just curious.
have any of you 'postates been accused of celebrating christmas?
how did/would you respond?.
One of my childhood friends told me she was finally df'd because of celebrating Christmas . Her husband and children are not Jehovah's Witnesses . She was busted because of a photo of her on facebook ,showing her at a Christmas celebration with her grandchild.
The lengths this organization will go to suck any joy from a persons life is limitless .
just curious.
have any of you 'postates been accused of celebrating christmas?
how did/would you respond?.
We had been inactive three yrs when I put winter decorations outside our house . Nothing that screamed Christmas mind you ,just lighted deer ,a sled and some white lights around the porch railing . The Elders stopped by in no time to express how much they missed us (after three yrs ) ,and by the way are you celebrating xmas ?? I told them the lights cheered me up from the winter blahs ,and closed the door . About four months later the Elder saw me in the grocery store ,and asked if he could stop by our home for a sheparding call .....silly me said, 'Sure come on over " , **note to any lurkers NEVER EVER DO THIS it is a trap !.... I am a nice person though ,and I usually expect others to behave the same way ,they call this affliction 'being naive " !! So a few days later this Elder and another brother stop by our house .Immediately he begins the spiel about how bad the world is ,how close we are to the END ,and how much we are missed . After some chit chat ,and me telling them I have never been happier in my life than I am now ,why would I return to a lifestyle that caused me undue depression ,anxiety and general feelings of low self worth ??? When he ran out of answers he finally got to the REAL reason for their visit . He stated ' the REAL reason we came by tonight was to ask you if you are now celebrating Christmas '.( so in other words it was not because they love and miss us after all ) I laughed and told him after three years of non attendance ,and no interest from them ....that they no longer had any right to know my personal business . When he tried again I firmly told him I would in no way be sharing my personal life with him or answering any questions about my personal business. This put him off ,and he said it was easy to write a letter of disassociation ,but i told him I did not feel it necessary for me to do anything of the sort ,and I showed him the door . Of course this was the beginning of undue harassment ,phone calls ,drop bys ,and finally an invite to a JC meeting . I contacted the Police ,and was advised to send a cease and desist letter to the Elders . The Police Officer made a personal visit to the Elders home to explain what cease meant ,and that was the last i have ever heard from them .
Now my husband has created an award winning ,computer aided light ,and music show in our front yard for Halloween ,and Christmas ! It is loads of fun .
if you have not already watched the feb 2015 broadcast, go to approx.
it has an elderly sister talking about being old in this world...a long time pioneer who probably thought the end would have come years ago...as the society told her many times.. now she is told to be on a mission to get young ones to also pioneer, and watch for the not so subtle condemntion of higher education!.
sickening stuff........ they missed the obvious elephant in the room.... a life wasted on nothing...now she has no money, and lived waiting for a fairy tale!
finally after five years i have finally shut the door very firmly on the witnesses.
i have had this "sister" calling for over the last six months clearly trying to reactivate me,but never mentioning the reason why me and my family left the forfar congregation two years ago.
it was always any subject but the " elephant in the room" well today was the finale.
It is an amazing feeling when you finally realize they no longer have power over your life ! No more looking over your shoulder or tip toeing around their feelings. Freedom to live your own life your way ...priceless !
*** km 9/74 p. 8 question box ***as jehovahs servants we.....................do not want to give others the impression that the tetragrammaton is the symbol of jehovahs witnesses as a whole.
we have no organizational symbol to identify ourselves but show that we are jehovahs christian witnesses by living in harmony with gods will.john 13:35.. don't you just love those "old" lights?.
Today I must have made some JWs mad, and was blocked from a site because of my comment about their new buttons . This site kept popping up on my facebook account that was selling JW.org buttons ,so today I clicked on it . They were all gushing about how to get these beautiful pins.One poster actually said at her hall there was a talk about not buying these buttons from outside sources (making someone worldly rich ) So I posted and said ,"I think these buttons are ridiculous .How come ten or fifteen yrs ago the internet was bad and now you are buying buttons to promote it ? What happened to being no part of the world ? The JW.org buttons remind me of the Mormons, and their Elder badges . Now I am blocked ....guess they didn't like my opinion .
there are many things wrong with the world, many injustices and crimes committed.
what if we could stop one of them?
wouldn't it make the world a slightly better place?
I am an old fart ! Deal with it ,and all my typo's ,and indented paragraphs . Too bad for all of you ,and my son ,who continually tells me I type horribly . (imagine an expletive right here > <)
i am not a jw ...however i began having bible studies (i d call them watchtower studies).
i was beginning to get lured in and brainwashed into accepting the religion as the true religion...but something inside of me told me there was something odd.
some time passes and i was invited to a meeting and i accepted.
Real love is much more than seducing someone with good looks .
You are tempting him to go against everything he wholeheartedly believes in ,and eventually he will hate you for it .It seems to me that this relationship is not based on mutual common interests,openness, honesty, trust ?? why not ......Maybe because he is involved in something a whole lot bigger and complicated than you can imagine. You say he is intelligent ,why not approach this in a more honest way ...such as telling him your insights of his religion .Can he have an open honest discussion about these matters ? If not ,why would you really want to waste your time ? You can not change another person ,they have to want to do that themselves .
You need to forget him ,and move on to someone you have more in common with than desire.
today is my first post on jwd, i was one of jehovahs witness for almost 50 years of my life, i was born into the religion.
i was baptized at a young age and once i got married i was a very spiritual woman as they would call me.
my husband and i served as full time pioneers, we traveled abroad and went to international conventions, did some special pioneer service in other states in the us.
I too laughed when you described looking over your shoulder at the bookstore ! Because I did the same thing . The fear you described is so real at the time ,and so sad when I think back on it . I just read your account to my husband ,and told him how I hid my internet searches from him ,afraid he would turn me into the Elders .
Welcome to you and your husband . I think it is interesting and encouraging to see others like us (born in and in our 50's) awakening and finding freedom from the Watchtowers hold.
I wish you the best on the journey and discovery from here on out. Someone here told me to take it slow ,and remember we may never have all the answers ,and that is OKAY ! Best advice .
So did you and your husband just stop attending or did you DA yourselves ? How has the exit gone for you ? Looking forward to reading more of your story .
my daughter tells me that experts say children tend to have false memories.
apparently their brain tends to fill things in that may not be totally accurate.. i refuse to believe that my favorite and comforting memory might not be true.
so here is to fond memories real or not.. the earliest memory i have is being put in a crib at a preschool.
My first memory is of going to a circus ,and really wanting a monkey . My Mom bought me a toy monkey on a stick that moved like a marionette .My memories start at about age four. We lived on a Military base and I remember quite a bit about living there . My best memories in early childhood are linked to smells....my Grandfather lived on a dairy farm ,and his wife grew fragrant flowers and herbs along the path from the house to the garage .Marigold ,herbs,evergreens,and ceder smells bring back a wonderful feeling of sunshine and peacefulness.
I am curious about how much we do fill in memories from childhood . My husbands perspective from childhood wildly differs from his sisters,and they are only 2 yrs apart.
hi, i'm a newbie around here.
i've been reading the posts, but reluctant to step out of my safe zone.
i definitely see how coming to a safe place to ask questions, vent, etc.
Welcome myjourney ! It was very lonely at first when I began questioning what I had been raised to believe . Family and other JW were so defensive when I raised even innocent questions . I found a friend in someone at work that was a great listener ,but I think the greatest help was coming to this forum for venting ! Any time day or night I could post on here and have almost an immediate response .
Please feel free to vent ,but also realize this is a huge group of personalities and the responses you get may not all be what you expected . Many times in the beginning of posting I was offended by comments ,they felt raw and harsh . Over time though I began to realize that is how real people talk to each other honestly ,no more fake telling you only what you want to hear .
I hope you will find the support you need . Some can come from online ,but it is important to reach out to others for face to face time . Your workmate is a great choice ,also consider local ex-jws you may know but have lost contact with . Join a club or sport related group ,something outside of the religious aspect to broaden your social contact .
