I am in a similar situation and feel like da'ing. however it is not worth creating extra trouble, just to stand up for your principles.
I have a friend who left a fundamentalist pentecostal religion and went through similar experiences. His family shun him and he feels that are a cult. In the end he decided to move on. Trying to prove them wrong can become just a matter of pride, and can result in falling into the same low behaviour that it the reason for leaving in the first place.
jwfacts
JoinedPosts by jwfacts
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Can inactives be D/F'd?
by tabbycat incan inactive ex-jw's be disfellowshipped?
i've always been interested but can't ask my mother (still a jw) for fear of upsetting her.
if i was d/f'd, would it really mean that even my immediate family would 'shun' me?
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jwfacts
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Can inactives be D/F'd?
by tabbycat incan inactive ex-jw's be disfellowshipped?
i've always been interested but can't ask my mother (still a jw) for fear of upsetting her.
if i was d/f'd, would it really mean that even my immediate family would 'shun' me?
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jwfacts
If its been 12 years it is very unlikely they would ever disfellowship you. An inactive husband i know is about to get d;d because his wife has just turned 'apostate'. The elders are trying to say he must have influenced her. They cant prove it so he getting done for 'loose conduct', which in this case was showing disrespect for the elders by walking out on the elders meeting.
Family dont have to shun you but generally will. The articles swing back and forth on it, but a recent kingdom ministry started to push the hard line again and suggest families do need to shun their loved ones -
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what do ex jws become
by jwfacts in.
what do most ex jws become, christian, athiest/agnostic or some other religion?
and since we all need to be labelled, what do i call myself now?
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jwfacts
thank you for the welcome jgnat
I like the term agnostic. Since i used to know everything, and everyone else knew nothing, i like to now admit i have no idea.
The only thing i really believe is to try to treat others well, and everything is ok in moderation. -
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what do ex jws become
by jwfacts in.
what do most ex jws become, christian, athiest/agnostic or some other religion?
and since we all need to be labelled, what do i call myself now?
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jwfacts
What do most ex jws become, christian, athiest/agnostic or some other religion?
And since we all need to be labelled, what do i call myself now? -
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Do you think of yourself as an apostate
by barbar inmany of the people on this site say that they are apostates.
but that is not the way i feel about myself.. i am not angry with the "witnesses" or the organisation, i don't feel that i wasted my life.
i just think that i was stupid to believe it for 30 years (well sort of believe it, i did have severe doubts on and off).
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jwfacts
The word apostate does not appear in the New Testament, it is a term given with derision by the organisation to create fear of people that leave. In my congregation a friend of mine is about to be disfellowshipped and everyone knows she has become an apostate.. It is less than 2 months ago that she was a whole hearted pioneer. The level of gossip and lies about her is astounding. She has been labelled an apostate and had all sorts of bad motives attributed to her because it is the only way a Witness can understand how someone does not see it is the 'truth'.
I will no doubt be d'd soon as an apostate too, but i will refuse to ever accept such a title. I was baptised for love of God and truth. I never agreed to be part of an organisation that is based on lies and falsehood. The religion i am leaving is not the one i ever believed i was signing up to. I take great offense to being labelled an apostate. -
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latest WTS research on earthquakes and tsunamis
by jwfacts inrecently the awake 2005 july 22 on page 4 states about the december 26 2004 tsunami; .
exactly one year later, a magnitude 9.0 quake occurred just off the western coast of northern sumatra, indonesia, spawning by far the deadliest tsunami in recorded history.
the killer waves claimed over 200,000 lives and left many more injured, homeless, or both.
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jwfacts
Pete you are possibly right, it seems there are differences of opinion as to the size and cause of the 1737 tsunami. In fact the Awake article even admits that the most deadly earthquake was in 1556.
Earthquake levels have not changed for thousands of years with the five most destructive earthquakes all happenening prior to the 1900's. Several natural disasters of the last millenium each resulted in almost 1,000,000 deaths, far more than any since 1914.
Since World War Two we are also living in a time of one of the lowest levels of war in history.
Where does this leave the signs of the last days? Does anyone believe we are really living in the time of the end? -
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Trinity?!?!
by Lynne Y inhello, it's lynne again... how's everyone doing?
um..i have a quick question.. haha.. .
one of the most distinguishable doctrine(?
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jwfacts
I spent years fighting people at the doors about the trinity so this really interests me. What i could not believe when i broke away is the totally dishonest way that the WTS deals with the topic.
The reality is that the bible is very confusing on the topic, the trinity may or may not be true. At John 20:28 Thomas said to jesus "my Lord and My God". However the Jews were monotheistic. So was Jesus the same as Jehovah, or were the Christians to be polythiestic and worship both Jehovah and Jesus? Within a few decades of Jesus death the antenicean fathers grappled with this question. The result was that by the 180A.D. the trinity was presented as the only way to reconcile the situation.
It is interesting that until 1954 the Witnesses worshipped both Jehovah and Jesus, and so were polytheistic. The Watchtower Charter still says to worship Jesus. Now Witnesses must not worship Jesus, which makes it difficult to reconcile scriptures like John 20:28 and other ones that indicate we should worship and pray to Jesus. I have written an article about the Witness change in this teaching at http://www.jwfacts.com/index_files/Page426.htm
The trinity is probably the best way to make sense of the bible, even though it is not clearly presented in it. It should be noted that this subject has been debated for 2000 years and yet most Christian religions still feel it is the best option. I have written a more extensive article on the trinity that i can email you if you like. -
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latest WTS research on earthquakes and tsunamis
by jwfacts inrecently the awake 2005 july 22 on page 4 states about the december 26 2004 tsunami; .
exactly one year later, a magnitude 9.0 quake occurred just off the western coast of northern sumatra, indonesia, spawning by far the deadliest tsunami in recorded history.
the killer waves claimed over 200,000 lives and left many more injured, homeless, or both.
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jwfacts
Recently the Awake 2005 July 22 on page 4 states about the December 26 2004 tsunami;
“Exactly one year later, a magnitude 9.0 quake occurred just off the western coast of northern Sumatra, Indonesia, spawning by far the deadliest tsunami in recorded history. The killer waves claimed over 200,000 lives and left many more injured, homeless, or both.”
It is common knowledge that in 1737 there was a tsunami in the same area as the Asian Tsunami of Dec 26 2004. The 1737 tsunami killed over 300,000 people, more people than the one in 2004. Why would the Awake state the current one is by far the deadliest? -
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What did shunning do to you?
by hillary_step inthere can be little doubt that the wts 'shunning' policy is a dangerous weapon.
each year tens of thousands of people are disfellowshipped, and experience the reality of being shunned.
many of them still believing the wts doctrine that if they die in this condition they will shortly be executed by god at har-meggedon and die an eternal and disgraceful death some leaving the faith altogether.
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jwfacts
One of my friends became a heroin addict after being disfellowshipped and eventually committed suicide. Shamefully i was such a "good" witnesses i did not keep in touch and never found out what led to why he ended up in such a bad way. My best friend tried to attempt suicide three times after being disfellowshipped, each time ending up in hospital. Despite knowing it was "wrong" I had to keep in touch just to make sure he would be alright as he knew no one and had no where to turn. I have three other friends that committed suicide, but all were still JW's at the time. I spent over 3 years in bethel and by the end all i could think about was dieing. This thread reminded me of the poetry that i wrote whilst there, it was filled with such inner conflict. Here is one Death, the pleasure of an eternity of certainty. Death, a cessation of the cruelty of time. Death, the ambient beauty of quiet, of freedom from pain, it's grasp the conqueror of suffering. Death, Life's culmination, it's final fleeting moment. I have not felt that way since leaving bethel and starting on the pathway out of the Organisation. I am not d'd yet, have been easing my way out for years, but it is now just a matter of time. When six months ago i decided that i knew beyond doubt the JW's are a religion of falsehood it feels life has started to bloom. I will be annoyed about being d'd, but by leaving slowly i think i have been able to give myself time to adjust emotionally. 12 months ago i did feel if i was d'd at the time life would be meaningless and i would slip into depression. Now i realise my life has just begun.
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Fav Hobbies...Anybody here play paintball?
by orion inmy husband and i play paintball and would love to meet others all over who do also.
we want to make a trip in a few years to go all over and try out different paintball courses.
my husband wasn't a jw so he doesn't know axactlly what i went through but he is a great support.
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jwfacts
i have played a couple of times and loved it. I got in trouble for it as it promotes violence and war, though not as much trouble as the Ministerial Servant friend i went with. Funny, because after playing it i would never think of going to war. It was too scary and to think i was shot about 10 times in one day, if i went to war i'd be one of the first to die.