Giving talks in the TMS
Not going to college
Not being able to date in High School
Not being able to play sports
Not being able to make friends w/anyone who wasn't a witness
happy1975
JoinedPosts by happy1975
-
39
What Are "Unfair" Things JWs Made You Do?
by minimus ini was thinking how unnatural it is for most people to knock on stranger's doors and tell them that if they don't respond to what they were trying to get across, that they were going to be killed by god.
.....then there's the obligation to join the theocratic ministry school and go on a platform and give talks---even if you had a phobia!
.....or you're made to feel that you must answer at the meetings even if you're extremely shy.....are there other things that you can think of that made you totally uncomfortable?
-
-
happy1975
-
8
Incredible Irony...
by Confession init is perhaps one of the greatest ironies i will ever witness in my life.
more than all other religions i know, jehovahs witnesses ardently emphasize the need to flee from idolatry.
no crosses, no holidays, no national emblems dont hang posters of pop culture icons, dont emulate worldly athletes or celebrities jehovahs witnesses are intensely concerned about committing idolatry, but they cannot see that their devotion to the watchtower society is as idolatrous as a thing could be.
-
-
happy1975
Amazing point - And so obvious to me now that I'm out. No matter how many times I heard those scriptures as a JW, I never made the connection. I guess what's even more amazing is that while you're a witness you're convinced that you're following those scriptures, not doing the exact opposite. -Happy
-
19
0-16. My Story.
by serotonin_wraith ini was raised from the womb until the age of 16 as a jw, i was never really a part of it.
i never got baptized, by the end i hated everything about it.
the worst part was not being able to voice any opinions i had on the religion, not unless i wanted them to fall on deaf ears and be considered immoral.
-
-
happy1975
Hi SW,
Thanks for sharing your story. Kudos on getting out when you did, it took me until almost 30 to do what you did at 16.
-Happy
-
13
Stress and witoid life
by sinis infunny how witnoids used to preach that they currently lived in "spiritual paradise".
yea!
if you realy stop and think about it, witnoids are under more pressure and stress (dealing with real life and witnoid life) than those who are "worldly".
-
-
happy1975
The stress is what finally got me out. I was so sick of the pressure of never feeling like I was doing enough - study, field service, personal study. Oh, and I also DREADED Tuesdays, Thursdays because those were my meeting nights. There's nothing quite like rushing home from work, wolfing down some food, running through the shower, getting dressed up and then sitting around for two hours getting told that you're not doing QUITE enough....
-
30
you call it cognitive dissonance. i call it pain
by coolhandluke inwhen i was growing up i never watched cartoons.
i didn't play with other kids who were not of the same faith.
i didn't curse.
-
-
happy1975
WOW
Incredibly well said. Thank you.
-happy
-
53
thinking positively - what is the best thing that happened to you or ...
by Crumpet in.
that you accomplished in the last 24 hours?.
i ask becase i just keep reading lots of gripey posts (with good reason for sure, but i wanted to hear positive stuff no matter how mediocre or ordinary it might sound).. so tell me what was your highspot?
-
-
happy1975
I cuddled in bed this morning with my 9 month old baby girl...
-happy
-
11
The Watchtower Game!
by Confession induring the nineties, there was a big mexican family that attended our congregation.
while they were not financially well off, they often enjoyed having the friends over for gatherings in their large home.
did it have something to do with the way sister oliveros actually said the word broom-ho?
-
-
happy1975
Confession,
Great observation about how that stupid game (I say "stupid" because I too would have been the last participant to figure it out) relates to being trapped in the Org.
Stupid Org....
-happy
-
20
"Normal"...oh you mean like you?
by wanderlustguy infunny, the longer i go on, especially with the "new eyes", normal becomes fiction.
there is no real normal, but there is acceptable and unacceptable.
hurting others, that would be unacceptable.. next week i'll be going home, as in home where i grew up and learned the truth and learned what it means to judge, criticise, back stabb, lie, cheat, and cover over things when i'm too weak to face them for what they are.
-
-
happy1975
Wander,
Your story sounds so familiar. I still live in the area that I grew up in and I run into old "friends" a few times a year. Last week I ran into one of my former best friends at the grocery store (remind me not to shop at THAT store anymore!) and she was all "hey, it's SO GREAT to see you!!!" (I'm a fader). I had to walk away from our brief conversation reminding myself over and over again that I like myself so much better now and that I'm so much happier. She probably thinks my life is a total train wreck since I left (since that's one of the tools that is used to keep people in), but actually the opposite is true.
Ugh, it's such a struggle, I feel ya.
BTW, I love your avatar.
-Happy
-
13
My Personal Ad - Update 11/4 see end of post
by Cygnus insorry i had to start a new topic but the board's software is not allowing me any replies and with all the newer people here they might want to get to know a little about me.. i was raised in a jw household that wasn't terribly strict, but strict enough where i had no worldly friends and wouldn't even consider college or extracurricular school activities.
baptized at 17. that and getting married just after turning 20 stunted me emotionally and i'm still recovering, though i think i'm doing an okay job.. started working in my father's business and pretty much took it over when he retired and moved to florida in 1995.. quit associating with jws in 1997 at age 25. jw wife left me on the advice of the elders, but she came back 5 months later.. grew my hair very long and pierced my ear.. in spring of 2000 two elders came to my house under the pretense of inviting me to the memorial.
" they then informed me that the real reason they were there was to serve me notice that a judicial hearing was being scheduled and i was asked several times to either attend or put something in writing that i was no longer one of jehovah's witnesses.. i chose to attend the hearing.
-
-
happy1975
Hi Cygnus,
It's nice to meet you. Thanks for the history. I would like to agree with the other ladies that the second picture (sans mullet) is a definite improvement!!
Happy
-
33
Lurker comes out of hiding : )
by happy1975 ini've been lurking for months, reading your posts nearly every day.
i finally decided to come out of hiding because i need help.
i post on another board that has nothing whatsoever to do with religion and i saw this post-.
-
-
happy1975
Thank you all so much for your thoughtful responses. I e-mailed back to her and I feel good about what I was able to say (with your help). You guys rock - but I already knew that!
-Happy