A prominent CO in Scotland. Late 90’s
You'll never find a more suppressed gay man if you tried.
Complete company man too.
of course the religion condemns homosexuality but did you know any gay witnesses?
i knew some bethelites that were very effeminate and i remember 4 women who were suspected of being lesbians by many in the congregation.
they eventually moved away and were very vocal against males, especially elders..
A prominent CO in Scotland. Late 90’s
You'll never find a more suppressed gay man if you tried.
Complete company man too.
my grandfather is a longtime jw with advanced parkinson's.
on the advice of a good friend mine who is inactive but not "out" i went to visit him monday and we talked for awhile.
his health isn't well, but he was happy to see me.
That’s so, so bad.
The religion is about as fucked up as it can be.
Terrible.
so the guy in my office on the desk next to me has just got back from the funeral of his wifes sister.
this was his first time in a kh and full on exposure to jwdom.. bit of background: the deceased jw was not a born in, she was a convert when she was in her teens.
she died last week at the age of 82. the poor old dear was still zealously knocking on doors while in ill health.
JW funerals are absolutely appalling.
Never heard a good one yet. When still in, I’d cringe while listening to the talk through the worldly people’s ears.
They're actually disrespectful to the deceased and offer no realistic comfort or hope.
i ask this question because i have personally experienced first hand the control and intrusion into my personal life by the elders at our hall; and for virtually trivial things or non issues!
what's more, i regularly hear of individuals moving to other halls because they were stumbled by the thought police....er, i mean these elders.. have you had any such experience?
have your elders been a bit ott over trivialities?.
Most elders would be insignificant, no-marks in the real world.
The authority they have is completely mishandled by most of them.
i noticed a young brother with a beard being given more privelages within our hall.
when he first grew his beard, he lost his privelages.
but more and more recently he has been helping out a lot more.. the cobe is old school and a stickler for rules, but with the hall becoming more empty these days, and the need for young brothers, he seems to have relaxed on this particular watchtower/man made rule.
The fact that a set up exsists where grown men are/were checked for having facial hair is just bizarre. What a horrible set up to live in.
GROWN MEN.
let the reader use discernment:.
i was disfellowshipped in june of last year.
while i've been awake for nearly a year, i still often feel groggy.
The only video I could stand to look at showed a group of people that looked like a teenager on a hyped up, drunken night out that turned out to be shit - shouting lots of nonsense and over exaggerated ‘fun’ being had.
Guys making lots of noise and appearing overly passionate to make up for the lack of actual effective activism taking place. The ridiculous walk into the sprinklers is just stupid and I agree that it plays into the narrative you mentioned, that apostates are all crazy sons of bitches.
I’m not into this type of activism. I’m not into disruption or making loud noises. People will disagree but I find it counter productive & easily dismissed by witnesses.
If Watchtower are to be forced to wake up to their abuses and end them, it’ll not be because of this type of activism. It’ll be by thoughtful and considered dialogue with the authorities, current witnesses and Watchtower itself.
how would you guys react if or when you were told this phrase by a jw while having a conversation?
another phrase is “this world...” or “this system, like gum will chew you up and when it’s done with you, spit you right back out.”.
one i’ve been personally told was from a convert that had told me “whenever i speak to young ones that want to know if the grass is greener on the other side, i tell them i was a part of it.
Have had better experiences and more meaningful relationships than I ever had as a JW.
Over 10 years out.
well.....they showed that shunning video again.
you know...the one where goldilocks gets disfellowshipped- and the parents look across the hall at her with disdain.....yeah that video.. i was interested to see what kind of answers would be given during the discussion after the video and some of the reactions.
everyone sat there gormlessly staring at the video.
It's quite a fact that if you treat your kids like that then you're not worth shit as a person, never mind a parent.
Im glad they're ramping up this fucking shit in recent times because it'll turn the heads of any normal person.
Vile.
what are your convictions now that you are no longer one of jehovah's witnesses?
are you a born again christian?
have you joined another denomination of christianity?
I believe the children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way.....
yes folks.
over the past few days i can honestly say the convention was relatively quite good.
most of the talks, videos, symposiums were in line with scripture if you have faith in the bible.
Sorry if it's off topic but here's what some feel about the 'non hard line' convention this year.