Posts by LongHairGal

34

My goodness! Fourteen years since I began posting here...

by garyneal in

jw
friends

i'm not sure if anyone remembers me since i do not post here much anymore.

i sometimes pop in around christmas time to see if anyone is interested in exchanging christmas cards like we used to back when i first posted on this site.

speaking of which, the holiday season will soon be upon us.. if you recall, i was married to a jehovah's witness and i had a daughter i spoke of a lot.

LongHairGal

GARYNEAL:

Welcome back!

NOTFORMER:

I also think the poster ‘Bribie’ can use some brightening up.🙄 When I first was ‘Fading’ from the Jehovah’s Witness religion - the FIRST thing I did was to send out Christmas/Holiday cards to my estranged non-JW relatives and family friends.

These were the good people I mistakenly turned my back on (on the say so of the religion). The religion wanted to isolate me from my friends and family!👎 At the end of my unhappy saga in the Witness religion, I came to realize my mistake and I am eternally grateful I was able to get in touch with all these people before it was too late! It was wonderful to be in touch and celebrate Christmas again and it brought back happy memories from childhood.

It felt great and I’ll always remember the feeling of coming back into the light after being in a dark place.

8

They still call it Pizza but it doesn’t taste like it anymore.

by Fisherman in

i remember as a kid that a slice of pizza was a dime, the same price for a large bag of m&ms or a large hershey’s bar or an ice cream popsicle, box of cracker jacks, bag of potato chips, bus fare.

the dimes were made out of silver and many of them were mercury dimes with the dates worn off.

…and while nowadays except for the pizza, everything tastes about the same only now costing 10 times as much, bus fare costs 28x as much and pizza costs 40x as much:.

LongHairGal

FISHERMAN:

Unless you go to a ‘Little Italy’ somewhere or a neighborhood that is predominantly Italian, you won’t usually get good pizza nowadays!

24

1974 and all that

by Number 6 in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xznh9icm1os.

i came across this footage recently whilst searching for something completely unrelated and it blew me away!.

it's from the august 1974 convention at murrayfield, edinburgh and you can clearly see the stage set up still keeping the 6000 years and 1975 mantra going.. what makes this very personal for me is that i was here.

LongHairGal

THOMAS COVENANT:

That is certainly true about ‘worldly people’ knowing that they are going to die someday.

I can imagine that it must be shocking for a born-in JW to come to terms with being taught they were not.

I was raised Catholic and came into the JW religion when in my 20s. I never entirely bought into their belief about ‘not getting old or dying’.. But, I kept my thoughts to myself and figured other people in the religion can believe what they want.

When I finally ‘Faded’ from the Witness religion, the first thing I did was to rid my mind of any vestiges of paradise teachings or live forever fantasies. I felt this was an unhealthy trick to play on my mind.. I had no problem and figured it was because I never really bought it - among other things Witnesses taught.

47

Retirement savings

by TxNVSue2023 in

what's the current jw stance on retirement savings?

i know it changed.

pre1975 it was an attitude of "don't worry about retirement, this system is ending soon".

LongHairGal

RIVERGANG:

I suppose as older people your parents noticed things that a younger person wouldn’t - like older people with cushy lives and collecting pensions.. I was caught up in the ‘love bombing’ so this wasn’t obvious right away.

Of course, the love bombing turned to hate when the Witnesses realized I wasn’t going to follow in the footsteps of other younger women.. Doing housecleaning and pioneering was expected. This is why there are broke pioneers today who can’t retire. Instead of getting careers when young, they were deceived into wasting time in the ministry and doing favors for Users there.. (Of course, they were invited to gatherings that I was not invited to back then.. They should track down these ‘spiritual’ friends for handouts! )

No, the religion was certainly not looking out for my best interest. I kept that job they all hated me for until Retirement. Maybe my ‘worldly’ upbringing saved me. But, I have to say this: I saw the handwriting on the wall and knew reality would eventually hit all these Witnesses who never really worked - and I didn’t want to be anywhere near them!

I’m so Glad I’m Out.

26

Is the USA gradually moving to a majority of citizens being non-religious

by Reasonfirst in

jw
friends

this is a topic discussed in a current article in the hongkong based asia times*.

find it at: https://asiatimes.com/2023/09/nones-still-no-match-for-us-christian-nationalism/.

the claim is made in the article, that near 30% of americans are non-believers, and that this number is increasing.

LongHairGal

REASONFIRST:

I think to a degree this must be true since the parents of Baby Boomers (big church goers) are almost all gone and many Baby Boomers themselves are passing away!

When these people died they also stopped contributing (and this is the problem the Witness religion is also facing).. However, in spite of this there are still people here and there who attend. Of course, there are immigrants who are churchgoers. But, I do not imagine they are filling the contribution boxes like people years ago!

In fact, some needy are expecting help or assistance from the church itself or other parishioners!.. I know of a lady who got involved with some ‘church’ and tried to get me to go there. I said No thanks!.. She later on was persuaded to take a woman into her home who ended up being a squatter!! What a hard time she had finally getting rid of this person!

16

How many people thought about suicide after they were disfellowshipped

by Lee Marsh in

i know i was suicidal before i was disfellowshipped.

and it got worse after i left.

one night a friend told me that he went home the night before and wasn't sure if he would ever hear from me again.

LongHairGal

LEE MARSH:

So much tragedy and I am sorry for anybody who was touched by it!

By the way, I am a long-time ‘Fader’... However, I have heard of suicides by Witnesses who were not disfellowshipped.. I don’t want to imagine what was in their minds and what drove them to this desperation.

What am I supposed to think about any particular religion/group/movement that is known to have this tragic thing happen? Is this a coincidence? For so many reasons I am Glad I’m out and have no family there.

60

Goodbye Mother

by punkofnice in

jw
friends

so my mother passed on 20 aug 23 from the big c. i was there when she went.

that was indeed very traumatic.

i won't go to describe it.. dad went 17 years ago so there's just me now.

LongHairGal

PUNKOFNICE:

So sorry for the loss of your mom.

I am glad you did not have a JW funeral as it is nothing more than an infomercial. And never mind the Witnesses who refused to speak. The religion caused them to lose their humanity. Good riddance to them.

47

Retirement savings

by TxNVSue2023 in

what's the current jw stance on retirement savings?

i know it changed.

pre1975 it was an attitude of "don't worry about retirement, this system is ending soon".

LongHairGal

FOOLEDNOMORE:

Yes, the sad story you told is related to the subject.

The common theme is somebody dropping out of the responsible ‘real’ world in order to ‘peddle the Witness dream’ - not unlike a JW not wanting to work/save for retirement, instead opting to be in the ministry.

There really isn’t any sane excuse to do what this man did (quit his job, right?). He would need good medical coverage and had to work in order to have it.. He would go on disability for the duration of his treatment. But he would still technically be employed. The treatments would mostly be covered and he would be responsible for copayments, etc. At least it wouldn’t be the disaster he left for his wife.

This isn’t the first time some JW mindlessly cast everything to the wind! Sounds like a child.. This is what happens in a group that cuts itself off from the rest of society and is not exposed to plain old common sense.

47

Retirement savings

by TxNVSue2023 in

what's the current jw stance on retirement savings?

i know it changed.

pre1975 it was an attitude of "don't worry about retirement, this system is ending soon".

LongHairGal

LV101:

Very true and if I could give your post a hundred Likes, I certainly would.

People need to know this.

Yes, a woman MUST be able to provide for herself not only if she remains single. Marriages DO end and what happens if the guy loses his job or hurts his back, gets sick?? At least then she can put food on the table, etc.

The Witnesses are foolish to not deal in every day reality👎.. I feel sorry for anybody who listens to people living a cloistered life in ignorance, shielded from the world. What a mistake.

47

Retirement savings

by TxNVSue2023 in

what's the current jw stance on retirement savings?

i know it changed.

pre1975 it was an attitude of "don't worry about retirement, this system is ending soon".

LongHairGal

RIVERGANG:

Your father was certainly right to tell you that the family you were spurning (in your ignorance) would be the ONLY ones that would help you.. Try looking to the religion or the people there for a$$istance.🤣

Your expression about ‘the bones of your backside’ can be frightfully true! 😬 It’s not easy out here even for those who planned.

Although I didn’t have the exact same conversation with my non-JW parents, they knew it was a mistake when I got involved with the Witnesses.. I had to ‘eat crow’ and apologize when I finally left.. Thankfully, I held onto my job. My so-called ‘worldly’ upbringing prevailed.

BALAAMSASS2:

Your depiction of the religion’s ’paradise’ is so pleasant with the view of the mountains and I imagine birds chirping and flowers blowing in the breeze! .. Also the lovely lady with the fruit basket is probably wearing a Tyrolean outfit!.. If it were a tropical locale the scenery would be a little different! 😊.. But, let JWs continue daydreaming and not planning at their own risk.