I must say it is unique that she walked away from the JWs, made a successful exit, and is not bitter. Quite different. It makes me question how much of a JW she really was, but then again, that may be MY bitterness talking! I wish I wasn't bitter.
Wild_Thing
JoinedPosts by Wild_Thing
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In the News: How being a teen mum, growing up as Jehovahs Witness and my kids prepped me for Masterchef fame
by Wild_Thing infrom australia: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/sydney-confidential/how-being-a-teen-mum-growing-up-as-jehovahs-witness-and-my-kids-prepped-me-for-masterchef-fame/story-fni0cvc9-1226974154930.
renae smith with her two daughters kyah and paris who had to agree before renae went onto masterchef.
picture: richard dobson.
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Why did Ray Franz leave the Organization? Your Opinion Matters!
by SanLuisObispoTruthSeeker inwhat would make a man throw away all his earthly riches to expose the cult?
what did ray franz have to gain by leaving in total poverty?
if ray franz had stayed in place, he could have lived like a god, why did he leave?
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Wild_Thing
Conscience ruled over "worldly desire", to use a JW term. Have you read "Crisis of Conscience" yet? If not you really should.
Another thing I wonder about him leaving is ... did he know how tough it was really going to be leaving? I think back then it would have been hard to foresee. No one so prominent had ever spoken against the society since the original schisms when Rutherford took over. I wonder if he knew what he was in for.
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In the News: How being a teen mum, growing up as Jehovahs Witness and my kids prepped me for Masterchef fame
by Wild_Thing infrom australia: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/sydney-confidential/how-being-a-teen-mum-growing-up-as-jehovahs-witness-and-my-kids-prepped-me-for-masterchef-fame/story-fni0cvc9-1226974154930.
renae smith with her two daughters kyah and paris who had to agree before renae went onto masterchef.
picture: richard dobson.
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Wild_Thing
... it was quite happy and lovely.
What???? The JWs Aussies must have it a heck of a lot better than us JW Americans! Ha! I doubt she was even baptized. It doesn't sound like it. No mention of being disfellowshipped.
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In the News: How being a teen mum, growing up as Jehovahs Witness and my kids prepped me for Masterchef fame
by Wild_Thing infrom australia: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/sydney-confidential/how-being-a-teen-mum-growing-up-as-jehovahs-witness-and-my-kids-prepped-me-for-masterchef-fame/story-fni0cvc9-1226974154930.
renae smith with her two daughters kyah and paris who had to agree before renae went onto masterchef.
picture: richard dobson.
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Wild_Thing
Renae Smith with her two daughters Kyah and Paris who had to agree before Renae went onto Masterchef. Picture: Richard Dobson
- Renae Smith was pregnant at 18, divorced at 22
- ‘Doorknocked every week with her family’
- Persuaded to marry by her church
- Moved on to unhappy new relationship
- Wants to open a kitchen to teach young people
AFTER emerging from a strictly religious childhood, Renae Smith has had a startling and at times harrowing personal journey.
But the single mum from Masterchef is determined to show her daughters — Kyah, 12, and Paris, 10, that you can achieve anything you set your mind to.
Smith, 31, has opened up about her childhood as a Jehovah’s Witness, revealing she and other family members “did doorknocking every single week”.
People think ‘oh it’s a cult’ but for me it was just a way of life and although we had a really strict upbringing, it was quite happy and lovely“It’s a not a bad upbringing, a lot of people think ‘oh it’s a cult’ but for me it was just a way of life and although we had a really strict upbringing, it was quite happy and lovely,” she said.
However, Smith was pregnant and married by 18 — and divorced by 22, with two young daughters.
Renae Smith has had a long journey to the Masterchef kitchen.
She said the religion’s rules about romance were strict: “you can’t hold hands or be alone with a person before you’re married”. But she fell pregnant after dating a fellow church member for only four months.
“Obviously that got me in a lot of trouble, and they do recommend — although you don’t have to — that the best way to deal with that is to be married, because you’ve made a mistake and you need to be willing to prove to God that you accept that. I was 18,” she said.
Smith said her marriage was a quiet and straightforward one, but described their situation “as more like flatmates”.
The couple went on to have their second daughter when Smith was 21. But Smith broke up with her husband a year later, after deciding to leave the church.
She eventually moved on to a different man, which led to one of the toughest periods of her life.
The Newtown-based Mum became openly emotional when discussing the behaviour of an unnamed male partner, which she says turned into a nightmare.
“I found myself in a relationship with someone who would tell me what to wear, if I went to the city I had to bring my parking tickets back to show where I was,” she said. “But I didn’t see it, I thought ‘he loves me so much’ rather than having a realisation of ‘that’s not normal’.”
After gaining the blessings of her two daughters Kyah and Paris to participate in Masterchef Renae’s dream is to start a kitchen and school in Redfern to teach young people how to cook. Picture: Richard Dobson
Smith alleged she was eventually physically attacked by the man. “I was, I definitely was, it got quite bad,” she said.
“It’s something I guess hasn’t come out [publicly],” she said. “It’s something I’ll talk about a little bit, but not too much, because of my kids obviously.”
Smith said she left the relationship but it irrevocably changed her and how she approaches life. “I made a commitment then that I wouldn’t be with anybody and learn who I was, what I liked ... what I wanted to wear,” she said.
Her goal of appearing on Masterchef — to achieve her dream of opening a cooking school for disadvantaged kids — came only after Smith’s daughters agreed to the idea.
“I couldn’t go on the show unless it was a decision I made with the kids,” she said. “For me, it came down to having that open conversation with them”.
Smith, who runs her own brand management company, hopes to open a kitchen and school in Redfern, so that she can teach young people how to cook — and see the benefits flow into their family lives.
Originally published as Renae Smith’s rocky road to fame
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Confidential News from Spain from an "Insider"
by AndersonsInfo inhttp://watchtowerdocuments.org/confidential-news-from-spain/.
the following email was sent to watchtower documents recently from a witness insider in spain.
congratulations for all the information you have given on the legal framework of the watchtower.. in spain, the watchtower is following the instructions coming from patterson that works exclusively with the law firm baker & mckenzie.
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Wild_Thing
Wow! Thanks for the update! It has always angered me how they do not take care of their aging bethel volunteers, and do not provide any type of retirement fund for them. It is also a way to make the old timers "tow the line". If they are disfellowshipped, they are thrown out on their ear without a dime to their name.
I wonder how Obama-care relates to all the Bethel "volunteers"?
I would love to know the answer to this. I have read a lot about the AHC law, but I have not delved into how it affects an entity like the Watchtower with thousands of volunteers. I'll see if someone else has already done the research.
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Android or iPad? Help please.
by Xanthippe init seems i am going to have to teach people to use a tablet as part of my job and i don't even have one!
any advice would be most helpful please.. i keep reading blurb on amazon etc and now i'm really confused.
what should i buy?
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Wild_Thing
iPad ... no question.
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Wild_Thing
I can find you damning Watchtower quotes a lot faster than I can bake you a cookie.
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Wild_Thing
He's done this before? What is his/her purpose?
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What's missing from this list of technologies used by JWs
by scotoma inthis topic has been discussed before but it is interesting to look at it in the light of the new book god's kingdom rules.. 1903 news paper sermons.
1914 photo drama of creation.
1922 radio.
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Wild_Thing
I predict the next technology they will begin utilizing are billboards. The hightech kind, that can change messages and pictures.
You also left off records, cassette tapes, CDs, and now mp3 files. Did they ever have 8 track tapes? That was before my time.
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Wild_Thing
Also, it is an insult when they imply that everyone who pursues higher education is striving after wealth. The majority of the time, this could not be farther from the truth.
People think ‘oh it’s a cult’ but for me it was just a way of life and although we had a really strict upbringing, it was quite happy and lovely
