Posts by anewme

27

Anyone ever disfellowshipped for gluttony?

by gaiagirl in

i never knew or heard of anyone, and remember many, many members of congregations who clearly ate much more than they needed to for health.

since the bible lumps gluttons with other "sinners" such as fornicatiors, why does wtbts not prosecute gluttons?

perhaps elders meetings aren't as much fun when you only get to ask questions like "what did you eat next?

anewme

I have related this story before.

I was visiting a friend from another congregation at her house. We were outside on her porch enjoying a lemon-aide when a neighbor emerged from the next house onto her porch to shake a rug or some other chore.

My friend offered that the neighbor was a JW who was reproved recently due to her weight and an accusation of gluttony and slovenliness. She was very fat and her house was a total mess. Her kids all had lice and were on restriction from the school.

She wasnt humongous like the poor 500-1,000 lb people you see featured on television who lie in beds eating all day long.

It made me sad to watch her coming and going on the porch, trying to clean her house alone, enduring God knows what kind of life, while we comfortably and securely watched from afar, sipping our lemon-aide.

I hate that organization, any organization that fails to show mercy.

Mercy was what Christ was all about and somehow the Watchtower Society has missed that lesson.

41

This is all too surreal. What are you doing?..Where are you at..RIGHT NOW?

by BONEZZ in

jw
friends

ever have one of those really weird moments?

part melancholy...fleeting and just weird.

it's like certain uncontrollable elements come together to create an overwhelming sadness...or maybe it's just the caffeine.. so here i am sitting in a starbucks, in one of the comfy seats...been here since opening at 6am...when all of sudden i'm reading the post by uzzah, listening to the starbucks channel play georgia on my mind by ray charles...followed by i left my heart in san francisco...fighting back tears to no avail....and everything around me is hazy.

anewme

That was a good post Troubled Mind.

41

This is all too surreal. What are you doing?..Where are you at..RIGHT NOW?

by BONEZZ in

jw
friends

ever have one of those really weird moments?

part melancholy...fleeting and just weird.

it's like certain uncontrollable elements come together to create an overwhelming sadness...or maybe it's just the caffeine.. so here i am sitting in a starbucks, in one of the comfy seats...been here since opening at 6am...when all of sudden i'm reading the post by uzzah, listening to the starbucks channel play georgia on my mind by ray charles...followed by i left my heart in san francisco...fighting back tears to no avail....and everything around me is hazy.

anewme

Bonezz you did a good job in trying to describe the terrible feelings of loss, depression, panic and tragedy that hits you all at once after the trauma of disfellowshipping and divorce and separation from family and friends.

Its like a giant Maverick wave that comes up from behind you and looms overhead poised to come crashing down on you and there is nothing you can do but take a deep breath and go under for a bit, hold onto your breath and go for the ride along the bottom of the ocean of events and hope you float up to the top when its all over.

That little bit of breath is the hope you retain that eventually life will get better and you will begin again.

For me, the four years following my dfing were filled with despair, loss, tears, and alcohol. I was 35 years in the cult. I was recruited at 17 by a fellow high school student. I left family and friends to join the cult and was cloistered away for the next 35 years until 2001 when I started to get immensely restless and bored and question the biblical base for the JW theocratic schedule and life style.
I joined the cult initially to find happy family life, but in 2001 I realized my family life was anything but happy. We were uprooted every weekend to do kingdom hall activities and almost every night of the week required attention to kingdom hall meetings in one way or another. It felt like my family mattered less than the almighty kingdom hall needs. The message was clear: I myself and my needs and feelings didnt matter that much either.

I got an email last week from a JW relative sincerely wondering if I am still alive! (The last time anyone saw me was in 2001 and I was an emotional mess)

I was happy to report all the good news in my life! First that I am alive and well, happily remarried and sober and going to college and working full time and in a lovely new house and moving next year to the coast.

That was a week ago and I have heard no reply. (Somehow I dont think JWs are cheered to hear you are happy and doing great after you leave their cult)

So Bonezz, I have been there. And yes I still get the occasional shivers when I think of the dark waters I treaded for a couple of years. It was bad spiritually and emotionally. But not the worst experience that a human can go through. I was not physically tortured. No one died. No one was murdered.
Really I just left a club, an organization, like leaving a job. Big deal.

Why do we make such a big deal of leaving a church?

Coming here to this site and reading about the experiences of others and listening to the reasoning and clear thinking here and learning to stand up for myself and defend my feelings and my worth
has helped so much to practice turning my back on the GUILT AND DEJECTION the cult tries to impose on us
for having the audacity to question them and to leave them.

Yes, there is life after the cult, good life!

4

Keeping Life pretty Simple

by LouBelle in

jw
friends

yup - that's what i'm going to do from now on - it's my life choice.

sometimes us little humans tend to complicate things - some of us do it better than others.

so i've decided to be truthful and honest with everyone - not that i lie now - but if i'm not happy with something i'm not just going to just suck it up and keep quie.

anewme

Sounds good LouBelle.

To practice simplicity is to lead a calmer life.

I succeeded in becoming simple and calm when I was living up in the mountains for five years.

Now I am down in the city and going to work and college.

The lessons learned were real and I am applying them now while in the crowded city.

I am my own island of calm and peace often. And I am proud of that.

Best wishes to you.

Anewme

47

And When I Die...

by Farkel in

"there'll be one more child in this world to carry on...to carry on.

" - blood sweat and tears.

amazing.

anewme

The problem is that humans have a hard time accepting the thought of non-existence, so much so that
they invent and believe everything and anything which might support an eternal future.
To relieve this dilemma would be to come to terms with and accept the thought of life and consciousness
coming to an end.
This would bring calm to the human heart and allow a person to focus on and cherish the present moment and relish life and the many good times they have had.
It might also lead an individual to desire to contribute in some substantial way to the welfare of others on the earth since they will continue to have a need and he will soon have no needs.

Since I was shown such a lack of mercy and understanding by "Gods Org on Earth" I question everything they told me about God and truth and heaven and reality.

I feel like I was suckered into that cult.

I will continue to hone my skills at accepting my future oblivion with a smile.

19

Armageddon didn't come!

by 5thGeneration in

jw
friends

crap!.

every year i think the big a will strike at 12:01 on the new year.

disappointed again!.

anewme

I would love to go back through time and count how many times individuals and religions have cried "the end of the world is nigh"

Every generation of man has probably had its unhappy element who wants the end to come and be personally pronounced righteous by the deity.

It would be interesting to see a CBS documentary or National Geographic Special on Doomsday Through the Centuries and see chronicled the prophecies of doom and gloom from the 1800s and 1500s, the year 1000ad,
300BC, 1000BC, 3000BC, and go all the way back to a guy called Enoch and see him standing on some rock high above the little town pronouncing the end of the world.

Yes, that would be very eye opening for many.

19

Baptised, disfellowshipped all before reaching 18

by dinah in

jw
friends

how many times does this happen?

this question just popped in my head while reading the thread about being disfellowshipped.. disfellowshipping is harsh, but to do this to a kid??

kids make mistakes.

anewme

religious fascism!

20

Were you able to say "Merry Christmas" ?

by OnTheWayOut in

jw
friends

this is my first christmas following the complete fade, but i have to maintain the fade.. hence, i have been uncomfortable with saying "merry christmas.

" the closest i have .

come this year is "same to you" and "enjoy your holiday.".

anewme

I too had trouble saying "Merry Christmas" at first. I wondered just how far I would assimilate back into the world. For a time I was in a limbo of sorts, not belonging any longer in the witness world, and neither feeling comfortable in the real world.

Over time, (six years) I have resolved it all in my heart and mind I guess.

I do wish peace and happiness to all, witness and non-witness alike, and so I could say "Whatever floats your boat!" to people, but that would not be kind. So "Merry Christmas!" seems like the nicest thing to say to people who are celebrating it.

I am living with people who celebrate it, so I did put up a tree and decorate with red bows and greenery.
I took the lead at work even and decorated our back employee room for the holiday. Why not? I felt if we were going to celebrate we should do it up right.
But in the back of my mind I feel it is all a mistake, a misunderstanding of truth somehow.
I am not sure of anything anymore.

But one thing I do believe in .....supporting others and offering hope and courage during these difficult days.

The Humbugs of the world are such downers and offer nothing to cheer the soul.
So I have cast my lot with the celebrants of happy holidays.
What and who does it hurt? Jehovah?

"Whatever floats your boat!"

16

Guess who came to our house on Christmas Day...

by exwitless in

if you guessed dubs, you're right.

it was around 11:30 a.m., just as i was lazily dozing off on the couch, exhausted because my 9 year old woke me up at 5:30 a.m. (he couldn't wait any longer to look through his stocking!).

i was rudely awakened to the sound of a car door slam in our driveway.

anewme

I was coerced into doing RVs on Christmas Day way back in the 70s.
It was mortifying to bother people while they are still in their jammies wading through wrapping paper to their front doors, the sounds of toys, tv and laughter in the background, the smells of bacon and toast and loved ones calling them to breakfast, while we kept them at the doors allowing a stiff cold winter breeze to blow through their loved filled warm happy houses.

I have always felt empathy for the householders. I am an empathetic person. And so going door to door was always a struggle to justify.

I accomplished the ministry despite my misgivings about the whole thing. However when I was losing interest in the religion back in 2000 it became unbearable to participate in it. I had nightmares about door to door service for years afterwards. I dreamed of bothering people at night, in my underwear, and no Bible, and was embarrassed to explain myself and my intentions at their door.

50

A Holiday Gift to JWD, from Scully & Friends

by Scully in

i have been working on this little project for quite some time, and it's finally ready to share with all of you... just in time for the holidays!.

this project entailed converting scans of hard copies of public talk outlines into pdf format and then compiling all of them into zip folders.

there are over 150 documents in total, complete with update notices from brooklyn.

anewme

Good to hear from you Scully. Thank you and Merry Christmas!

Anewme