Posts by luna2

37

How do the Kigdom Melodies compare to Christendom's Songs?

by Honesty in

i just have to comment about the canned wtbts music on cd the local congregations play on $150 cd players through $20 speakers set in the foamboard ceilings at their sales meetings worship services.

what a joke the music is that they use to sing praises.

the lyrics remind me of a high school pep rally with all the emphasis on 'we're joe hoba's witnesses and yada-yada-yah preaching from door to door and from house to house' or 'life everlasting in the pair-o-dice' crap that just tickles the dubbies ears so much they get all pretty and pink.

luna2

I have to admit that I liked some of the kingdom melodies, but I couldn't sing them very well. LOL As a whole, though, they can't compare to Chrisendom's songs...and I don't know that the WTS wanted them too really. It's like it was such a virtue to be moderate (boring) in all things.

There were ones with the most dreadful, out of tune, flat voices that would belt those songs out so loudly that if you were anywhere near them you couldn't hear the tape and pretty soon everybody in their vacinity would be out of tune too. I noticed that the folks with good voices, who could actually sing and hit all those difficult notes, would tone it down because they didn't want to make a "showy display". I get not drowning everybody out with some operatic-quality voice, but I thought it was too bad that they were afraid to sing normally because of what those that couldn't sing might think.

45

Things you shouldn't have liked as a Witness.......BUT DID!!!

by ScoobySnax in

jw
friends

when you were a jw can you remember things you should've not liked but did?

i was listening to some dowloads tonight and heard "happy birthday" by stevie wonder, i remember going to a big family party when i was a kid, and my uncle who had some dj decks put this one on for me as it was my birthday (none of my dads side of the family were jw) i loved it.......good memories still of this song.. i remember getting easter eggs too, and thinking however pagan they were, they tasted bloody delicious.

better than "ordinary" chocolate bars.

luna2

I never did give up my love of sci fi/fantasy novels and murder mysteries..both books and tv. I followed the guidelines for movies for a couple of years, no R-rated smut for me....until a sister and I inadvertantly went to see "Rainman". I think the paper had it rated PG13, but when we got to the theater there was a big R on the marquee. Oh my, oh my! What to do? Actually we didn't stress about it. We went. It was fabulous. That was the last time I let the WTS tell me what I could and couldn't watch. Too bad that attitude didn't filter into other aspects of my life sooner.

10

Did you feel their togetherness and nosiness put you in danger?

by LongHairGal in

i know it is an odd question and maybe i am not phrasing it right but i felt with their cult of confession (not just to the elders) but with everybody knowing each other's business it could be a danger.

for example: let's say you were a person who kept a lot of money hidden in your house and you made the mistake of telling one of these wonderful friends - what guarantee did you have that they wouldn't blab it to the wrong person and you could get robbed or something?

i always felt with them that i shouldn't let the right hand know what the left was doing.

luna2

A sister I knew who had been disfellowshipped some time back and returned to the fold after being in the filthy, disgusting world for 10+ years, was very, very careful who she confided anything in. She had a much more liberal view of how to live her life and who she could associate with than what was being drilled into us from the podium and via the WT. I was still rather wide-eyed and innocent in the ways of dubdom and was most intrigued at the way she guarded her privacy. Smart woman.

37

TIME WILL TELL (Did you fake your hours in Field Service?)

by Terry in

jw
friends

i know for certain that brothers in our congregation often lied about their time on field service reports.

(yes, we had to fill out quota reports back in the old days).

one brother, harry, would dump magazines in the storm drains!

luna2

LOL on the family bible study stuff, vitty.

I remember once toward the end when I turned in 0 hours, my bookstudy conductor called a pow wow with me and tried to brainstorm on how I should have at least some time to report. He said I could count it as family study and a return visit just talking to my son about something JW related. I told him that the only religious discussions I'd had with him that month were my weekly efforts to force him to come to the Sunday meetings with me. He seemed disappointed that I wouldn't count those arguments as "family study". Please.

Pioneers...ah, yes. Getting up at the break of dawn to place mags in gas station bathrooms and laundromats to get their time started. Doing return visits out in the country ALL day during the week when they knew no one was likely to be home. Not stopping their time when doing little chores out in service, like going to the bank or running into the grocery or drug store. Some didn't even stop their time when they went on breaks. I was told that one CO's wife wouldn't even stop her time when she forced the car group to stop at garage sales while out in service.

137

What Is "Must See" TV For You?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i like american idol.

luna2

If I can remember to turn the tv on, CSI on Thursday nights and The Red Green Show on PBS Friday nights. Oh, and I like House, but I don't remember when that's on so I just have to happen to catch it. LOL

37

TIME WILL TELL (Did you fake your hours in Field Service?)

by Terry in

jw
friends

i know for certain that brothers in our congregation often lied about their time on field service reports.

(yes, we had to fill out quota reports back in the old days).

one brother, harry, would dump magazines in the storm drains!

luna2

Hmmmm....In the beginning, when I was still studying, but had progressed to going out in service, I didn't report any time at all. I'm not sure what the requirements are now, but when I went to discuss baptism with the elders, I was slapped on the wrist for not having turned time in and made to wait for a period of time before I was allowed to be baptised. Nobody had ever bothered to let me know that I should have been doing that as an unbaptised publisher. What's funny is that I was going out 20 to 25 hours a month (not working full-time yet), which is the most I've ever done on a regular basis in service.

The first few years after baptism, I was meticulous about reporting time to the point of under-reporting because I'd rather err on the side of absolute honesty. There was allowable time that I could have reported I guess, but it seemed like "cheating" to me, so I didn't. Once I started working more, my hours dropped because I could only go out on weekends...and, really, Saturday service was a joke. We'd be out all morning, having gotten up at 7:30 in order to have breakfast, get dressed up in service clothes, prepare our presentations and get to the Hall by 9:00. The meeting for service would last anywhere from a half an hour (rare) to 45+ min., driving to the territory could take another 15 min. to half an hour, and then we'd usually take a McDonald's break which could easily last an hour. Some Saturdays we'd be out until noon and have less than an hour's worth of countable service time.

After being pressured a couple of times by the elder I worked for, I started rounding my time up. I didn't lie, but I counted every scrap of time I could; informal witnessing, bible study with my kids (which I hadn't counted previously), dropping mags off at the laundromat to start my time...all the stuff I'd looked at as padding before.

That couple of months in the beginning, where I counted no time at all, was the best time I ever had in service. Having to record everything and turn it in, and worry that it wasn't enough really sucked the joy out of it.

21

Closure? What has been your experience?

by ljwtiamb in

what has given you the greatest peace of mind?

must one initiate their own exit or does it matter that a jc pushes an issue?

df or da or fade?

luna2

Thanks for the welcome, evita!

20

low self esteem issues....need some experiences.......please

by eye 23 in

.

i wondered if anyone would give me their stories of how the wtbts stole their selfesteem....doesn't have to be long.. need to show someone that this is indeed what happens to some..... as a good friend of mine said .

'if i'm no good for god, i'm no good for anyone' .

luna2

I started studying just as my marriage to my emotionally abusive ex was ending. I think I thought that this "loving" group of people was just what I needed; an added bonus to having discovered the only true religion. Was I ever delusional. Ho, ho, ho.

I worked for a couple of "friends" in the months before and a couple years after I was baptised. Looking back, I'm surprised I made it all the way to baptism. I have never, before or since, worked for more difficult people. They were demanding, nasty, dishonest and extremely selfish and manipulative...but somehow they made it seem like they were the ones doing more than their Christian duty by employing me. It was demoralizing. When you add to that all the admonishments we would get at every meeting about doing more, and more, and more; and If you're depressed it must mean you don't pray enough or go out in service enough or make the meetings enough or have enough Bible studies, a person gets pretty beat down. It's a system of brow beating, blame, and guilt trips. By the time I'd been a JW for five years, I had health trouble, no insurance, no money and not a shred of self-esteem left at all.

33

In My Opinion...

by OldSoul in

in my opinion (for the sake of sixofnine and his propensity toward apoplexy):.

it seems to me that while there are many issues that we could address regarding the watchtower bible and tract society/governing body/congregation of jehovah's witnesses, there is one that stands out as uniquely given to ease of communication.

i would like to take this opportunity to state which issue and why, then invite open commentary.. the issue of the watchtower bible and tract society attaching itself to the un/dpi.. while i readily agree that this is minor in importance compared to matters like child molestation and failed prophecy, i see this as the easiest to bring up, the easiest to substantiate, and the easiest to demonstrate long-term gross error in.

luna2

What upsets me most right now is that when a friend of mine told me about this quite some time ago, while I didn't even question that it was true, I had to fight down the conditioning to make excuses for the WTS.

Seems like I still have a ways to go to get rid of all the brainwashing.

21

Closure? What has been your experience?

by ljwtiamb in

what has given you the greatest peace of mind?

must one initiate their own exit or does it matter that a jc pushes an issue?

df or da or fade?

luna2

Hi, I'm brand new to the board and brand new to the realization that JW's do NOT have the truth, so I'm still working on the closure bit. However, I will say that knowledge, real accurate knowledge and not the twisted reasoning from the WT, is what is helping me.

I did the fade. I hadn't thought of it like that when it began, but that's what happened. It started with the TMS. I was under a lot of stress at the time, and it all seemed like a bunch of nonsense; a waste of time. I could literally put together an adequate talk in less than an hour. The school made NO difference in my abilities in the door to door work. I still hated that and stunk at it. So I quit the school. I still went for a while, but I worked ten-hour days and night time meetings really sucked, so I eventually stopped going.

Next was the book study. I was meeting with a group at the KH on Thursday afternoons. Perfect. Lovely group of people with one of the older brothers conducting. I loved it. I told the brothers I loved it. Bad idea. Next thing I knew I was assigned to another book study. Nights, in a dark, cramped livingroom with a wood stove blasting enough heat to make it feel like a sauna. I asked the brothers if I could transfer back to the afternoon KH study, but Nooooo. Have to show submission to the arrangement, don't you know. I slowly stopped going.

All that was left was the Public Talk and Watchtower Study. We all know what the Watchtower Study is like...boring rote answers almost always read straight from the paragraphs. Please, somebody, tell me what the point of that is? Ugh. I'd often skip out the backdoor on days when I couldn't bare to waste another hour farting around listening to people read and re-read what I'd already read. Ugh! The final straw for the Public Talk came when I found myself nodding off during the middle of it one Sunday. I remember waking up on the following Sunday morning and deciding that my heart condition was so bad that there was no point in going. Jehovah knew that I didn't want to be there, what was the purpose in pretending....and that was it.

I'd decided that I was at fault and that I'd return someday. I still thought it was the truth. I've been floating along this way for almost four years. A friend of mine from my previous congregation in Illinois disassociated herself last year. She's been delving into dreaded apostate material for quite some time and just last week sent me one ex-brother's testimony. It struck a cord with me immediately. At first I was upset (oddly enough), but it started me on an exploration of my own and I was stunned at what I've found. It's not the truth! The relief is overwhelming (as is the guilt and embarrassment).

I think, for me, true closure will come when I disassociate myself. I'm fortunate in that I'm the only JW in my family and this impacts them not at all. The few friends I had in this congregation I haven't truly spoken to for the past two years. My best friends from my first congregation are either already out or on their way. It's just a shame it took us 15 - 16 years to see this organization for what it really is.

Eeek...this is long. Sincere apologies!

Sheesh, I know html, but I'm worried that this is going to post wrong. Hope not.