Posts by Darkhorse

24

Inactive.....but curious....

by ScoobySnax in

jw
friends

i was just thinking after reading some of the posts, and wanted to ask you something..... do any of you feel, and i mean right in the back of your minds, that jws might still have the true faith (truth).

i've been inactive for a few years now and don't attend meetings at the kh, apart from the memorial, and occasional convention.

please don't shout me down, its just that to me, even though i've been out for a while and my reasons for "drifting" away were very painful to me, i don't feel as the majority do here.

Darkhorse

It is normal to have feelings of doubt and wondering if you are really doing the right thing, that it was not so bad, etc.

Eventhough I have never been a JW, I was in an abusive marriage (not now). When I first left my abusive spouse, after a period of time I had similar feelings that you are now experiencing, I returned to him.

Try to examine your feelings, what are you feeling, and why?

Remember back when you first started thinking about becoming inactive, what caused your doubts about staying with the JW's?

What event(s) finally caused you to become inactive?

Think about those reasons before considering returning.

5

Poetry in depression

by Mimilly in

judgement day (salem reid).

there's no peace, no place, just excruciating pain.

there's no peace, no place, just buried deep pain.

Darkhorse

Beautiful poems, glad you posted them. You know, there is much truth in both of them. When you wrote the line "everybody is too busy to be a friend", you are very right.

31

Can "Wordly" people go to book studies?

by Double Edge in

jw
friends

never being a jwi have a question.

my dub friend invited me to her church (whatever) one sunday, which i of course i went - it was ok - nothing special, except i know what you mean about being "love bombed".

my question.... do any non-dubs go to the weekly bookstudies?

Darkhorse

Question from another worldly person.

Will JW's consider a person who asks too many questions a "trouble maker".

I by nature have always been a very curious person and if something does not make sense to me or if I want further information about something, I will ask questions.

In my job, I have been futher encouraged and trained to work very independently and to ask questions (many depending upon the types of answers I may receive - especially if the answers do not make sense) in order to analyze data to come to accurate conclusions.

Would I be considered by some JW's to be a very bad association?

45

Where were you?

by joannadandy in

jw
friends

.

sorry if this has been done to death, i only did a quick scan and didn't see a topic like this, so i appologize in advance if this was started someplace else.. this morning i woke up and thought about where i was last year, and the complete shock i felt at this same time last year...and i was just wondering if any of you had those same feelings this morning.. so where were you?

i always find stories of what people were doing at the time they heard to be really interesting-please share if you'd like.

Darkhorse

I was at work (in the Boston, MA area) and heard it on the radio - at first the radio announcer's were unsure also what was going on. Three of my coworkers traveled to NYC on AA that morning leaving Logan 1/2 hr. before the 1st hijacked flight left. My coworkers witnessed the bombing live. Shortly after the announcement, their spouses were calling the office in panic. It took a couple of hours, but we were able to located our folks (they had arrived safely to their destination in NJ).

I also could have been in NYC at that time. Two weeks before 9/11, I was asked to go on that same trip, for some reason I strongly felt I did not want to go, and told them I was going to pass on that trip.......

24

I feel damaged by my experience

by girltalking in

hi to everyone on this board - i have been around reading many of your posts for some time now but have only just felt strong enough to post my own thoughts.

the watchtower has left me with guilty feelings that i find hard to cope with at times.

my story in the "truth" started when i was 18 years old.

Darkhorse

Welcome GT.

You do have an identity - you are a mom for starters.

Stick around and read the posts.

Eventhough I have never been a JW, I can see why you would feel damaged by your experience with a high control group such as the JW.

I believe most anybody could be "taken in" by the JW's given the correct circumstances. During one time in my life, having "instant friends" would have seemed wonderful to me also - I was lucky though because during that tough time I did not have any contact with JW's. It wasn't until I did extensive research, I thought the JW's were just the people who knocked at your door (at the wrong time usually) trying to convert you. I had no idea what those people really believed and their customs - I was shocked and bewildered! I would never have guessed that at all.

If you are feeling you were stupid or a fool to be "sucked in", try to move past those thoughts.

27

nervous and confused

by dazedgrl in

hi, i have been reading post for over a month before getting up the nerve to register.

its been really interesting listening to all of your perspectives.

i was raised a jw.

Darkhorse

Hey Dazed. Hope this site will help answer some of your questions. I am not a JW but wanted to find out more about JW customs, etc. because somebody I know is involved with JW's and I did not know anything about the JW's. I hope my friend is also finding a way out.

It is OK to feel confused, scared, anxiety, bewildered - you are trying to sort things out - this can take time. It is OK to ask a lot of questions.

Another website you may want to check out is Women-Awake. I am a member of it and I am sure some of the other women on this site also are. The site is for women only - especially for women who have left the JW's or those who are trying/contemplating leaving.

I wish you the best and hope your family does not turn against you like many of the JW's I have read about.

42

If rich, what would you do?

by larc in

jw
friends

if you had so much money that you didn't have to work, how would you spend your time?

i will be back later to see what you have to say.

i am going to bed, having been up after my bed time.

Darkhorse

Make sure my mother and sister are both cared for.
Give my friend enough money to pay all bills and make life easier so she does not have to work two jobs to support her family.
Buy some land with meadows and a lake or stream on it with a view of mountains so that hubby and I can built our dream home.
Quit my "paying job" and do volunteer work.

28

Just Someone To Talk To

by Larryf01 in

jw
friends

i've had a hard time finding a place just to chat with jw's.

i'm not baptized...only studying.

yet, i know this is truth and jehovah is the true god.

Darkhorse

Welcome to the site, Larry. I am not a JW, but came to this site in order to learn more about the JW's because I have a friend who had been involved to some degree.

It has been a very enlightening experience for me. You should stick around, could be very enlightening to you also.

Take care and good luck. Please look at all angles before becoming baptized.

29

WERE YOU TREATED POORLY IN THE CONGREGATION?

by minimus in

jw
friends

when you were associated in the congregation, were you treated in a way that made you feel like you were a 2nd class citizen?

how were you regarded?

were you the brunt of criticism or were you pretty much well-liked?

Darkhorse

"I don't know how i stumbled over this site"

Oh, give me a break - don't try to play dumb. You purposely performed a search and did not just "stumble" into this "so-called apostate site". You purposely entered it, you are trying to justify to yourself that it was "an accident" that you entered an apostate site. Better look out, how do you know some of your other JW friends will not find out about you checking out apostate material and ratting on you to the elders. That is what some JW's do, right (I am not JW)?

You had mentioned the others were disappointing Jehovah - don't see what Jehovah has to do with anything..... Well if you think they have because of them being on this site (which is ridiculous), guess you are disappointing Jehovah also - big time - seeing you are still a JW.

21

HAVE YOU LOST YOUR HOPE?

by minimus in

jw
friends

one of the major reasons people get attracted to the jw's is because of their new found "hope".

if you are disillusioned or are no longer a jw , do you feel that you still have hope?

or are you unsure, now, about alot of things?

Darkhorse

Hope can come in the form of many different meanings, etc. I have been through many dark moments as well as wonderful moments. I still have plenty of plans for as long as I may be alive.

I am not a JW, and I do know one thing - no matter how bad things get for me - after learning about the JW religion - I would NEVER turn to it for HOPE, that is for sure.