Welcome! Many of us here in JWN have stood where you're now standing. We made it through, and so will you Just take it slowly, and prove to yourself what is true. Lou is from South Africa too. I'll message her this thread on Facebook.
jamiebowers
JoinedPosts by jamiebowers
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81
New Member
by Twisty inhi.
my wife and myself are active witnesses.. before i go into great depth about our past and what brings me here, i would like to make sure i am posting this in the right section.. i'm a little technologically retarded so please bear with me.. .
twisty.
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In need of advice
by NY23brown inyet another visit from jw's at our door, demanding to speak to only my husband and claiming to be friends of "his family".
it has reached the point that i contacted the sherriff's department and was informed to sent a certified letter to the local kingdom hall.. dh hasn't been a "witness" since his teen years.
i had a falling out with the in-laws (avid jw's) over them hitting our daughter while we were on vacation visiting them.
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jamiebowers
Go to counseling by yourself, so if the time comes to end your marriage, you'll know that you did everything you could to save it. Jws typically display deranged behavior, because they're in a cult. It sounds as if your husband either isn't totally mentally out, or he is co-dependent in an abusive relationship with his parents. Apparently he has assigned a god like status to his father, since he suffers under the delusion that his father could get custody of your children. It's never going to happen.
I'm old and crusty and short on patience, so take this bit of advice for whatever you think it's worth. If your husband can't stand up to his parents on your behalf or in defense of a two-year old child, then he's not much of a man. All you have is another child, and this one apparently has a non-existant spine and a smart mouth. As for him doing lawncare for his parents, a good way for you to put the end to that is for you to stop doing the lawncare at your home. Make him take reponsibiity for his own family.
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JW Manhattan Project
by Red Piller ini received this and am passing it on email.
(nyc) area by jehovah's witnesses.
god in this project, too.. .
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jamiebowers
This is nothing more than street work without a request for a donation from the public. Instead, piosneers and/or their congregational benefactors will be forced to purchase more and more of the Watchtower's drivel. It's a sales drive, folks!
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"Feeling sorry for yourself" about being hit by your husband is not Christian 2/15/12 WT Page 25 P 12
by yourmomma inhave anyone of you read, the absolutly jaw dropping paragraph in this article about a women who was hit by her husband?
its in page 25 of the 2/15/12 wt study edition (i read the dumbed down version).. .
if there was any question, that the watchtowers stance is for wives to simply take it when their husbands abuse them, this makes it crystal clear.. who the hell is scanning these things before they go to print?
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jamiebowers
AnneB:
Emotions aside, what they're saying is don't push someone past his or her limits. Makes sense and there's nothing wrong with it.
AnneB, I've gotten to know you oer the years, and I truly admire you as a thoughtful, intelligent person. But on this point we'll have to agree to disagree. No one should feel fearful of physical abuse for any reason and especially so ith their spouse.
Undercover:
sir82 is right, this is revolting - even for the WTS. They've always maintainted that wives need to be long suffering with tempermental and prone to fits of anger husbands, but never (that I can remember) to the point of actually enduring and excusing physical abuse.
Undercover, the Watchtower may never have put it in writing, but in my personal experience, jw wives are expected to stay with abusive husbands, period.
I endured terrible physical abuse from my jw husband for almost seven years, and the elders never suggested I leave but instead encouraged me to be a better wife and wait on Jehovah. In our first congregation, an elder uncle of my husband at the time, interviewed his "fleshly" sister about her opposed husband beating her and holding a gun to her head. This little presenttion was done not long after I went to the elders about my jw husband hitting me. I got the message loud and clear. It was STFU...at least he's not threatening to kill you.
Near the end of our marriage things had progressed from bad to worse. He was beating, kicking, and strangling me on a regular basis. My jw husband's threats on my life were overheard by one of my co-workers Despite the fact that his own psychiatrist and a judge ruled him dangerous and worthy of forced committment, the elders still tried to bully me back into the marriage. This was in our second congregation in a different state. One elder tld me point blank that if my husband did kill me, at least I was guaranteed into the new system.
This article needs to be exposed to every agency and watchdog group that deals with battered women. Watchtower doctrine on this and many other matters should be made criminal!
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A year since I escaped
by MrFreeze init's been a year since i escaped the clutches of the watchtower.
yeah, i'm two days early but it's a thursday and it was a thursday that i attended my last meeting.. i'm posting this thread to sort of gather my thoughts of where i am.
so, are things better?
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jamiebowers
I was so sorry to not be able to attend TotallyADD's and Reopened Mind's apostafest, as I really wanted to meet you, Mr. Freeze. You're the same age as my stepson, and I can't imagine how difficult it's been for you. Things are so free and easy for him...lots of girlfriends, good job, parents who love him despite some of his mistakes. I still pack his lunch for him, for GAWD's sake! I hope you continue to find happness and success.
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The Prodigal son...rejected.
by Londo111 ini was a third generation witness, a ministerial servant twice in my life, a failed pioneer (i only made it six months).
when the article about higher education come out, my family finally decided it was okay for me to get a two year degree.
and that enabled me to provide for myself--before that is was impossible.
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jamiebowers
I think you're setting yourself up for great disappointment if you believe that you can get family and friends out of the Watchtower cult by exposing them to the truth about the "truth". If you can manage to get reinstated, you'd have a much better chance of reaching jws by teaching them critical thinking skills and appealing to their non-cult personality as advised by Steven Hassan. But even then your chances are slim to none.
For your benefit, why not do things for yourself like working on your social anxiety before trying to get reinstated? The more you invest in your true self, the better. I know you must be lonely if you felt that you didn't fit in with other ex-jws in a meet-up group. Maybe you can develop friendships here and on Facebook that will result in real life relationships.
Click on the blue envelope in the upper right han corner to check for a private message from me. You may have to go back and refresh the page if you get an error message on your intitial try.
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25
Sparks are gonna fly in my home
by marriedtoajw inas i've mentioned in a previous post, my wife has been sending mixed signals to me for years on what she does concerning violating jw rules.
what i didn't mention at the time was that she has also gone through gung ho sprees from time to time.
she is now insisting on taking the kids to the hall.
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jamiebowers
I've skimmed all of your posts and can't find the ages of your kids. Since you've been married for 20 years, I'm supposing and hoping that they're older. You've already stated that none of them are jws, studying to be jws or even attending the meetings, so at this point the kids must know that something isn't right with their mother's religion. Plus they've probably noticed how weird their mother becomes when she's a gung ho jw.
Educating your kids about cults, the Watchtower cult in particular, is not turning them aginst their mom. Just be honest with them, and say that their mom is going to be very angry at you for a while, because you will not permit her to take them to the meetings. Then ask them if they know why you are doing what you're doing, and go from there.
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Wrecked my car yesterday
by NewChapter inthe other driver turned left in front of me and i hit him hard.
my car is a total mess.
i'm not sure if they are going to total it.
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jamiebowers
Quick healing for you!
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Interview with Ex-Elder: View from the Watchtower
by leavingwt inthis is from september 2011. i missed it when it was initially posted online.
i enjoyed it.
of interest to me was the man's shock when he was appointed as an elder, and the body of elders brought him up to speed on the congregation's dirty laundry.
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jamiebowers
Marked
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Hello From a Newbie
by AlphaQup2nite ini found this site randomly the other day on an unrelated search, and its nice to find a place where people can discuss a relgion that in house cannot be discussed without either being quoted mantras or a very skewed view of the world.. ok about me.. im a 24 year old taiwanese-american, and i have been raised as a jw from the age of about three to the age of 17, when i unoffically left.
i started to have doubts around age 12, but did what i was supposed to to keep mommy and daddy happy.
my parents are jws, as well as my older 1/2 sister, and my younger sister.
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jamiebowers
Welcome! Please read Hassan's books before you talk to your family. You will find comfort and solace here. And good for you fo figuring things out at the tender age of 12!