a close family member just informed me what happened during their last c.o.
visit.
this occurred 3 months ago.
This happened in the congregation I was apart of in the 1980's. The Elder body was removed except one, and then a trouble shooter from NY was sent to whip everyone back into shape . Basically gossip ,and a 'Jezebel spirit "were the issues. An Elders wife manipulated the body ,and a feud insued .(Her husband ,son, son in law , Step-Father were all Elders ,and she was the puppeteer )
The Elder from NY was a HUGE company man ,and crushed any free spirit around .It was an awful time .
please share your experiences..
I never made any huge announcement ,just stopped attending . It took awhile ,but uber sister in law,and Elder Brother in law completely shun us in .We have never been asked by them why we stopped attending . I imagine they have heard juicy gossip,and have made their decisions based on that .
Mother in law asked me early on if we had stopped attending (they live far away from us) She was upset when I told her we had stopped ...she wanted details such as ' had someone stumbled us' ....at that time I just told her I wanted to be happy and I wasn't going to allow the opinons of some group of men to dictate how I lived my life any longer.I then told her the rest was personal and not up to discussion . She and Elder step Father see us once a year ,and will answer my phone calls ,but they no longer initiate any contact on their own .
My Witness sister doesn't shun me because she depends on me for care occasionaly,and just asks that I don't talk to her about her beliefs .That is all she has to hold on to, and doesn't want the illusion to end .I can respect that even though I don't agree.
My Witness brother and his family cut us off once they noticed we were no longer attending .I had a phone call this spring from him after 4 yrs of complete silence . He said he wanted to touch base ,then talked 10 minutes about himself (yay he is sober now)....he ended the call by reminding me he could not have a personal relationship with me or my disassociated older Brother . I will be using caller ID next time .
Neices and Nephews are a mixed bag sometimes they will wave and say Hi in public other times they shun .Who knows ,but we always smile and acknowledge them .
It did surprise me how no one realy wants to know why we left all they know is that we did. For the first couple of yrs they all thought I was evil and had tricked my husband to leave too . Once he started decorating for holidays they have had to accept he can think on his own .
i work about a block from the local kh and i notice there was no jw.org sign on it.
i said to my wife are they not following the cults rules on this.
will just yesterday as i was driving home from work there it was on the corner of the kh sign jw.org it was about 1 foot x 1 foot in size.
The local hall here has had their blue JW.org sign up for a while now . It sticks out like a sore thumb ....bright blue sign against traditional brick ....looks tacky to me . Also noticed there has been a major remodel going on for several weeks now . Big tent set up in the parking lot ,with trailers and full parking lot on the weekends . Saw some JWs in the paint aisle in Walmart with official JW name tags on (must have to wear ID while working the remodels now ?
it's been 12 years since i first read ray franz's books and the scales came off my eyes.
by that time i was in my forties.. since 2002 i went back to school and have worked with 3 very professional organizations.
but my biological clock is ticking away and while my peers are looking forward to retirement, i am only beginning.
Thank You Wannaexit for making your heartfelt post !
This is why I still visit this site .It is the only place I can go ,that I know others will truly understand what it is like to have a life experience as we all have had . I too have days when I look back ,and get sad,angry over the lost years spent being loyal to a cult .
I was raised a JW ,and did not leave until I was 44yrs old . At that time my own kids were growing up ,and starting out on their own. I just could not in good conscience tell them to spend their lives as I had .I wanted more for my kids than I had . I am thankful all three of them are living life free from the indoctrination .
i've read conflicting things so was hoping to get this clarified.. .
.
It is their club ,their rules . They do whatever they want . We had been inactive for three yrs . they came by and invited us to a JC meeting ....what was that about ? I think it really depends on the Elder body and the size of the congregation .Small KH are way more involved in the peoples lives than big city ones .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekcpscmpfh0.
this was my husbands costume yesterday !
hahaha he cracks me up .
This is how we should follow the local JWs going door to door . I can put a Watchtower in his hand .nn
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekcpscmpfh0.
this was my husbands costume yesterday !
hahaha he cracks me up .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekcpscmpfh0.
this was my husbands costume yesterday !
hahaha he cracks me up .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKcPscMpFH0
This was my husbands costume yesterday ! HAhaha he cracks me up . Homemade costume ,and he won the local costume contest too !
a poster on another thread reminded me of when there was a 15 min.
break between the talk and the wt study on sundays.
the break was supposed to be to allow jw's time to drive their bible studys home from the talk.
Yes I remember the 'break' the only good thing at Sunday meeting. In 1967 we moved North from North Carolina to Illinois. The new KH was right across the street from a small grocery store that had penny candy !!! What luck . Of course the brothers would mention many times that kids shouldn't go over there ,but of course we did it anyways. Running around playing tag in the front yard of the hall was good fun too.
My feelings were that they stopped the break, because too many people used it as an excuse to LEAVE and go home early .
i really don't understand the concept of forgiveness .
lately in my life several people have thrown that term around so easily ,and i am confused .
is it because we were taught to cut people off so easily as jws that i find it hard to forgive ?.
Outlaw
