Welcome, Solo!
j
this is my first post and what a revelation this site has been to me (excuse the pun) if only this had been available when i walked away from the "truth" in 1987, it would have made life a lot more bearable for me.. i was brought up a jw and was baptized at 14 because i thought it was the right thing to do, endured a very strict upbringing combined with the dreadful routines of worship, study and door knocking.
we were deprived of any enjoyment (tv, friends, outings, fun, etc).
education was a bit of a disruption, having moved to where the need was greater our schooling was interrupted so many times we never made any friends.
Welcome, Solo!
j
since we have faded from the hall most everyone avoids us except for a couple of young ones that will stop by for a visit .
last night a young woman in her twenties came over we talked about several things, and she brought up that a while back she had seriously thought of suicide .
i asked if there were reasons as to why ?
She thinks that it is a local problem of mid west narrow mindedness instead of an organizational problem .She is originally from the south and feels people think differently on issues there compared to here .
In my experience, the organization tends to "amplify" the mid west mindset. There definately is a more narrow minded sense in the mw from what I seen on the east coast, but it tends to manifest itself in unusual ways in the organization. Many more things are considered "questionable", for example. In this case, it will be a bit more challenging to get her to separate the two.
j
i was wondering about this, as fantasy football leagues are becoming big this time of year.
i have people i work with who live by these things, and even spend their entire breaks tracking information or text messaging friends to make changes.
it is not always about gambling, but often it is and in any case it takes a lot of time to work it.
I know of several jws that do it.
j
.
what do you think?.
i have a hard time accepting the fact that intelligent men truly beleive the creator has a special arrangement with them and somehow they are being used in a special position because of one scripture about the faithful and discreet slaves.. they should all be locked up in a nut house for beleiving that.
I knew Dan Sydlik for many years. He would often say things like "someday, we will probably find out we were too hard on ourselves". The GB really do not agree on much in the inner circle, FWIW. Unfortunately, Dan was not in a position to be a politcal animal, as the likes of Franz or Jaracz, and mostly, just quietly deferred to the pecking order. I do believe he felt somehow that the group was being used by god, even if he didn't agree with many of the decisons. It's really just more of the "top down" delusion that exists in the org.
j
i see lots of names here that i don't know, and with the wt on a campain to keep its followers from looking at "unaproved sites" .
i've got to wonder.....what are the stats?
how many are leaving ?
anyone under 45 just don’t care for the BS but continue because their parents are in the other camp.
I know of many in this camp.
j
dear brothers,.
you might want to consider this letter in the 'questions from readers' section of the watchtower.. my question is this: i would like to join the catholic church and at the same time keep my standing and position in the congregation!
the reason being is that i have heard that the vatican has a very good and complete library which i would like to avail myself of.
This is a good one!
j
well, another jw is now an ex-jw.
not going back.
that makes 8 since june or so of 2005, not counting the df's that won't be going back.. woo-hoo!
I'm working on one myself. He's stopping by in about an hour. Gave him CoC yesterday. I'll post more later.
j
i could not have a big new kids on the block pin, or wear any new kids on the block pins in puplic becuase it was considered idolatry.
i also could not wear my shoes without laces (it was cool back then) because it looked wordly.
what other strange theings besides the usual holiday/birthday stuff weren't you allowed to do?
Squirt guns, many video games, MTV...
j
did you have moments after you left the organization when you felt alive for the first time?
when you realized that you had just been drudging around with your head down, enduring rather than living.
when that huge burden was lifted from your shoulders and you saw the world not for the place of darkness and pain that the witnesses made it out to be but for all the wonder in it?
Absolutely.
j
When I was a teen and could choose my own music I loved ELO, early Queen, early Genesis, Jimi, Janis, Marillion, Jethro Tull and Led Zep
All great stuff. I would also add the Doors, Sex Pistols, Clash, Neil Young, CTA, Steely Dan, I guess I could go on....
j