we wrote our letters, and delievered them at the same time to the elders and the people that counted. The elders came and asked if we understood the depth of what we were doing, that we were condemning ourselves to death and that we would not be able to see any of our friends again. After we answered we understood, and explained everything over again, they asked if we could pray together, we accepted, then they left. Some of our friends have never spoken to us, and with others we have pints in our old places, as if nothing has changed. We missed our first meeting the next night and went for a meal with some friends- they wondered why we were smiling so much, the thing is- they never knew we were witnesses, and the bigger thing is, if they did, they probably wouldn't have cared. Basically, expect feelings of elation, followed by periods down in the dumps, before you go back to elation. You lose a lot, but gain so much more.
isthisit
JoinedPosts by isthisit
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14
Aftermath of DA letter-what to expect?
by exwitless ini already posted this question in the middle of my previous topic, but i think i buried my question there.
i would like to hear some more experiences from those who da'd themselves regarding the immediate "aftermath" (specifically with the elders).
neither my husband nor i have any jw family.
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What is the meaning of life?
by frankiespeakin ini was reading about experiences of those who smoked 5meo-dmt, found in the venom of certain toads, i had got a hold of 1/2 of gram of the 99% pure stuff and smoke it about 20 or 30 times, it a very intense trip, that allows you to see thru many of the progams we got running around in our minds and concepts we've been brainwashed with from government and culture(that's about the best way i can discribe it).
any way this experience that i take a quote from is after he came down enought to be able to speak english(i often spoke in tongues when first becoming able to speak) i thought he gave a pretty good answer to the question:i felt so clear-headed about everything that i asked my friends to just go ahead and ask me something, anything.
one of them asked me 'what's the meaning of life?
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isthisit
i figure "to eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we are to die"
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i want to thank a lot of you
by isthisit ini want to thanks those of you who replied to my threads, and pm'd me.
anyway, the announcement was made.
we arrived at the meeting a little after 2015 and went away again just after the announcements and went for some drinks with some friends of my from uni, we told them that we had left, their reaction?
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isthisit
I want to thanks those of you who replied to my threads, and pm'd me. Anyway, the announcement was made. We arrived at the meeting a little after 2015 and went away again just after the announcements and went for some drinks with some friends of my from Uni, we told them that we had left, their reaction? " Finally!". My parents have been amazing through out the whole thing, however i think that my mum may be under the illusion that we are going to seek reinstatement after we are married. They are however keeping their relationship with us on a need to know basis. Only two of my friends within the org, my true friends are staying in contact, infact they are coming to the wedding. So it seems in Boston we are going to be a party of 14, which will be a nice civilised number. Anyway i suppose the whole point of this message is to say thank you, i don't know how my access is going to be over the next few weeks, i'll drop by and read and hopefully respond isthisis
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well, we are no longer JW's and look what i got from my father!!!
by isthisit inisthisit .
i cant believe that it has come to this, but your hand has been pushed and you had to act, for this i know that we raised you the right way.
we love you both, and will be in boston with you on your day.
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isthisit
“Isthisit”
I can’t believe that it has come to this, but your hand has been pushed and you had to act, for this I know that we raised you the right way. We love you both, and will be in Boston with you on your day. Tuesday it appears will be a big day for the hall. I am no longer the PO and am considering coming off as an elder. I am not doing this because you disassociated yourself, I am doing this because I did not agree with decisions that had been reached by the body concerning your situation, can you believe that only two of the body had no problems with you marrying?!?! two, i won't name names but i know you know who they are.
Phone me today and we’ll sort ourselves out a bit together, perhaps dinner tonight. Your mum is upset , but please be assured that it is on your behalf, not because of you. She stands with me on this, we have already got our tickets.
Love
Dad
We sent our letters out, just to get it over with, we were sick of waiting. We told my parents personally last night, and went around our friends houses last night, putting letters through their doors. Finally we put our letters though the elders doors. Our friends (the ones that had the good grace to talk to us) have been mostly supportive, understanding why we are doing this, but most said that they can't have anything to do with us. Two have said that they still love us, and are we registered somewhere :-). So i suppose we are no longer JW's, it feels so strange to write that, we are no longer jehovah's witnesses. -
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Book Study this Week - Is the World Getting Worse?
by jgnat inthis week's book study is on the state of the world since satan was ostensibly tossed down here to spread his misery in 1914. according to the watchtower society, the world has been steadily declining since that date.
i contend they selectively filter bad news in order to maintain their beliefs.
the world is not necessarily worse today.
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isthisit
we had our bookstudy last night and it really got me thinking. Ok the earth is an unsettled place at the moment, for instance Lebanon, threat of terrorism, mad dictators in places like North Korea. And then it hit me, the wts and publishers always talk in vague generalities, never specifics. Fortunatly our bookstudy has a higher ratio of bright sparks (relative? as it is the city centre group and so has all the students living downtown in the group as well as those earning enough money at proper jobs to live in the city). However one sister said that Paul wasn't talking about us when he wrote these things. The conducter said "um no offence A***** but we have to fight hard against these things as they are imperfect human nature". Vague generalities, hearsay and conjecture seem to be evidence as far as the org and the borg are concerned
Oh yeah, it also occured to me that the only ones in the hall that harp on these points are the ones that have nothing going for them in this system, hoping that the new world will be better for them. You know studying this book instead of reassuring me of the "right things" has pushed me and suprisingly some others in the other direction. -
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Are JWs Not Too Smart? Pros and Cons...
by Seeker4 inin alanf's thread on whether or not thirdson (or whoever!
) is a gb apologist, there are several posts discussing the intelligence of jws.
on that subject, this is what i observed from over 30 years as a jw:
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isthisit
i think there are intellegent dubs, although in our hall not many. A lot bask in their own stupidity. There are some that really have their head screwed on, i remember we had a talk given by this guy that used all "worldly" philosophers as examples. I actually remember thinking ( i was 15ish at the time) that you can be smart and be a witness. I heard last month that he and his wife DA'd.
I remember being expressly told not to bring what i was learning in Uni to the kingdom hall. Then i had a talk about Good Works as a Christian (which i ooops, failed to include going out on the service, how evil of me) and used a quote from Martin Luther. The brother who takes the schools, loves the fact that he left highschool early to work in a car factory, asked me for a copy of the quote so he could use it in talks, i told him that i'd photocopy the entire tract for him, but "i'll have to figure out which textbook it came from"- the look on his face was priceless.
i think the smart ones go as soon as they wake up. -
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Rules you broke?
by KW13 in.
what rules did you find, you couldn't help breaking as a witness?.
i swore sometimes, got me and a mate drunk, copied software e.t.c (caesars things to caesar), celebrated a birthday/christmas or two...went against some stuff we were told not to do in the young people ask book...erm.... how about you?
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isthisit
went to university, an now on to evil post graduate! (didn't pioneer) Rowed for my uni at intra-europe level (associated with outsiders) Toasted to my friends health when ever we drank (in Irish, a language "rooted in paganism", according to one elder, i countered, "um so are latin and greek") drank (and drink) like a fish when required (including being caught underage drinking) swore (have never said the C word however) skipped meetings to go to concerts interested and very vocal about politics had the odd wank oh yeah , i'm still in, though only for a matter of weeks (2 and a bit)
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Are things really worse now?
by NikL inthis morning amidst the news of the possible terrorist attack involving planes from the
i told her that nothing happened.
she of course pointed out that this time it didnt but maybe next time.
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isthisit
i don't think things are worse, global communications have just got better. Bombs have always gone off, hell i live in a country that had threats of bombings and "terrorists" (or freedom fighters,depending on what side you are on). The thing is that everyone now has an opinion and can blog about it and mouth off on message boards (um) and on articles posted by journalists. It is all just perception because we have almost too much information about what is going on around us.
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my disassociation drafts, longish but i'd like comments....
by isthisit in<div> <div> <div>we decided to leave before being pushed, these are my letters, her letters are very similar but she is still working on them, any suggestions would be more than welcome....bear in mind my dad is po, should this change anything?
<br></br> ________________________________________________________________________________________________-- brothers this is perhaps the hardest letter i have had to write, and it is likewise the letter that i least expect to have to write.
as of this letter being received, i no longer consider myself as a jehovahs witness.
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isthisit
thanks for all your words of encouragement, JWFACTS- we did toy with the idea of putting a paragraph like that in, but we decided against it, because it would take many more pages of explanation, we have decided to leave in a simple manner. Both of us have cleared up our letters a bit, she will send copies both to her home congregation in the states and here. The plan is for the letters to be sent for the first week in September, we have a few things to clear up here, including a party on Friday, it will certainly be a bittersweet experiance. Our life in Boston is pretty much set up, we have an apartment and she has already got the basics set up, for us both to live in when i move in a few weeks. and! our B-list is already in place, her sister who is df'd is her witness at the wedding :-). Regardless of whether my parents show up or not, we are treating a few to dinner straight after.
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my disassociation drafts, longish but i'd like comments....
by isthisit in<div> <div> <div>we decided to leave before being pushed, these are my letters, her letters are very similar but she is still working on them, any suggestions would be more than welcome....bear in mind my dad is po, should this change anything?
<br></br> ________________________________________________________________________________________________-- brothers this is perhaps the hardest letter i have had to write, and it is likewise the letter that i least expect to have to write.
as of this letter being received, i no longer consider myself as a jehovahs witness.
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isthisit
<div> <div> <div>we decided to leave before being pushed, these are my letters, her letters are very similar but she is still working on them, any suggestions would be more than welcome....bear in mind my dad is PO, should this change anything? <br></br> ________________________________________________________________________________________________-- Brothers This is perhaps the hardest letter I have had to write, and it is likewise the letter that I least expect to have to write. As of this letter being received, I no longer consider myself as a Jehovah’s Witness. You are all no doubt well aware of our situation. <Name Removed> and I have been involved and increasing in our love for each other for some time, progressing, as we should towards marriage. In fact we plan to marry on October 7th in Boston. However this marriage will not be one “sanctioned” by Brooklyn. Obviously being beaten is not reason enough to leave a marriage and therefore <Name Removed> is not scripturally free remarry. Regardless of this fact, we are in love and plan to marry on the above date. Bro <appears-to-be-your-buddy-but-actually-isn’t> informed me at a rather informal shepherding that this marriage would considered at worst a disfellowshipping and at best a probable “permanent marking” offence. This fact was later confirmed by a call by Bro<old school but well meaning and like my grandfather> and Bro<head so far up his own ass he can’t see the daylight>. This is unacceptable to us. I have been nothing but a stand up brother, I have done all that is required of me , and more, holding down two “responsibilities” in the whole when there are enough brothers to go around, answered at every meeting, went out on service, did all I could when I could. We no longer wish to be members of an earthly organisation that will not recognise the god given right to happiness to two people. You as an organisation may not accept our relationship, I hope, and believe that Jesus and our Heavenly father, does. Brothers, this is not easy for me, but Mum and Dad both taught me that principles are far more important than the letter of the law, something that you seem to have forgotten. I hold no bitterness towards any of you; I love you all as brothers, friends and family. However I do not wish my name slandered among the brothers within our hall. It is with this in mind that I have drafted a letter to be sent to those within my circle of friends and brothers I had the most dealings with, to be sent in conjunction with this letter so that my name shall be clear among those of whom I called my brothers and friends in Christ. I will by no means hinder the work of the hall or of the organisation, we simply wish to live our years together in happiness and in peace in a union sanctioned by Caesar and by Christ. Your Brother Isthisit?<br> My dearest Parents This is the letter that I hoped never to have to write. I am leaving the organisation. Dad will have received the letter to be read to the body of elders on Tuesday, perhaps his last act as presiding overseer. You are well aware of my reasons. I always kept you involved with my life, you knew of <my love’s> past and accepted her into your life as I easily I took her into mine. However this is a relationship that “has no future” as far as Brooklyn and some of our body of elders is concerned. It is with this in mind that we are disassociating from the organisation. You know her past, you were aware of it, so I take this to mean that you approve. Dad, you were, and still are the elder I have most looked up to, Principles have always been the most important thing to you, I love you for this (in fact I love you for just being who you are) but not all on the body of elders agree, and neither does the organisation as was shown to be in the in the “pay attention” book. We are making a stand for what we believe to be right, our love for each other. I understand the position that we are putting ourselves and likewise putting you in. If you no longer wish to have dealings with us, we understand, these are standards set forth by Brooklyn. However regardless of this, we have booked a table for 6 in a restaurant in Boston on October 7th, we would love it if you can come, however if you cannot, I will take it that you no longer wish to have dealings with us. Please be assured that I love you, and this unconditional love will never stop, I will always send emails and pictures to let you know how we are, whether you respond is up to you, I leave it in your court. I love you, and will never stop. I have nothing bad to say about the way I was raised or the way I was treated, I was always happy as a child and I wish to continue this happiness into the future. With as Much love as can be put into the written word Your Son IsThisit