Posts by Grace

44

My Story..... Need advice on reinstatement Letter.

by jrjr4189 in

i've been a member of the site for a month, but have been reading the posts for a lot longer, however this is my first post.

i was raised a j-dub by my mother (my father wasn't religious) with my sister and brother.

i was pretty much convinced by my dub friends, bible study conductor, and mother that i should get baptized when i was 15 and decided to go for it.

Grace

Is your wife a Witness? This would be a heavy thing to hang on her... to suddenly become a faithful Witness AFTER marriage. This is what my husband did, and even now, after 15 years, our marriage is hanging by a thread at any given moment because of the Watchtower slave he is (as well as the intolerable alcoholic he is because he's so screwed up by Watchtower).

My experience tells me that if you are reinstated and your wife is not a Witness, your marriage will fail. Sorry to be so blunt, but I've been there, done that.

Grace to you.

40

Out of Bethel and still recovering

by livingalie in

hello to all im new to the site i have been looking for about two weeks now .i was at brooklyn bethel from 1994 -1999 and i worked in the barber shop office blgd.

(25 columbia heights ) .i just wanted to say hi and that many of your post have really been helpful to me as i have gone though some tough times on all levels .

thanks for letting me just state that .

Grace

Welcome! You will find more caring and understanding on this board than you ever did at Bethel, I'm sure.

I invite you to share your story. It could be such a source of encouragement to others.

Grace to you.

28

Dis-association letter

by Suzie in

jw
friends

ok, i have thought about it too long and hard and came to the conclusion that this really is something that i want to do!

i don't know exactly how to write my letter to dis-associate myself and exactly who i should send it too.

i was readding somethings before that had talked about people sending a copy to there old friends to let them know as well.

Grace

I agree to write a simple letter stating that you disassociate yourself. Send it to your congregation's PO and state no reasons. Just cut the tie.

They will want to visit you and chastise you, but be clear that YOU ARE NO LONGER PLAYING BY THEIR RULES. This is very important. In my case, I refused to have them in my home. I had a number of phone calls and was a broken record. When the Elder said, "This means your friends will choose not to talk to you," I kept repeating, "I choose to be a Christian. I cannot help how anyone else behaves." I kept repeating, "I choose to be a Christian"; the message was very clear that a Jehovah's Witness life is not a Christain life.

They chose to announce my disassociation just before my husband was to give a talk even though they had many other opportunities to announce this. It just goes to show you that they are masochistic mean bastards.

Grace to you.

26

How can I put a lid on this instant RAGE?

by sass_my_frass in

jw
friends

ugh, okay, here's the story: i've been doing quite well, but today i heard about a good jw friend who now shuns me.

at first it sounded like he was feeling remorseful and wanted to get in touch again.

*buzzz* wrong!

Grace

You have to let go of all of this and live your life. Hanging onto rage gives them perpetual control.

And forgive them completely. Not only is it what a REAL Christian would do, it's the most selfish thing you can do for your own life. We forgive people so WE can move on; really, it has nothing to do with them. They don't have to know you forgive them because forgiveness is between you and God, not you and them.

You can't get blood out of a stone. That's what the programmed Witnesses are and that's why they're so screwed up...they're completely cold and empty. They don't have real faith, just a void that gets filled with empty promises and empty words five times a day. Real faith is lived 24 hours a day and real faith doesn't have to count and report time.

Being angry is a choice. Choose not to. Seize your own power back. This is what I do on a daily basis and I feel really, really good about my life. They have absolutely no power over me anymore, and when I am shunned I thank God that I am not made of the stuff that can do this to others.

Hope this helps. Tomorrow will be better.

Grace

44

I accuse my wife of apostacy. Hilarity ensues.

by under_believer in

jw
friends

this one ranged all over the place.

i post these because i am hoping someone can give me additional advice.

wife: why didn't you want to read the daily text to the kids?

Grace

I disagree with those who said that this treatment of your wife is not respectful. I applaud your intellect and effort in trying to get your wife to see the ridiculousness of the Watchtower doctrine, which cannot hold itself up in a simple conversation.

It is not disrespectful, it is courageous.

Grace

21

It's when you don't expect to be SHUNNED...

by Ms. Whip in

jw
friends

...that it hurts the most.

today, when i was walking into the grocery store entrance an old jw friend of mine was walking out.

it was one of those face to face akward moments where there's no way you can pretend the other person isn't there.

Grace

I was thinking about this earlier today...any one of us who saw the light and left simply changed the game. Things were fine when we played by their rules; however, when we changed the game, they pout like little kids in the sandbox.

This is not the love of God nor is it the love of Christ that is in them. It is hatred, fueled by cult-control robotic tactics. I truly feel sorry for those that shun me. To go an entire life without the forgiving, accepting love that Christ taught is worse than life in prison.

So, don't feel sorry for yourself. Feel sorry for them. I do!

Grace to you.

48

When did you realize that you were part of a cult?

by JH in

jw
friends

.

as a jw, i never thought that i was in a cult.

i thought that other religions were a cult, but not us.. what made you realize that the jw's is a cult?

Grace

I always knew they were weak-minded people hiding behind the veil of pre-programmed verbal regurgitation (I was not raised a JW); however, when 9/11 happened, I knew it could have been witnesses flying the planes because 1) the witnesses live only for after they're dead; and 2) they blindly follow orders.

This scared me into reality and I left, putting my marriage into jeopardy.

Grace to you.

4

At church today..for JW's and others interested..and others Not interested.

by AuntieJane in

jw
friends

ok, now that i have your attention!

just wanted to share a reading from church today, i could not help but sit and think about the new world translation, and wondered if jw's are able to "get this" from that book.

would be interesting to compare it.if anyone can let me know, does the nwt say these words, or has it replaced jc with jehovah?

Grace

I noticed this scripture and read it, too, because it was on the lectionary. Goes to show the double-speak from Watchtower which is meant to confuse, not illuminate.

All they have is their jargon. Even when my JW husband wants to criticize me and make fun of me for attending church, he cannot think of his own words. Last week he asked do I just "tickle their ears" when I give a sermon (I am now a Lay Minister in my church).

He is filled only with empty Watchtower words, but no original thought-provoking thoughts. Quite sad, really.

Grace

21

The Wedding Saga...Episode 2

by Krystal in

how cruel can these people be??.

1) my dad informs me this spring that my sister is getting married.. 2) i am of course not informed of the actual date incase i decide to show up.

3) i am sent a wedding invitation after the wedding has taken place along with a little letter from mom and dad.. 4) i get an e-mail from my mom with the link to the website of wedding photos and gushing dub comments.... "what a lovely family" blah blah blah.

Grace

I know this one, believe me. I got kicked out of my step-daughter's wedding ~ her third at age 23 because Watchtower and her fanatical birthmother who abandoned her at age 11 screwed her up so badly. I raised the child as my own while all the JW relatvies pushed her from pillar to post throughout her formative years. I even brought her back from the brink of death when she was 11 and I got full custody and she was anorexic and hospitalized.

So, for her third marriage she married a JW from a fanatical uneducated and bankrupt family. Her mother, who refused to see her for her teenage years (because her mother was swooning a MS and finally married the guy only to divorce him, of course not scripturally, years later and walk off with $80 thousand) didn't want her around. It was the MS's demands that no children would be in his house.

So, at the wedding, I got kicked out and her mother rode in the limo and walked up the aisle at the KH.

I truly didn't know such ignorance existed among humankind.

Grace

19

Anointed Sealed...

by zeroday in

jw
friends

it has been over 70 years since the anointed number has been sealed.

assuming those anointed were of reasoning age when the number was sealed and the great crowd came into play, how long will the fds stick to this reasoning that the anointed still exist.

or will there be "new light" as in the 1914 understanding.

Grace

When Watchtower needed wiggle room out of this one, I remember reading a mag which said that younger anointed ones are "replacements" because of others who fell from God's grace.

More spin on a flawed concept.

Grace to you.