i thought the easiest way to share the pathetic tale of one faithful family in a different sort of way.
we'll start at the top and work our way to myself.. grandfather mom's side=never saw him, abused his children sexually/physically, emotionally, finally got the big df and has been sighted at halls around country using different names.
other wife/family also abused and left.. grandmother mom's side= lived w/abusive elder/alchoholic for many years, after he left for life w/other wife, went crazy, then she got cancer, but wouldn't get transfusions, or bone marrow transplant.
hey Valis you have sounded pretty sane and well-adjusted in all of the posts I've read of yours.
Perhaps you have enough inner strength now to reach out to some others in your family. I am sure you have lots of love to give. It should prove worth the effort.
I need to do this as well, so I am glad you had the courage to write this post. Thanks!
cellomould
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Edmund Burke
for those of you who have read this in someone elses thread, i apologize.
it was suggested i start my own thread so here is my story again for anyone who may have missed it.
i am currently from minnesota and live in st. paul (roseville), but the congregation that i went to was in the apple valley area.
I really enjoyed your story radiolady and wanted to add my <welcome!>
Take care of your daughter, and love her lots. Not to be better than those JWs in your family, but because she deserves it.
Hope she gets better!
Btw, I am sure your radio voice is as sexy as your computer voice!
j/k
cellomould
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Edmund Burke
i hope my user name doesn't offend anyone - it actually stands for the [syn] command your computer uses to connect to other computers on the web, not what you were thinking!.
is this board mainly for jw or ex-jw people?
curious.... also...i have heard the phrase 'dub' used to describe jw people.
p.s.:
I would fit unclebruce's definition of a #7 too
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Edmund Burke
i hope my user name doesn't offend anyone - it actually stands for the [syn] command your computer uses to connect to other computers on the web, not what you were thinking!.
is this board mainly for jw or ex-jw people?
curious.... also...i have heard the phrase 'dub' used to describe jw people.
Welcome Syn!
I like your quote there. Nice one! I too wonder why people have such a hard time accepting 'evilution'.
I thought no one would ever understand my views on that subject. Not JWs anyway. I was surprised upon coming here just how many people have grown immensely despite having, as the wt would say 'no hope'. I reckon to be one of those people too.
But I was quite touched just now by a welcoming comment from RipVW, a current JW:
"Christianity" shouldn't be just a word. It should be a way of life.That's what it always was for me; it was a way of 'being' rather than a way of 'thinking'.
enjoy !
cellomould
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Edmund Burke
matthew 7:13-14 .
go in through the narrow gate; because broad and spacious is the road leading off into destruction, and many are the ones going in through it; whereas narrow is the gate and cramped the road leading off into life, and few are the ones finding it.
"
Has anyone ever pondered this:
Why was it necessary for Christianity to entirely conquer Europe and North America, plus much of South America, Africa, and Asia (this BAD news of the kingdom, according to JWs),
in order that the JWs could then with their 'gleanings' enter through
the 'narrow gate'???
That logic is impeccably stupid. But this is what has really happened: The BAD news traveled much better than GOOD news ever will!!!
This is because, initially, Christianity rode on the crest of the Roman empire's expansion. Then it rode on the coattails of the British-US world power. This was crucial in fulfilling Biblical prophecy!
If the US hadn't cleared room by killing almost all the Native Americans they encountered, for example, Jehovah's Witnesses would have had nowhere to preach!!!
So were these world powers helpful or harmful to 'God's people'?
anyhow, this is a good thread here. Sorry to digress. I feel sorry for all those people who perished so that JWs could enter through the 'narrow gates'.
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Edmund Burke
well not the end of the world!.
but lets think like jws for a minute!
they clutch at every negative news item to show that the end is near.
Beware the ides of March!!!!!
(yes that is a prophecy)
lol
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Edmund Burke
well, the year is nearly out, and as the new one approaches i'm thinking back on 2 years of being in the online exjw community and, in june 2002, my four year anniversary of my df'ing.. when first i came to h2o seeking comfort and support in january 2000, i had been df'd for a year and a half and online nearly 4 years but never had the guts to type "jehovah's witnesses" into a search engine.
that search led me to freeminds (thanks, randy *hug*) and then, to h2o.. what a journey its been.
i've gone from devastation at losing my family, to anger, through the anger to numbness, back through sadness, and now after much soul searching and a chance change of circumstances last summer, come to look at my disfellowshipping in an entirely new light.. those who know my history know that i was born into the borg, baptized at 12, married at 19, and was a very loyal, unquestioning dub until the age of 24 when the elders told me that my miscarried babies had no status with god.
Wonderful comments Essie!
I truly feel for you. I have been away for only a few months, as I told you in my e-mail. I can see through your experience to be patient, as the pain will be with me for quite a while.
In fact, it may increase. I have never lost someone close to me, and I am sure this will present a trial for me and my family when it inevitably happens. Thank you for sharing.
To add my comments to your conclusion:
Being singled out as different for being a 'faithful witness' was surely a protection as well for us. So many people on this board tell sob stories of how they were 'so different!' as children and were miserable.
I don't know about that attitude.
Now that I think about it, it certainly prepared me to face the reality I see before me now. Even people who profess to love you will intolerably hate the differences they see in you.
So let's be thankful for those that love us unconditionally in our lives. If we have no one like that, we need to find such friends! They exist!
cellomould
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Edmund Burke
i've always wanted to be a writer, and because of being in the org never got a chance to fulfill my dreams, goals or desires.
now that i'm enrolled in college, english is a requirement and i took english 101 last semester.
in fact, i'm enrolled in the honors program.
very nice thoughts Kay!
my only suggestion (parroting thewiz) is to make judicious use of paragraphs.
I understand the need for 'white space'. Right now I am reading a truly wonderful book called Austerlitz, by W.G. Sebald. It is written without chapters and almost entirely without paragraphs.
It's a great text, but I find myself having to read the same lines over and over again because it's hard to keep track of my progress through his stream of conciousness. (I have been criticized as speaking that way. Well, I suppose I do.)
Oh, one more comment:
Your college experience can actually be very confining as well. While I have had my mind opened in so many ways, I run into brick walls often. Old habits die hard, and it's still an institution. (perhaps that's because I'm in engineering rather than a liberal major)
So enjoy your experience and allow it to be as personal as you wish!
cellomould
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Edmund Burke
i got a new dvd player for christmas.
when i tried to hook it up i coudln't figure it out so i thought i'd actually use the instruction manual.
as it turns out the manual was written in a foreign country by people who don't understand english at all, was translated from japanese, into spanish, into greek, into french and finally into english.
nice illustration!
we'll move you on to Presentation Adapted for the Field Ministry for your next Counsel Point; it seems like you have spent too much time in front of your computer and not enough out in service. All that techno-babble may confuse potential bible students!
:-)
Very awesome setup you seem to have at home, rhett!
I just picked up a DVD of Jerry Sprinfield's Too Hot for TV New Year's Bash 2002! Can I come over?!
cellomould
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Edmund Burke
ex-jw women: i, and i assume other ex-jw men, would enjoy hearing your views, opinions, feelings, analysis, and conclusions about your jw experience.
how did you feel about your husband, fathers, brothers, elders, ms's, and other women in the organizations?
did you generally feel oppression, and why?
wow this sounds familiar:
One memory that haunts me is seeing the mother of my childhood best friend summoned to rub her elder husband's feet every night (or at least every time I was there), "WOMAN! FEET!"the p.o. at my old hall mentioned cases like these. he said this stuff had even happened in our own hall! outrageous!
perhaps this revelation was to save his own skin, although i can't imagine from what. his wife is truly an example of the 'submissive' type. i would see him put his hand on the back of her neck during every song. kinda like a leash! (his brother did the same with his wife.)
i have lotsa respect for this woman, though, the p.o.s wife. she has been in the past a film and television, as well as broadway, actress/singer. very talented and beautiful lady.
she asked me to dance once at a cong. picnic. ha! that was awesome. would do it again in a heartbeat! (nevermind that she's much much older than I. more fun that way!)
cellomould
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Edmund Burke
