Posts by LongHairGal

33

CO retirement severance?

by road to nowhere in

jw
friends

a friend says the wt gives a substantial sum to retiring cos. he says one bought land and built near him, a desirable rural area.

i think it must have been saved green handshake money or inherited.. btw this man also thinks the gb are the smartest men alive..

LongHairGal

BIAHI:

They hardly talked about ‘counting the cost’ years back when they were in a frenzy to get everybody to pioneer. I really think they only pull scriptures like this out when it suits them!

They didn’t give a hoot what hardships a person went through. I remember talking to an elder once about people who were suffering and he said “sometimes people suffer because they are just plain stupid”. (This told me what some JWs secretly think about certain people who pioneer.)

Well, he was a man and there is a double standard there. He had a good job and you’d NEVER see HIM pursuing poverty!! But yet this poverty/pioneering is what was held out to ME and other younger single women (mostly Baby Boomers).. Any older women pioneers then were married with a ‘worldly husband’ and a comfortable life. Any younger person who pioneered and ‘didn’t count the cost’ or took a gamble because ‘Armageddon was near’ and who did this for decades is in a serious predicament TODAY.. And almost ALL those older JWs who cheered them on are all Gone and not even around to help anybody!

This is the tragedy of it all and why I am so Glad today that I never fell for any of this!

9

What's actually recorded in publisher record cards?

by optimisticskeptic in

it seems to be unclear if things like public or private reproofs and details around those events being recorded and traveling with you.

it seems like the details are largely part of whatever judicial paperwork there is and not necessarily attached to your publisher card permanently.

i changed congregations a few years ago and it appears the letter the body wrote only covered the most recent issue and said nothing of a reproof that had happened a few years prior.

LongHairGal

I heard it as a fact that these ‘letters of introduction’ contain unflattering things about the person who is relocating.

A certain sister (whose husband likely heard the confidential gossip from an elder) told people of the unfavorable contents of one such letter about another sister who had relocated and the restrictions placed on her, etc…So, there is NO fresh start somewhere and opinions and biases will follow somebody across the globe!

I can only imagine what such a letter would say about me: ‘She doesn’t do favors for all the Users or throw money around. She’s independent and outspoken. Make sure nobody talks to her and don’t invite her to any get-togethers’. 😉

33

CO retirement severance?

by road to nowhere in

jw
friends

a friend says the wt gives a substantial sum to retiring cos. he says one bought land and built near him, a desirable rural area.

i think it must have been saved green handshake money or inherited.. btw this man also thinks the gb are the smartest men alive..

LongHairGal

JWGONEBAD:

You mention a CO who supposedly ‘can’t manage on their own’ and you feel ‘sad’.

Well, that’s nice you can feel sad. I’m inclined to feel nothing for them..I remember the visits from the CO intensifying the negative opinion towards me back in the day because I worked full-time. These people had no concept of what it was like to live in the Real world and pay bills! But yet they made stupid remarks about materialism 🙄. They thought everybody should be concerned with their dietary needs and food allergies!

I’m glad I’m not there now for anybody to come up to me on the QT with an envelope asking for $.

I resisted all the pressure back then to quit my job and pioneer. They really put me through the wringer with shunning and labeling..But I am Retired today..Even though half of me wanted to be accepted, I just didn’t do it and I’ll get down on my knees in thankfulness for that.

16

JW's were born and built through primitive religions dynamics

by Victor in

russel and his followers were a byproduct of the religious orthodoxy revolt that originated in europe.

this revolution of ideas crossed over to america seeding all the fringe groups who russel then became a part of.

this resistance to the establishment is similar to what we have seen recently with the q annon phenomena.

LongHairGal

VICTOR & HOSER:

I made the same observation and I totally agree with you about the status seeking in the JW religion. This is the norm although not everybody wanted titles or ‘privileges’…On another thread a poster made a humorous comment I agreed with:..he said he felt being an elder “was like being the president of your local book club!”. 😂 In other words, who cares?

I also deviated from the ‘norm’ there. Though I wanted to do ‘more’, I never lost sight of the fact I needed to support myself. Whether this was because my family were not Witnesses and I wasn’t raised JW..who can say?

I just know that I paid the ‘price’ by being shunned and not invited to many gatherings back then. However, their lack of love and un-Christian behavior was certainly worth it because I am Retired now.

22

Request----Federal Post Office Inspector!

by Atlantis in

jw
friends

atlantis:.

do you have a copy of a letter that was sent out by a congregation overseer, with a complaint from the federal post office inspector, concerning letters being sent out by jw's?.

yes, i have it, but very few people show any interest in the letters anymore.

LongHairGal

BILL COVERT:

Wow, what a horror story you tell about your experiences in the JW religion. I am so sorry for the mental anguish to your children and I hope they have been able to move on and live happy lives.

It’s scary to hear about the guy you mention. I always knew there were some predatory individuals in the religion and an older lady alone is a prime target, even in the world in general..But, I was younger back then and in the workforce..However, there were enough other Users there I had to fend off from time to time!

I am very Glad I got the hell out of this religion years ago because I’d have to be nuts to want to be surrounded by any of this now! So much for the so-called ‘true’ religion!!

14

While the cult of JW asks kids for Ice Cream money......

by mickbobcat in

other churches give kids ice cream.

.

LongHairGal

FEDUPJW:

Yes, they hated me and I couldn’t care less. Would their ‘love’ be $upporting me Now if I were gullible enough to quit my job back then?…I would be so screwed it wouldn’t be funny.

I’m really sorry for what happened to your parents especially after their generosity because nobody I know does what they did. They were one in a million. And for what? Ingrates and people who forgot them in a minute?

As I said in my post, I would never presume to tell somebody else they should not give. But, I sure as hell wasn’t giving to anybody so they could leisurely ring doorbells, go on coffee breaks and special gatherings where they knock responsible people like me for working for a living!..It was as though they were some kind of ‘clergy class’ within the religion who claimed it had No clergy class.. I couldn’t stand their hypocrisy.

It was a happy thing I did my ‘Fade’ twenty years ago. I just should have done it a decade sooner..Now, I can hardly believe what the JW religion has become and I am Glad I am nowhere near all these needy grasping people asking for money. I would actually run from them.

It’s not my problem they are in their present predicament. They were by choice on the fringes of the workforce - and back in a better economy when jobs were plentiful!..They were conned into believing they didn’t need a decent job to plan for their Retirement because ‘Armageddon’ would be here.

14

While the cult of JW asks kids for Ice Cream money......

by mickbobcat in

other churches give kids ice cream.

.

LongHairGal

Hi LV!!!

Yes, isn’t it something?? I know what you mean about ‘lazy’ types. I observed this. And I wasn’t swayed by any flowery talk of spirituality. I certainly wasn’t impressed by the ‘pioneer’ label.

Back in the day when I was in I was on the fringes of the congregation - knocked for having a full-time job!..I’m grateful for it now as I am Retired. I guess you could say I wasn’t in the ‘nucleus’ 🙄 in the congregation!

While I would never presume to tell somebody else they shouldn’t give, I had No intention of giving anything to anybody there who didn’t want to work. Nope..Not after I was criticized and shunned for my job and labeled as ‘not spiritual’!.. I hope these ‘spiritual’ types can support themselves NOW..If not, they better go ask their ‘spiritual’ friends for money.

Thankfully, I’m Out many years and I would never tolerate being a target. They are desperate nowadays for responsible people to hit up like ATM machines. I would end up telling somebody off…They would hate me yet again..which is alright with me.

14

While the cult of JW asks kids for Ice Cream money......

by mickbobcat in

other churches give kids ice cream.

.

LongHairGal

SMIDDY3:

Yes, I am glad you stress that only OTHER religions do tangible things to help the poor and needy!.. You say in all the years you were active in the JWs you never heard of anybody who got help from the religion itself.. Me neither.

I never heard of the JW religion itself giving anything and I hope all the people there are aware of this fact.. (I hope there are no JWs with delusions to the contrary.) ‘Help’ is only gotten by going around with an envelope to individuals there putting them on the spot asking them for money. Or maybe a generous elder reached into his pocket to help his favorite pioneer.

I’m Glad I’m not in the religion anymore because they would be coming up to me asking for money for people who never wanted to work! 👎 As it is, they are asking for ice cream money.

PUNK OF NICE:

I’m glad for the existence of soup kitchens! I have heard of people who can only afford to eat once a day and/or have to cut pills in half because they are running out of meds. And this is in the good ole US of A.

21

Do any of you ex JW`s ever feel ashamed or embarrassed to admit you were once a JW? To your now friends / associates ?

by smiddy3 in

jw
friends

i ask this now because i have been living in this town for the past 14 years and the circle of friends i have now i have never let on i am an ex jw.. i`m talking about 30-50 people at least.. not that the subject has ever really come up , but i think they would be shocked / amazed that i was a ( i hate this word ) a "devout" jw for 32 years going around knocking on peoples doors trying to convert them to the religion .. yet every now and again i get tempted to.. how say you ?.

LongHairGal

SMIDDY3 & OVERRATED:

I certainly won’t bring up to people I just meet that I was once active in the JW religion because I do realize it sounds corny and stupid…But, if I know them for a while and they get to know me and my history gradually, it might get worked into the conversation.

However, I make it known that I was younger and was misled and it wasn’t what I thought it was. I also stress the fact that it was toxic and I was criticized for having a full-time job and that I wouldn’t be Retired today if I had listened to them and am Glad I walked away from it.

34

What Type of Future do YOU look forward to?

by Revealed in

or dread?.

LongHairGal

REVEALED:

I think a lot of Witnesses ‘dread’ the future. You seem to be hooked on ‘how we got here’. I don’t much care. I just know I’m here.

I am very grateful and take one day at a time and try to enjoy the present.