I made the decision to find out it wasn't The Truth before I started looking at these sights. But I always knew they were here waiting for me and that they would be devastating to the JW faith. I gave myself permission to look at them after seeing something else that they lied about.
elliej
JoinedPosts by elliej
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35
Before or after?
by flag ini'm curious, when you made your decision to leave the org.
did you do it before or after looking at this kind of internet sites?.
in my case i made my decision without ever looking any of this websites.
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beards not a rule but!!!
by frogit inhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4666132.stm .
this caught my eyes and reminded me when as a ministerial servant that we had to go into the back room for instructions from the po (not very clever man), he tried his best to explain to us ms and elders about the wearing of beards in the congregation.
he must have gone on and on for 30 minutes about not having beards, but kept impressing that this was not a rule, but beards should not be worn, but its not a rule, just dont expect to have any privileges if you grow one on your face and wear it (sounds like you wear it like a tie he he) but we are not making it a rule, just dont wear a beard.
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elliej
My husbands hypocrite JW relative was growing a goatee when we saw him at !Christmas!. (This is when we told him we were out). He decided to tell on us, but before he did it, he shaved the goatee. Go figure.
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Quotes update: Free to publicly comment on the action
by Quotes infor the newbies, this post is a follow up on my situation regarding the watch tower's law suit against my due to my watch tower quotes web site.
for the background on the story so far, see these threads:
quotes website receives "cease & desist"
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elliej
Quotes, I'm sure I'm not the only one, but I wanted to offer you a personal thanks. Your site was instrumental in helping me see the Society for what it really is, and it was your site that helped me show my husband the same. You have no idea what this has done for our lives. Thanks.
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SE WI
by carla inhave any of you in se wi or even any yoopers, written the milw journal sentinel about the ap story yet?
did i miss the article?
if you haven't written, please consider sending off a quick email.
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elliej
I didn't see it in Sunday's paper, but on the website it was listed under Religion Today and the date was January 26. I assumed it ran in that edition, but I only get it on the weekend so I missed it.
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How did you treat your worldly relatives when you were a JW
by TallTexan ini had an interesting conversation the other day with a friend who is also an ex-jw.
this person is older than i am, and was a jw for a number of decades.
she was talking about worldly relatives that she basically ignored when she was a jw.
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elliej
We tried to keep normal relationships with our non Jw relatives, but there was always that "thing" there between us. When we announced our decision to leave, all embraced us with open arms and no "I told you so's". Only love and relief. We also heard many "We've been waiting for you" and "We have prayed for so long for you". We had no idea. Nobody ever put any pressure on us. Just the exact opposite of the JW side. Now we really know the meaning of love, not the fake, conditional love of the JW's.
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Would YOU Have Allowed Your Child To Die Instead Of Giving Blood?
by minimus inbe honest.
i believe there was a time we all would've done it or at least say we would've done it.
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elliej
I figured that if my husband said no I would override and say yes. I would take the DF to save one of my kids. They always take you back eventually as long as you say youre sorry. I figured it would be worth it.
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Ever meet someone in the field service who knew their bible better than you
by JH in.
once a brother told me that he knocked at a door, and it was a catholic priest who lived there, and that brother thought that he knew his bible better than that priest, so he showed him a couple of verses to prove that the jw's had the truth, but that brother didn't expect the priest to know his bible that well, and the brother didn't win his biblical debate.... wouldn't it be fun if more people knew their bible really well, and could use the bible to make the jw's go away... .
gee, i hated that when i knocked at a door, and the person would go get their bible, and i saw that they had a decent knowledge of it... usually i left quite fast.
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elliej
No. But then again, until I came out I didn't know that JWs didn't teach that Christ was everyone's mediator. I knew the Bible, I just didn't know I was never actually one of Jehovah's Witnesses.
Oh my gosh! I thought I was the only one! If my fade is ever rudely interupted I'm going to let them know that they don't have any authority over me because I was never actually one of Jehovah's Witnesses because I didn't understand this teaching. Thanks Auld, for verbalizing that so perfectly.
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Who do they hate more--faders or DFd people?
by rebel8 ini personally am hated quite a bit.
i've concluded it was because i rejected them personally.
i quit associating with them because i realized they were hateful individuals with serious mean streaks and other personality problems.
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elliej
Faders. They don't like to see anyone get away. Look at the example taken from the JW websight where the sister bragged about hunting down her study who was hiding from her for, like, four months or something. Can anyone say "stalker"? Its the same with the visits that faders get. They either want you to come back, no matter how they have to bully or coerce you into doing it, or they want you to admit that you don't believe in the Society so they can DF you because then they can write you off as an apostate. They force you to take a stand so you either crumble and come back or they demolish your reputation. There is no getting away clean if they can help it.
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As an Ex-JW what have you learned?
by KW13 in.
i have had to mature quickly after leaving the witnesses i was almost 'lost' and spent sometime being stupid.. i have learnt that forcing religion on to people is wrong, if they don't see something themselves then its not true or honest.
they need to decide everything themselves.. parents are also in a position where they need to be careful, they take their child to a religion that affects the child in so many ways, it ruined my childhood and its now a rod for my mums back..
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elliej
I've learned that it's okay to be me. I don't have to pretend anymore, I don't have to try live up to the organizations expectations. I can enjoy life without feeling guilty or facing annihilation. I can still pick up the career that I dropped to serve the org and make a real difference in people's lives. I can celebrate. I'm free and it's good.
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When did you realize that you were part of a cult?
by JH in.
as a jw, i never thought that i was in a cult.
i thought that other religions were a cult, but not us.. what made you realize that the jw's is a cult?
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elliej
This is the dumbest thing in the world but...
I had little red flags going up in my head for a lonnng time, but I thought that I was just weak and had to immerse myself more and they would go away. While doing a research paper for a class online I saw the UN stuff by accident, but I didn't research it because I was a stupid, stupid girl and didn't want to destroy my faith (!)
Last summer I was surfing for some JW friendly info on Russell and I happened upon a wiki site on JW's. It said that previous to 1991 (or 92) the literature was sold and the gb decided to begin the donation arrangement to avoid taxes. Here's what got me....the article said that they never explained this to the rank and file, they just let them believe that it was out of goodness that they did it. What a piddly thing to get me thinking, but there was this pioneer sister in my congregation and years ago I told her that someone at a door asked me about selling the books and I thought they were always free. She became so full of righteous indignation and exclaimed "We are not peddlers of God's word!"
I couldn't get that out of my mind, and that is when I finally gave myself permission to do some REAL studying into the history of the WTS.
That is when I opened my eyes and realized that I was caught in a cult and had to get my family out.