Posts by Duncan

my father, a zealous dub with 24 years in the collective, asked to talk to me.. for those who don't know, my fiancee and i are having a baby, which for obvious reasons causes some consternation on my father's part: you don't have to be a witness to believe that sex before marriage is wrong.

(if someone wants to discuss whether this is a valid position or not, do it in another thread.

Duncan

Hey Dedalus,

Thanks for posting this. I think there's plenty of good advice been given in this thread, and I certainly can't think of anything else to add. I'm lucky that this kind of situation has never really occurred in my half-in half-out family.

Anyway, I hope it all works out for you. Maybe, as you say, the birth of the baby might make some difference with him.

All the best

Duncan.

4

"We do it for the Brothers"

by Duncan in

jw
friends

i remembered this just the other day, and thought id make a post of it.. back in 1971, during my first year of pioneering, i was kind of adopted by one of the sisters in the congregation who was keen to get me friendly with her son (a teenage boy just a little younger than myself) with a view to getting him interested in the pioneer service.. kevin spent part of that summer shadowing me everywhere i went, learning to be a pioneer, and many times i was invited to meals at his house.. his family had been in the truth for ever.

his parents, rose and albert, were absolute congregation stalwarts.

i gradually began to get a bit irritated with them, since it was clear after a few weeks of looking after kevin, and accepting some (not all, just the minimum number for politeness sake) of his many invitations to his house.

Duncan

I remembered this just the other day, and thought I’d make a post of it.

Back in 1971, during my first year of pioneering, I was kind of adopted by one of the sisters in the congregation who was keen to get me friendly with her son (a teenage boy just a little younger than myself) with a view to getting him interested in the pioneer service.

Kevin spent part of that summer shadowing me everywhere I went, “learning to be a pioneer”, and many times I was invited to meals at his house.

His family had been in the Truth for ever. His parents, Rose and Albert, were absolute congregation stalwarts.

I gradually began to get a bit irritated with them, since it was clear after a few weeks of looking after Kevin, and accepting some (not all, just the minimum number for politeness’ sake) of his many invitations to his house. that they had come to regard me as their property, their own “sponsored pioneer”.

Rose and Albert began to share confidences with me. Who they didn’t particularly care for in the congregation. Some of the gossip and dirt they knew about some of the brothers. Which ones they thought were hypocrites, or the “spiritually weak” ones. I was very uncomfortable with the whole thing.

Well, eventually, the day dawned when they thought they could entrust me with their Big Secret.

They had quite an old house with a cellar. One evening, after another fry-up round their house, Rose said “We want to show you something.”

Me, and Rose and Kevin (Albert was out) went down to their cellar.

Rose showed me this HUGE storehouse of canned food. I mean HUGE. Literally thousands upon thousands of cans of food, obviously stockpiled over many years (decades?) all stacked in crates, labelled up. I remember seeing soup, baked beans and corned beef – no doubt there were many more, but I was just overwhelmed by the scale of it.

“We do it for the Brothers” said Rose “…when Armageddon comes, there’ll be food shortages in one place after another. The Scriptures tell us. That’s why we have all this”

At this point I was actually a bit frightened. These people were clearly mad. I actually at the time myself completely believed in the whole Armageddon thing, but had an idea that, in any difficulty, Jehovah Would Provide. All this was just crazy, but all I managed to say was some kind of weak joke about not forgetting to keep a can opener handy.

******************

Well, Kevin never did become a pioneer – after the summer he got a job at an Electrical shop, selling kettles and washing machines.

As for me, as G R A D U A L L Y as I could, I broke off the connection with Rose and Albert, since they were clearly insane.

Anyone else ever come across this phenomenon of “stockpiling against Jehovah’s Day” ? Or were Rose and Albert unique?

Duncan.

14

Psychological Impact

by individual in

jw
friends

it is said by jws that 'the truth' never leaves you.

even when you have broken free, you will still be haunted by it, watching the news just in case they were right.

have any of you had these feelings?

Duncan

Hi Individual,

Very interesting question.

Even when you have broken free, you will still be haunted by it, watching the news just in case they were right.

I think the unsurprising answer is that it all depends on the individual.

For myself, I had held on for so many years rationalising away my doubts that when I finally did make the decisive break, there was absolutely no doubt and no going back. I never was troubled by any doubts about it.

But, interestingly, I am reminded of a conversation I had with a young woman whom I had grown up with in the same congregation. We were pretty much the same age, and this conversation took place in the early eighties when we had both been out a couple of years.

We met up for dinner, my wife and I, and she with the "wordly" (never-a-Witness)chap she had married. We laughed about the nonsense we had been taught for all those years. We got pretty drunk.

Then she said:

"But sometimes, late at night, say, when you're woken up by a fierce thunderstorm or something, don't you suddenly sit up in bed and say "Oh my God! It's Armageddon! It's happened!"

I just laughed, and told her: No. Never.

But I never forgot what she said. It said something about her.

And I was immensely saddened three or four years later (I didn't see her often, we weren't close friends) to find out that she'd gone back - and worse! She had dragged matey-boy along with her.

He is now an MS. Go figure.

Duncan.

200

How Many States / Countrys Are Represented Here?

by Big Jim in

jw
friends

i am from houston texas myself.

Duncan

Hertfordshire in England.

Duncan

14

You Have Got To Read This ! Comments Please?

by Big Jim in

jw
friends

the mormons.

jehovah's witnesses.

are the same organisation.

Duncan

Hi E,

He claims to gave been a professional soccer player once

Played in goal for Coventry City, I believe.

Duncan

82

JW Organization On Autopilot

by AlanF in

jw
friends

these days it's pretty clear that the jw organization is running on autopilot.

charles taze.

russell, joe booze rutherford, nathan knorr and freddie franz all had a certain amount of vision.

Duncan

I just don't get it.

Fred Hall?

Lower case letters? Paragraphs??

Sensibly written, 20-word sentences????

PLUS HE DONT SOUND NO MORE LIKE WHAT HE USE TO BEFOR!

Wass gibt's?

Duncan

25

No Nookies In Nero's!

by Englishman in

jw
friends

i must be honest here, one of the main reasons that i chose to depart the jws was so that i could have more sex.

actually, thats not quite true, when i say have more sex, i really mean to say have sex with more girls.

it feels so good to be honest, doesnt it?

Duncan

Brilliant post, Mike.

This bit made me laugh:

We knew from the publications that these old world girls just couldn’t wait to get their hands on our lithe young limbs

I remember this kind of sentiment being expressed at meetings, too. I can’t have been the only red-blooded, hormone-fuelled, teenage boy who was secretly thrilled at that idea, especially when it was announced by one of our elders, in a talk about Morality and Purity:

“Search your hearts, brothers, because remember! If you have the inclination to this kind of sin, then Satan will be sure to provide the opportunity!"

I just couldn’t wait.

Sadly, the opportunity never did seem to present itself. Satan was asleep on the job, as far as I was concerned.

Oh well.

The still-flare-wearing, bubble-permed, medallioned Duncan.