Posts by merfi

29

What are you doing Memorial Day weekend?

by juni in

jw
friends

hopefully it will be a beautiful weekend.

we always get together with our entire family (kids and grandkids) for an all day picnic and fun and then watch the small town parades.

and then this weekend we will be playing "catch-up" with outdoor projects on the house that we couldn't get to because of the rain.

merfi

Hi Juni! Sounds like a great weekend you have planned.

For my Mem Day weekend - my mom's retirement coffee is the 26th, so will be doing that. Saturday, my cousin and brother and I are meeting at my mom and uncle's to bury my granny's ashes and scatter some at the farm she lived on for some 70 years. Us grandkids will prolly just hang out and eat, drink, be merry... Not sure what Sunday or Monday has planned yet, but probably just some relaxation, a little gym time and a nap or two.

The one thing I'm doing different this year than last is flying the flag from my house.

~merfi

11

Cute Picture of a boy at an assembly.

by reneeisorym in

jw
friends

this was on a page i found that had pictures of different religious groups doing different things in the community and this is the picture they had for jehovah's witnesses!!

the page was called "religious diversity in southern mississippi".

i just know he would rather be out playing football!

merfi

I'd kinda like to slap that brudda in the back hard enough to wipe the smirk off...

It was always a relief to me when my kids fell asleep.

~merfi

37

JW says: DEVIL has hold on my brother in military

by I-follow-the-narrow-path in

i thought that would get your attention.. actually... my brother is alive.before i got involved, strongly.

with the jws.

my brothers was sent off and is now overseas in iraq with his platoon (he is in the army).

merfi

Aw Elizabeth... ((((hugs)))) to you for everything. I know you're being totally overwhelmed right now with so much that you're hearing, learning, experiencing... trying to meld it with how you feel and what maybe your gut is telling you vs what JW and exJW both are telling you. You came here seeking -- but sometimes the info can be 'too much'.

You've told us about some psych problems; in kindness, I recommend starting back up with a therapist -- a good one this time. None of us here mean any disrespect or want to hurt you. Many here are on a healing journey, so understand where you're coming from, even if we have to read between the lines of your text.

Keep reading, keep seeking and keep your mind open.

~merfi

58

Windowless Buildings

by IHaveASavior in

why are there no windows in the buildings known as "kingdom halls of jehovah's witnesses?

merfi

And oh my goodness it is VERY dark when all the lights are out!! During the COs visit, they showed a lame 'movie' about building kingdumb halls in 3rd world countries and turned out the lights. I tell ya, my cell phone nearly blinded me when I was texting thru the movie....

~merfi

37

JW says: DEVIL has hold on my brother in military

by I-follow-the-narrow-path in

i thought that would get your attention.. actually... my brother is alive.before i got involved, strongly.

with the jws.

my brothers was sent off and is now overseas in iraq with his platoon (he is in the army).

merfi

First of all, I think the title of your post was a mean thing to do to everyone here. Attention-grabbing, yes, but rather unkind. Many of us having been hurt here have rather tender hearts -- hearts that reach out to others' who are aching, as we were ready to do for you because of the post title. To quote a Geico caveman, "not cool" But I digress...

About what your study conductor thinks about your brother -- what does it matter? I could give a rat's butt about what anyone else thinks of what my own brother says, does or is. He's MY brother, other peoples' opinions do not matter to me. I love and support him unconditionally, as family should.

JW are all about neutrality, not being involved in anything political, war, nationalistic etc so obviously your brother's being in the Army as well as his deployment to a war would certainly be unsupported by not just your "teacher" but every JW. They would consider themselves superior as they have the TRUTH about everything, including the proper place for earthly kingdoms vs heavenly. and so on. As for whether or not the "Devil has your brother" -- why do you think the Devil does have a tight hold on your brother? If you answered "yes" to your teacher without realizing quite why you answered, do you not think that that is perhaps a conditioned response by you to PLEASE your teacher...? To agree without thinking? That, although you will deny it, is quite typical of brainwashing...

~merfi

42

Assemblies

by I-follow-the-narrow-path in

jw
friends

so i was invited to an assembly by my jw teacher .

i think i will be pretty bored and feel out of place.

it is a 3 day assembly this summer and the jw said they were to invite everyone (interested).

merfi

Which one is it? Rochester MN or Lincoln NE? Cuz I can tell you about each one... the number that's there, the hot/cold of the building, where Starbucks is in the skyways in Rochester...

In general, it's three days of hard seats made even more uncomfortable by having to wear spiffy clothes. Talks that eventually become very monotone to the point of turning into a buzz that makes your eyes close.... about that time, clapping jolts you out of a dream. :)

Personally, I never liked them, even when I was 'in' and really TRIED to like them. I felt very confined -- physically and mentally. I would go away feeling like I wasn't "doing enough". This is, I'm sure, SUPPOSED to be what you feel so that your zeal is renewed and you want to DO MORE in Jah's service. However, I always felt that much smaller and worthless, and eventually saw thru it and quit playing the game.

Being 17, you'll be scouted out by the young brothers... not a bad thing, I guess, but the thought of marrying a JW and therefore being submissive, weaker and controlled, never being allowed to speak my TRUE mind.. well... no thanks.

In short, Conventions are a three-day brainwashing event where 3-7,000 gather in a sports arena-cum-commune locale. It's summer, it's the midwest, it's hot and humid and by Sunday, everyone is pretty tired and cranky and just wants to go home already.

7

Tarot card reading?

by merfi in

jw
friends

where do you find ones who do this?

yellow pages?

if you've had it done, was it accurate?

merfi

Has anyone had theirs done? Where do you find ones who do this? Yellow pages? If you've had it done, was it accurate? If you don't believe it, will it not "work"? Have you had any other type of "readings"?

I'm terribly curious to have my cards done, even though I'm skeptical (as I am of everything right now). Just wondering... I'm looking into a bit of everything these days.

~merfi

23

Does this make me an apostate?

by under_believer in

jw
friends

today i had reason to enter a hospital.

nothing serious, just a doctor appointment.

as i was walking through the enclosed entryway (it was one of those affairs with a revolving door at one end and double doors at the other,) i saw the spanish-language watchtower and awake!

merfi

right-click... save target as...

:) GMTA

~merfi

99

Door to Door

by I-follow-the-narrow-path in

just wondering... what do you think about the jw going door to door?

do you like it or dislike it?

my view is ( weather something is false or not) i think it is great someone shares what they love with someone else.

merfi

Hi and welcome, Elizabeth, from another Iowa girl

But if I was lead here... there must be a reason.

I think take this idea and embrace it. Read as much as you can in the "Best of" section. Read posters' initial posts and topics to see that many here were where you are right now, their ensuing journey to where they are now and how they got there. While you are still 'new' in the 'truth', you can ask questions; after baptism, forget it. Really -- that isn't something people here are saying to be mean, it's the truth. Any dissent after you've been baptized isn't tolerated so well; any questions will be greeted with a raised eyebrow and distrust of your motives for asking. Now that you are here, read until your clock says 3am and the monitor is swimming in your eyes. It will be worth it.

I encourage you to look up signs of a cult (google it -- that's what I did ). Read that along with the blurb on pg 202 of the Reasoning book (if you have it) under "Are JW a sect of a cult" and compare.

I hope you find some answers here.

~merfi

44

Did anyone experience that feeling at the end of assemblies, or C/O visits?

by dido in

jw
friends

i`m new on here so don`t know if this subject has been covered, but i was wondering if anyone else experienced that overwhelming feeling at the end of assemblies, or when the c/o visited and gave his talk, there was a different feeling in the air, and i always thought it was `jehovah`s spirit`.

now i`m out and have learnt a lot about the borg, and know all their dastardly deeds, i can`t understand what that feeling was.

it can`t have been his spirit, as i don`t believe now that the borg is the `truth`.

merfi

I suppose it was sort of like a "spiritual afterglow" and going back "out into the world" on the way home was like having that afterglow interrupted. That's kind of how it was for me, I guess.

Now that I know what this cult is all about, I see it all as part of the indoctrination... the 'feel good' talks, the feeling afterwards, feeds the 'addiction' of sorts and the 'world', when you have to leave the assembly or CO visit is very intrusive, adding to and confirming that the 'teachings" that the world sucks is so true.

Oh yeah -- the CO visit is this week, and I may take in one meeting (with the kids... blech, still working on that). It will be interesting to see just how high my hackles are raised. Not really looking forward to it. However, if he and the BOE ask if I want to chat, I'll decline saying "oh, my digital recorder has been tucked away at home since February, so I don't have it on me this time. Can we reschedule?" which will make the BOE wonder if maaaaybe I recorded my last JC (I didn't, but I kinda like mind games with these morons).

~merfi, of the Queen of the Run-on Sentence Class