I can't help thinking that if I had never gotten baptized out of loyalty and fear of disappointing my parents (and fear of having my flesh eaten by birds of prey after being destroyed in Armageddon), I would not be in this situation. I have several family members and former friends who were raised as JWs, but never got baptized, and they never have to experience the angst and pain that I have to experience. I was baptized and never dedicated my life. I wonder if I could retract it somehow. Probably not. They should make provisions for people to admit that they skipped the "dedication" step, so that they can be considered the same as people who were never baptized. Like amnesty. Wishful thinking, I know.
findingmyway
JoinedPosts by findingmyway
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22
I wasn't even my choice...should it count?
by findingmyway ini can't help thinking that if i had never gotten baptized out of loyalty and fear of disappointing my parents (and fear of having my flesh eaten by birds of prey after being destroyed in armageddon), i would not be in this situation.
i have several family members and former friends who were raised as jws, but never got baptized, and they never have to experience the angst and pain that i have to experience.
i was baptized and never dedicated my life.
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Watchtower: Theocratic or corporate?
by DaCheech inthe other week we were read a letter about the upcoming elder/ms training school.
out of all the letter i discussed with my friend from another congregation the part that said "if you are unable to go to your assigned school, and you want to attend another circuit's school you can with the circuit overseer's permission.... but if you happed to attend an earlier one than the brother s you frequent, you should keep all matter confidential until they hear it themselves".
well my friend (jw) cracked up, and laughed at this "stupidity", but before the conversation was over, he added his own personal experience "stupidity".. he said: in my cong.
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findingmyway
They have lowered the standards for the international conventions coming up in 2006. ; If you want to attend one of these you now only need to have been a pioneer for five years or an elder or servant for a "combined" total of five years. ; Your spouse will be allowed to attend with you. ; I am not sure what the previous standard was when it was first read. ; ;I want to say fifteen years service. ; Apparently the applications were low, therefore the requirements lowered.
Maybe they'll soon do the same for other requirements (i.e., df'ing). I remember when there were at least 2 categories of shunning: (1) disassociation of non-baptized publishers and (2) df'ing of baptized publishers. In both instances, the da'd and df'd person was shunned. When they revamped the rules, a friend of mine was da'd. She didn't have to do anything (write a letter, talk to the elders, etc.) in order to be reinstated. They simply announced that they had done away with disassociating people. The following meeting, it was like nothing ever happened. For some, this wasn't acceptable and I remember the trend of "marking" people as unworthy of associating with.
Does anyone else remember this?
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worldly, ex dub or current dub?
by pratt1 in.
for those of you in a serious relationship, is your partner "worldly", an ex dub, or a current dub?.
my wife is an ex dub like me.. it certainly helps that she understands why i am the way i am, and the actions of her in - laws.. what about you?
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findingmyway
By JW terms, my boyfriend is worldly. However, he considers himself a non-JW christian.
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My grandmother's funeral is going to be in a church
by findingmyway inmy mother just called me to tell me the details of the funeral arrangements for my grandmother who passed last thursday evening... .
[a little background: i am df'd.
my parents, siblings and many extended relatives are jws.
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findingmyway
o.k. my mother just called me to tell me the details of the funeral arrangements for my grandmother who passed last Thursday evening...
[A little background: I am df'd. My parents, siblings and many extended relatives are JWs. One of my father's brothers is a minister in a church and my father and his brother have been battling it out for years over who's church/KH my grandmother should be connected with. The decision has finally been made]...
Funeral arrangements: the first viewing will be Tuesday evening at an area funeral home; the second viewing will be at my uncle's church preceeding the funeral service at my uncle's church.
After my mther gave me the info on the funeral arrangements, she mother made a special request. She told me that my uncle's wife would be calling me to see if I wanted to say a few words during the service at the church. She continued: "I can't tell you what to do, but you father has declined to say anything. And, I would ask that you do the same out of respect for your father."
Now, I'm confused...you can attend the funeral in the church, but you cannot say a few words about your mother, and you want to silence me as well.
What's wrong with this picture. Here's my take...I would have so much respect for this decision if they didn't do things so half-a$$ed.
If you are committed to your beliefs all the time in all situations, I would not feel bad about being shunned. My mother will call me if she needs money (not to borrow, but to have), but she won't pick up the phone to say hello, I love you, or I was thinking of you.
What's up with that?! That is not a bible-trained a conscience...it is a brainwashed mind! I feel sorry for my dad. He cannot utter final words about his mother because he doesn't want to be
unfaithful to Jehovahdisloyal to the organization. That is just sad. -
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My grandmother (my step-father's mother) just died tonight
by findingmyway inthis man raised me since the age of 3. i haven't called him my step-father in over 20 years.
i called to check on him this evening and to see if he needed anything.
he said that he was holding up pretty well.
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findingmyway
Thank you all for your kind words. I am not an angry person and I don't want to be driven by anger. After sleeping on it, I've decided that I'd like to go to the funeral. My son will certainly want to go and say goodbye and be with my family, so I'll be there to support him.
Thanks again.
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My grandmother (my step-father's mother) just died tonight
by findingmyway inthis man raised me since the age of 3. i haven't called him my step-father in over 20 years.
i called to check on him this evening and to see if he needed anything.
he said that he was holding up pretty well.
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findingmyway
I'll have to think long and hard about that one. Funerals are typically for the living, and since I don't feel that I need it and obviously my family doesn't need me, then I'm trying to figure what would be my reason for going...other than for appearances and proving that I can still be a "decent human being". I've spent my life trying to prove myself to them. Now, I'm "spiritually dead" to them anyway, so they won't acknowledge my presence...nor will they care one way or the other that I am there.
You know. I'm just angry that in times like these they can't behave like mothers and fathers, like family. I guess I'll have to reevaluate my feelings when this moment of anger passes.
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My grandmother (my step-father's mother) just died tonight
by findingmyway inthis man raised me since the age of 3. i haven't called him my step-father in over 20 years.
i called to check on him this evening and to see if he needed anything.
he said that he was holding up pretty well.
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findingmyway
She was not a JW, so the funeral will not be at a KH.
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My grandmother (my step-father's mother) just died tonight
by findingmyway inthis man raised me since the age of 3. i haven't called him my step-father in over 20 years.
i called to check on him this evening and to see if he needed anything.
he said that he was holding up pretty well.
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findingmyway
This man raised me since the age of 3. I haven't called him my step-father in over 20 years. I called to check on him this evening and to see if he needed anything. He said that he was holding up pretty well. As we got off the phone, I said "I love you." His response: "o.k. thank you."
That type of crap infuriates me! I wasn't that close to his mother anyway, and I hate funerals, but I was going to go and support my family. But just thinking that I my family wouldn't talk to me and I would be surrounded by JW friends of my parents -- people who won't look twice at me makes me ask the question: "Why even go?"
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Good Childhood or Bad Childhood?
by weinermcgee inah i pressed tab this time instead of enter!.
i am allowed one more topic today so i thought i'd make it interesting.. i'd have to say that i had an awesome jw childhood i had lots of kids to play with, my cong always held special things to make all the children happy such as renting space to have parties or watching disney movies at someones house, movie theatre parties.
sliding parties (you know sleds on hills, no gt sno racers back then), all kinds of things that prevented us from getting worldly friends.
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findingmyway
We (myself and my 3 siblings) were raised as JWs. Not that I wouldn't change a lot of things (mostly the JW stuff), but, with the exception of the sporadic spanking for not giving witness at school and having to cope with feeling like a freakaziod, I had a pretty nice childhood. Our parents tried very hard to make sure that we were a close-knit family. I applaud their efforts. We were sheltered and our world was very small, but they did the best they knew how.
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I am not alone!!!!!
by Krisiva10 init took me a bit of reading through some posts to realize that this site is exactly what i have been looking for, for such a long time!!
people to share my blown away realization i experienced after i quit going to the meetings and went against my mother!
it feels great to see people who have gone through and felt the same as i and who have taken the steps to change their life.
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findingmyway
I tried as much as possible to do that and always wondered what was wrong with me
Same here...I prayed incessently for the "pioneer spirit" because I knew I'd never be able to make the necessary sacrifices to actually be a pioneer, so I prayed that I could think and act like one. Thankfully, my prayers were NEVER answered.