Posts by Jamelle

41

What's WRONG with some people (ranting)?!?!

by FreedomFrog in

jw
friends

ok, i was at meijer about to do my grocery shopping, though before i do shopping, i always eat something so i can stay on my budget and not grab everything i see.

the cafe' was closed so i had to get a deli sandwich.

i went to go pay and a lady steps in front of me.

Jamelle

Sorry to hear of your unfortunate experience! I think that the situation was absolutely terrible - it reminds me of getting ganged up on by kids back in grade school. The feelings you go through when cornered and attacked like that are not easy - I think you did as well as you could in responding.

I consider myself a Christian, but I would never attack another person's faith like that. One of my good friends is Wiccan and although she doesn't talk about it much, I wouldn't mind if she did. Frankly, I'm curious.

But my husband is a bit phobic about the whole thing - he was raised by a Bible-thumper and terrified with stories of crazy people worshipping the devil. He hates Halloween in large part due to those old stories that have stayed with him. And he wasn't even raised JW!

So I guess to sum this post up...I'm sorry it happened. Try to shake it off when you can. There will always be people like that woman. I hope that changes one day and that everyone can find their own way without being "burned at the stake" - but humans being human - we're all going to have to deal with prejudice in some form or another during the course of our lives. Which really sucks!

50

If raised JW - or in while young - how strict were your parents?

by Jamelle in

i'm just curious to know where my parents register on the scale of strictness...

growing up, i felt absolutely smothered by my parents (mostly my mother).

the things i couldn't do were above and beyond the limitations put on the other young people in our hall.

Jamelle

I'm just curious to know where my parents register on the scale of strictness...

Growing up, I felt absolutely smothered by my parents (mostly my mother). The things I couldn't do were above and beyond the limitations put on the other young people in our hall. For instance...

1) I was not allowed to listen to any music made after 1960 which means I was rockin' with the oldies alot

2) I was not allowed to watch any movies that were made after 1960 or so, exceptions were made but I was never allowed to see anything PG-13 or above. My mother once came and removed me from a slumber party where they were watching "Adventures in Baby Sitting". How she found out we were watching that I do not to this day know = at the time I assumed she was all knowing because of some direct link with God.

3) I was not supposed to read any books that had naughty things in them (her definition of naughty was completely prudish) or had anything to do with something demonistic. This meant that I had to smuggle books like the Narnia series by C.S.Lewis home from the school library or just read at school. Fortunately, my mother was a great believer in knowing a book by its cover. If the title and jacket picture looked harmless, she usually didn't investigate further.

4) I was not allowed to go anywhere with the other girls from the KH unsupervised - ever. Which meant that the fun trips to the mall - where the other girls got dropped off by their parents - not for me. There were many, many other examples.

5) My clothes had to be extremely modest - high collars - skirts well past my knees - pretty much just frumpy. Sensisble clothes.

So - what other craziness did others have to endure? I understand that in the grand scheme of things I could have been alot worse off. I could have had physically abusive parents, etc. Just wondering what kind of experiences are out there that might compare to mine.

13

Overactive Celebrating

by searching4? in

i have found that since i was denied celebrating holidays as a child, i am like a kid when it comes to celebrating.

the holidays are so magical to me, and i always celebrate in a big way for all of them.

it's still new to me and i have so much fun with it.

Jamelle

I could definitely be called an overactive celebrator - although I mostly direct that energy towards Christmas. As someone raised in the JW's my knowledge of that time of year was limited to Society's facts on how pagan it was, Holiday commercials on the TV and the occasional holiday movie that snuck past my parent's radar.

I have no contact with my "blood" family - I have my husband and his family and a large circle of friends that I surround myself with at the holidays. I enjoy Christmas the most because I love to give people presents and I love finding ones that they will love. I also love decorating my home in it's holiday finery. And the music of Christmas never fails to inspire and soothe me. It just makes me happy.

I'm not big into Halloween because I still carry phobias from my JW upbringing - but you can bet I dress up and decorate the house too - just not with anything really scary. I prefer the warm and fuzzy side of the holiday that focuses on horror and death. Ain't that a hoot?

I think that one very important thing the holidays bring me is tradition and structure. I had to reinvent and start all over when I left my former life behind. Celebrating holidays was a way I could ease back into the real world, seperate myself completely from the JW "Lie".

Now I celebrate holidays for their own sake. I look forward to seeing my children grow up free from the JW taint that tries to suck all the joy out of living.

17

Why do the WT call ex-jw's "apostate"? Even if we still love Jehovah,Jesus?

by booker-t in

jw
friends

i was wondering the other day when my neighbor(who is an jw elder) called me an "apostate" for refusing to return to jw's.

when i left the wt i never stopped loving jehovah and jesus i just could not stomach the wt society anymore.

there are alot of us ex-jw's who still love jehovah and jesus and still read our bibles.

Jamelle

I see someone already posted a definition - thanks - we must have been posting at same time.

17

Why do the WT call ex-jw's "apostate"? Even if we still love Jehovah,Jesus?

by booker-t in

jw
friends

i was wondering the other day when my neighbor(who is an jw elder) called me an "apostate" for refusing to return to jw's.

when i left the wt i never stopped loving jehovah and jesus i just could not stomach the wt society anymore.

there are alot of us ex-jw's who still love jehovah and jesus and still read our bibles.

Jamelle

On a side note - I'd be interested in seeing a definition of the word "apostate". I was raised to belive that apostates and demons were almost the same thing.

I think that slapping the lable of apostate on someone makes it easier to shun them - they are evil! don't look at their eyes! kind of crap...what do others think?

16

Bible study turns tragic two dead

by DannyHaszard in

2 kids drown in qc pool

tempo, philippines - 18 minutes ago .

a bible study turned tragic for two children after they drowned while swimming in a pool at the watchtower compound of the jehovahs witness in roosevelt ...

Jamelle

Yeah - it just doesn't sound right. Accidents happen - but "within minutes"???

They had to be left unsupervised longer than that! Just seems weird.

13

Penton & the drama this year

by carla in

jw
friends

in the book apocalypse delayed by james penton he describes a 'drama' on pg 101-. the greatest emphasis was again placed on the preaching work, and jesus was described as a pioneer.in an assembly drama or 'morality play' on the apostle paul's companion timothy, young persons fresh from high school were strongly discouraged from attending academies of higher learning, and an always laten watch tower animosity towrads university education bacame more evident.. this sounds just like the drama from this summer.

i was under the impression that some jw's thought this was a new drama.

do they just recycle this stuff all the time?

Jamelle

kristyann - I never read the Watchtower so I never noticed... Seriously - I spent as little time reading literature as I could during my career as a JW. Occasionally I would voluntarily read an Awake article about nature or something - that's about it.

As to the way the magazines and other publications are written - can we say "c ondescending"? Your mind is guided as though you were a simple minded child. AARGH!

On this board or another one I remember someone talking about being at an assembly where the speaker told the audience about some Professor so and so who had been called on out in service. On a return visit he told the young publisher that not only was their literature outstanding - but it was the equivalent of a college education. (The audience gasped at this point) LOL! What a hoot!

I used to get really excited about the dramas when I was a little kid - I loved the costumes, etc. As I grew older the dramas seemed less and less good - more boring in fact. Most of them were modern day setting instead of historical - Yawn!

89

How the Internet Means 'The End' for Apostates and Opposers of the Society

by slimboyfat in

jw
friends

the received wisdom is that the internet has dramatically damaged the ability of the watchtower society to gain and retain followers.

there was a very eloquent article to that effect written some time ago by a commentator who attempted to buttress his argument with reference to the postmodern condition and the breakdown of metanarratives in todays secular society, nay, even the come-back for enlightenment notions of truth.

in the 1970/80s there were major challenges to the watchtowers theology (great crowd in heaven) and chronology (1914) in norway, alberta canada, dublin ireland and in the newyork bethel itself: but the damage caused by those involved in the dissent was limited because knowledge was dispersed merely through personal contact and minimal use of obscure publications that seldom met the eyes of witnesses innocent of the watchtowers doctrinal and chronological vacillations in any case.

Jamelle

I too believe that Internet is a powerful tool against the Society. To be quite honest, when I first left the JWs I did so on gut instinct alone. I'd seen enough screwy and harmful behavior going on in our congregation to decide that I didn't want to live my life being miserable all the time. I saw the change to have a life of my own and I grabbed it.

It took a good year or so before I finally got up the nerve to look things up online - and I found this board. The information I uncovered on this and other websites was a godsend to me. Suddenly all the pieces clicked together - like someone else said - all the individual cracks appeared as part of a big picture.

The lingering doubt that I was wrong and that I was going to die at Armageddon started to ease away.

I remember the Society warning about the internet before I left. If they are still hammering away at the evils of the Internet they are really only shooting themselves in the foot. Just in case any doubting JW has forgotten that there is a private information source at their fingertips - the next local needs talk will be sure to remind them.

22

Do you feel comfortable with celebrating the holidays?

by Jamelle in

jw
friends

just curious how different individuals have reacted to the though of celebrating holidays after they left the jws...?

any holidays you have more trouble with than others?

does halloween freak you out?

Jamelle

Just curious how different individuals have reacted to the though of celebrating holidays after they left the JWs...?

Any holidays you have more trouble with than others? Does Halloween freak you out? Does Christmas make you sad? Does Easter make you thank your lucky stars that you won't have to sit through another "Memorial Service"?

I have had no problem embracing the holidays. This despite the fact that I was raised to believe they were all based on pagan celebrations and rituals. Or worse, honoring your country in some small way.

I frankly don't care about the origin of these holidays - I care about what they represent now, or at least what they are supposed to represent. When I left the JWs I couldn't wait to start celebrating - especially Christmas! I've been like a little kid about Christmas ever since - in a way I am since I've only gotten to celebrate it about 6 times - I going to be a 7 year old this Christmas.

A friend of mine that left at the same time I did is not as comfortable as I am. She only just started putting up a tree last year.

What kind of thoughts do others have on this topic?

24

While preaching, did you realize that you were also screwing up their lives

by JH in

jw
friends

.

when you were going door to door, although you had the pure intention of teaching people what you taught was god's will, did you realize back then, that if they listened to you and accepted a bible study that you were also screwing up their lives and that they would suffer greatly by this?.

it was always in back of my mind.....

Jamelle

I think there was a brief time - right after I was reinstated for the first and LAST time - that I got really into going out in service.

Other than that - I hated it and never tried to really do good at it. I remember always feeling that it was very rude and presumptuous of me to tell a perfect stranger that their faith was wrong and mine was right - however prettily I put the words. I know I was taught that we were trying to save peoples lives - but it just didn't seem that way to me.

I was never a good JW - not cut out for it! I do laugh about all those times I positioned my body so that my "partner" couldn't see I wasn't really pushing the doorbell button in. LOL! Sometimes I would say, "Wow - you can barely hear that ring from out here, can you?"

I was always mad when someone didn't have a doorbell and I had to knock!