Posts by middlechild

why am i so angry at things i already knew although i'm sure i've just repressed them over the years and got on with my life, anyone else have this anger problem after reading this book, or is it just me??.

middlechild

I had made up my mind to keep all my thoughts about the organization to myself but when I read that book it made me want to try to expose everything to my family. I ended up saying a little too much because of how empowered I felt and now my sisters are shunning me. Oops!

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If our son gets baptized....

by lavendar in

jw
friends

.....will he still be able to come over to our house to visit.......or will the "powers that be" forbid him to do so?

would we then be considered a "satanic influence" on him......the same people who gave birth to him, lovingly raised him, generously provided for him, nursed him in sickness, sacrified for him, etc.??

lavendar .

middlechild

From your profile it appears that you have never been associated with the Witnesses. If that is the case then there is no reason he would not be able to still associate with you. He will have less free time with meetings on Tuesday and Thursday nights, service on Saturday and meeting on Sunday and all the preparation that goes along with these. He will not be allowed to celebrate ANY holidays with you and may even try witnessing to you on occasion.

30

You Never Did Enough As A Witness!

by minimus in

jw
friends

one thing that i will never miss is how you were made to feel inferior----that nothing you did was ever really good enough to satisfy the organization and of course by extension, jehovah god.

i know of sooooooo many witnesses that are truly depressed because they can never seem to satisfy god or the elders.. people even start getting mysterious illnesses and believe the "demons" are always trying to get at them.

the mentality is that "everyone hates us because we're jehovah's witnesses".

middlechild

It's too bad that Witnesses live such an unfulfilling life. They claim to live the "real life". Nothing could be further from the "Truth".

Yeah, life sucks now but remember, this isn't the real life. The real life is in the paradise. We'll deal with anything now just to get to the real life ahead of us.

(Not my words, theirs!)

15

If someone is going to buy you a birthday or christmas gift.....

by bagpuss in

jw
friends

would you prefer them to ask what you would like or to surprise you, and if they did ask for ideas would you be offended?

the reason i ask is that my mother in law has just told my husband that we may as well go back to how we were when we were witnesses and stop buying them presents as we don't put any thought into it and ask them what they want.

he is really upset by this comment while i am just plain bloody angry!.

middlechild

I try to always be practical so I like knowing what others want and I like letting others know what I want. I would hate to waste my money on something someone is not going to use or they don't want. What good is that? I always like to give ideas to others who are getting me, my husband, or my daughter something. Then we really get use out of it and get something that we wanted and don't feel like the giver wasted their money. Of course I'm not a stickler in this area. It's just if both parties are amicable to it. And I'm always very appreciative no matter what!

However, I don't condone the way the subject was brought up to you. It could have been handled much more tactfully. They could have just said, "We've decided to start Birthday/Xmas wish lists since it's so hard to know what to get us anymore." And then you could have said, "We really like surprising you with our gifts, but your list should give us a lot of great ideas."

Have I gone overboard? Sorry. I'm too much!! :)

16

Did you REALLY ever have faith in God or was it more in men?

by avidbiblereader in

jw
friends

seriously, think about this, when you look back on your faith, was it really in god, or was it the god from the witness perspective and you really did/do equate the witness organization with god, or was it really in men?.

with so many that have been disillusioned with god since leaving the witnesses, where was your faith really in?.

respectfully,.

middlechild

Did I even have faith in anything at all? I just did everything because that's what I was supposed to do. I got baptized at 15 because that's what I was supposed to do. In one of my pre-baptism meetings the elder said, "of course, you've gone to Jehovah in prayer and dedicated your life to him, right?" I was like, o yeah. So I went home that night and did that. Every prayer before every meal and before bedtime was exactly the same, not heartfelt but rote. I was 4th in my graduating class but didn't go to college or even want to go because that's not what you're supposed to do. Instead I pioneered after school and went to pioneer school. I only ever worked part-time, just to support my pioneering, because that's what I was supposed to do.

Faith in God? For what? He's not doing anything for us. Being a Witness ruined any chance of naivety in that area. Wouldn't it be nice for just one minute to think there's a God who cares and is involved in our lives and I could talk to him and feel some sense of comfort from him? I know better. Thanks for all the enlightenment, JW org!

Maybe I had faith in my parents? What a joke!

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