JWdaughter

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Posts by JWdaughter

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  64

  I'm not trying to brag, but being an EXJW is awesome!!! Status Update-

  by Coffee House Girl in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hello jwn!

  i don't get to check in here or comment as often as i would like because i have been working so hard at school...but i just have to share my news in hopes that newbees can see that taking the leap to enroll in higher education is worth it-.

  i am graduating this spring with a bachelor degree in art history, minor anthropology...many people (including nonjw's have given me flack for choosing a "dead end" career path) but since leaving the watchtower organization's group-think mentality and "leaning on my own understanding" instead... i decided to say fuck everyone else's opinion...i am going to pursue my passion to work in a museum as a curator or archivist-.

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  JWdaughter

  This is the good news that mom's, dad's, grandma's and aunties and uncles love to hear. This is what friends celebrate. This is the example you give to your children. Following your passion is intrinsically rewarding and I hope that you continue to be blessed and happy in your pursuit of real knowledge. Michelle
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  41

  Do you think not having the book study in private homes has had much effect?

  by truthseeker in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it's been a few years since the organization ended the book study arrangement in private homes.. gone was the last opportunity to have tea and biscuits and a natter with the friends afterwards.. do you think people regret losing the book study?

  for some, it may have been the only time they were able to get some "associaton".

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  JWdaughter

  HEY! That is so not fair! We did NOT have regular treat nights. I remember twice in 8 years or so that we had some cake for an anniversary or something. They even discussed WHY we did not do that. Because it was churchy and became a burden (to someone, I guess-as a woman, I always liked an opportunity to entertain or provide treats, but maybe that is weird of me?. . . .).

  How did our group get ripped off? BTW, we were at a nice middle class home with nice middle class folks. No one weird and we had the a favored elder (I think the main dude). I do remember that the family built the family room just SO they could have the meetings there. It was my mom's best friend who she brought into the religion (then her husband who has now become an elder). It was a nice group, not too much socializing, but I remember trying to decipher the really stupid books study books and there was one that changed so much that they told us to rip out and replace a page or something. . .?

  Why did we think we were so bright because we understood that riduculous stuff? Seriously! They told us BS and we answered the questions that we were FED. It was crap. How were we all so deluded? At least I was a kid. What was the adults excuse?
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  25

  Once Again: It's Okay for JWs to Rip-Off Non-JWs

  by Iown Mylife in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  today i heard from the owner of a small restaurant, the story of how a brother in a local congregation ripped him off for thousands.

  the restaurant owner is not a jw but totally familiar with the cult, as his mother is a long-time baptized sister.

  she asked him to hire this wonderful brother from her congregation to do construction work he needed at his house.

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  JWdaughter

  My non-JW dad was ripped off for weeks of construction work by a JW contractor who subbed out work to him. That was the one time in myfamilies life that my mom went to a food bank. That 'brother'and his wife and 3 kids were coming back from a 2 week trip to Hawaii around the sametime my mom was pressuring dad not to sue 'a brother'.

  He never did pay my dad. My dad, the heathen,still helped out (as a volunteer) with certain repairs to some of the elderly bros and sis's homes and even the KH. My dad didn't go to church and reserved judgement on God at all, but he was a good man with good intentions. I don't know what Brother Br*** was all about, though it came out later that he was horribly abusive to his wife (whose voice I don't remember probably because she was afraid to use it!)
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  26

  Seeds of Doubt.

  by donny in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  seeds of doubt.

  what was it about the jw religion that first gave you serious doubts as to its truthiness?.

  for me it occurred in late 1984 when we were studying the brochure the divine name that will endure forever which had been released at the summer convention that year.

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  JWdaughter

  One thing that made it easier was the full collection of "Studies in the Scriptures" that my mom then had possession of.

  The next thing was an elder who freely explained to us what happened in 1975 (and the years before for him, personally). He did not criticize, but he did not whitewash. He just spoke his truth.

  Soon after, the youth meetings (where he told us that) ended and then soon, he was no longer elder and last I knew he moved out of the area he had lived all my life (he had been an elder as long as I was alive til then.)

  None of those were "it", but they were all straws on the camel's back. I lost that conviction of my childhood upbringing of "knowing"it is the "truth". I then questioned EVERYTHING.
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  19

  Will the jw's get all excited about Russia in the Ukraine?

  by hoser in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  usually when world events like this take place the dubs start into how the end must be so close they can almost taste it.

  maybe there will be some speculation about the king of the north and south again.

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  JWdaughter

  "bug out bag" "to go bag"? Like emergency preparedness kits for cult members who are too poor to make fallout shelters?
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  19

  Appointed men & the 10 hour rule

  by PlatinumFix in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  dear all,.

  could someone explain where it is written that mservants should be doing the congregation average/10 hours minimum?.

  platinumfix.

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  JWdaughter

  REmind me again why anyone would WANT to be a MS?
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  Make You Feel Good Story from Old Readers Digest "Did God Ride the Brooklyn Subway that Afternoon?"

  by RottenRiley in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  we need a good story either from the past or present to fight off the nasties of life and this cult!.

  "marcel sternberger was a creature of habit.

  he used to take the 9:09 long island railroad to woodside every morning.

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  JWdaughter

  Thats a nice story. The guys in it are real too, so it might even be true:) They aren't just a "Middle aged immigrant, living in NYC. . . " (which is a generic enough expression to be anyone or NO BODY AT ALL as in most WT stories.
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  41

  JW parents are CRAZY

  by Demokan in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  hello again, for those who don't know me i'm a 15 year old boy.

  and recently my mom is displaying symptoms of demensia, she left the stove on today and she yells at us for watching commercials on t.v that are "demonic" because today there was a commercial on television for the new 300 movie and she started yelling at my sister to turn it off, and then i was listening to coldplay as a playlist while doing my school work and she started yelling at me to turn the demonic music off.

  she says "demonic" this "demonic" that.

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  JWdaughter

  Hi, take some deep breaths. My mom went through the change when I was about your age. . . I think moms, teenagers and menopause are a brutal combination-add conflicts about a crazy religion and you are definitely challenged.

  Remember: This too shall pass. You can deal with social services and evaluate for yourself ifyou are better off with them or your family. Abuse is not a preference, but I dont know what your options are. You need to get some help with managing yourself and your emotions because clearly,the cult adherents don't think they have any problem at all. You will be of age soon-not sure where you are, but 18 is pretty universal escape age. Find a couple of trustworthy adults from school or the ocmmunity and let them help you find resources and give you a safe place to vent before you explode in anger. There is a lot of angry energy flowing in your house and you need to not let it infect your whole being.

  I was 15 when I left. I am not without experience in all this. I live in Houston if you want, PM me.
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  31

  What is / was the first thing(s) you looked forward to doing once you were out for good?

  by SecretHeart11 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  one of the things that keeps me going is thinking about the things my family and i will be able to do once we are all out, together, and free at last.

  (and we will be out together, i'm staying positive!).

  i soooo look forward to christmas.

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  JWdaughter

  I still don't "celebrate" Christmas as a religious holiday, but I DO enjoy it now. I enjoy cranberry bliss bars at Starbucks, enjoy the carols, enjoy the seasonal stuff. If given gifts, I am grateful(no speech given about why I don't accept it on the "day" or at all. If invited to cookie exchanges or other gatherings I will go-and I am not a wet blanket on the whole enterprise. I will eat christmas candy BEFORE it goes on discount when the day is over. I will say Merry christmas and thank others who offer it to me, and when Starbucks takes down the Christmas decorations and I am told "Its probably the last red cup for the season" I'm sad.

  So, I enjoy Christmas without putting up the tree and all-but I sure do enjoy everyone elses trees and lights and I'm nice to carolers (no WT handed out). I actually DO give gifts whenever I want to. It almost sounds JW-y, but my heart has changed so much towards other people that it isn't even recognizable as any part of my WT experience. What changed is my heart. I took all the self righteousness OUT of my not celebrating and in fact, I guess I am celebrating good feelings, good attitudes, good food and happy hearts. Which is probably that christmas spirit that I hear about:)
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  24

  Thirty Years a Watch Tower Slave

  by Londo111 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i just finished reading this and enjoyed it.

  however, if i was newly awakening or on the verge of awakening, i dont think this book would have helped me a great deal.

  brother schnell has some good thoughts, however, he is short on detail and description, and even shorter on proof and documentation.. it is interesting reading about the transition of the bible students from a small group of independent noncomformists into an organization characterized by total conformity.

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  JWdaughter

  That was one of the earliest ones that I read. I remember sneaking peeks at it in the public library after I left the org. I couldn't check it out, living with my mom at the time.

  Back then, there wasn't much to read. I'm actually glad that I pretty much got disenchanted with the org. on my own. I left around the time that Franz did and read his book years later.

  It was a great and ironic title, though!

  To those who wondered at the time why it took him so long. . . life humbles us as we see ourselves caught up in things we don't want to be-but yet have o idea how to extricate ourselves from it (gracefully, anyhow!). We build out own traps.