Posts by troubled mind

48

HELP! Future soldier looking to join!

by megawatt in

here's my situation.

i scored pretty well in the asvab and now have my pickings of the available mos in the army reserves.

pretty sure i'm shoe in, except for a minor detail.

troubled mind

When in writing were you ever a conscientious objector ? That may have been what you thought ,but did you ever legally declare it ? I really think it is two different things .Just my opinion ....

23

Newbie

by Styler1fan in

jw
friends

hello all.

i am a newbie here.

just wanted to say hi!.

Do you think it's possible being a witness can kill a person?

by The Finger in

a close relative of mine just before he died claimed it was being a witness that was partially responsible for his death (leaving aside the blood issue).

.

troubled mind

hiding Questioner I am glad to feel you are getting much needed help and are doing better .

I wrote a blog a while back after a young man in our old hall committed suicide . I commented that I truly felt had I not left that may have been my same fate . The pressure and guilt for some people just becomes unbearable . When you grow up not knowing any other way and with zero coping skills it is a reciepe for disaster . Sadly the Elders just are NOT trained individuals to help such people ....yes they at times do offer a kind word (sometimes not as in your case ) But there are times so much more is needed .

There are times the only cure is getting away from what is causing the depression and start over .

YES I believe being a witness can kill a person .

11

My encounter today with JW oppression ....

by troubled mind in

jw
friends

there are two witnesses that work in the insurance office i do business with .

one of the women has known me most of my life over forty yrs.

today when i stopped in she was by herself and she asked if she could have my personal email address .

troubled mind

There are two witnesses that work in the insurance office I do business with . One of the women has known me most of my life over forty yrs. Today when I stopped in she was by herself and she asked if she could have my personal email address . She is on my facebook as a friend ,but she said she is under pressure by other witnesses not to respond to my comments on her page ! So as not to offend others, and not to offend me, she wants my email to keep in touch ......

How sad that a woman almost 45 yrs of age does not feel she has the freedom to speak freely to whom she wishes . It is becoming so foriegn to me that kind of thinking ....I know no one else in my life that has that kind of pressure on them ,it is very sad .

So I wonder if she will be dropping me as a facebook friend and explaining it to me in an email

45

This year's memorial invite had no black people on the front cover picture.

by african GB Member in

jw
friends

did anyone notice?.

troubled mind

I am beginning to really like you AGuest ....

12

Memorial talk we do not dedicate ourselves to an organisation

by Mattieu in

we do not dedicate ourselves to an organisation.

that is a direct quote from the memorial speaker during his final comments about our relationship with jesus.

my wife looked straight at me when he said that, as that has been one of my many points i have raised with her as to my angst with the wtbt$.. i was baptised before the change of dedication vows in 1985 and she after the change.. was my memorial speaker ad-libbing or was that quote in all the memorial outlines worldwide?.

troubled mind

This phrase haunted me for several years . A brother in our hall used it in a talk and emphasized it so much that it made me think . I had never questioned the information we got from the FS . I had been taught well ( brainwashed) to never question their authority ....it was from Jehovah . This statement lingered in the back of my mind during the time when ...the baptismal questions changed .....when the generation definition changed (the one before this last change ) .......the article about pinata's and the reasoning behind it ......

Then came all the unwritten laws in the congregation that have no scriptual backing ,but if you don't follow them your in trouble . Whose rules are they ? An organization rule .

When I finally realized WE were following manmade opinions and rules ......then I felt it was time to leave.

138

What year Did you Stop Attending Meetings - How Long were you a JW ?

by flipper in

jw
friends

i'm trying to compare some statistics and figures on this to share later in the thread to see if more long-time witnesses are exiting- or are newer witnesses exiting after a shorter period of time.

and - are more people exiting in the last 10 to 15 years than before.

so your answers would be helpful in looking into this .

troubled mind

Born in , baptized @17 in 1978 . Last meeting in 2006 age 44 .

37

As Witnesses we were Trained to be Obedient - Rather than Show Love

by flipper in

jw
friends

i can list many examples of this : probably the most glaring thing i saw proving this in 1982 was when an 83 year old sister died of a heart attack on the stage at an assembly part where she gave her experience then sat down next to me and died right on my shoulder on the stage.

i motioned to a brother sitting near me on the stage to help me carry her off the stage - which we did - and the brother and i behind the curtain tried administering cpr.

a registered nurse ran behind the curtain from the audience also - but the annoying thing is the elder giving the talk just kept right on talking to the 3,000 in the audience with no reference to what had just happened !

troubled mind

Oh Flipper you have hit a nerve with me on this one .......this kind of behavior I am sure is what started really opening my eyes and I will try to give you some examples .

The first that comes to mind happened when my husband had missed several meetings . Over the course of 8 months he had lost five different relatives to death in his family ! Two of those were cousins around his age, and all had been major parts of his childhood . No one in the hall even sent a card to him during this time . One super righteous sister asked me 'why my husband was missing meetings', when I reminded her of his recent losses her reply was a very snotty

" WELL how close could he have been to them ,they were Worldly weren't they ??" AS if since they were not witnesses they totally didn't matter......

This same sister ,who by the way is held up as a fine example to all in the hall also told me I should be at the hall and not spending all my time at my Mom's hospital bedside while she was in a coma , becasue 'what really can you do for her '.

A pioneer sister in our hall could get away being a closet drunk and slander people because she went door to door so much . But someone that had a kind heart and quite temperment ,but didn't get alot of hours in ,was treated as bad association .

There was a kindly older brother in our hall that never went in service or gave talks ,but came every Saturday with his own mower and did the lawn . Any minor repairs needed he would do them w/o being asked . He also made it a point to stop by and do for others in the hall whenever there was aneed . The Elder body finally told him to stop the lawn work because they wanted the book study groups to do it instead (really it was pressure to try get him to follow procedure service ,TMS,ect.) All it did was push him further away until now he only attneds the Memorial .

Three very older women became witnesses lat in life ....these ladies were a hoot ! I loved being around them because they were so real . In the winter two of them would like to wear pantsuits to the bookstudy ....mind you these women were very active in service made all the meetings ,but because of this one minor blip they were harrassed ,special needs talks were given (to embarrass them into following the rules ) it broke they're spirit a little the way they were treated . The other older woman (in her 70's) was reproved because she couldn't give up birthdays with her family .(none of her relatives were witnesses ) JUST makes me sick !!

Follow the rules .....don't really care about the people ....I thought Jesus had something to say about that .

8

When is the correct time to start eating easter eggs?

by Broken Promises in

jw
friends

when is the correct time to start eating easter eggs?.

if its thursday evening, can we start now?.

i have a feeling that sunday is the correct day, but what if youre hungry and a lover of chocolate?