Posts by debbiedebbie

17

Keep up the good work!!

by debbiedebbie in

jw
friends

i just wanted to let you know that even though i don't post often i keep up with whats going on here.. i also wanted to let you know that this forum is very useful and important to those of us who left so keep it up.. everyone pat yourselves on the back, .

good work.

debbiedebbie.

debbiedebbie

Hello again,

I was never baptized so my family does not shun me. At the time my mother did not believe people should be baptized as teens. She was more open minded back then and even went to college herself. Now she is very dedicated and sends me some of their literature. I'm not a teacher and have been doing social work for several years. Of course, being that I was never baptized and in college I was not popular in the congregation since college was discouraged at the time but I went anyway. I have tried to talk to mom about small things like the misleading quotes in the evolution book but this doesnt seem to bother her. She also now says that the society never said the end would come in 1975but I distinctly remember her saying to me several years ago that they had said this. I wonder how the memory of someone so intelligent can change like that.

The rest of my family is actually no longer in or not baptized. So I have been fortunate and shunning is not a big issue. Although I avoid talking religion with mom.

Shunning is a horrible thing to do to a family member, or anyone else for that matter. I may not agree with your beliefs or ideas about religion but as far as I'm concerned we can share ideas and then agree to disagree.

My child will always be my baby and I will never refuse to associate with her. As a matter of fact I will probably always be in her business and she will probably spend the rest of her life telling me to butt out.

Deb

17

Keep up the good work!!

by debbiedebbie in

jw
friends

i just wanted to let you know that even though i don't post often i keep up with whats going on here.. i also wanted to let you know that this forum is very useful and important to those of us who left so keep it up.. everyone pat yourselves on the back, .

good work.

debbiedebbie.

debbiedebbie

Thanks to you all for more great and different ideas.

Deb

29

I DID IT!! I DID IT!!! I DID IT!!!!!

by pmouse in

jw
friends

i have finished my last class and will graduate on october 14th with my bachelors degree in business administration/management thirty three years after graduating from high school and 30 years after leaving the borg!

one more step in the healing process.

and one more step forward with my life.. paula.

debbiedebbie

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

17

Keep up the good work!!

by debbiedebbie in

jw
friends

i just wanted to let you know that even though i don't post often i keep up with whats going on here.. i also wanted to let you know that this forum is very useful and important to those of us who left so keep it up.. everyone pat yourselves on the back, .

good work.

debbiedebbie.

debbiedebbie

Hi,

YOU REMEMBER ME!!!

I didn't think you would.

The information everyone kindly provided really put my mind at ease. After thinking about it everyone I know who joined a cult was previously involved in a religion, which was mentioned by someone.

I think it is most important to teach children to respect everyone's beliefs, even if you dont agree and to be a good and kind person.

Although I will make sure she knows about cults and what they can do to a person.

As for me, I just can't bring myself to go to a church at this time.

Nothing personal against those who do go to church but it is just more control and ritual to me and I just don't want to deal with it at this time.

I do realize that many here do attend a church and if you are happy I'm happy for you. Please don't think I have a blanket hatred of all things religious. But I really don't understand why we "have to" attend a church or other religious place to be close to our God.

But anyway we are doing good. She just had a birthday day before yesterday and is already 5, can you believe how time flies?

And I'll Be 29 again day after tomorrow.

Thanks Again for being here for everyone,

Deb

17

Keep up the good work!!

by debbiedebbie in

jw
friends

i just wanted to let you know that even though i don't post often i keep up with whats going on here.. i also wanted to let you know that this forum is very useful and important to those of us who left so keep it up.. everyone pat yourselves on the back, .

good work.

debbiedebbie.

debbiedebbie

Greetings to everyone here,

I just wanted to let you know that even though I don't post often I keep up with whats going on here.

I also wanted to let you know that this forum is very useful and important to those of us who left so keep it up.

Everyone pat yourselves on the back,

Good Work

debbiedebbie

11

Where were you at PART 2: What changes took place leading up to the....

by Check_Your_Premises in

jw
friends

...exact moment when you knew the jw didn't have the truth?.

i have been rivited by the stories of all the epiphanies that took place.. but actually i think there was a great deal that must have taken place to allow that moment.. what gave you the confidence in yourself to trust your own thoughts?

what personal growth took place?

debbiedebbie

I rember very clearly the exact moment I knew they had been leading me around by the nose all my life. I was sitting on the floor in the library comparing the book "LIFE-HOW DID IT GET HERE? BY EVOLUTION OR BY CREATION?" with a book it quotes from extensively called "THE NECK OF THE GIRAFFE" by Francis Hitching. I compared the quotes in the CREATION book with what was actually written in this other book and saw that the quotes did not convey the original meaning from this book. I had not attended meetings since 1990 and this was now 1993 but it was at that point that I decided I wasn't going back.

How did I get to this point?

Well unlike most JW's I went to college. Of course I was an outcast because of this but as a loner it didn't bother me much.

Then I went and without telling anyone took a biology class on evolution and that is how I ended up in the library studying both of these books on the floor in a back corner.

I was shocked to discover the discrepancy in the L:IFE HOW DID IT GET HERE book. Up until then I always believed they were telling me the truth. But before I left the library I decided that a group that could not get a quote right was not going to tell me how to run my life.

Then I got angry at the past: several surgeries as a sick child with my mother refusing blood transfusions. Not even being allowed to store and use my own blood when I had a thyroid cyst removed when I was 16. Being a sickly and unpopular kid in school and then having to deal with the rules of this religion on top of that. Like I wasnt bad off enough without them.

The friend who died sick in a hospital bed after confesing some mistake and still being disfellowshipped. They would have never known without the confession. He was very sick and then grieveing being disfellowshipped. It is only my opinion but I can't get out of my head that they sped along his death or even caused it. Then few JW's attended the funeral.

I told my mother about comparing these books and the quotes but she insisted it was accidental with no intention to mislead on their part.

I decided to put the past behind me and started selling my old books on ebay but as I type this I now realize that the past still does and always will be a part of me and will probably hurt. So I'm keeping this here blue bookl and putting it back on the self as a reminder to me that my past made me what I am today and I'm going to be just fine.

25

Hello, I'm new here

by debbiedebbie in

i left the jw's in 1990 and officially left or at least decided never to return again in 1993. i announced that i'd rather die in armageddon than live with these people.

they don't want to speak to me much anymore.. but i'm concerned because i have a 4 yr old child and i don't want to attend any church.

nothing against those who do.. but should i go for my child even though i will stare into outerspace until its over or is this a worse example than not attending at all?.

debbiedebbie

Thank you all for your welcome and many excellent ideas!!!!!

25

Hello, I'm new here

by debbiedebbie in

i left the jw's in 1990 and officially left or at least decided never to return again in 1993. i announced that i'd rather die in armageddon than live with these people.

they don't want to speak to me much anymore.. but i'm concerned because i have a 4 yr old child and i don't want to attend any church.

nothing against those who do.. but should i go for my child even though i will stare into outerspace until its over or is this a worse example than not attending at all?.

debbiedebbie

I left the JW's in 1990 and officially left or at least decided never to return again in 1993

I announced that I'd rather die in Armageddon than live with these people

They don't want to speak to me much anymore.

But I'm concerned because I have a 4 yr old child and I don't want to attend any church

Nothing against those who do.

But should I go for my child even though I will stare into outerspace until its over or is this a worse example than not attending at all?

I don't care to go for myself but Im worried my child will end up in a controlling organization like I did.