Posts by Quandry

8

My sisters family

by RevLeFrench in

jw
friends

i found this site and thought i would let some people know of my experiences.. my sister is a baptised witness and had a bash at getting me to join.

she thought it would help straighten me out and save me, (i had been a very naughty boy and had just been released for a very serious crime where i hurt some people).. i have always had an interest in theology and have always believed in a god, i just didnt like him that much because i blamed him for things that had gone wrong in my life.. the first meeting i want to was horrible.

an elders wife ran up to me and was saying how lovely it was to see me there and i told her exactly what she could do in some very colourful language.

Quandry

My sister is a baptised witness and had a bash at getting me to join. She thought it would help straighten me out and save me, (I had been a very naughty boy and had just been released for a very serious crime where I hurt some people).

Well, I'm not sure what to say here. I hope that this type of activity is behind you. I would hope that instead of this mentality you could become the kind of role model your niece needs to look up to. How about showing her that you can be successful and a nice person without the Witnesses? How about encouraging education so that she could have a fulfilling job that contributes to society? You could do that by setting the example here also.

I wish you success in your personal life, and that of your family.

75

Is "Kingdumb Hall" really an offensive term?

by cyberjesus in

if a friend of mine starts to say things out of emotion and i call him "schizophrenic" then that might be an insult.

however if he is having auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking then that word becomes a description of his situation.. now i ask you.

does the attendance to the kh promote intelligence?

Quandry

P.S. Venom?

That is what the WTBTS spewed. I will be poisoned by it no more.

75

Is "Kingdumb Hall" really an offensive term?

by cyberjesus in

if a friend of mine starts to say things out of emotion and i call him "schizophrenic" then that might be an insult.

however if he is having auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking then that word becomes a description of his situation.. now i ask you.

does the attendance to the kh promote intelligence?

Quandry

Not offensive to me.

What's offensive to me is that I spent over thirty years trying to wrap my head around each pronouncement of "new light" they came out with. How about 1975? I was there, I know what they wrote and said. People that lived in Sodom and Gomorrah will be resurrected. Nope, they won't. Oh, yes, they will. The generation that was alive AND at an age of understanding definitely will NOT pass away until the big A. Oh, no, we meant those alive in 1914. Did we say that? We meant the contemporaries that don't believe in Jesus' presence. No, wait...it's an OVERLAPPING generation....try to figure that one out!

What is VERY offensive to me is that I allowed my teen daughter to sit in a back room while five men told her that God viewed her as filth, accusing her of fornication (which she did not do) and humiliating and berating her for some very minor teen things she did do.

It would all be laughable if I hadn't become estranged from my "worldly" family for so many years as I was so righteous, and now my parents are both dead, so I can't make up for lost time.The rest of my family, and my husband's, who was a dutiful elder for tweny years, went on with their lives without us, and so now it's not easy to just say, "Hey, remember us? You weren't good enough for us then, but you are now. Let's get together."

I also can't make up, at 59 years old, for the lack of education and no retirement income.

I can't make up for the fact that I never went anywhere, because we only went to ASSemblies and Conventions and had the bookstudy group at our house and stayed home on the weekends.

I can't get used to the idea that I have no friends now, since all the "real friends" I had at the Hall view me as dangerous and, even though I am not officially df'd, shun me now.

So do I mind? Not at all.

Very little is humerous these days to me but I do like Washtowel Society, Dubs, Servus, Borg, and Kingdumb Hall...yes, that's where I went, and I was one of the dumbest, but no more.

8

Nobody's Child

by mrsjones5 in

i just read an article in this month's vogue magazine about a woman who was raised in an extreme cult.

i found i could relate to some of her experiences and i thought maybe folks on the board might be interested enough to read about it.

here's her story (don't worry i don't paste funky links): nobody's child.

Quandry

Very interesting. So glad that she has some degree of normalcy in her life, although she will never be able to rid herself of the pain of her childhood. How sad.

55

Longtime lurker - first post

by applehippie in

jw
friends

been listening for quite a while to the many conversations found here on this forum.

i'm a good listener as my friends will tell you.. i am a born in jw, inactive for at least 2 years now.

i originally joined this forum to find out what my husband was "up to".

Quandry

Things really started to bother me a few years ago with "rules" (like the study article on Weddings- really?)

Welcome. Glad you and your husband are on the same page now.

I've been "out" for about six years now. A whole study on wedding rules? Like what?

27

Update on my chemotherapy and my sister

by MsDucky in

jw
friends

my sister lost her battle with breast cancer last week.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/kansas/obituary.aspx?n=mayola-d-walker-johnson&pid=149005242 her funeral was today.

i had just been dismissed from the hospital the day before and she was admitted to icu the next day.

Quandry

So sorry to hear about your sister. You are experiencing a very tough part of life. I will be thinking of you and hope you respond quickly to your medication.

P.S. I KNOW you can quit smoking and you will be so glad. We are pulling for you!

9

freeing my nephews

by Scarlouie in

jw
friends

Quandry

Welcome.

I agree with Jamie. If you come on strong, your family members will keep your nephews from having contact with you. If you are a loving uncle and assure your nephews that you are always there for them, they may come to you in the future with concerns about the witnesses. Ask about their achievements and tell them you are proud of them. Tell them how smart they are, and that you have high hopes for their success in the future. They may have little encouragement from their family about their school achievements, as the witnesses discourage "higher education."

Patience is called for.

32

An update on the wife

by sooner7nc in

i just wanted to let you all know that my wife is feeling great after receiving her kidney transplant last week.

her labs immediately started coming into line as soon as the organ was attached and as of now are almost completely normal.

she's obviously having a little pain and soreness from the huge incision they made but overall she's feeling wonderful.

Quandry

Such great news! I am happy for you both.

38

I'm a new study, need advice.

by Resistance is Futile in

jw
friends

a little background on me, i have never been a jw.

my spouse was born and raised in the cult, disfellowshipped as a young adult and is now completely shunned by family still trapped inside.

before i met my spouse i knew very little about the jws.

Quandry

Welcome.

I'd say you are in the right place to become armed with information. Please study the history of JWs. I wish that I had done this so many years ago. Had I known that CT Russell got the date for 1914 from measuring the steps in a pyramid, and that his first calculations for Jesus' presence pointed to 1874, etc., I might not have spent the next 33 years as a JW.

Maybe the person you are "studying" with doesn't know some of the more "interesting" facts about the past. How's this one....at one time the JWs believed taking a vaccination was "like putting pus into the body."

Or they don't know that the WTS taught...and maybe still does....that since dinosaurs lived before the flood, they didn't eat meat.....I guess T Rex had those big teeth to attack and eat giant fern!

17

Update on my life since I left

by strawberry cake in

i used to post here a lot a few years ago.

this forum helped me out of the organisation with my husband and 3 boys.. we are now all more or less out and very happy.. me my husband and my youngest left almost instantly we realised the lie.

my middle son gave us a little grief at first and then left when he understood what were were saying.

Quandry

So happy to hear that your family is now almost all completely out. Also, how wonderful that you have almost gotten your degree in education.

I also work in a school as a Paraprofessional (title here in US) and am studying at University for a degree in History. I am too old to start a career in teaching...I am 59. I was "in" for over thirty years, and wanted during that time to go to school, but my husband was an elder and felt that it would set a bad example...of course he was right....look how now they are cracking down on a "sinful" education!

I feel that an education is empowering, and enjoy every minute that I find out new things.

Your poor son is not alone in being devastated at the thought of no paradise and the prospect of dieing. That is something that many of us have struggled with.

I hope that so many good experiences come to you in the future! Please drop in again and tell us further updates.