I have heard of it happening twice, I was not at either. The first was in the 1970's, in South Carolina. Mom said that it happened because of something called wife swapping. The elders were all disfellowshipped. And the other was in Iowa, don't know of the details, but one JW sister who was there said that the elders were teaching something other than what the Watchtower in New York was instructing. The elders were all disfellowshipped also. Woop I'm bad, the congeration at Iowa was not dissolved, but all the elders, but one was removed. And he was the one sent in as a spy to see if the acuations were true or not.
Irish Rose
JoinedPosts by Irish Rose
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27
Why are congregations dissolved?
by mtsgrad inonly once in my life have i heard of a congregation being dissolved (closed down) for reasons of sin.. .
has anyone here heard of congs being closed down?
how often does it happen?
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22
Run in with cousin over the letter I sent the family
by dawg inas many of you are aware, i've been writing letters to many in my family telling them where i disagree with the wt; imagine how surprised i was when my cousin invited me to his kid's graduation knowing that there were sure to be many witnesses there who i assumed whoud be in the mood for confrontation.
of course i went, as i'm trying a new policy of not backing down from the witnesses; using reverse psycology to try and get them ashamed of being witnesses instead of them trying to make me feel bad about my disssent.
after the graduation, my older cousin, who's much like a real brother to me said that we needed to talk.
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Irish Rose
Wow, I never knew that. Learn something new every day. Could you please show me where the 1914 teaching came from the occult? It would be very good to have this ammunition when I go against my JW relatives.
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How long did it take for the elders to "give up" on you ?
by JH inwhen i became inactive years ago, the elders tried to visit me and talk to me, but i was able to nutralize their efforts and never answered the door or their phone calls.
i just didn't want to talk to them.. then it didn't take long for them to give up.
aftrer that, maybe once a year, they invited me to the memorial.
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Irish Rose
They only came by my home one time. And it was to conferm if I was the one that sent them my letter of dissocation. That was it. They never even showed up once while I was "inactive". But that's fine with me.
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17
How come the JWs don't celebrate the Jewish Holidays?
by Irish Rose inhow come the jws don't celebrate the jewish holidays?.
were they not started by god, there for not started by pagans..
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Irish Rose
How come the JWs don't celebrate the Jewish Holidays?
Were they not started by God, there for not started by pagans.
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28
The End Is Near!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
by Irish Rose inyikes, the end is near!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
that's about the only thing i just can not get past.
i have gotten over many, many of the things i grew up with, except that one.
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Irish Rose
I'm so glad that I did not put off having children. Medically I can not even have children now.
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28
The End Is Near!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
by Irish Rose inyikes, the end is near!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
that's about the only thing i just can not get past.
i have gotten over many, many of the things i grew up with, except that one.
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Irish Rose
YIKES, The End Is Near!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
That's about the only thing I just can not get past. I have gotten over many, many of the things I grew up with, except that one. With each and everyone of us our end will come at different times. Some it may by in the next few minutes, tonight, maybe even a year from now. But with others they may have the next 60 or 80 years left.
The thing I could never understand about people in the Watchtower, on how they would put their lives on hold, because the end was "right around the corner". How many did not get that extra education, or gave up that career that would lead to a really good retirement package? And how many of those are now regretting it? How many thought that they would never grow old? Heck I even remember an article in the 1980's talking about that. Some of those very same people are now without children, and way up there in years.
My children have asked me this on ocasion. How much time is left? My reply to them is this.
I don't know how much time we have left on this earth. We should live our lives that this might be our last moments, but plan as if we have the next 60 or so years left. I think that is why the bible said somewhere, not to go to bed angry, because what if we or they don't have tomorrow to say, "I love you, or I'm sorry." -
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Screwed up families
by Irish Rose ini was thinking about my relatives, both the jws and those who never were.
i grew up where my mom became one around 1974, my dad never did become one.
i was quite young when mom became a jw, but there are things that i remember on what it was like before.
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Irish Rose
I was thinking about my relatives, both the JWs and those who never were. I grew up where my mom became one around 1974, my dad never did become one. I was quite young when mom became a JW, but there are things that I remember on what it was like before. Before I had a normal father daughter relationship. I remember dad would do things for me, like fix my broken toys, tell stories to me while I would sit on his lap. It was only after mom became a JW, did the abuse start for me. Dad hated the JWs back then, now he just tolorates them. It seemed to me that he was taking this out on me, because he was my abuser. I got it in all forms, from sexual, verbal, and physical. I'm really surprised that I managed to grow up with a sane mind. I was determined that I would be a much better parent to my own children, and I have.
In 1975 and 1979 my two younger sisters born. But with them one is still a die hard JW to this day, and the other is not. She is really wacked if you know what I am trying to say. Both my sisters are nuts, big time. The middle one, who is a JW, drinks very heavily, so much, so that both her children were born with birth defects, the youngest is in a vegetation state. He is also deaf, and has trouble with seizures. The last time I saw my middle sister in person was 7 years ago. I just saw a recient photo of her at a wedding I could not believe I was looking at photo of her. She must have gained nearly close to 300 pounds in that time period. She had this look of total misery and saddness in her eyes. The man she is married to is my husband's brother. And he is a real horses a$$. His plans are to become an elder. I don't know if he is getting close to that goal or not. He wanted to go to college, which she worked 2 to 3 jobs so that he could. He promised her that after he completed college and found that perfect job, that he would help her so she would also beable to attend college also. Which she wanted to. He has since graduated after 4 years of college, and it did take him about 2 years to do so, he found that perfect job. But I just found out that she is still not attened college, she is still working at those jobs. For those of you wondering, he only married her for two reasons. The first was the type of car she was driving at the time, and second every woman that dated him saw through his bull, and dumped him. I tried to warn her, because I knew him 4 years before they were married, I knew his true colors. But she "Felt Sorry" for the guy.
My other sister did leave the JWs, but she ended up becoming a whore and a thief. She did get married, but that guy is a real creep, and an abuser. I won't go into details, because I'm still really pissed off at her and her STUPID JERK OF A HUSBAND.
Then I look at my my relatives who never were JWs, and they seem to have it together. My husband and I deal with them on a regular basis. I'm not saying that they don't have troubles, because every one does. But with them, they are there for each other, and they don't try to screw each other, unlike my JW relatives.
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5
Thank the Lord I'm Not a JW anymore
by Irish Rose ini remember some time shortly after leaving the jws, i had some ask me this, and it was also brought back up again not to long ago.
what if the watchtower is correct?
would you regret leaving god's organization, knowing that you had it?
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Irish Rose
I remember some time shortly after leaving the JWs, I had some ask me this, and it was also brought back up again not to long ago. What if the Watchtower is correct? Would you regret leaving God's organization, knowing that you had it? What about dying at Armageddon? And this is my reply to those folks. When I was in the process of leaving the Watchtower, I had this intense feeling that I was being suffocated, will all the rules, the judgemental attudes, and having to work for my salvation. And then not being sure if I had done enough to please their god. Yes, I purposly left it in a lower case "g". It was so bad that I felt like I had this very large and heavy weight that was crushing me. Now for the part of dying at Armageddon, I tell them that death would be much more pleasant that dealing with the Watchtower for all eternity. Because according to them when a person dies, that's it. But (not to start any arguments), my rebuttle to them is "What if the Watchtower is wrong, and there is more to death, than just non-existance? How is a JW going to answer our Lord in his or her time of Judgement? Because if they answer by works they did, then they will have to account for EVERYTHING good and bad, from the time they were born, till their final breath on earth. I have never regretted leaving the JWs from day one. After learning that the Watchtower is a false prophet, and the other stuff. I felt free, free to spread my wings soto speak. I felt free to really enjoy life for the first time, to enjoy my children, and to become a better person and wife to my husband. It was also the first time that I was able to lay to rest all those nagging regrets that would just NOT die. The one thing that I must say that God wants for all his children is that we enjoy our lives as much as possible, and to enjoy the small things. I think that is one of the small reasons why I love Spring so much, and that is how things become new again. The sweet smell of flowers that are in bloom, and what looks to be dead will become green once again. When I left, I felt like it was the beginning of spring for me, and putting away what is dead. Ironically it was spring when I did leave the Watchtower for good. If I had stayed a JW, and I only stayed in for as long as I believed in it, I would not be here today. Last August, I ended up getting a blood transfusion. I had a condion on where I would not stop bleeding, female related. This went on for nearly 2 years. But I was not the type that will go see the doctor even if I should. Now if my husband or children get ill, I get them to the doctor as soon as I can. Go figgure. Anyways, the day started out good, my husband and I went to the store and that is where I passed out. This was the second time this happened, but I figured the first time I would just tough it out, every thing would be ok. But this time, things just felt wrong, very wrong. So I told my husband, I had better go to the hospital. They did blood work on me, and my blood level was very low, and if something was not done as soon as possible, I would not be with my family in a very short period of time after that. Later after my doctor got my blood levels up, with the transfusion and lots of iron pills, it was only then it was safe for them to fix the bleeding problem. Now that I'm no longer JW, I'm still here to be a mother to my children, and a wife to my huband. I would hate missing out on all those hugs and kisses and "I love you", I get from my babies, and that includes the big one.
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5
The emotions of leaving
by Irish Rose ini have been reading post here and at other webb sites and how ones leaving or in the process of leaving were talking about how scared it is to take this step.
i thought i would share what i had delt with 6 years ago, this month.
it was may 2001, my son was in the hospital.
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Irish Rose
I have been reading post here and at other webb sites and how ones leaving or in the process of leaving were talking about how scared it is to take this step. I thought I would share what I had delt with 6 years ago, this month. It was May 2001, my son was in the hospital. For a normal healthy adult what he had would have been nothing more than a short time bought with an illness, but for a child (and elder person) it was life threatening. Any ways my son pulled through just fine, and he is getting ready to turn 12 later this year, and starting to act like a teenager, already. It was that one thing that really made me sit up and listen to those nagging doubts that had been troubling for quite some time, with the Watchtower. Just saying that terrable name just makes me want to vomit. So for future referances I will be saying "borg" when refering to those bozos. I decided enough was enough, and after I got back from dealing with the hospital and my child I decided to do research on the borg, by using the interent and the borg's literature. At the time I had literature dating all the way back to the 1960's, including the DVD. So for the next couple of months I was researching like mad, comparing to make sure what I was reading on the internet was true. After a while I came to the conclusion that the borg is a false religion, a false prophet, and NOT the mouth piece of God, and another trick from the Devil. So now what to do. I had been raised in it since I was either 4 or 5 years old. Talking about getting your world turned upside down. I had a lot of emotions. And talking about being scared, and boy how, I sure was. First, I was not sure how my husband would take the news of me leaving. To my pleasant suprise, he was estatic that I was leaving. In fact he was so happy that the first thing he wanted to do was to pitch all the borg crap out of our home, so thats what we did. The guys who haul off the trash had their work cut out for them that week. Having this need to fill in, we ended up going to church. I had even more questions, and that where I was able to get them answered. The first time I stepped inside the church, I was afraid that the roof would collapse, but it never did. Feeling that I still wanted to serve God and I wanted him to know that my baptism was for him, and not some organization. I decided to be baptized again, but this time it was in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I decided that it might be a good idea to write "The Letter", just in case it ever came to that, but did not send it. My husband did the same. A couple of months rolled away. We were going to church, the children really enjoyed going to Sunday school, while my husband and myself were at church. I really like the part with Sunday school for the children. They got to learn bible things at their level, and we learned things at adult levels. I got to thinking, why don't they do that at the borg. How many times did they talk about thing that really were not approprate for children? Things such as the "marrage dues", the topic of rape, a wives place in a marrge, and so on, and on. During this time period, I was also scared. Just the thought of my mother, my sister, my other relatives who were still in the borg at the time, and how they would react. I also had the thoughts was I doing the right things. I knew I was, but still, I was going to give up a lot, if all this had came out. I am the type of person who does not like leaving any strings untied. I also knew that if the borg ever went down, I did not want to be assocated with them in any form. So I was doing alot of praying, and talking with other former borg members, which really helped alot. But the idea of telling my family was a whole different story. I was not sure how, or when I was going to tell them. Because my mother told me that if I ever left, I would be dead to her, and she is a person of her word. Heck, she even told me once that if I ever married a worldly man, I would be dead to her. I guess some one must have been listening to my prayers, because my brother in law some how found out about my husband and myself going to chuch. He confronted us about this, and my husband, who is a very blunt man, told him it was true. Not wanting my bozo brother in law to get the last laugh, we sent in the letters. Two days later the elders showed up. The "funny" thing was after going to the meeting on a regular basis, then stopping for 3 months, no one from the borg ever showed up at my door, just to see if we were ok or not. Later that day, my mom showed up, I lived at the time 2 1/2 hours away from her. It was a relief after it was over. The fear was gone. Next came the sadness, and the grief of losing almost everyone. I felt like an orphan. It really hit my husband very hard. His mother, who he was really close to, is a borg member. So the first thing I had to do was to find others who would fill in that gap for him. In our case it is his aunt, who is more like a big sister to him. He had thoughts of going back for a short time, just because he misses his mom. But I think the Lord was watching out. At the time one of our former borg members had went in under cover and recored part of the meeting that has the Kindom Ministry. Anyways, the bull that was coming out of the mouths of the borg members nearly made me vomit. Infact after only about 3 or 5 minutes, my husband had to make a quick dash to the bathroom and lost his lunch. That cured him of ever wanting to return. The one thing I must say to those who are leaving, make sure first that you have a good support system first. I don't know how many times my husband and I have got each other through some very hard times. I really don't think I could have done this with out him, and I know that he would have not been able to either.
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Death Knell -- the Internet for the WTS
by Francophile ini'm new here -- i confidently disassociated in 1994 (but really left the organization in 1992).
i was a ministerial servant and gave talks at conventions.
i'm not bragging, but just giving you an idea of my involvement.
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Irish Rose
I left the JWs back in 2001. It was the internet that assisted me in leaving. At the time I had several nagging doubts in my mind. Shortly after getting connected to the internet I decided to check out what former JWs were saying. I ended up doing lots of research using both the internet and the Watchtower publications, and learned out why I was having those doubts that kept troubling me. Long story short, I learned that alot what the Watchower was claming was bogus, false prophies, and many other things.