I will probably not answer. oops...that would mean I was a not at home and they would come back. so if I answer I will just be polite and say not interested. my mom is still very active and may in fact be out doing this herself on christmas day. (hopefully not!) i suppose she deserves whatever response she gets but would hope that no one was rude or mean to her. afterall she's brainwashed...like most of us were at one time.
limbogirl
JoinedPosts by limbogirl
-
34
If JWs knock on Christmas Day...what will you say?
by diamondblue1974 in.
i always remember jws making a special effort to go out on fs on christmas day...and near me they still do....what will you say to them if they should knock on your door?.
db74
-
-
-
26
Anyone ever go on one of those bus trips to bethel?
by limbogirl inback in the late eighties while still in high school instead of doing something fun for spring break i got an all expense paid trip to bethel.
on a bus no less with about 75 other jws headed to the promised land.
somewhere i still have a photo album filled with snapshots of the printing presses and all of the "cadets" happily churning out literature -- and of course all of the female cadets happily scrubbing toilets and doing laundry.
-
-
limbogirl
thanks everyone for the responses! some great stories -- it's so wonderful to know that I'm not alone in these strange life experiences.
one other thing that stood out to me at bethel was eating in the dining room with the 'bethelites' -- we were assigned to tables as guests and were informed ahead of time of the rules which included how the food was passed around the table and when it was ok to eat, speak, etc. was the worst meal I ever had -- I was terrified of doing the wrong thing and was a nervous wreck.
-
19
The dubs' public shunning is so dumb!
by ozziepost init's been many years now that it might have had any relevance but nowadays when i enter our local shopping mall, i still manage to get shunned!.
it got me thinking, don't they see how stupid they look?.
look, the dubs are a minority, for heaven's sake!
-
-
limbogirl
"For the JW this makes them feel special, important. Most of them could never hold a truly responsible position in the real world, so they've created their own. When you think about it, theirs is a very sad existence." THIS IS SO TRUE!!! I've always thought that JW-world gives people that would never have a chance at real leadership or power the ability to have those things....specifically the elders. I'm still amazed and appalled that my parents and JW acquaintances seek advice and guidance from men who aren't trained to dispense any life advice or provide any relevant perspective. my two cents.
-
29
Love Bombing JWs vs JWD
by Lady Lee inaccording to the book cults in our midst by margaret thaler singer the practice of love bombing is a common practice in groups who seek to control others.
she states:.
most cults have specific plans for drawing in each recruit.
-
-
limbogirl
this is interesting...I never heard the term love bombing before joining this forum. but makes total sense -- it always made me uncomfortable the way anyone coming in off the street to the kh would be treated like a rock star as long as they expressed interest. this even included people released from the nearby prison and others with obvious mental issues. good post -- explains a lot that I've always thought was strange about the org but didn't know the official terminology.
-
26
Anyone ever go on one of those bus trips to bethel?
by limbogirl inback in the late eighties while still in high school instead of doing something fun for spring break i got an all expense paid trip to bethel.
on a bus no less with about 75 other jws headed to the promised land.
somewhere i still have a photo album filled with snapshots of the printing presses and all of the "cadets" happily churning out literature -- and of course all of the female cadets happily scrubbing toilets and doing laundry.
-
-
limbogirl
back in the late eighties while still in high school instead of doing something fun for spring break I got an all expense paid trip to bethel. On a bus no less with about 75 other JWs headed to the promised land. Somewhere I still have a photo album filled with snapshots of the printing presses and all of the "cadets" happily churning out literature -- and of course all of the female cadets happily scrubbing toilets and doing laundry. I remember feeling horrified at the stepford wife like mentality of the whole place. the female JWs on my tour acted as though they were going to a big meat market and were all hoping to snag a hot young bethelite as a husband. totally gave me the creeps. the only highlight was an anti-JW protester who hung out in front of the buildings yelling at the JWs as they came and went. He yelled at me and a few others -- told us we were Jezebel whores with painted toe nails. Have no idea what that was about but it was the only laugh I got on the whole stupid trip. I recently spent a weekend in NYC -- first time back since my bethel trip and saw it as a non-JW --- what a great time!
-
28
What Did YOU Give Up For The "Truth"???
by minimus indid you forfeit a college education, a great paying job which would've kept you from the meetings, a career, a trade, your loved ones, a vacation, etc.
so that you could be a good little witness?
-
-
limbogirl
friends at school. going to the prom. a relationship with my df'd step-sister. college. competitive sports. holiday activities. a normal life.
-
38
Card of Encouragement From Long-time JW Reeks of Despair
by Seeker4 ini happened to see a card a few minutes ago from a jw i grew up with to another jw that we grew up with.
all of us are in our 50s now, and we've known each other since we were early teens.. the sister who wrote the card has pioneered for decades.
she's married, but decided to never have kids.
-
-
limbogirl
yup...being around JWs is an emotional drain for me because of this very attitude. they thrive on their misery and the more miserable the story, the better. because of course they will all wake up one day in paradise. i've gotten to the point that i've told my mother not to share any more information with me about people at her kh that i used to know -- it's just too depressing. told her the other day that i don't know people like that anymore -- the people i associate with are all positive and look forward to living each day. the other awful thing about this mentality is that most of the JWs haven't prepared for retirement because of course they weren't going to be on earth that long. this has been an issue for my parents and others that i know....they are still here and having a hard time getting by with no 401(k) plan! finally, can I just say that if paradise were really an option but it was filled with only JW's -- COUNT ME OUT! that truly would be hell!
-
24
Let's write a short [or long] story....
by AK - Jeff inone line at a time.
no vulgarity please - take the story wherever you want to.. .
jane was a brilliant spokeswoman for the council, and as she prepared to step to the podium a surprising flash of light caught her left eye.
-
-
limbogirl
then she thumped him soundly over the head with her copy of the NWT bound in a lovely green cover.
-
16
WT's Strong Hold on the In-active
by sandy inok, this past friday i organized a meetup for ex-witnesses in my local area.
i invited my brother who was never baptized (was almost baptized at 13 but one of the elders asked him to wait till he studied throught he second book).
after the elder asked him to wait he never attended the meetings again with the exception of memorials and some assemblies.
-
-
limbogirl
What do you expect when you're brought up in an org/religion that perpetuates such fear? I look at my beautiful, happy two and a half year old son and I can't figure out how at that age, my parents had already extablished in me beliefs about wicked people, armageddon, the demons and on and on. If my son were to demonstrate the vocabulary or behavior that I had at his age I would seek medical/psychiatric treatment for him immediately. I remember going to an amusement park when I was four and one of the rides had a scary theme -- I screamed and cried all the way through that the demons were in the ride and were trying to get me. I wonder what the people around us must have thought to see a little girl so upset and screaming for jehovah to save her from the demons. I used to be scared to close my eyes at night because demons might get in my room. When I was 12 I saw my brother eat some forbidden birthday cake and I practically had a nervous breakdown. I was so terrified by what would happen to him for eating that cake. At the age of three I said prayers that included things like, please jehovah, kill all the wicked people and make them suffer for turning their backs on you. what little kid do you know would say such things?? I saw the book Crisis of Conscience once at a bookstore and felt like I had just been shocked -- I was so scared of even being around it that I left immediately. Even when you're out of this mess it takes a long long time to get over the fear that is so deeply imbedded and for some of us at such a young age. It's psychological child abuse. period. Your brother might just not want to revisit this chapter in his life. I've personally gotten to a point where I can laugh at a lot of this but it will always be there lurking.
-
16
how do JW's handle being witnessed to by other religious evangelizers?
by limbogirl inrecently i was at my mother's house -- she is queen jw of her kh (i kid you not) -- when there was a knock on the door and what do you know...it was two young women from one of the local churches out inviting people to attend services.
my mother proceeded to seriously beat the sh*t out of them with her bible knowledge and confusing chronologies.
the two women didn't back down but they soon realized they were in way over their heads.
-
-
limbogirl
Recently I was at my mother's house -- she is Queen JW of her kh (I kid you not) -- when there was a knock on the door and what do you know...it was two young women from one of the local churches out inviting people to attend services. My mother proceeded to seriously beat the sh*t out of them with her bible knowledge and confusing chronologies. The two women didn't back down but they soon realized they were in way over their heads. When they got to a point that they couldn't keep up with her firing scriptural bullets at them, my mother told them they needed to have one of their elders pay her a visit for further discussion. I was hovering in the background listening to all of this absolutely mortified!! Then I had to hear my mother relate this "witnessing experience" to my elder step-dad and I was absolutely shocked at how pleased she was at how she had handled these two women. (I'm sure she probably also shared it during the tms at the kh) There was so much I wanted to say to her at the time but didn't -- I can't discuss this stuff with her because she's so irrational about it. No JW (no matter how much they love persecution) wants to be treated like crap at a door -- so why is it ok to do that to someone coming to their door. Is my mother so misguided as to think that those two women would want to join up with the JWs after being treated so rudely? Not sure where I'm going with this other than venting and expressing my incredulity once again at the confusing, hypocritical JW-World.