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when you were a dud (i call it 'dud' not dub..lol), ok how can i put this.....were you 'always on'?
meaning did you always have something to give to people or witness to them at 'every' opportunity or did you look at it as a 'job' where you only gave things out in service?
no way!
I only did it when I had to, which meant out in service.
my anal elder step-father used to have family studies about how we needed to informal witness at school, and I would sit there and think "this dude is out of his freaking mind!" Did he realize how hard high-school was when you're a JW - let alone carrying around a stockpile of literature to place with your school mates?!
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hiya all.
i just wondered this becus i know lots of people have lost faith in god and the bible.. but if today something happened that proved 100 percent that god existed, would you go back to serving him?.
Dave -
if I received proof of the existence of garden gnomes and they had lots to offer in exchange for worship, I might be able to strike a deal with them, too.
LOL! funny stuff....
I'm with you on that one. garden gnomes seem much more FUN to worship!!
-freedomlover
except that instead of feeling like a thread it feels like a giant knotted iron cable pulling at my heart.
we are among the 5th generation of witnesses, my great grand mother went to rutherfords funeral, and being a witness has always been central in their lives.
i went to bethel like my brother, and uncles before me and sat at the same sewing machine that my grandfather had sat at when he was there.
you mentioned you're married. how is your wife with all this? is she on the same page as you?
I too had my heart broken when I thought of loosing all the family I have. some great in-laws, neices, nephews, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, parents. if you can keep on faking it, then go for it. it got to the point for me that I couldn't do it anymore then you just have to act on that. talk slowly to your little sister. add points here and there. keep stalling her on baptism if you can.
what I've found since I left recently is that I'm gaining family members and friends back that I never thought I would have again. you may be loosing some, but you will gain new friends and probably some of your family members with time.
so you have a full beard huh??
pretty cool you are!! I bet the elders love that.........
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which category do you most often fall into?.
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Realist.
I feel I am and I've been told by more than one person.
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hiya all.
i just wondered this becus i know lots of people have lost faith in god and the bible.. but if today something happened that proved 100 percent that god existed, would you go back to serving him?.
cool topic.
woke up this morning, saw this thread and was going to post immediately but then read through the comments.
I agree with a lot of you. I wouldn't want to serve the god of the OT or NT or the JW's god ever again. that cannot be "god."
here's my thought recently : from the bible, nonetheless, 1John 4:8 - "god is love" ........... god IS love.
perhaps in my mind now the best god I can come up with is love. It's the most powerful force I know. so right now, at this stage, and all that "love" encompasses, that is my god. William Hurt has an amazing line in the movie "The Village" about love, something like "the earth will move and bend to it, because it's that powerful." (not directly quoting, got to watch that scene again......)
so if a god from the sky, the bible god, came back and said "here I am - worship me" I guess I would need to know WHY do you need me to worship you?
I'd have to decide after he/she could answer that question for me.................
its richie again.. i was thinking last night about my inevitable, fast approaching exit from the wtbts.
i guess that out of common courtesy, i will provide a copy of my disassociation letter to my mother, however, it is nothing more than a baptism nullification / gag order / i'll sue all of you letter.
its not one of those lengthy numbers that some have chosen to write.
I
guess that I'm just not meant for the society. I don't have the buttons they like to push. We just aren't compatible
this is a "good enough" reason to leave.
it doesn't have to be anything more than this.
but what is your reason for talking to your mom? do you want her to know why you are leaving or do you want to give her some food for thought? (607, UN, child molesters, etc.)
if you want to give her some things to think about you may want to expound on your "reasons" for leaving then......
its richie again.. i was thinking last night about my inevitable, fast approaching exit from the wtbts.
i guess that out of common courtesy, i will provide a copy of my disassociation letter to my mother, however, it is nothing more than a baptism nullification / gag order / i'll sue all of you letter.
its not one of those lengthy numbers that some have chosen to write.
wow Richie, it always amazes me how smart you are.
I was just asking ITIS the other day, "what's Richie going to do when he turns 18?"
If a DA letter is the way to go for you then do it.
As a mom, and not knowing at all what kind of mom you have, I would appreciate my child to let me know how they feel about things. My mom is a cold, bitter, heartless woman and always has been. I have had close friends and family members try to tell her what kind of person I was, and how she was crazy to treat me the way she did, but she didn't listen. I am glad that she's heard those things though. So yeah, you should start a "how great is Richie?" thread!
I think it would be great to give your mom the heads up as far as your DA letter before she hears it from someone else. I would let her know that you still love her and your dad, and that you will always be there for her if she needs you. Tell her you'd be more than willing to discuss your beliefs if she can do it respectfully and honestly, otherwise it's best to leave that area alone. I really feel for you. You are really brave and so smart Richie. I know when me and all my siblings left home it was hell because of the psycho parents we have. We aren't that far away, and if you need anything don't hesitate to call. you have my number.
When ITIS told me everything it hurt like hell, but it was so nice to just be so damn honest for once. I would recommend telling her what you think she needs to know, or what she can handle and then leave the ball in her court. I was crazy mad at him at first for putting me in that position to choose, but in the end it was for the best.
I hope you can state your peace with your mom, even though she probably won't listen.
A lot of times we don't need someone to agree with us, just to listen to us.
((((((((Richie)))))))))))))
freedomlover
last night my parents came around for dinner.
mum is a jw, dad is not.
things were going fine everyone was getting along nicely.. mum happened to mention some people she knew who want to go to gilead.
HA HA miss peaches! ITIS used to do that to me when I was still a dub and it drove me crazy how he had the scoop on everything and he wouldn't tell me where he had gotten his info. now I know where he got it, and I also like to bring things up to JW's and see there reactions when they haven't heard the latest news. I too, have spoken without thinking about certain things and then wanted to instantly take it back in case they asked me where I got my info...
funny!
it will be interesting to see what she finds out....
freedomlover
i had a chance to take a photo shoot of billygoat.
i had to show this off to you....because she is very shy about showing it.
maybe shy is the wrong word, but it is the best one i could think of.
beautiful Billygoat and lovely work Sparkplug!
freedomlover
i'm new to this site, although i am umm wow, what am i?
i'm not formally df'd anymore, but i'm inactive, i guess but for about 15yrs.
i met online on a local site another former jw and she told me about this site.
Welcome!
not stupid - i had the same problem...click on Active Topics and you can monitor your thread.
freedomlover
