Posts by LongHairGal

34

What Congregation Scandal Still Troubles You?

by Sea Breeze in

i was appointed as a regular pioneer in a certain congregation.

in that congregation, a very obese male pioneer seduced a nice looking married pioneer sister who had two teenage sons.

her husband was a ms. both were df'd.

LongHairGal

SEA BREEZE:

I never heard it quite put that way: “that the Kingdom Hall was too hostile of an environment for you to exist in”.

You are absolutely correct and if many on the forum evaluate their experiences, they would have to admit you are right.👍🏻 It is a fear-based religion with a bullying mentality, filled with gossip and vindictive people. All that togetherness is no good and that boatload of ‘friends’ can turn on a dime and rip somebody’s reputation to shreds and cause distress.

Like you, I also left after the 1995 thing. My personal experience was that I felt I walked a gauntlet of critics. They never liked me since I was an independent single working woman who couldn’t be manipulated.

Getting back to the original thought about scandals: without giving too much information I can say I saw things that didn’t sit well with me even if they were not headline making: favoritism and elders covering up for their kids…They think you are just supposed to shut up and pretend everything is rosy. If you don’t like something then it’s YOUR problem. Such phoniness. I could never be around this anymore. Glad the nightmare is over.

122

1995 generation change

by Gorb in

jw
friends

now, many years later, i remember the 1995 generation change, very well.. since early youth, hearing my father explaining in field service the 2520 years.

it was his main theme in the field.. with the change my doubts started.

with some jw friends we did not trust the organization anymore.

LongHairGal

ON THE WAY OUT:

I’m glad you took serious notice about getting a career and a way to retire in “this system of things” when that 1995 teaching on Generation came out! That’s twenty six years ago and that’s a serious amount of time to sock money away or be vested in a company’s retirement plan.

This teaching should have also been a wake-up call for everybody else there as well. Those that were not ‘serious’ about their jobs, their future or old age should have taken this as a warning and done something about it ASAP!..If they didn’t that’s too bad.

I was horrified when I heard this Generation teaching and knew it was all over for me as far as staying in the religion..so I planned my ‘Fade’.. I was already gainfully employed and was GLAD I ignored the critics in the religion and held onto my job until Retirement.. I hope these JWs who were critical and thought they were so ‘spiritual’ can pay their bills because I’m glad I’m not around them to hear sob stories and appeals for money.

58

No more Questions from MINIMUS

by was a new boy in

jw
friends

minimus former jw, prolific poster on jwn died.. minimus.

joined 19 years ago.

started 4,139 topics.

LongHairGal

WAS A NEW BOY:

Thanks for thinking of me! I have been reading here but just haven’t posted.

I really do hope this is incorrect news about Minimus because he will be missed.

10

Support widows

by road to nowhere in

this weeks meeting part.

boy did they miss it while a hug is nice a scripture will not mow the yard, fix a flat, or pay the bills.

LongHairGal

TRUTH_B_KNOWN & ROAD TO NOWHERE:

Absolutely.. They are not like the religions of Christendom who have soup kitchens and programs to help the poor and needy. But yet they had the balls to criticize people like me with the label ‘unspiritual’ because I worked at a full time job (which I’m glad I held onto until Retirement).

When I was active as a JW I also noticed that any ‘help’ any member got was from other people there. Somebody went around with an envelope privately asking people for money$ plain and simple.. NOTHING ever came from the religion itself.. I hope everybody knows this.

I am glad I ‘Faded’ years ago because I would not tolerate being targeted as a ‘mark’ to give money to all these ‘needy’ types including those who fell for the BS that they didn’t need a career or to provide for their retirement!

12

Were you 100 Percent JW?

by Iamallcool in

jw
friends

were you 100 percent jw?

what caused you to leave the cult?

.

LongHairGal

LAMALCOOL:

I suppose not..I was perceived not to be 100% JW since I refused to quit my full time job in order to be in the ministry. This was an all-or-nothing religion but I didn’t know it at the time!.. I ‘Faded’ after that 1995 Generation teaching.

The JW busybodies took it as a personal insult that I didn’t cave in to their peer pressure….Why else would they shun or make sure I was hardly invited anywhere?

The sobering reality is I would not be Retired today if I had listened back then, so their insults mean nothing.

31

Since You Have Left The Religion Are You Happier?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i realize that some activist exjws really don’t seem to be happy in life.

they finally got away from the organization and yet seem still negatively connected to it.

some exjws are always upset because of what the “truth “ did to their lives, which is understandable.

LongHairGal

MINIMUS:

Yes, absolutely happier. Freedom. Reconnecting with estranged family and relatives before it was too late. Priceless.

However, it still makes me cringe though when I think of what COULD have happened if I were more gullible and fell for pressure to quit my full time job to pursue ‘full time ministry’!.. I wouldn’t be Retired today if I had! ..This is a very sobering thought.

I, thankfully, was not raised in the religion and have no family there so I don’t have to deal with family ‘shunning me’. The stories I have read on the forum by other ex-JWs are heartbreaking.. It’s hard to fathom the tragedy that people are going to their graves after not speaking to their flesh and blood for decades just because somebody left a religion (which was not just a belief but a lifestyle)!

34

What Do You Think About Home Schooling?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i knew a few witnesses who were very proud of the fact that their kids were homeschooled.

years ago, i would raise my eyebrows wondering why these families couldn’t simply integrate their kids with other “worldly” kids.

at this point in time, with so many theories being pushed on kids and their parents, i can see why parents, if they are qualified, could instruct their kids themselves.

LongHairGal

FEDUPJW:

Unfortunately, the education system in the US was watered down decades ago.

This is the reason that spelling and general grammar have gone down the tubes. Even people who have gone to college make the common mistakes you have pointed out. I’m embarrassed for them.

But, as far as home schooling, they would be worse off! I am in agreement with most of the negative comments on this thread. Most see it as an abysmal failure especially with regard to the Witnesses..In my life, I have seen only two examples of successful home schooling. One was by a Witness who was college educated who made sure she did it right and the other was a non-JW professional who didn’t want his daughter subjected to the liberal garbage in the state he resided in.

All the rest of the examples of home schooling generally turned out painfully ignorant children. I was appalled at the level of ignorance among JWs and to be honest I couldn’t stand being around certain ones among them.

The only exceptions to the rule were those who were not raised in the JW religion and/or had a normal public or parochial school education under their belt along with practical life skills, and the knowledge from a secular job!

37

What are your personal reasons for hating the Jehovah's Witnesses religion ?

by Rocketman123 in

first thing comes to mind is that this organization through its leaders are not witnessing the true and honest version of the gospel teachings of jesus christ .. they are subjectively teaching/preaching a tainted version made up by the top controlling men of the organization, which i'm sure is connected to the proliferation and distribution of literature which these men publish themselves.

.

when jesus said that no one knows of the time not even he, he didn't say a select few will know .. the other thing that bothers me is this organization promotes human ignorance on many levels, admonishing education or knowledge that mankind needs for its very survival... there are many other religious organizations that do this as well but the jws is just one of these organizations.

LongHairGal

ROCKETMAN123:

As I have said before: there are so many reasons as far as I am concerned.

I was lured in under false pretenses. I was interested in end-time prophecy and was led to believe the JWs had the ‘real’ answers. I was also told that everybody was ‘equal’ there! 🙄 Not true! Instead I had a bunch of people who tried to control me and to get me to give up family, friends and full-time job.

They thought they were going to turn me into a mindless drudge doing favors for Users and jealous idiots. They hated independent or self-sufficient women and thought they were going to ‘abase’ me. But I wasn’t stupid enough to let this happen.

I was raised Catholic and knew that I lived in a free Western civilization and certainly wasn’t going to go along with mentally crippling attitudes from ages past and play this game of pretend to appease people acting out a fantasy role!

I am so glad I was a ‘bad’ JW and resisted all their attempts. I am Retired now grateful I finally walked away from all this.

52

If you could pick out critical errors to the JWS religion what would it be ?

by Rocketman123 in

many that have come to this forum have left the jws religion and moved on with their lives but from a outsider's viewpoint what do think makes the jws religion wrong or incorrect as a active christian faith ?.

somethings come to mind such as its long continuous end times/armageddon soon doctrine which has really been a core doctrine for decades going right back to its beginning .. maybe they should have adopted the stance as other christian based faiths and adhered to jesus's own words when he said " no one knows of the time not even he ".

.

LongHairGal

ROCKETMAN123:

There are so many things wrong in my opinion but I’ll pick the one most important to me:

The knocking of college and careers even at this point in time takes the cake: as we speak, there are many JWs and ex-JWs at retirement age with no preparation because they were told Armageddon would be here!..They now have to knock themselves out in their senior years just to make ends meet.

When they were young they were told they would be ‘weak in faith’ if they had a career or were known to contribute to an IRA.. People like me with full time jobs were told they should quit their jobs and pursue part-time menial work and full time ministry.. If they refused (like I did) they were labeled as ‘unspiritual’ and hardly invited anywhere (as a punishment I assume). But, that’s okay because I am Retired. So, in retrospect it was worth it to be ‘shunned’ by them.

I just had a long conversation yesterday with an old JW friend who admitted this and shared that a family member was knocked and shunned for having a good job to support his family. So, I know I was not alone in the bad treatment I received.

24

Will there be a sense of urgency in 30 years?

by neat blue dog in

it's pretty easy to see how current events would have any jw convinced the end is imminent, but i just don't see how there could be a major push for zealous service, pioneering, etc.

decades into the future.

even if (when) world events happen periodically that could scare the r&f, there are now countless hours of hd video of jw leaders saying how close the end is.

LongHairGal

NEAT BLUE DOG:

Thirty years from now? 😮 Well, if the religion is still around it will be a shadow of its former self. What is happening now will be ancient history to anybody still there.

All the Baby Boomers will be gone. These are the people who currently make up most of the congregations. They contributed the most money, were the most faithful and remember the JW religion in its glory days which are very much over. Who can say what the religion will resemble in thirty years. I think it will follow in the footsteps of other now-defunct sects in the USA.