<!-- .style1 { font-family: arial; font-size: 18px; color: #3366cc; } .style2 { font-family: verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; } .style3 { font-family: arial; font-size: 16px; color: #3366cc; } --> once you are done, how do ex- jehovahs witnesses relate to each other?my best friend in the organization and i had and still have a lot in common.
we are both college-educated designers, who enjoy the same movies, .
music and creative thinking.. .
As a fader, it can be a little scary talking to other ex-JWs (as strange as that may sound). Unless you know them really well, you don't know how much you can tell them and what they're going to pass on to JW family or friends.
I had a confidential chat with someone who was attending almost no meetings. Next thing I know, she's at a CA, talking to some of my family about our conversation and sounding very much like a "zealous sister" again.
when i first started on this forum typing was not really a natural activity for me it was slow and i didn't have the patience to write long posts as i would have liked.
now i got used to it a lot better so i don't mind typing long posts more often.
what sort of experiences do other jwd members?
I also learned to type on those old, clunky typewriters. With computers, it's so easy - you don't have to worry about making mistakes because they're so easily corrected. Not like the old days - erasers (that was before liquid paper). And then, if you were doing carbon copies, you had to put bits of paper between the copies so you didn't get dark blotches where you were rubbing out the mistakes. Yes, no photocopiers in those days!!
Now I fly across the keyboard. It's great. I feel sorry for people who can't touch type. I'm sure it's harder to learn when you're older.
dont you just hate it when you write a post and it disappears ?.
my sister is visiting me for a week, she knows i dont go to meeting but has never asked me about it, she would find shunning really hard so i dont think she wants to confront me although she did ask my non witness sister but she didnt tell her anything.. so if she does ask, i was wondering the best way to deal with it.
i was thing of saying .
I have been asked by various members of my family why I no longer attend meetings. I tried to avoid giving an explanation for as long as I could but there comes a time when you have to face the situation.
We are a very close family so they know me very well anyway. I ended up explaining the process I went through. That made it personal so they could understand my feelings. I explained how I remembered the publications coming out about 1975 when I was 11 years old, how I studied them, got baptized, etc etc, basically told the story of my life so they got emotionally connected. I told how I felt after 1975, through the next 20 years until finally the "generation of 1914" was discarded in 1995 through to the inevitable result of me no longer attending.
My family now feel sorry for me but they don't shun me. If I had said, "I realised it wasn't the truth when the end didn't come in 1975 and then they did a complete turnaround in 1995 and I'm done with being lied to," that may have closed the door on any further communication.
Most JWs who leave don't do so overnight. Everyone goes through a process and has a story to tell. If your sister truly cares about you, she may be willing to hear your story. But she most probably wouldn't be able to cope with hearing about CofC or JWD.
I live too far away to help her when the bomb really hits home and shes on her own
I wouldn't worry too much. Since my initial conversations with my family, we have had more indepth discussions on topics such as 607. But nothing I've said has convinced anyone.
It's probably best to relax, have a good time with your sister, let her see what a normal and loving person you are. If the opportunity arises for a discussion, take it, but if not there's always next time.
penny2
historians agree that jerusalem was invaded by babylon in 586/587bce.
the wts discredits most historical records and says that jerusalem was invaded in 607bce.
the wts start with 587 and add the 70 years that jerusalem lay desolate to obtain the 607 date.. if jerusalem was invaded in 587 then it lay desolate for only 50 years (587-537=50).
Is WTS chronology flawed?
I go to my WTS reference book. Life Everlasting in Freedom of the Sons of God. Page 35 - the last page of a chart of "significant dates".
1975 ..... End of 6th 1,000-year day of man's existence (in early autumn)
2975 ..... End of 7th 1,000-year day of man's existence (in early autumn).
WTS chronology was flawed in 1966 when this was written. It wasn't "the truth". It was a lie. Everything since then has been a patch up of a lie.
penny2
this is one thing that bugged me about "the lie" ,when they came down hard on men who had grown facial hair in the 8o's ( and womens adornment,clothes etc).
a ms at the time had a beard and grizzled about shaving it off but did after the talk at the assembly, he's an elder now but i wonder whether he chafes a bit at the taking away of ones personal freedom to grow something that god gave us men.. i never grew one when a jw for i was a drone i guess ,but with alot of small things over the years this did irritate me and seemed just a way the gov body controlled our lives by taking away a natural thing in life .it's not like men would have beaded,braided or let it grow to look like a feral and be unclean and untidy.. and we have paul saying in 1 cor 10 that he became all things to others to gain them to christ - well what about beards ?
is there anything more natural?
Good on you, wozadummy! You are free again.
people don't treat me any different than before
Having a beard is a non-event (except in the kingdom hall). Politicians, ministers of religion, bank managers - men from all walks of life can have beards and no-one takes any notice.
You choose to grow a beard and your wife loves it. That's all that matters.
penny2
as part of your "dedication and baptism" did you actually go to jehovah in prayer and "dedicate" your life to him prior to your baptism?
at the time when the elders were reviewing the "questions" with me, i hadn't a clue that i was supposed to do this until one of them asked directly.
i answered in the affirmative anyway ... wanting the incessant questioning to be over as quickly as possible.
Yes, I was 15.
that my baby is 6 months old tom, its going so fast.. she is a great little girl couldnt have asked for a better baby.
.
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What a little beauty Es. And your son is gorgeous too! You must be proud parents.
wt 2005 07/15 p15.
7. has the number of anointed christians been sealed?
know jehovah has chosen 144,000 of his faithful servants to.
I've checked my CD-ROM and there is nothing like this in that particular WT. If you read the words carefully, it's not how the WTS would phrase it.
You have to double-check everything you read on the internet. While JWD was down, I looked at some other sites and found some information which was completely wrong. It's annoying.
my last meeting at the kingdom hall was the memorial.
i told the wife i don't want.
to go to the meetings anymore.
Congratulations on your ceremony, OTWO. I hope your fade continues smoothly.
i was raised among the witnesses and left in my early 30's due to a mixture of doctrinal disputes and social isolation.
my mother and both of my sisters remain within the organization.
i also have two brothers, one df'd, one who never quite caught the watchtower bug.. my road within the organization was a rocky one that eventually lead to a place where i found myself socially isolated within the congregation as a person simply unfit for fellowship with proper, upright, theocratic people who must cut off all 'worldy' association, suffer the ensueing isolation, and eat humble pie until such a time as they determined i was 'spiritual minded' enough for them to associate with.. baptism was held up as my expected goal, but despite trying, i was never quite good enough for them.
the smug feeling that you have all the answers
I know what you mean - some of my JW relatives are like that. They feel sorry for me being out. I just smile.
control tower
I like that. It's not a watchtower but a control tower.
penny2
