Posts by GoingGoingGone

52

JW's and home schooling?

by semelcred in

i don't wish to offend any that are teaching their kids at home, but today i was again confronted by a situation where a jw family were home schooling.

the kids had little structure to their routine and without putting the mum down, she was no teacher in an academic sense.. the subject is close to my heart because my parents who are witnesses, took my younger brothers out of school and home tutored them.

the were subjected to below standard education and limited in social skills, particularly as my parents are crap at these skills themselves.. i have grown to hate home schooling except in the situation of medical or logistical situations.. what are your comments good or bad and do you think the option to home school is abused by the witness community?.

GoingGoingGone

I know many families here who home schooled their kids, and all but one were tragic failures. Yes, tragic... the kids can't read, can't carry on a conversation to save their lives, and one girl - at the age of 16 - still hides behind her mother if anyone tries to speak to her. The successful home schooling family has the kids in dance class, gymnastics, piano lessons, and follows a strict and demanding school schedule... the kids are smart, and the mother (aka 'teacher') makes sure they are being challenged and working up to their full potential.

I don't know how successful home school parents do it. I had to home school my son in 1st grade, and thought I'd die of terminal frustration... the kid was impossible to motivate! I was so glad when he could finally start public school. He's now at one of the top universities in the country.

I Heart Public School.

GGG

19

Finding it hard to tell family I don't believe in bible or God

by artemis.design in

jw
friends

i was raised a witness, never baptised.

in my teens i told my family, i believe in god and the bible.

but i don't believe in armageddon or that jws are the only ones that would survive it.

GoingGoingGone

If you don't want to be preached at, why not tell them that? Tactfully, of course:

"Mom, Dad, I love coming here to see you. But I have to let you know that I don't believe in god or the bible anymore. I've spent years researching this, in addition to all the years that I've spent at meetings, and I feel very strongly about my beliefs. So strongly, in fact, that it's a little annoying to have you bringing up scriptures when I'm here. So I want to be completely honest with you, because I love you. So can we keep religion off the table when I'm here?"

Just a thought...

GGG

31

Swine Flu

by purplesofa in

jw
friends

well, i was wondering if anyone here has had swine flu?.

i got it last week.. my son, daughter and granddaughter have it now.. jada was sent to the emergency room at the childrens hospitol here yesterday.

her symptoms were bad and she is under two.. so they sent her there.. the entire emergency room staff, security etc were wearing masks.. apparently it is getting worse here, the amount of cases.. it was a brutal sickness, i can't imagine babies and elderly dealing with it well at all.. although, i got sick with the symptoms a week ago, i feel very weak and tired and have a terrible cough still.. i read on one site the symptoms being disorientation and confusion, which i experianced.. has anyone here had it, how did you survive it?.

GoingGoingGone

My daughter got it up at college. She called me after visiting the medical office up there and said they diagnosed her with swine flu. Needless to say, I called them in a panic - they were extremely informative and said that the H1N1 virus is usually a more mild flu than the normal seasonal flu. That was the case for my daughter. I think she was sick for all of 4 days.

I was just visiting both kids at college last week, and guess who ended up with H1N1 before I even got back home - yup, me. Oh joy. I'm better now, but I lived on Advil and Robitussin for a week.

GGG

17

Not without my daughters

by IronHill in

anyone remember that movie?

sally field playing an abused wife trying to leave iran with her daughter?

my current situation reminds me of that movie.. ok a little background.... i have two beautiful daughters from a previous marriage.

GoingGoingGone

If your ex is afraid that the girls will die at Armageddon, then deep down she still believes that the JWs have "the Truth." So she's acting out of fear right now.

Maybe you could tell her why YOU left - reassure her that you have done lots of research and now KNOW that what the JWs teach is not the truth. Explain that you are not afraid of dying at Armageddon, and you are not afraid for your daughters, either, because you are convinced that Armageddon is NOT 'just around the corner.' Offer to share any information you have with her.

Good luck!

GGG

66

Anyone have a soft spot for old video games?

by John Doe in

jw
friends

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bco8bepgzi0.

GoingGoingGone

I loved asteroids! The only game I ever got really hooked on.

GGG

9

Reconnection

by sweetface2233 in

jw
friends

i rarely visit or post on this site anymore, but i had an experience today that made me decide to pop back in.

i've been an xjw long enough that the only time i think about my jw past is when one of my xjw friends (from this board or those i've met elsewhere) and i joke about shasta and fruit bags.. i've been playing on facebook and found some people who i used to know from the circuit assemblies and district conventions.

i would only contact them if i knew that they were xjws; either df'd before i left or were never "strong".

GoingGoingGone

Hey hemplover! I'm doing ok, thanks for asking! I miss hanging out around here :)

Sweetface - around here, facebook is ok, but myspace is NOT. Go figure.

GGG

9

Reconnection

by sweetface2233 in

jw
friends

i rarely visit or post on this site anymore, but i had an experience today that made me decide to pop back in.

i've been an xjw long enough that the only time i think about my jw past is when one of my xjw friends (from this board or those i've met elsewhere) and i joke about shasta and fruit bags.. i've been playing on facebook and found some people who i used to know from the circuit assemblies and district conventions.

i would only contact them if i knew that they were xjws; either df'd before i left or were never "strong".

GoingGoingGone

So sorry this happened to you - isn't it infuriating??!?!

Reminds me of a girl I knew in my early 20s. She was a blast, her entire family were JWs, but then she suddenly DA'd. The rumor was that she'd met a "worldly" guy. She married and had 4 kids.

A few months ago, her father died (a lifelong JW and longtime elder). I don't live in the area anymore, so someone was telling me about the funeral, who was there, etc... she said, "B**** was there with all her kids, and she looks great. The kids are all gorgeous and so well behaved, her husband seems so sweet too. It made me so upset - It's such a shame that she left the truth!"

I'm thinking to myself, Can you even hear what you are saying??

GGG

48

I want to leave but don't know how

by God_Delusion in

hi.. i have been a witness since birth (will be 30 years in june 2009).

got baptised when i was 15 (pressured into it by my parents, plus, i was promised my first home pc if i did get baptised before turning 16).. both my parents serve in the uk bethel.

i have an older brother and younger sister, both of which are witnesses.. i am married to a witness and live in cyprus (i am english).

GoingGoingGone

Welcome to the forum, God-Delusion!

I was in a similar situation to you when I left the JWs. Raised in, baptized at 14, married to an elder, almost all our family is in, and were/are well known in the JW community.

When I started facing the doubts I'd had for decades, I started asking my husband questions. He took it well at first, but when I started questioning whether this could be the truth, he wouldn't talk about it anymore. We were both raised as JWs, and had never researched anything else, ever - so how could we know that this was the only true religion? He was infuriated, said he didn't know me anymore and that I wasn't the person he married. He forbade me to talk to the kids about my 'apostate ideas'. When I stopped going to meetings, it almost destroyed my marriage.

That was about 5 years ago, and things are much better now. We ignore the elephant in the room, but we respect each other's right to decide what to do with our lives. He chooses to be a JW - I choose not to. We have always cared about each other on a deeper level than our religion, and once we understood and accepted that, things went better for us.

Ideally, I'd tell you to talk to your wife about what you think and feel. But she might not be ready to hear it all. I told my husband that I had reasons for everything I believed, as well as what I no longer believed, and that I was willing to share it with him if he wanted me to (he never did.) But the offer was always there, and reinforced the fact that this wasn't something I just decided on a whim.

I decided to fade partly to avoid a JC and the additional stigma it would place on my kids and my husband. It's been the right choice for me. The gossip will fly no matter what, and there is nothing you can do about it except to assure your wife that you still love her, you aren't having an affair, aren't gay, aren't turning into a rabid apostate, and have simply changed your mind about your religious beliefs. To most people, that's not such a big deal. You are still the same person.

Hope this helps. Feel free to pm me if you want! Good luck on your journey!

GGG

6

The cult of confession

by megaflower in

jw
friends

how did you feel about telling(confessing) to elders either about yourself or something you saw that the society considered a sin against the organization?

personally, i never did because i always questioned most of the elders motive.

i did not want to be a busybody but there where many in the kh who were always monitoring others activities.

GoingGoingGone

I confessed my 'sins', but it was years after the fact. I kept having horribly graphic dreams of my beautiful one-year-old baby daughter being killed at Armageddon because I was keeping my 'sins' secret.

I always hated when the JWs would claim that people of other religions would only do what was right because of fear of going to hell. The WTS used fear tactics too - same poison, different flavor.

GGG

15

Media Exposure of JW's- Oprah?

by Cali2CO in

since we are unable to bring forth a class-action law suit against the watchtower society due to laws in place that protect religion, has anyone thought about or tried to expose the jw's in the media?

people need to be aware this is not a loving group of people as they want to be perceived.

everything i read recently placed alot of blame on jw"s who have left since it is their fault they joined in the first place.

GoingGoingGone

Really? An exJW host? Who?

And I agree that the Scandinavians are very open to exJW shows and articles, even though the JW population is about the same (percentage-wise) as in the US. But the Scandinavian countries also have a State Religion, and anyone who isn't a member of that church really does stand out much more than they would here.

GGG