my relatives that are still witnesses, always hate it when i say one thing to them, more then any others ... .
"are you going to church tonight?
"were you at church?".
"Yall are the folks whut ride bikes in the neighborhood, right?" (Obviously confusing them with Mormons.)
"Yall don't believe in doctors, right?" (Some don't.)
"Yall protect them there kid molesters by giving them a home in New York, right?" (Referring to the Jose Canno fella.)
"Yall think every natural disaster is Harmageddin. Right?" (Poking fun at their 'signs of the last days')
LMAO!!
we posted about an announcement it was only local to our cong.
however we have found out that there is going to be an announcement sometime in september and it is supposed to be shocking.
elders already know.
Maybe they are going to lift the ban on masturbation. Instead of the wild clapping that usually follows a "new light" announcement, there will be a collective sigh of relief from the closet w*%?@#s in the crowd.
interesting little flashy thingie, toolie on usa today (see how professional i sound?).
http://www.usatoday.com/graphics/news/gra/gnoreligion/flash.htm.
interesting results in new york.... where the world wide headquarters of jws resides... .
None. I have since done a lot of research on evolution, fossil records and geology. There are still holes in these theories, but there is one thing that is guaranteed; human beings grow old and then they die. So live your life now, and enjoy the freedom to make your own choices in this life.
What did those "bad" people in the bible say, "live, drink and be merry because tomorrow we shall die..."
lets say that armageddon was imminent and you would deduce that you wouldn't be saved, who would you want to be with to enjoy your last moments alive?
My family.
Also, I would like to go out in theatrical style like the worldly people depicted in armaggedon piccies in the org. literature. Maybe like that blonde lady, clawing at the sky???
we posted about an announcement it was only local to our cong.
however we have found out that there is going to be an announcement sometime in september and it is supposed to be shocking.
elders already know.
Reading posts like this makes me feel so grateful for being out of the organisation. I remember only too well, that sickening feeling of dread when finding out, and even worse, speculating about a new announcement. Afterwards, making sure that you make it to every meeting and start praying your butt off; lol!! I couldn't care less now, and there is so much freedom living a life without that fear/knee jerk reaction.
found this interesting snipit from a website.
actually makes sense.
the god of the ot is very violent, no matter how many ways you cut it.. religions fail to understand that jehovah is not the peaceful god that jesus called "father.
No matter who you pray to we still grow old and die.
EXACTLY!! Since the beginning of time, man has worshipped/feared a myriad of gods, demons, spirits etc... While the debate is still contentious, there is one fact that is 100% guaranteed - we grow old, and we die. I think that whole concept of god and an afterlife is just a coping mechanism that we developed over time to deal with this fact, and make it a little more palatable.
hi fellow apostate brothers and sisters, .
as some of you know i plan to return to school to obtain a ph.d in psychology.
ill have to start from the basics.
You should definitely go for it. I graduated from university last month, and am 29 years old. I have already gained a graduate position in my specialist field, and can't begin to tell you how good it feels to have a career. You don't have to worry about children yet, so that should make it easier for you and your girlfriend to juggle the finances for a while. Maybe you could work nights/weekend work while studying? I don't know about study arrangements in the U.S, but here in Aus I was able to defer my fees through the tax system. Am now up to the part where I have to pay them off but it is worth it!!! You are only 20 years old - Go for it. (33 is still young too!).
i have been away from the meetings for about a year now.
i recently attended a funeral and the witnesses mostly avoided me even though i am not disfellowshipped.
my problem is i need to replace my old friends because they look at me with such suspicion now.. i never had trouble making friends before i was a witness,but that was 30 years ago.
I used to think that that was a problem. But I began to realize that the most important friendships are precisely the ones that are most rare.
I agree with this comment. I think a lot of us beat ourselves up, because we are under the impression that there is something "wrong" with us if we don't have hundreds of friends. In reality, we may have a lot of acquaintances, or people that we know, but only one or two "true" friends.
I think when you first leave the organisation, you have to find your own identity first before worrying too much about forming friendships. Once you have found your own identity, one that is truly separate from your old identity as a jw, the friendships will just happen. I know that since I have left, I have met some great people at university, at work, and through my son's school. Focus on finding your feet and exploring new interests first - this is exciting in itself, and you will meet some great people along the way!
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i have been out a long time, and i have recently noticed a lot of you making mention of smurfs.. obviously, i have missed something.
has the watchliar sociopath society "demonized" smurfs somewhere along the line.. reminds me of the old fear of paintings of clowns, with big eyes, that made the rounds back in the late 60's, early 70's.
I definitely heard the smurf story. We were told that a child bought a toy smurf into the KH and it just got up and walked out in the middle of the talk. My take on this is that it was a bloody boring talk and a very smart doll OR I have since heard that there are drugs (ecstasy or e) called smurfs that make you hallucinate and see the little buggers everyone. I think someone was dropping e's during a very boring public talk, and rather than fess up, they demonised the doll; lol. What a joke.
i am new to this site, and have spent the past few hours reading many posts with great interest.
i live in australia, and left the "truth" and my husband for good at the end of 2004. we have two young children together.
3 years prior, i began studying at university and gained full-time employment.
I am new to this site, and have spent the past few hours reading many posts with great interest. I live in Australia, and left the "truth" and my husband for good at the end of 2004. We have two young children together. 3 years prior, I began studying at university and gained full-time employment. During this time I just "got over it", and really started to explore new ideas/perspectives and began to find the real me. However leaving was not easy. My husband (now x) and his mother, convinced me that I was "sinful", and that I could not really offer the children a "future" (in paradise of course). He actually would say to me repeatedly "you know this is right"...."you know that I am the better parent".... Emotionally it was the most difficult time in my life, and the most confusing. While I knew I wanted out big time, there was still that part of me that believed them (I am a bad, wicked person. They are more "spiritual". I am doing a very bad thing by leaving,, etc). I am so embarrassed to admit this now, but after years of emotional indoctrination I was in a very vulnerable position. My husband took the children and moved in with his mother. I was emotionally beat, weighed 42kg and was still working big hours to keep the house running on my own. Thankfully for me, my mother who had left the jw religion a couple of years earlier gave me a lot of support and was horrified that the kids were gone. To cut a long story short, we went to court and my ex got full custody of one of our children, while I got full custody of the other.
To look back at this time now just makes me sick. I came so close to losing both of my children because of my vulnerable mental state, and my actual belief at the time that I was "bad." I am so grateful for not losing both of my children, but do carry immense guilt for not having full custody of them both. Now that I am emotionally and mentally free of the religion and its scare tactics, I can't believe that I felt and believed all of that crap; to the point of nearly losing my children. Since this time I have heard of cases very similar to mine (worse actually).
One woman also decided to leave her husband, but unfortunately for her, all of her family and his were dubs. She went through the same emotional turmoil, and her husband ended up with full custody of all three of their children. Her ex husband and family also played on the fact that she was still emotionally vulnerable and capitalized on all of the usual dub self righteous talk and scare tactics. Now that she has also had time and distance from the jw's, she is grieving for the loss of her children, and feels unbearable guilt.
I also know of another "brother" who gained full custody of his son after the wife decided to leave jws. He even put his son on the platform at an assembly to boast how he ignores his mother's (and satan's of course) desperate attempts to keep him from attending the meetings. Apparently she bought him a new motor bike and wanted to spend time with him on the weekends, but this was twisted to sound like this evil mother was trying to lure him away from the organisation. Of course everyone sat in their seats and mindlessly clapped at the end of his presentation at the assembly......... makes me so mad now.
Anyway, all of this has made me wonder how many others this has happened to? It seems incomprehensible to me now that I could actually let those people keep me apart from my children; but it happened. It is only now that I can see that my emotional state was a manifestation of years of indoctrination and mind control.
