Posts by LongHairGal

42

What would happen to a JW for celebrating Christmas?

by Vanderhoven7 in

mark jones writes:.

if they were spied upon and it was reported to the elders they’d be “invited” to a judicial committee whereupon they’d be cross examined in a locked backroom by three men acting as judge and jury to decide if they are guilty.. .

if the elders decide that they are guilty, they’ll then decide if the person is sorry.

LongHairGal

KERRY KING:

I am glad you are able to see the importance of celebrations and holidays for forging strong family ties!

I was raised Roman Catholic and so thankful I had these things and wonderful memories of caring people including beautiful decorations and cooking aromas.. These were priceless and in sharp contrast to the sterile environment of JWs.

Right before I started my ‘Fade’ from the Jehovah’s Witness religion, I sent out Holiday cards for the first time in decades!.. I also re-established contact with estranged relatives before it was too late.👍🏻. I had much apologizing and explaining to do but people were understanding!

You were correct about those JWs who abandoned their families and got ‘married’ to the organization in a sense.. If these Witnesses are expecting the org. (or any of their spiritual friends) to take care of them in their old age they are in for a very rude awakening!

15

Crisis of Conscience available for free on Audible

by nicolaou in

i'm unclear on how this has been achieved or if permissions have been given.

presumably, audible (part of amazon) have their own procedures to ensure legality, but here it is nonetheless;.

listen to crisis of conscience - raymond franz by crisis of conscience - raymond franz on audible.

LongHairGal

JEFF T:

I remember when a friend loaned me her copy of ‘Crisis of Conscience’.

She made fun of me (and rightfully so) when she saw how I turned it over and hid the cover. I’m ashamed to say that this was true. However, the book was a powerhouse and I was sorry I hadn’t read it sooner.

10

found a picture of my first wife

by stan livedeath in

.

LongHairGal

BALAAMSASS2:

One thing I don’t miss about the JW religion are the envious women who have such issues about other women there with nice figures.. They always had criticism about attractive stylish women and their outfits.

I can only imagine now with the wearing of pants that these same women with serious issues will have something more to complain about!!

50

Pomo because of Proclaimers book, 1995 generation change and Daniel prophecy book

by Gorb in

jw
friends

have some time thinking about my recent and less recent personal history because of the summer holiday.. the 90's crossed my mind.

the years i became pimo.

a friend, a room mate during the 1993 moscow international convention, went to university.

LongHairGal

DESIROUS OF CHANGE:

I’m glad you finally did get out though!

You’re probably not the only one who hung around until that Overlapping crap. I was long Out by then, thankfully..

But, the real issue with 1995 was the time element for people who didn’t have a decent job and were waiting for Armageddon to ‘save’ them.. That was a linchpin teaching.. When that got thrown out the window, people realized this ‘system’ would be around longer… They did the math and realized it was later than they thought and they better do something.. I had a hypocritical elder tell me he was putting in more overtime to save for his retirement.. But he didn’t leave the religion. I got out because that was the last straw as far as I was concerned.. I just didn’t believe them anymore.

It’s also possible some Witnesses there weren’t worried about their financial/job situation and hung around after 1995 and maybe even stuck around after the ‘Overcrapping’ nonsense.

I think anybody who is left in the JWs at this point does NOT care what is being taught.

16

Sad observation

by Gorb in

jw
friends

reading about jw.org rules changes these days gives me a sad observation.. everything what "is" today, can be gone tomorrow.. that makes it all worthless.

you were an elder, searching for evidence, and proof to df a person.

because he or she was not humble enough.

LongHairGal

KERRY KING:

As somebody who was not born in the JW religion, I found their stand against so-called worldly people to be ridiculous.

I came to see, as you did, that the Witnesses were very unloving and cliquey. ‘Worldly’ people could run rings around Witnesses in being loving and charitable. When I examined the Witness philosophy about life I found it ridiculous.

Jehovah’s Witnesses play a dangerous game of pretend and act like they are a little village in ancient Israel. In this village everybody’s needs are taken care of. Well, the REALITY is that they are not. They are a religion made up of people who have to go OUT into the real world to get employment and their education as well. They have to FUNCTION in the real world. Witnesses mentally cripple their people so they cannot function.

As somebody raised Catholic who came into the JWs as a young working adult, I could see their mindset was absurd - and that’s why they could never convince me to do something so stupid as to quit a good job to be in an unpaid ministry!

50

Pomo because of Proclaimers book, 1995 generation change and Daniel prophecy book

by Gorb in

jw
friends

have some time thinking about my recent and less recent personal history because of the summer holiday.. the 90's crossed my mind.

the years i became pimo.

a friend, a room mate during the 1993 moscow international convention, went to university.

LongHairGal

BLONDIE:

I remember that feeling you describe like being freed from prison.

My planned ‘Fade’ from the Jehovah’s Witnesses came after a year-long internet study of their history.. I started my ‘Fade’ on the night of a weeknight meeting.

It was winter. I remember staying home and watching CSI... It felt strange at first because I was breaking a habit but I was glad to not be going out in my car on a cold night.. But, the real free feeling was sleeping in on the weekend mornings. I was ecstatic.. Sunday was special and I felt so great getting up and leisurely making breakfast.

I had finally pulled myself out of this trap and freed myself of the load of bricks.. It was the best thing I did for myself! I escaped their controlling clutches and kept my job until retirement. They hated me but so what?

50

Pomo because of Proclaimers book, 1995 generation change and Daniel prophecy book

by Gorb in

jw
friends

have some time thinking about my recent and less recent personal history because of the summer holiday.. the 90's crossed my mind.

the years i became pimo.

a friend, a room mate during the 1993 moscow international convention, went to university.

LongHairGal

MOOMANCHU:

You and a lot of others said bye bye to the JW religion. But not all left right away.

Some, like me, took several years. I didn’t know what to do with myself but I was on the fringes of the congregation and my attendance dropped.. I started a ‘Fade’ at the right moment.. But, I had a full-time job so I didn’t have to worry about that.

Besides Fading, other Witnesses had to get serious about a decent job and those that had an ounce of intelligence acted without delay!! ..Nineteen ninety five is almost 30 years ago.. Certainly this was enough time to do something about retirement and paying into SS if somebody was serious enough and realized the gravity of their situation.

I don’t know what to say about Witnesses who did not heed this very loud wake-up call. What a shame if they did absolutely nothing!😞

3

Are Jehovah's Witnesses Trapped in a Cycle? The Impact of Advice from Older Members

by raymond frantz in

https://youtu.be/b4ydzsyycve?si=eahti8ccv5hekpqv.

so in the first clip i posted few days ago this young couple especially the sister are struggling with being committed active jws, very likely pioneers, and also following harmful advice from the watchtower not to have a family or higher education ot a better job.

now as things worsen they find it hard to cope.

LongHairGal

RAYMOND FRANTZ:

I watched it. Very touching.

The one thing the elderly man said that I tend to agree with was him saying not to keep focused on the end coming (or words to that effect).. It just so happens that I did not leave the religion because I ‘couldn’t wait for Armageddon’. No, I walked away after the 1995 Generation teaching because I felt the Witness religion was just stringing everybody along. I didn’t believe they had any truth!

As for JWs here in the US: somebody talking to older people there may not necessarily make them feel good if that person is struggling.

The first type of older JWs that I remembered were ones who pioneered and struggled (and were looked down upon like idiots - especially since they were looking for handouts and were resented by everybody); the other type were the ones with cushy lives. They were enjoying life and not necessarily wishing for any ‘End’ to come!

The second type with the comfortable lives were clearly happier and content to live out their lives in ‘this system’.

50

Pomo because of Proclaimers book, 1995 generation change and Daniel prophecy book

by Gorb in

jw
friends

have some time thinking about my recent and less recent personal history because of the summer holiday.. the 90's crossed my mind.

the years i became pimo.

a friend, a room mate during the 1993 moscow international convention, went to university.

LongHairGal

BETH SARIM:

Yes, 1995 did it for me. I was in the hall and felt like I got sucker punched because I first heard it there and had not prepared for the meeting.

I also recall being bothered because they just sneaked it into the paragraph. Were they hoping nobody would notice?.. Well, I noticed it and I then vowed on the spot to get out of the religion and I did.

As for your comment about those with fancy cars, etc. making judgmental remarks about people with decent jobs (ie. anything other than the approved cleaning); I was a target of that hate campaign.. But, I ignored those hypocrites and kept on working full time like many responsible people did.. No regrets.

57

Holding a grudge

by LongHairGal in

i read something recently on reddit (not sure what thread) where a person related how some jw told them that ‘they hold a grudge’.. this reminded me of something an old jw acquaintance said to me some years back when i related my bad experience in the religion.. so, apparently, jehovah’s witnesses feel they should be forgiven for anything.

people should forget all about it and act like nothing happened and be charitable towards them, etc… when i read in james and ephesians i got the sense ‘holding a grudge’ was referring to the things average people do to offend each other.. i don’t see it applying to a religion that claimed to speak for god and who engendered hateful and unchristian attitudes towards people.. i know because i experienced this.. in addition, some people’s lives were damaged by listening to faulty teachings and interference in things that were clearly none of anybody’s business.. one case in point: them knocking worldly careers and now there are thousands of destitute jws in senior years with nothing.. then in 2023 the religion does away with a century old teaching about counting hours in the ministry.

meanwhile, i got judged over this.

LongHairGal

LV101:

My old acquaintance was a married woman who had no concept of what it was like to work and support herself. A man supported her and she never thought twice about it.

The worst attitude was they imagined I (as a single woman) should ‘persecute’ myself and live poorly with a roommate and have no life. They thought I should pioneer, do housecleaning and favors for Users. Meanwhile, they lived in luxury.. Imagine the fkng audacity?

Listen, I know some marriages are hell and some women are abused. I’m not talking about them. I’m referring to those who are mostly older with children out of the house. They have a cushy life because the man makes a good living (and I do not begrudge anybody that).

My problem is when they made idiot remarks about somebody like me. I was getting home late from my ft job. When I got to the hall say on a Thursday night meeting, I was coming in from a long day of work, maybe cold inclement weather. Sometimes I hadn’t had dinner yet. Meanwhile, they just pushed themselves away from their dinner tables after an easy day. The problem is when they made unforgivable remarks about people’s ‘spirituality’ and not pioneering. Some of these ‘great ladies’ might have hosted those special dinners for young pioneers. Of course, I was never invited to them but I have to say it proved to be worth every penny not to have been!

When the stupid religion took away the reporting of hours and time slips (2023), I was ever so glad I never listened to their garbage and had no regrets about what I did.