there are no little children

by eyeslice in

watching in on my wife's zoom meeting last night, there was an item about discipline is love.

they played a 'caleb' animated cartoon and then the instructions were 'if possible, ask selected young children' several questions.. it seems however, that there are no children in my wife's current congregation so the questions were all answered by retired brothers and sisters.

the congregation mainly consists of elderly people (like us) and the few of childbearing age seem not interested in having children.

LongHairGal

EYESLICE:

I remember back when I was in the religion there were at least a handful of children in the congregation. There was always that one coached child who would raise their hand to answer a question.

I remember being amused when once there was an embarrassing topic that touched on immortality. A kid about twelve had his hand up to give an answer. NO adult commented 🤣.

But today the religion has dwindled so much and there aren’t many children there at all. Pity the poor child who is. I’m glad I wasn’t raised in that religion.

36

DISFELLOWSHIPPING, How bad is it really?

by pistolpete in

i found this experience on reddit today.

disfellowshipping never really bothered me.

i always thought it was just another way of getting rid of members that weren't welcome anymore.. but i've changed my mind.

LongHairGal

JHINE & PISTOLPETE:

You got a totally wrong impression. I certainly did NOT mean that people should have children for the purpose of taking care of them in their old age! 🙄 I’m sorry you didn’t comprehend the point I was trying to make.

Shunning is a tragedy and it is unnatural. It is opposite of human nature where a parent loves their children. Generally speaking, most people care about their elderly parents. Whether or not they can actually ‘take care of them’ depends on finances and circumstances. But, at the very LEAST, they would be in contact with each other..However, in the JW religion, attitudes are unnatural and some misguided people there think otherwise.

JWs are notorious for the idea that somebody else there is going to ‘care for them’. (This attitude also extends to JWs who study with needy people and make the claim that it is a ‘brotherhood’ and they will be ‘taken care of’ as well as people not getting a decent job and preparing for their future who also believe this.). Meanwhile, the JW religion is not a charity and gives NOTHING to anyone..The answer to this problem is to privately go around with an envelope and corner people for money.

Not trying to derail the thread about disfellowshipping, but that’s the point I was trying to make. Not the wrong assumption that people should have children to take care of them later on.. Really! I doubt most delighted new parents of a baby would be thinking this!

I hope nobody else got this wrong impression.

36

DISFELLOWSHIPPING, How bad is it really?

by pistolpete in

i found this experience on reddit today.

disfellowshipping never really bothered me.

i always thought it was just another way of getting rid of members that weren't welcome anymore.. but i've changed my mind.

LongHairGal

HOSER:

I’m glad things turned out well for this kid.

As for the older couple you mention that shunned all three of their disfellowshipped kids..what can you say? This is a tragedy. It also serves them right that the congregation wouldn’t ‘take care of them’ when they got old. This is too much to ask of a congregation anyway (and I always felt JWs were a little deluded about this).

But, people who decide to shun their children probably do this when they are somewhat younger and on their arrogant high horse - listening to advice from idiots in the congregation...They aren’t thinking of the big picture..and that THEY are going to get OLD someday. JWs don’t plan for the future as it is. But, to unwisely shun their children and imagine that strangers are going to take care of them (in a religion that pushes poverty no less) is absurd to the next level. Also, who knows what would happen if they were to look up their shunned children they haven’t seen in 30 years. What kind of a response would they get?

I’m so glad I was not raised in this religion and thankfully have no relatives there.

10

Bethelout?

by road to nowhere in

jw
friends

the sunday speaker was one of those very smooth younger ones with the "look".

store bought haircut and a very pretty wife ( the kind that makeup isn't needed, side point).. i tongue tied a comment to my wife about maybe he was a bethelite who was reassigned and said bethelout by mistake.

i like the word.

LongHairGal

OVERRATED:

I got the same impression you did back when I was in.

But, nowadays they better get over themselves and have a list of telephone numbers handy and a plan of what they are going to do in the event bethel decides to let more people go.

It’s happened enough times and I don’t think anybody there is ‘fire proof’ no matter how much they think they are valued. I’m just glad I’m not in any hall/congregation to have somebody come up to me with an envelope asking for money for them or anybody else there who never wanted to work 👎🏻 and who had the audacity to make remarks about responsible working people.