i have not been active here lately just lurking mostly but i have no one to talk to and i need some help i guess.i started working out and became friends with my personal trainer(we went to school together).i started going out with him(lying to my mother about what i was doing,another thing to add to the list of lies,it's becoming too easy!
) and i notice i'm slowly becoming the worldy people that the jw's described.i've become very selfish and rude and very apathetic towards everything and everyone.i always thought the values that jw's taught were really good.if i cut ties with the only friend i have now , i would probably slip into a deep depression and i that is something that i want to avoid at all costs.i start university in january and my plan was to stick it out in the organisation until i got my degree and became fully independant but as of late a elder told me i am being considered to become a m.s and told me what i need to work on and since then the other elders have been nagging me to work on the same things.i'm trying to rid my self of my 'priveleges' in the cong but nothings working...if anyone has experienced a similar situation what advice would you give?
, oh and my mom was always super into the religion having been a pioneer and bethel worker for years but we went to the regional convention two weeks ago and now she is even more exasperating (for example a sister asked my why i was 19 years old and not a ms or serving at bethel yet, which is fine i've learnt how to deal with these questions but when i told my mother whom has always been content with me just being in the religion and never pushed me towards anything asked me if i was happy with what i was and if i would not be happier at bethel or regular pioneering.
People will always say and ask insensitive questions, and parents are trying to do right by their kids. Some are worse than others, but they mostly are trying to help you have a successful life...even if it means being in a cult.
The advice here is good. You need to explore the world and find out what is best for you. It is not hard. You are making it hard. Like Nike says...just do it!
i think all of us on this forum would like to welcome all the newbies that have joined in the last six months or so ,if i`m not mistaken there seems to be an influx lately.. elders , ms ,and sisters.
speak up and make a comment , are you happy you came here ?.
we`d love to here from you.. smiddy.
Welcome! And so nice to see you all here. It takes a lot of courage to take this road against what seems to be an impossible choice of losing everything and everyone you know. Once you experience the joy of freedom of thought, it will greatly make up for most of what is lost. We promise. Especially those of you that have children. You are giving them the greatest gift ever, and that is the freedom for them to grow up and explore to be the person they should be.
does this group ever get together for meet and greet's anymore?.
~jean.
I've been to quite a few, Toronto, Tahoe and local ones. A new group just started up in North County San Diego area and they just had a meetup last Saturday. My first was in the LA area by a young woman who left and was on her own; she ran it for a number of years. It wasn't a large group but different people came from all over.
Another friend started one up in the Salt Lake City area.
Just the best thing ever is to meet people that understand what we all are going through.
yes my holy anionted mom who has cancer is concerned that the loving god jehovah may ask her in heaven to destroy here non believer family including her 5 year old grandchild during armagedon....how messed up are these crazy people!!?
?.
I agree with slim, Londo and Scully....this is the teaching, and she is thinking it through.
I'm sorry for her cancer, and hope some way she will be able to see how twisted this teaching is.
I just went to a funeral given by an evangelical preacher and he talked about the deceased wanting us to be in heaven with her and she was concerned if we weren't saved we'd end up in hell. Same theme...different characters. Ai yi yi. Crazy.
My sympathies to you and yours for what you are going through.
i decided to join this forum as have been lurking awhile.
there are lots of interesting topics on here that appeal to me.. i have been a witness for almost 3 decades and am very disillusioned with the organisation at this time.
i am beginning to see it in a new light as i am getting older.
Welcome! So glad you found us.
hi guys , i know i was never a favorite here and haven't posted in awhile ... question .
what do you think of the new understanding of , " this generation " they seem to go in circles on this one big time , once 1914 generation was almost gone they said they didn't know what it meant and now in the new publication the generation includes the second generation after 1914 .... i agree they don't know what they are talking about and this is just another control move .
any comments ?.
(lol Outlaw!)
i may not have put this in the correct spot, but i do think it's scandalous the way time gets counted now.
i've seen a cart at the edge of our farmer's market, never anyone close enough to talk.
yesterday was a drizzly day and there were two carts set up, covered in plastic, "witnessing" on their own.
I was told many times by elder "former" friends to count my time when I helped my mom or other needy ones in the hall. It was for them to show more hours and so my low D2D hours wouldn't reflect poorly on me or the congregation, and bring down the congregation average. I never did it though.
I'm still amazed at the cart witnessing. But it makes sense. And I've heard the same thing, those that qualify to get a cart are thrilled with this easy time reporting. There was a couple outside a Trader Joe's. They were sitting on their electric wheel chairs next to the trolleys having the time of their lives.
i was just thinking back to some parts i conducted.
when other publishers were involved in the part, its success often depended on how well rehearsed the participants were.
timing, proper interplay of dialogue, dramatic impact, etc.. as the one giving the part or as one drafted to do a demo, did your elders require rehearsals?.
Yep. I remember rehearsing some demos for the "Service Meeting." I remember one about the GT, and disguising yourself, carry a wig and a reversible coat. Actually it was fun at the time, even though you are rehearsing for the end of the world. If that just doesn't mess with your head.
abuse is such a serious word and i'd hate to use it lightly so if anyone reading this has suffered physical or sexual abuse please know that i absolutely do not equate religious abuse with your suffering.
that being said, many of us were lied to and manipulated for decades.
this cultic 'abuse' has borne fruit in shattered relationships, broken families and estranged children.
When you are not free to make your own choices for your own life, it is abuse IMHO. When you can't to college, play a sport, pursue a talent...that's abuse. When you are threatened with losing all you have ever known because you have questions, it's abuse.
Like fmf says, I know we are survivors.
And to be very honest, I could have left earlier. It would have been hard...but I could have done it. The thing is, I didn't think I could have done it so there I wasted 30+ more years. I had fear of losing what I now have lost. But you survive and I would have survived...and had a college education. LOL.
my mother's parents, my grandparents were not jw.
my jw mother had medical power of attorney and her husband (never jw) was secondary on that.
when grandma needed blood, mom let her husband sign off.
Interesting. Good on her.
