What exactly was the purpose of the Written Review? It was extremely helpful that the Society warned you on the calendars which night you had to skip... We had those boards that they passed out so you had a good writing surface, often covered with Witness grafiti like, Jesus or Jehovah or something biblical. Remember the little grading sheet on the back; Excellent, Very Good, Good -- was there a Poor? I often wondered, did they intend to have us turn these in & who's going to grade this anyway? I always changed my answers as we were correcting, I mean "going over" the review. Did anyone have Bro. Completely Correct answer? You know, the brother who says, "that's right Johnny but..." and then drags it out longer to get the exact answer from the answer key he's holding.
30girl
JoinedPosts by 30girl
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Remember the Written Review
by 30girl inwhat exactly was the purpose of the written review?
it was extremely helpful that the society warned you on the calendars which night you had to skip... we had those boards that they passed out so you had a good writing surface, often covered with witness grafiti like, jesus or jehovah or something biblical.
remember the little grading sheet on the back; excellent, very good, good -- was there a poor?
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Anyone interested in a support group?
by 30girl inrecently my psychology professor (who has experience with deprogramming people from cults) and i have been discussing whether or not he would be willing to proctor a support group for ex-witnesses?
i live in the upstate ny area (binghamton to be specific), any takers?
i am also giving consideration to making this an online forum where questions/problems could be handled during chats sessions or via email...
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30girl
Thanks for all the great recommendations, keep them coming. My Psych Professor specializes in faith based deprogramming and I have been giving him an ear full lately. He has dealt with ex JW's in our area and has seen the chaos the Borg is capable of causing individually and within the family unit. I'm still in the research phase with this and I have some great ideas, I'm inspired by my 30 years of living w/absolute lunatic behavior and the inability to deal with reality. I myself have had to have help getting out because I have family and friends still in the Borg...good times.
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Anyone interested in a support group?
by 30girl inrecently my psychology professor (who has experience with deprogramming people from cults) and i have been discussing whether or not he would be willing to proctor a support group for ex-witnesses?
i live in the upstate ny area (binghamton to be specific), any takers?
i am also giving consideration to making this an online forum where questions/problems could be handled during chats sessions or via email...
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30girl
Recently my Psychology Professor (who has experience with deprogramming people from cults) and I have been discussing whether or not he would be willing to proctor a support group for ex-Witnesses? I live in the upstate NY area (Binghamton to be specific), any takers? I am also giving consideration to making this an online forum where questions/problems could be handled during chats sessions or via email...
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How many 'real" friends did you ever really have in ther "truth'
by The Lone Ranger insure we got to know a lot of people, we knew a lot more people then the average person, but how many real friends did we ever have?
a friend that we could trust, that we could confine in.
i can say i had just one, bro x and even then i still had to be careful, bro x is an elder now and he tells me that im the only real friend hes ever had, he cant freely talk to anyone.
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30girl
If you had asked this question two months ago, I would have said only one - my unbelievable husband of 14 years (you rock, Jim!) but now, about a month ago a girlfriend I used to have in the borg (before she and her husband left) recently called to see if the rumors she heard that we were “out” were in fact true?? Now we have 4 more friends that we used to have as witnesses but now we will be much better friends because we’re not trying to out do each other or, in my case, be the best little witness ever!
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Is the Internet An Answer to the JW Cliche Lament - "Where Else Can We Go?"
by Seeker4 inin his article at freeminds on when prophecies fail, about the witnesses and cognitive dissonance, randy watters wrote the following, including an insightful quote from barbara harrison grazzutti.
it may seem incomprehensible how the witnesses could ignore the implications of each disconfirmation.
outsiders view the witnesses as lacking common sense for not leaving the organization after numerous failures.
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30girl
Oy! I spent the better part of my first year in college (last year) going to my Professors and looking for direction. Until we said, um, enough is enough, stop selling crazy cuz we're all full up here; I didn't have an original thought in my head. I could relate every task I had to perform or tolerate as a mother,wife and active sheeple back to some talk or article I had read. I looked up every misgiving I ever had on the Watchtower CD and before that in our home "library." The last C.O. I remember Bro. Robert Archibald (anyone know him?) suggested that we should encourage our children to read books and look up the information in our home libraries or use the libraries at the Kingdumb Hall -- WHY? Cause that way you won't run into any dangerous material on the internet...that and you are teaching your children to appreciate books... In our meeting w/the brothers (after we wrote a letter to the society asking them, What UP w/UN and misc. other topics) where they would not let us even hold or read the Borgs response to us -- yes they actually read it to us, they demonized the internet w/an Awake from a bound volume predating the internet, that and of course Television because that was the picture that was actually in that article. I'm with everyone else -- who says you have to "go" anywhere? I'm exactly where I want to be, free! Any fool can make a rule, and any fool will mind it. Henry David Thoreau I think that quote speaks volumes and is especially apropos when analyzing any cult.
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Just joined
by pat1 inhi every one i am not sure if i am posting in the right place or not but just wanted to say a quick hello.
i am a disfellowshiped (ex brother of 27 years), they did this to me nearly eight years ago after forming a commitee with two lying elders (one decent) who didn'nt like my father who was the presiding overseer at the time and stand in circut overseer.
i was married for six years at the age of 19 and when i decided to have a break from her it all hit the fan and the lies started about me.
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30girl
Hello, Pat. I feel for you, all of my fam and my husband's are Witnesses and they don't exactly love our new life. Best wishes with your father and family, you will find a way, just be true to yourself and keep the subject to your father's health. We're all always here.
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Are Circuit Overseers Getting Discouraged?
by metatron ina sister i know went out with the c.o.
's wife in service recently.
sister c.o.
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30girl
The last CO I remember was pretty decent although my fringe friends hated him -- I didn't understand why then, probably because I was tripping over myself to impress him and his wife. I remember that my sister was visiting our Hall and when the CO's wife found out my sis spoke fluent spanish she asked her why she wasn't making it a goal to work with the new Spanish congregation? When my sister told her that she was only visiting and that her home was over an hour away, the sister was like, so? Oh yeah, forgot, you don't know what it's like to have a job and work for a living. BTW, thanks for the encouragement, appreciate it.
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POST YOUR EXPERIENCE OF GROWING UP AS A JW....
by SWALKER ini guess that one of my first memories, about 3 years old, had to be sitting in a hard chair being made to listen to a boring talk that i didn't understand.
we weren't allowed any toys or books to look at besides the wt publications...i remember getting taken outside and beat for something i did...but i didn't even understand what i did wrong.
i remember that our car didn't have air-conditioning and during the summer how hot and sticky i was by the time i got to the kh.
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30girl
I would like to encourage everyone, no matter what your circumstances might be, that it's never too late or too impossible. The past is dead, the future is unknown - all that matters is who you are and what you are going to do right now. Well put. When my husband and I abruptly stopped attending meetings, we were always there; always in field service, always prepared, and our kids sat still; sat up straight and could recite scriptures by heart -- well, let's just say we had a few sheep-herding calls. One brother mocked my interest in going to college by saying, "You know sis, you can go to college, that's ok now" gee, thanks brother Mercedes whose kids were never baptized...hmmm, convenient for you to say Mr. I converted. (This is also the brother who during the closing prayer at the memorial, while the CO was visiting, thanked Jesus for dying on a cross--hmmm, you don't say?) That really chaps my @$$ with the double standard now. My husband and I grew up in the generation that wasn't encouraged to do anything for our futures except pioneer. So, when we married he was slinging bread (potato rolls) for some self serving elder while I worked part time as a teller. I digress. We're both full time students, he's working on his PhD in Electrical Engineering and I've just begun my college career, I'm a philosophy/political science major. We have three amazing children. Our oldest daughter is celebrating her first birthday next week - she will be 10! She's soooo excited. She's so amazingly gifted. Her art is extrodinary as it has been shown in our area and she's quite a beautiful ballerina, 6 years dancing. Ok, I'm slighty proud, a tad biased, naw, just not a JW parent. All our kids are angels. Our younger daughter, Leah, and our son Isaac (goes by Ike) sat on Santa's lap this past christmas, they were not as apprehensive as Morg was (lingering guilt.) Ike loves to say Ho Ho Ho. He'll never remember the Hall, he was not even 2 when we quit. Leah's going to be 7 in June so, she's looking forward to her birthday now. HAPPY 10TH BIRTHDAY MORGAN, YOU ROCK! We hope all your dreams come true.
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POST YOUR EXPERIENCE OF GROWING UP AS A JW....
by SWALKER ini guess that one of my first memories, about 3 years old, had to be sitting in a hard chair being made to listen to a boring talk that i didn't understand.
we weren't allowed any toys or books to look at besides the wt publications...i remember getting taken outside and beat for something i did...but i didn't even understand what i did wrong.
i remember that our car didn't have air-conditioning and during the summer how hot and sticky i was by the time i got to the kh.
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30girl
Where do I begin??? I can't write it all down. Between being constantly compared to other "more spiritual" children in the Hall and trying to grow up, go to school, and develop normally, it's just too traumatic to go there. I've had assembly parts, gave the standard "I'm going to be a missionary" answer (insert applause and awwww's here.) It's so sad because my parents are genuine people and sincere in their belief. My parents are still very active and don't understand why we're allowing Satan into our lives. But, I guess they wouldn't be able to see that, they can't. I can't imagine what it must feel like as a parent to look at your grown children and know, somewhere deep down, that you could have put a stop to the madness. The 'truth' nearly tore our family apart when I was a teenager, it's like de javu...
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Getting Busted w/ Love Letters
by OpenFireGlass in.
love letters were the demise for many of the kids in congregations that i attended growing up..... i know i ended up in the library/back room several times for this (hopless romantic/ sagitarius) even put on public reproof for it.
(though i believe it was my dad's idea to have the elders put me on public reproof so that he could have more control over me).
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30girl
I can't remember how many times I was "corrected" for either receiving unsolicited love letters or for corresponding with boys with letters. The funniest thing I ever did was at an assembly -- I was reading a note from someone (a boy! OMG!) and my mom saw me (eeek) so she gave me the nod, ya know, follow me...so, I quickly slipped the note through a pocket of my skirt that had a slit where I could reach my panties, yep, I'm not proud of it but, I hid it in my panties. When we got into the bathroom and went into a stall and she questioned me about it, I denied having a note. I was panicking but I didn't get the strip search, amen.
I sat through a judicial committee meeting where my mother kicked the legs of my chair every time I didn't answer the brothers in a manner she felt was quick enough or appropriate. I guess I should mention that as a group of rebels we were being questioned for inconsistencies in a story (that was being repeated by 6 teenagers in two different Kingdom Halls to two sets of elders) about loose conduct -- kissing. Since no one could really remember all the details and some of the details were embellished (by one of my friends 9 year old sister -- gee, thanks) we were all privately reproved, I think the boys got public reproof, heck, I can't remember now -- I was 14.
We had bookstudy at our house so if the phone ever rang on a Tuesday night, everyone would look at me, cuz, telemarketers were not calling back in those days and all our friends were in our bookstudy so natually, it had to be for me! My mom would answer the phone and tell whatever boy had decided to call that "I was not allowed to talk to boys." I eventually tried to run away from home with my worldly boyfriend. That didn't work. For punishment, my parents took away my make up and hairspray and curling iron. That was the kiss of death because, hey, in the early 90's, we all had big hair.
This story has a happy ending. 30 and out. 30 years, enough crazy for me & my family. My husband and I are changing our lives and we're not putting our kids through that type of isolation from society.
I wonder what ever happened to those guys? God, we used to hide letters inside of pens and then give each other the pens at the Hall to pass on to each other. It's amazing how much you can write on a very small piece of paper and roll it around the insides of a bic.
I remember one C.O. in particular that encouraged listening in on your childrens phone conversations, going through all of their things and reading all of their personal thoughts, diaries, etc. Funny, he didn't have any kids...