i had a conversation with a pioneer at yosemite national park recently.
she was aware that i do not attend the meetings anymore.
in the past she did not speak to me, but now she did.
She told me the society had knowledge of things that we did not and she felt the end was all the moreso closer.
In 1970, I worked with an older JW who was in touch with the upper echelons. He told me that although the WTS was openly saying that Armageddon would occur around 1975, those in bethel (Sydney, Australia) believed it would happen in 1972-73.
And they call it "The Truth".
penny2
so i was thinking about this today and wanted to see what you guys think about fading?
for a long time i thought that this was the way to go especially if you wanted to maintain certain relationships be it with family or friends but lately i'm not so sure that fading is the best way to go and here is why.. the stress of having to go to meetings is some times overwhelmingthe amount of time you waste going to meetings when you no longer believe is time you will never get back, time that could have been spent doing something that you really do love, life is short why waste it in the hall?
the end results are the same if you are dfed, daed or fade.
I faded because I couldn't bear to live without my family. I started leaving in the late 80's when I stopped going from house to house. I had so many RVs magazine distribution points that I still reported an hour or 2 FS per month until 1997 - then I stopped for good. I didn't realise until the mid-90's that it was all rubbish - before that I had my doubts but mainly thought I was a bad person and would die in armageddon. Stopped going to most meetings in the late 90's and haven't set foot in a KH since about 2001. Each step was traumatic for my family but if I could do it again I'd do it much quicker. All my JW family still associate with me and I have had "conversations" with all the adults.
I consider the advantages of fading in my case to be:
The downside is - I'm still not really free. I can't openly have a relationship or even celebrate a birthday. TYPING THIS MAKES ME FEEL SICK.
most of old posters have hashed and re-hashed our backgrounds, history, and method of discovering the 'truth about the truth'.. your turn newbies!.
those who are lurking without the benefit of registration - it only takes a minute, and you too can give us your stories!.
those registered lurkers - what holds you back?
Welcome newbies! Just knowing that more JWs and ex-JWs are discovering sites like this is encouraging.
have you heard about a letter for all congregations announced next new change in wts politics?.
in letter is information that the time for the public talk will be reduced to 30 minutes.. does anyone have a copy?
.
Any reduction in brainwashing time is a good thing.
i'll start with my congregation....... there have been about 7 disfellowshippings in my congregation alone within the last year.
over half the congo is inactive and many more are irregular pubs.
young people in the congo are dropping like flies.
Good to hear that this is happening in some parts of the world. In Australia however, where it seems more relaxed among the JWs, they appear to be going strong. OK so they are not bringing in the numbers like they used to and not spending so much time in FS, but from what I hear locally, the meetings are well attended, the young ones are getting baptized and they still love the CO's visit.
when i was with the jws i met a woman named kathy and we became friends.
kathy was going through a lot of struggles i didn't understand.
she had been married twice (her first husband died) and married a second time.
johannah, welcome to JWD. You've seen first hand how JWs treat their less fortunate like Kathy. Those JW elders believe that disfellowshipping her was a loving thing to do.
If you become a baptized JW and have the occasional relapse by smoking for example, you too will be disfellowshipped and your sister will never be allowed to speak to you again.
Each year, tens of thousands of JWs around the world are disfellowshipped. Some for smoking or having sex before marriage. Others just for disagreeing with the elders.
i'm sorry.. we've all been through alot.. .
nvr, are you OK? You've never offended me. You've made me laugh many times - hope you don't go!!
penny2
hi all.... it's been a while since i've been around these parts.
i haven't been avoiding the place deliberately but you know how life gets and before you know it, its been about 6 months since you've been to check in on the latest goss.. hope all my friends here are doing well, and that i haven't missed anything significant.. for any of those interested i have a myspace page.
if your on myspace, add me add me add me!.
Hi misspeaches, good to hear from you. I've wondered from time to time how you were.
penny2
ok first of all i want to apologize for not coming in more often and saying hi, i guess im just lazy.
richierich did show me that thread from last week with yall asking about me and i intended to post but i completely forgot and other things got in the way but i do want to say thank you for being so kind and caring.
ok so i had my first elders meeting the other day with the subject at hand as "bad association" seeing that my parents caught me sneaking out to hang with my "worldly" girlfriend and her friends.
Thanks for checking in, tbl. You are sounding a lot happier than when you first started posting. I'll stop worrying about you now (yes, I'm a born worrier).
penny2
this morning i saw a witness mother and her son heading out into service.
from the area they were in i think they were going to be doing some street corner work.
i was stopped at a light when they walked in front of my car.
I know how that guy feels, every week.
Wow, Anony-Mouse! Does that mean you are still participating in FS? No-one can force you. The sooner you say "no more" the better. It's hard to tell your family that you're not going to do it anymore, but they'll get over it. Your greatest friend is the word "NO". It's as easy as that. They can't drag you out.
