Posts by Open mind

102

How do you make a living?

by paulnotsaul in

jw
friends

since most of us believed it was right around the corner, how many of you went to any secondary schools or training?

what do you do now to survive?

are you working or unemployed?

What's Fun in Boston?

by SixofNine in

jw
friends

any travel advice from boston natives or people who know the area well?

i will be flying into boston on my way to a cabin in maine at the end of august, and my schedule allows me the flexibility to either fly in and drive to maine immediately, or spend a day or two in the boston area.

what is a must see/must do in the boston area?

Open mind

I was there about 20 years ago when I was single and before becoming a foody.

LegalSeafoods.com

Fantastic clam chowder.

Also, the Witch Museum in Salem was touristy but enjoyable.

om

37

Im Going To Be Disfellowshipped!

by TimothyT in

in 6 months, my life has completely changed!.

i have chosen to be gay, i no longer suffer with guilty suicidal feelings, i have the most amazing boyfriend, and my parents and friends accept me for who i am.. i was informed today that a judicial comitee will be formed to disfellowship me.

i dont feel any kind of bitterness or sadness despite the fact that this is all i have known for 20 years and im about to lose some very close friends.. on the contrary, i feel fabulous!!!

Open mind

Very good to hear you're taking it so well.

DFing is still F'ed up tho.

Wishing you well on the road ahead.

om

11

My JW Mom. Master of spin and denial.

by Open mind in

i moved away from the area where i grew up many years ago.

i'm 3rd gen jw and so is my wife, but we're both awakened now.

for the last couple decades, i've periodically received updates from my jw mom on how various people in her part of the world are doing.

Open mind

the-illuminator81: "I was always feeling anxious whenever there were any news stories about JWs, worrying how I could best spin it to my coworkers."

Exactly. And that actually is a valid concern for a true-believing JW who's worried about co-workers not getting "the truth" because of misunderstanding something in the news. But for me, it's weird/irritating that my Mom feels compelled to keep up the big sanitizing PR push to her 40-something year old elder son. (I was an elder, not anymore.)

om

67

Sept. 15th WT - Burdened with Earning a Living? Here! Have MORE Burdens !

by flipper in

jw
friends

as if the other sept. 15th wt thread i started weren't controlling enough - in another study article titled " run ..... that you may attain it " were you aware that just eating and wearing clothes on your body - might be a " stumbling block " to you ?

in a prior article on pg.

12 , paragraph 6 the wt society sets up what they are trying to get across by stating, " people of the world tend to seek personal interests first as " men of this system of things, whose share is this life.

Open mind

"Subtle and deceptive are the entanglements that Satan's world puts in our way."

When did Yoda start working in the Writing Dept?

om

11

My JW Mom. Master of spin and denial.

by Open mind in

i moved away from the area where i grew up many years ago.

i'm 3rd gen jw and so is my wife, but we're both awakened now.

for the last couple decades, i've periodically received updates from my jw mom on how various people in her part of the world are doing.

Open mind

Good for you Dudu and skeeter1 !!!!

I'm glad to hear you're doing so "poorly".

om

77

Sept.15th WT - Submit to the WT Society or Jehovah Will Not Know You

by flipper in

jw
friends

this was some of the most blatant , aggressive , controlling information i've seen in awhile in the " witness only " version of the wt.

of course, it's always blatant, but the manner that was used in this article was so authoritative and demanding - it's apparent the wt society is losing members and they are amping up the control tactics to keep members trapped.

the article in discussion is on pg.

Open mind

LIKE.

11

My JW Mom. Master of spin and denial.

by Open mind in

i moved away from the area where i grew up many years ago.

i'm 3rd gen jw and so is my wife, but we're both awakened now.

for the last couple decades, i've periodically received updates from my jw mom on how various people in her part of the world are doing.

Open mind

I moved away from the area where I grew up many years ago. I'm 3rd gen JW and so is my wife, but we're both awakened now. For the last couple decades, I've periodically received updates from my JW Mom on how various people in her part of the world are doing. It wasn't until my awakening that I gradually came to see what insidious habit my Mom had adopted. Even when I was a true-believing elder and perfect JW golden child, my Mom would cherry-pick, sanitize and spin-doctor the updates she would give me on people's lives.

Typical updates that she would READILY offer were: "So-and-so just gave their first talk, became a publisher, got baptized, started pioneering, became an MS, Elder, Bethelite or got accepted to Gilead."

Sometimes, she might also tell about some elder's kid who recently got DFed and would be sure to include enough details to let me know that their life was now completely off the rails. The more brushes with the law, drug abuse, etc., the better as far as fulfilling the JW prophecy that anyone who gets DFed has a crappy life.

As I gradually became more aware of her extreme pro-JW filtering and sanitizing process, I decided to make a few mental notes and use them at appropriate times. Here's the broad strokes.

If she brings up some JW old-timers that she's known forever, I make sure to ask how they're doing financially. The VAST majority of the time, they are struggling and usually, at least in part, because of sacrificing themselves to WT doctrine.

If she brings up how the golden-child son of Elder X has been accepted to Bethel, I'll ask about the other kids. She will counter my parry by bringing up whichever one has left "The Truth" and whose life has fallen apart. I'll thrust back by asking about the one I think probably had the best prospects of doing OK financially. Many times they have gotten a higher education, married a non-JW and are doing quite well by most normal people's life barometers.

Here's three specific examples from recent conversations:

1. Faithful Elderly JW couple we've known forever.

OM: So, are they retired now?

Mom: Uh, well they're of retirement age. (First bit of cageyness on her part there.)

OM: Yeah, I thought so. They're in their late 70s now right?

Mom: Yes, that's right.

OM: So are either of them still working secularly?

Mom: Well, yes, Jane still has to do some house cleaning and John was just able to start doing some .........(menial, maintenance job).

*Cliff Notes version: This JW couple are both in their mid-to-late 70s. Pioneered for decades. Both still have to work to make ends meet and he's in great pain due to repeated surgeries. Never planned for retirement. Big A was going to take care of that. But this very real, very painful portion of their life portrait gets left out by my Mom.

2. Extremely disfunctional guy I knew as a kid, now 40-something.
OM: So Mom, How's Joe Sheltered doing?

Mom: Oh, he's doing very well spiritually. (Code for: his life is crap, but he's still giving as much as he can to the Church.)

OM: Is he married now?

Mom: Yes, he married a very spiritual sister from _________.

OM: So, the last time I heard about him, he had to quit his job because of the stress, is he working now?

Mom: Well, I don't think so. I'm pretty sure he's on medication for depression.

OM: Hmmm. That's too bad. I'm sorry to hear that. How about his wife, is she working?

Mom: No. She's permanently disabled, but she's a regular auxiliary pioneer!

Cliff Notes version: This poor guy was home-schooled by a couple of the most uptight, repressed, mega-strict JWs I've ever known. Probably didn't even see a woman's cleavage until he was 30. Very nice guy but hopelessly socially awkward due, in large part IMO, to the church doctrines, paranoid parents and the home-schooling. How's he doing according to Mom? "VERY WELL!" (spiritually)

3. Wayward, inactive 20-something JW woman friend of the family who Mom never mentions unless I drag it out of her.
OM: So, how's Bonnie Black Sheep doing?

Mom: Not so well.

OM: Really? How so?

Mom: Well, she married out of the truth about 2 years ago.

(Background: Bonnie got dunked at 14 and married the first JW guy who looked cute at the ripe old age of 18. The marriage lasted 2 years, after which she left him to his couch, his X-Box 360 and his sexual infidelity.)

OM: Hmmm. Anyone I'd know?

Mom: No. He was in the military when she married him. (Oooh. Hubby #2 is not only worldly, but in the military as well. )

Cliff Notes version: What's Mom conveniently left out so far? Bonnie has pursued her education and is now an RN. Hubby is now out of the military and has a similar really good job in the medical field. They've just had their first son, but my Mom is worried about the baby. Know why? Hubby is also REALLY into playing sports and she's sure that their life will revolve around that and they'll never come back to "The Truth".

Just for emphasis: "How's Bonnie doing?"

Per my hopelessly JW-indoctrinated Mom: "Not so well".

*OM shakes head, hangs up and waits for the next spin-doctored version of peoples lives*