Posts by AudeSapere

21

1 year ago today they announced I was "no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses"

by confuzzled777 in

just thought i would share.

i am going out with my bff and a few other good friends for dinner, drinks and cards tonight!

looking forward to a night out with the "girls" who have been by my side since day 1. .

Celebrity Death Watch

by minimus in

jw
friends

who's the next famous person that will soon be no more?.

i think charlie sheen is right up there..

My Story not for the weak of heart

by TotallyADD in

jw
friends

a year after my parents were baptized i was born in 1954. that same year my father was appointed presiding overseer and remained in that position until the early sixties despite the fact he was still smoking.

he gained the position by default because he was the only baptized man who could read.

thus began my life course of abuse, neglect and cult thinking.

AudeSapere

Tough to read without paragraphs so I put some in. Hopefully in appropriate places as I have not read this yet... -Aude.

A year after my parents were baptized I was born in 1954. That same year my father was appointed presiding overseer and remained in that position until the early sixties despite the fact he was still smoking. He gained the position by default because he was the only baptized man who could read. Thus began my life course of abuse, neglect and cult thinking.

My father's fanatical zeal exposed me numerous times to verbal abuse and threats of violence especially in field service by people who hated J.W. They did not care what age you were. This all started before I started school at the age of five. To this day I can't believe how this organization is willing to expose young ones to this kind of treatment.

Because of my parents bad upbringing they loved this way of life, it gave them a feeling of structure and self importance. They always love to say when they felt they were right was we have the truth so we must be right. By the time I started school I was afraid of people because they were worldly, it caused much anxiety in my life something I now recognize from therapy I have had.

From the start I was obligated to take my stand on saluting the flag, holidays, and birthdays in school. Here I was a 5 year old making adult decision not knowing why I had to believe this. All now I remember I will die at armagedon if I do these things. Needless to say I spent a lot of time sitting in the hallway by myself.

My first the second grade teacher did not like my relgion so I sat behind her desk, not being part of the classroom. The funny thing is when my parents came for a teacher-parent conference, she would move my desk back into the classroom with the other kids. One may ask, "Why didn't I tell my parents about this?" Two reasons; first I was frightened of my father's anger that he manifested in various forms; second my teacher told me if I said anything to my parents I would be in even worse trouble.

By Seven I have had experience a lifetime of abuse. By then my older brother married and left the house. As he told me in later years It was the best thing he ever did. From this pioint onward I was totally alone at the house because my parents were both working. The problem here was we lived out in the country 3 miles from town.

Two months after my brother got married the new P.O. of our congregation moved into a travel trailer on my parents property. I was happy to see him move in because I had someone to talk to. Also he played the harmonica.

One month before my eighth birthday a friend close to my age was visiting from out of town and came over to play with me. Things were going well when suddenly I could not find him. I ran over to the PO's trailer. Without knocking I walked in. I caught this man standing over my friend stark naked. The man started screaming at me not to move as he was fumbling to put his pants on. Just before he was able to grab me I ran out of the trailer. He chased me. Just before I got to the back door of our house he grabbed me and threw me to the ground, jumped on top of me and started strangling me. I was not able to breathe and I thought I was going to die. He must have realized what he was doing and he stopped choking me. At this point he told me I'd better not say anything to my parents or anybody else because he only lived a few feet from our house and he could come in at night and kill me. I remember picking myself up off the ground, dragging myself to my bedroom, and sitting on the the edge of my bed shaking and wondering why Jehovah hated me and I knew he was going to kill me soon at armageddon.

I don't remember much of what happened after that or to my friend, it's kind of a blur to me. I do remember that a month later he moved out. That summer my parents were wondering why I was acting so sickly. Of course they wouldn't take me to a doctor because the medical profession was part of Satan's system. Their reatment was always take more viamins, I hated those one a day vitamins.

In the fall of the year I started the third grade in a new school. It was a rural school with three rooms and two grades in each room. So I had the same teacher for the next two years. If you thought my first and second grade teacher was bad. This one made here look like a saint. On a daily basis this teacher would ridicule me and my so called faith in front of the whole class, causing everyone in the classroom not to like me. I was made fun of daily. I felt even more isolated. No holidays, birthdays or anything days for me it was all bad, so I was told. Jehovah is so proud of you, yeah right. I got the persecution why my parents got nothing but pats on there back for being such good parents.

By the fourth grade my ADD really started to kick in. My teacher would get so mad at me because according to her I was day dreaming all the time.

By my Fifth grade year I had a great teacher for the first time in my life. He made sure no one made fun of me and he help me catch up in my education. I will never forget him. I felt like I was part of the class. Even though things were going better for me a school, at home things were taking a turn for the worse. My parents quit going to meetings because of their business.. My dad was a well-known and poplar musician in that area since he was a teenager. When I was eleven on New Year's Eve dad's former band asked him to play. He agreed because the money was good.

Dad left for his gig that evening and mom and I stayed home. After dad left that evening mom got a phone call from a friend to go to the party where dad was playing. She accepted and left me home alone. An hour later she came home extremely angry. Dad came home soon after. A ficious fight broke out between them. It escalated to the point where mom began hitting dad and pulled a knife on him. They soon realized I was standing there watching them. I ran to my bedroom crying, slamming the door behind me.

Soon there was silence in the house. I cried myself to sleep that night.

For the next several months dad slept on the couch. They rarely talked to each other. All I know is I never received an apology from them. They then started back attending meeting. As time went on and to this day they have been held up as fine examples of Christian parents.

I will stop here for now and tell more of my story at a later date. This is quite draining on me but it is great therapy for me.

Thanks for listening.

Happy now Totally ADD

18

On taking offense and taking responsibility

by Lion Cask in

jw
friends

the darth plagueis soap opera is already winding down.

the hapless plagueis, it seems, said some naughty words that contravened the posting guidelines and he has brought down on his head the wrath of the owner and his moderators.

regardless, this is not about the benevolent dictatorship that is jwn but about standards of behaviour, permissiveness and tolerance and what, exactly, causes offense.

AudeSapere

Parenthood

Good one. Made me smile.

41

A Beloved and Compassionate Elder Trapped in a Cult Just Died , What should I do?

by TastingFreedom in

jw
friends

i just heard the sad news that a very loving and kind elder for the congregation that i belonged to for 15 years just died from a heart attack.

he was someone that i had great admiration and deep respect for, even now that i'm out from the jws.

he was my mentor and an inspiration to me as an elder, and in many ways he showed me the contradictions of the wts, he was a breath of fresh air within a cult.

AudeSapere

It's almost like they wont even let me mourn the loss of someone who was very special/close to me.

They don't see that you have a right to mourn with them. Many also think that when we leave the organization, we leave all loving feelings behind or that any we have are clouded with guilt.

Really tough to know how they would treat you personally if you decided to attend the service at the hall. Seems to me that you should go - because you *want* to go. Maybe give a simple, non-preachy card to his wife and maybe also to other family that were close to you.

If you decide not to go, and/or if it doesn't give you the comfort and closure that you desire, you can always do a little ceremony by yourself or with your family. Something at the beach, in the mountains, or at his gravesite.

Really sorry to learn of your loss. Sounds like he was a good man.

-Aude.

18

On taking offense and taking responsibility

by Lion Cask in

jw
friends

the darth plagueis soap opera is already winding down.

the hapless plagueis, it seems, said some naughty words that contravened the posting guidelines and he has brought down on his head the wrath of the owner and his moderators.

regardless, this is not about the benevolent dictatorship that is jwn but about standards of behaviour, permissiveness and tolerance and what, exactly, causes offense.

AudeSapere

[Long response removed after I decided that I was going off-topic to the OP]

So I'll just say this: The corn analogy... Colorful. Maybe disgusting to some, but colorful. Not offensive - to me at least. Now, if you had posted PHOTOS... That would be different.

-Aude.

19

Los Testigos de Jehova y las transfusiones de sangre

by porfiada in

hola amigos.

si tiene alguna duda o pregunta sobre el tema de las transfusiones de sangre, visiten:.

http://www.ajwrb.org/tjinfo.htm.

AudeSapere

Posting Guideline 8: Posting in a language other than English.

Can you please translate to English?

Thank you!

18

Do you have any Spinach recipes that you like?

by Iamallcool in

jw
friends

AudeSapere

marking for later.

18

Where would a JW marry a non-JW? A KH?

by InterestedOne in

am i correct that jw marrying a non-jw is frowned upon but not forbidden?

if it's not forbidden, would the elders do the marriage in the kh?

i know the jw is forbidden to attend a non-jw religious ceremony, so another church would be out.

AudeSapere

I'm pretty sure that in most congregations the entire bridal party is expected/required to be members 'in good standing' or else they will not allow a KH ceremony.

My unbaptized brother married a baptized & active JW about 12 years ago. Because the future daughter-in-law was not marrying 'in the Lord' (my mother's son), my mother was advised to go to the Courthouse Wedding. Two days before the wedding mom got the OK to attend. (She was pissed and hurt that noone wanted her suggestions about cake, flowers, and catering.]

So the simple concensus is: NO. Definitely not allowed in KH. Go to Justice of the Peace.

-Aude.

121

Nothing......

by ziddina in

jw
friends

.

AudeSapere

Please, please Mister Postman???