i stopped going to kingdom hall meetings about nine years ago.
i was fading for the longest time, refused to go out in field service, dropped out of the ministry school talks, no longer answered at the watchtower study, arrived at the meetings the last second, and left as soon as possible.
i couldn't take attending the meetings any longer.
RULES & REGULATIONS:
Wow, I can’t even remember when I was last in a kingdom hall.
It probably was at a memorial in the early or almost mid 2000s. I was in my ‘Fade’ then and might have been keeping up appearances for the few friends I was hanging onto. I recall that a douchebag sister sarcastically asked me what I was doing there and I responded with a witty answer of my own.
The whole thing was cringeworthy and I couldn’t stand being there.
i have heard a few whispers that once again they are going to be changing the generation teaching.
does anybody have on info on this?.
i would love to be able to hit my family with a. .
BEREAN THINKER:
Let them do this and even more will leave, in my opinion...That 1995 teaching on Generation is what finally made me decide to get the hell out of the JW religion.
Before this happened I was ever hopeful that things would improve for me there..even though I was viewed very negatively because I was a single woman who worked. Then came the 1995 teaching and it was Over.
jehovah can't be your father in this life.
'they [jw members] address him prospectively as "our father.
jesus is not your mediator:.
LOST IN THE FOG:
I guess you can make the scriptures say anything you want them to say then? 🙄
In my opinion, the reason the religion wants people to give up their non-JW friends (and relatives) is so that the person can be better controlled if they are totally isolated. This way when they ‘step out of line’ they can be shunned. Otherwise, how can the shunning routine work if the person has other associates or friends to fall back on? They won’t feel the sting of it or maybe wont even notice.
I’m convinced this is why they wanted me to get rid of my so-called worldly friends back then as well as not bothering with my family.
If I had to say what the worst thing about the religion to ME was this ‘isolation’ as well as knocking me for my full time job which, luckily, I ignored.
When I started my ‘Fade’ 20+ years ago, the first thing I did was to mend relationships with my family and Thanks Be to God I did it before it was too late! I have happy memories of sending out Christmas cards and getting together after so much time...You cannot put a price on this!
there are recommendations that we should start doubling up on masks.
some have even suggested that tripling masks would even be better!
what’s your opinion of wearing numerous masks?
MINIMUS:
As a poster said: I wear one mask and only under protest..I’m tired of this. I was in the store today sweating, can hardly breathe, glasses fogging up and wanted to scream. Couldn’t wait to get outside to rip the damn thing off!
I think they just want more business of selling masks. I’m glad I didn’t knock myself out last year going crazy with hand sanitizers and wiping down everything like a maniac! I didn’t wear gloves. I just washed my hands frequently.
I also feel with this worldwide vaccine campaign that IF this doesn’t do the trick to get rid of or greatly reduce this (manmade) virus..and we keep hearing about all these ‘variants’ 🙄..nobody is going to believe a word they hear!
as a jw did you have a pioneer sister/elder's wife who was the biggest busybody, self righteous, arrogant pus in the circuit?
who would look down on others and treat people like crap.. without giving to much away, i experienced one that knew everyone in circuit.
and if she or her husband saw or heard something they didn't like it was " you know what the bible says" regardless if it was in there or not.
OVERRATED:
Back then I really couldn’t stand some of the older women who were pioneers.
Yes, they were self-righteous and considered pillars of the congregations and the elders looked up to them. Meanwhile, some had non-JW husbands who supported them and they had no idea what somebody like me who worked to support myself had to go through!..But, yet I was criticized.
Yes, a so-called worldly man worked forty years so these women could go ringing doorbells and acting pious!..These women also hosted dinners for pioneers (that I wasn’t invited to). Well, anybody who pioneered then and didn’t plan for the future and is suffering financially NOW...can try looking up these great ladies and the rest of the spiritual bunch. Well, Good luck!
jehovah can't be your father in this life.
'they [jw members] address him prospectively as "our father.
jesus is not your mediator:.
SEA BREEZE:
Decades ago when I got involved with the religion it was certainly misrepresented to me what it was all about. This was before the days of the internet and instant information like you have now!
I was interested in End time prophecy and was made to feel they had some ‘special’ bible knowledge 🙄. I was also told they had ‘no clergy’ and that everybody was equal. In fact, I didn’t really see JWs as a religion, per se. It wasn’t until I was in that they lowered the boom.
Then came all the criticism about me: my clothing, getting rid of non-JW friends and being made to feel I shouldn’t be close to my family and that the JWs should be my ‘new’ family. (What a joke.) Also, I was told that I should quit my full time job and take up housecleaning and ‘pioneer’. (I am so GLAD I never fell for this shit. I wouldn’t be Retired today.)..I was also expected to follow in the footsteps of other single women and do favors for all the Users there. (They were delusional if they thought I was stupid enough to do this.)
So, in my case there was a mountain of things that were not told to me upfront. I suppose if they laid all their cards on the table I would have run like crazy!
freedom!
not having to adhere to man made rules and regulations.
not being afraid of maybe “stumbling “ someone..
JHINE:
I do understand that other people are interested in religion and that their experience in their own churches is pleasant. I’m not a basher of people who are churchgoers or deeply involved but I’m just personally not interested. And, Yes, I’m sure there are many differences between JWs and other groups and these other groups can run rings around them in being charitable and Christian.
FEDUPJW:
Yes, the religion’s intrusiveness has got to be seen and experienced to be believed! They have it perfected to an art form..
It’s easy in retrospect to see how it happened. It starts with the love bombing you get when you’re new..then followed by the erroneous belief that everybody there is your ‘friend’. Not true. Then over time a person’s sensibilities are eroded and they tolerate things the average person would think are crazy and run from.
freedom!
not having to adhere to man made rules and regulations.
not being afraid of maybe “stumbling “ someone..
MINIMUS:
I’m happy for many reasons. I am Free and able to be myself the way I was before I got suckered into the religion! I was only interested in End time prophecy anyway.
I am Out twenty years and am no longer interested in religion anyway. For one thing, I would never tolerate the intrusiveness I experienced in the JW religion. These people don’t know what boundaries are and are not acquainted with the phrase ‘none of your business’. Anybody who wants to tolerate this is welcome. The person I am at this point in my life would NEVER tolerate this or the disrespect they dish out in general and especially to women. Adding insult to injury would be never ending appeals for money for people there who never wanted to work! 👎🏻
All the changes that have happened there in the last two decades have made me Very glad I walked away from it all.
life and ministry meeting workbook | september 2020. living as christians.
can you contribute your time and energy?.
ramapo, new york.
HAPPY DAD:
Well, that’s true. Except I think that ALL religions are about certain people ‘living off the fat of the land and not doing any REAL work’.
I agree with all the comments on here and OVERRATED made me laugh about putting fake money (washers) in the contribution box. NOWWHAT: I agree that this could be built for free in the ‘new system’..I guess the ‘End’ couldn’t be any minute now if another colossal building project needs to be done.
HOSER: I’m also glad you woke up in time to salvage a decent part of your life. Me too.
ROCKETMAN: I am also glad, now that I’m Retired, that I never listened to the criticism and labeling I got because I worked full time and never pioneered! ..This ‘Not Spiritual’,🙄 ‘Independent’, ‘Low Hour Publisher’ has NO regrets about that one fact!
being pimo i attend the meetings regularly over zoom.
( i have to as my wife is a dyed -in - the wool, and stick-in-the mud pioneer witness.
i have no possibility of leaving as it would create havoc in my life and at 68 years of age i just don't want the hassle of having to cope with the ramifications of disassociating myself.
MOLYBDENUM:
If you were single, though, you could have done a ‘Fade’ like I did years ago!
But, you are married and don’t need the drama at your age! I don’t consider you a ‘spineless coward’. As long as you are not actively trying to bring people into the religion, though. I couldn’t do that and live with myself!
As far as your birthday coming up in February, that makes you an Aquarius I think. Happy upcoming birthday! Just keep your head low and don’t rock the boat in your home. If your spouse wants to stay in the religion, let them.
I am convinced that a great many people who identify as being Witnesses are really Physically In and Mentally Out. I suspect most of these people are older. This is bad news for the religion because when these older people are gone..that’s it. No way do I believe the JW religion will survive for long!
Meanwhile, you just want peace and quiet. Regards.
