i wish to remove myself from the tms.
i can't stand it any longer.
i am never out in service (i still turn in "informal" time) i still attend the meetings.
I remember that I had once asked to stop giving talks for a while because my life was getting too stressful.
The elder REALLY didn't want me to do that and he encouraged me not to do that. I asked if I could then give just the Bible reading then and he agreed.
I am thinking that they see that as a step backwards and will not want you to start on that slippery slope.
Just think of that as a heads up in case they do the same for you. Have a backup plan for such reasoning.
while i was a hoho, i often told people that i was of the religion and therefore wouldn't do this or that (where's that llllonngggg list!
); even as a kid i believed that if i was ashamed of being a witness that jesus would be ashamed of me, and so, i witnessed whenever appropriate.
at work and at school, people almost always said something positive in return and i rarely, if ever, received criticism for it.
I've discovered the SAME thing!
I WISH someone would have said something! All those nice people are enablers.
How embarrassing now. My relatives are SO happy I am out. They never told me what they REALLY thought. I have also found out that no one really cares about what they say or do.
I have been contacted once in the two years I have been in Bellingham. I received the tract for the assembly this last summer. Their EDUCATION work is REALLY lacking!!! I would know NOTHING of them if I had to rely on them for my education and survival.
Yet they are so proud of all their efforts and are filled with all those 'nice' comments in the paper around assembly time. Boy are they misled!
i guess that's how it will always be for me,,i've moved on,,all my family is "out' thankfully,,but i spent too many years there, and i won't ever become a member of a religion,,in jest, you are my "church" i guess.
:)
I'll always have that as my background. (30 years )
But I look forward! I LOVE my new churches and I love the changes it has made in me!
I hope to one day just be a follower of Christ who began as a pawn of a religious cult for the begining of my spiritual journey.
There is SO much more out there to wear that title as a ball and chain! Life gets SO much better!
so, it was my daughter's birthday on the 2nd of february.. she is being raised jw and i sent her an email birthday card.. i get this note as a response: (mind you, it may be from her mother).
hey dad, .
i'm sorry i havent written you.
So, it was my daughter's birthday on the 2nd of February.
She is being raised jw and I sent her an email birthday card.
I get this note as a response: (mind you, it MAY be from her mother)
Hey dad,
I'm sorry I havent written you. so how have you been? I'm fine. wednesday when you called it got to late so i went to bed. I have been so busy that i just haven't got the time to do anything. Even being with my friends. So right now im at my moms work. It's a spa. it's fun. So talk to you later.you know i dont do birthdays,so y did u send a birthday card to me.that wasnt very cool.
I just got off the phone with her and NOW she is asking why I didn't send a BIRTHDAY CARD, (a REAL one). I asked her why she wanted a real Birthday Card. She said that I could send MONEY in it.
Now I see....
I feel that they bend the rules all the time for THIER advantage.
I don't like being USED. I feel they will bleed me to death of all they can and then in the end they will shun me forever when they get married as jws.
Do I send her a belated birthday card with cash? I told her it would be a Birthday Present. She is trying to save some money for something and that is pretty much the only reason she is asking for it.
Not sure how to follow through on this one. Not a big deal I guess. But it doesn't add up to me. Seems VERY shallow and I get hurt in the end one day when they have used me.
Do people ASK why you didn't send money? When they do, do you send it, even when it is against their THEOLOGY?
Why would I get a letter scolding me for sending a birthday email and then get asked for MONEY as a birthday present? Seems pretty shallow to me, but she is 12....
What would a GOOD parent do??????
these two shows are omg good!
watch "six feet under" episodes in order for a great drama.
watch "arrested development" for a smart smart comedy.
I'm liking 24!
yes, no or maybe....and why?
I believe in searching for TRUTH.
If I believed jw's HAD the truth and that their teachings were CORRECT I would BE a jw.
I am VERY CONFIDENT that they DO NOT have truth. (figured that out after being one for 30 years.)
But I am ALWAYS on the search for TRUTH.
My truth so far is JESUS and LOVE. I have become born again within the last year and my life is happier than it ever has been.
And I think that says a lot when you consider getting divorced and losing all your 'friends' and my father and sister to the borg, leaving my postal job and becoming a carpet cleaner, moving to a new state where I knew only one person! I SHOULD be more depressed than ever, but God has put a NEW PERSONALITY into me and has shown me His love and has given me LIFE. My MOTIVATIONS are totally different than as a jw. I am totally motivated by love and it is an AWESOME way to live!
during my childhood, my father would often tell stories of his life to me, one of his favourites being the story of how he became a jehovah's witness.
during some travels in the late 70s, he had his first real experience with the bible, when he shared a room with a christian fundy in israel.
the fundy introduced him to many bible topics, such as the king of the north and babylon the great.
I know that as I was leaving the jw's I wanted to know that leaving was the RIGHT thing to do. I was familiar with stories like yours so I prayed that if jw's WERE the true religion and that He wanted me to BE a jw that He would send a jw to my home or that I would SEE one.
I never did.........
I took that as a sign.
someone on another site was asking "what if they are right?
" which made me think about why i know that they are not and i wondered what was your epiphany or road to damascus moment or moments that just made you realise - hey i've been led up the garden path here!.
here was my response but i really think a list of reasons on one thread for easy reference for newbies would be good.
I feel that the elders had a direct influence on my divorce.
I asked the elder who had disfellowshipped me to bring my wife to the phone as we were going through a divorce. He said he would NOT get her, but would tell her I had called. I said she will not call me back and that he was making me question my faith. He said that he was sorry, but......
To me, a religion should have as it's MAIN GOAL to KEEP FAMILIES TOGETHER. Leave all other beliefs aside, LOVE should be it's biggest goal and keeping families TOGETHER a prime objective!
My jw religion had NO interest in my family. During that conversation I asked him if my wife was doing well. I hadn't seen her for a few months, we were separated, and I wanted to know that she was okay. He said that he HAD NEVER ASKED HER about the matter, but that SHE WAS AT THE HALL and so she must be doing well.
All he cared about was that she was keeping a seat warm at the hall! Here he was the watchtower conducter, the elder DIRECTLY involved with my case and he NEVER TALKED to her or ASKED her about it?!!! I thought to myself WHAT kind of a religion is THAT????
So that started me out to my discovery of something I NEVER thought I would think...jw's are a cult and concerned only for the whole and not the parts of the congregation and are Biblically DEFUNCT!
I now LOVE going to my two local community churches and I have NEVER felt HAPPIER in my life!!!
Now I can't believe I ever believed that 'stuff' they taught me in the first place. How was I SO duped!!???
i was brought up around the "truth" as a child.
my parents studied some then later after they were divorced, we (mom, sis and i) moved in with my grandparents, who were inactive witnesses.
though inactive, they still touted all the wts lingo and doctrine.
I understand your feelings...
I have 3 children being raised jw. A sister and a father jw. (mother died faithful jw)
I just got out in the last year and a half.
How do you help people who are afraid to listen to you as your words are the same as 'the Devil's'?
I put it to prayer. I think you CANNOT beat LOVE. I have also found that you will always 'beat' a jw by taking the high road, by doing the RIGHT thing. Doing THAT makes THEM do the wrong thing and EVENTUALLY that has GOT to sink in that YOU are always doing the RIGHT thing and they are doing the WRONG thing. That has GOT to get them to think ONE day.
Win them without a word. Let them SEE your good conduct. Make them WONDER at your happiness and joy. They will expect bad things to happen to you as the demons 'must' have you under their control. Your life will soon show that the things they have been taught about 'worldly' people IS NOT correct.
I guess you cannot convince someone anything if they are not in a place to listen. You can only DEMONSTRATE what is good and right and LOVING before them. LOVE WILL conquer all in my opinion. They will always know that you will treat them well. They will know you are always respectful and honorable to them. No one will leave a relationship like that. jw's do not feel LOVED, they feel shame and guilt. Give them LOVE. They are STARVED for it. They will not leave you for they NEED your LOVING SUPPORT.
Let THEM come to their own understanding. Never abandon them.
I feel as if I will lose my children to the borg. They are not SEARCHING for God, but are accepting what they are taught as truth. ONE day their world may crumble or they may have a question or their eyes may be opened. When that happens they will hopefully come to me. They will have no one else to turn to.
It is a VERY frustrating position to be in. I put it in God's hands. I feel that God loves and wants them even more than I do! So, if I just do what is right and display Christ in my life towards them, then God can use that to accomplish His purpose.
I have tried to reason with them and THAT DOESN'T WORK! I have even resorted to just sharing a Bible chapter. I get - "Don't share the Bible with us. Just tell us about your day."
I hope this has been of some help to you.
Lead by example. Choose JESUS as your Exampler! SHOW THEM LOVE! PRAY about it. Make THEM wonder about YOUR conduct. By being motivated by LOVE you will give them something they have never felt before and hopefully they will be drawn to that and begin to think about the differences between your beliefs and their own.
BEST OF SUCCESS TO YOU! I HOPE THINGS WORK OUT WELL FOR YOU! NEVER GIVE UP, BUT LEAN ON GOD IN PRAYER AND DEMONSTRATE THE LOVE OF CHRIST TO YOUR FAMILY. CHRIST DIED FOR YOU, SHOW GREAT LOVE TO YOUR FAMILY. It will make them THINK! THEY need to be the ones to come to the understanding you have come to and they cannot be dragged there.
i remember one at a district assembly.
a brother was being interviewed as to why he never chose over time work at his job.
he said he worked for a small printing company and that he was content with working regular hours.
I'll never forget my friend going up there and telling "his" story.
He said they made him change it to say this and that and that at the end of it it wasn't HIS story at all!
He said that the whole thing was a joke!
He was the son of an 'outstanding' elder.
