Posts by Virgochik

23

Religious Fanatic Mother

by LickingMyWounds in

i have been faded for 5 years raising my kid after jw wife cheated on me.

i go to the memorial here and there.

my mother is a pioneer.

I'm so sorry your mother kicked you when you were down. Mine gets meaner all the time too. Examples: I don't know what's wrong with you, maybe I dropped you on your head when you were a baby, you need to get right with Jehovah, that's why he doesn't listen to your prayers. My husband has an episodic mental disorder and she doesn't acknowledge it as a bona fide chemical imbalance in the brain. She told me, if you stay with him, you deserve everything you get!

Other than that, it's garden variety b.s. like she's going out in service today, she's leaving for the meeting now, this month's video was so, so encouraging. Soon now, we won't be living under these conditions. Bla bla, so irritating and just a way really to nag about what we should be doing (in their opinion.) They have no normal compassion for others, even family, if we don't go to the meetings. Jesus never said that was a requirement for loving our fellow man.

71

Wow i do not reconize this religion anymore...

by _Morpheus in

had the misfortune of stopping by the "regional" convention yesterday.

i promised my daughter i would come to sunday afternoon so she wouldnt have to ride home with her mother.... holy crap it was weird!

im sure all of this has been covered on the forum but to actually see it.... just wow.

Virgochik

Long Haired Gal, sorry a out the accidental dislike!

10

WT about elder positions

by Gorbatchov in

jw
friends

yesterday, visited the hall for family reasons.. wt was about elder positions, educate younger brothers, delegate your work etc.

the usual story about the body of elders, give younger people a change and don't get atached to your position.

what was evident: 90 percent of the answers came from the sisters.. the elders looked like the house cat just eaten tweety.. never heared so much theory and knowing it will be fully ignored.. why make it a 45 minute issue for every tom, dick and harry?.

Virgochik

How lame, where is the actual worship of the Lord? I always l left the meetings spitting nails. Why did I have to get all dressed up in skirt and hose, going out in the cold to hear this?

16

At what point were you taught about disfellowshipping? What page in the current study book is it covered?

by jambon1 in

jw
friends

even thinking about born-ins here.

at what stage of your 'bible teaching' were you taught about the practice of disfellowshipping?.

reading john cedars book and the section about when the more crazy shit gets introduced to you is very telling.

Virgochik

It was when I was a child and my mom and I were in the grocery store. I spotted my auntie in another aisle and started towards her excitedly. My mom grabbed my arm and yanked me in another direction. She said we don't talk to Aunt C now because she's disfellowshipped. I wasn't sure what that meant and was disappointed and confused. She was my favorite aunt.

Sadly, this same aunt returned to the cult and shuns me now for fading.

23

Another family needlessly torn apart

by Visitor1984 in

i'm feeling very angry tonight as i watched my mother in law end her relationship with my husband, her son, tonight.

we were happily inactive, enjoying a distant but decent relationship with my in laws until they saw some christmas decorations and everything changed.

i spent two hours getting drilled on whether my husband and i celebrate holidays, to be told that my laws won't socialize with us anymore.

Virgochik

May as well get a bigger tree and enjoy it!

28

I would like to rant about how I get really upset when I get some weak invitation back to the cult.

by schnell in

jw
friends

my mother wanted me to know that the co gave a talk that kinda-sorta reprimanded an elder in her hall.

he is not the reason i left at all, and this does not address anything to do with me or our family.. my mother-in-law sent me texts which i ignored and now she has sent a picture to my wife on facebook just for me, and it's a prodigal son meme that says, "you see the signs, come back it's not too late".. yeah, it's not too late to accept a global flood in 2370 bce, or that man was created in 4026 bce from a golem spell, or that an us-and-them cult mentality is at all healthy or loving, or that religion is going to be banned by the un, or that i should expect anyone else at the door to accept these stupid ideas in the information age.. what am i supposed to say?

i usually just ignore them, but before i do that, i see that shit and i storm into this weird internalized rage where i start writing a response and deleting it.

Virgochik

Giordano nailed it. It's disrespect, and not believing that you're an intelligent individual who can think for yourself. You couldn't have good reasons for leaving, so nagging, nudging, reminding, or let's call it plain harassment, are acceptable to them.

I get texts like clockwork from my mother:

Tuesday mornings, she wants to let me know she's going in service now.

Wednesday mornings, she texts that she's going to her study now.

Thursday evenings, she texts that she's leaving for the meeting now.

Sunday mornings, same thing. "I'm going to the meeting, it'll be a great day." She never says good morning, how are you. No, she's clearly got an agenda, to bring meetings and service to my attention.

This infuriates me. I want to tell her to stop pushing. So disrespectful. I'm an adult woman and she's still nagging me. Yet, she's eighty two years old, and to tell her to knock it off because I'm happy at my own church and I'm never coming back to the Hall, would kill her. So for her sake I seethe and fume, which is probably harmful to my own health. I'm torn between, am I spineless for allowing her to do this, or am I being the better person for not shattering an elderly lady's hopes.

3

Church of Scientology w/Leah Remini on Conan Video Resembles What Watchtower Does to Apostates

by Tenacious in

started watching this video and the similarities to the watchtower is very similar.

then again evil organizations are basically all the same.. https://streamable.com/the9t.

Virgochik

Yes, I was amazed at the shunning, disconnecting, long periods of shaming and punishment before re-admitting, and disengagement from family members who leave or speak against the cult.

This corresponds with shunning, disfellowshipping and reinstatement, and cutting off ties with family or apostates. They use that word too. Both cults forbid talking to former members. Both spy on members they suspect of wrongdoing, and destroy families. Both have lavish headquarters and their own "language" which only members use. Both expect unquestioning obedience to the leaders as loyalty to God.

A woman formerly high up in SeaOrg was interviewed. She was sexually abused when underage. Her family was told not to go to the police, and that the elders would handle it internally. Sound familiar?

As I watched, I just kept saying, wow, that's just like the Witnesses- two cults which are so much alike.

101

Convicted Child Rapist Proselytizing. Is the Community Aware? Is the Community Safe?

by freemindfade in

wow, this is awesome.

this really shows the jw passiveness towards child sex abusers.

there needs to be more of this exposing this!.

Virgochik

Does anyone know what ever became of this matter? My husband and I recently moved and it occurred to me that we're living in this congregation's area. It's entirely conceivable "brother" Ivery could knock on our door. We live near Garden of the Gods Road in Colorado Springs, and Buckingham Rd is just off of GOG Rd.

My husband's reaction might be even worse than mine! 😠

3

Why JW's have a paedophile problem

by Splash in

i just ran across this quote which resonated with me.. by way of introduction, hmp whatton is europe's largest prison for contact and non contact sex offenders against adults and children.

it's based in nottinghamshire in the uk.. david potter is one of hmp whatton's most experienced facilitators of treatment programmes.. in an interview with the bbc he said "in groups, a lot of the work we do is aimed at building the self-esteem of people that have committed a sexual offence, because a lot of sexual offending is as a direct result of low self-esteem.

in groups we try and build their sense of self worth.".

Virgochik

Or, are they attracting people into the org who already have pedophilia tendencies because it's so easy to get away with it in the Hall? I truly don't know. These people could be bringing their baggage with them when they become JW'S. And yes, they could feel increasingly worthless and looking for ways to vent their low self esteem.

It could be a combination. It's kind of a which came first question, imho.

40

Not one visit, 8 years in a nursing home, and not one visit!

by Raymudas Martini in

jw
friends

my dad{rip}, was a faithful jw since the year i was born, i'm 60, he died 2 years ago.

his last 12 years were spent in an assisted living/nursing home right in the small town where he spent the last 8 years of being an elder/pioneer.

when he went into the home, one brother would visit him regularly, but after 4 years, that friend moved away, and visitation from the locals ceased, for 8 years!!!!!!!

Virgochik

My elderly mom recently told me my darling cousin, who was a missionary in Central America, got married to a Bethel brother. They're at Patterson now, where dear cousin's husband helps with making the videos. So sad, they never even invited her to their wedding but she's still gushing over them. A letter, a text or a phone call would mean a lot to her. She can't drive any more and days can be long.

I told her point blank these kids are delusional, living in their little bubble, if they think they're the bomb for video production but lack love for their own family.