1. Shocked, angry mainly,anxious but in a way relieved at finally knowing the truth
2. My discoveries on the internet opened my eyes and in my gut I knew I was finally seeing the truth
2.5 Threw all my 'literature' in the bin and told my friends I wouldn't be going back
3. 3 days
4. Never had any doubts it was the 'truth' but struggled with certain issues - the cruelty of disfellowshipping/
birthdays etc. Discussion with hubby/research on the internet on Jesus being the mediator to the 144,000 only
started the ball rolling
5. Lack of love in the congregation, friends of 36 years cutting me off in a heartbeat, actions of the elders in response to
our decision all confirmed I was doing the right thing. Being lied to by the Org, I had totally lost my trust and faith
in it and didn't want to struggle anymore if it wasn't the truth. I didn't want to bring my children up to be isolated
as I had been and now I had the best reason to leave - it was dangerous to stay (to my mental health and growth as an
individual and especially for my children). The sweet smell of freedom was beckoning....
6. 3 days of internet research and I never went back to another meeting and I will not be going to the memorial
You are not alone Oompa.
We really are here for you.
:-)
sweet pea
JoinedPosts by sweet pea
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20
1. What was it like when you "awakend?" 2. How did you know, and......
by oompa in2.5 how did you react at that time?.
3.how long was it before you somehow took action on this event?
4. was there a particular thing that all of a sudden caused you to wake up, or did doubts build over the years?
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sweet pea
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53
How would u respond? Reply from Elder who I let in on the pedophile cases
by What-A-Coincidence in"...i can not believe that you have fallen for that stupid trick ... you know better then that how can you let that happen to you ...this how you show your love for jehovah you are a fool big time i am sorry to say that but you was a mature man but know you have been blinded by the devil think about bwhat you are thinking and talking .... i will tell you something i am going to call every brother that you were close to not to listen to your demonic issues and i cannot believe you have become an agent for the devil, so sad.
wake -up before it is to late....".
think he actually read the issue at hand?.
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sweet pea
He's just jealous of your body WAC. :-)
Well done for getting out with your family.
Let's hope he 'WACS' up one day!!!
Sam -
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Blood Issue = Symbol of Allegiance to JWs (Press Reaction to UK JW Death)
by AlphaOmega infrom the edinburgh journal .
brief excerpt:.
in a period marked by state opposition to their doctrines between the 1930s and the 1950s (particularly in europe and north america), the witnesses needed to maintain their exclusivity in order to re-establish their universal collective identity and to detach themselves from orthodox christianity.
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sweet pea
Great article.
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As a teenager what was your 1st car
by XOCO ini got my car from an elderly sis from my congo and it only had 52000mi and its a subaru gl-10 wagon '88 it looks just like this.
.
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sweet pea
Mine was a 1971 bright yellow Lovebug (VW Beetle) - I loved it, I was 17 and whenever you came across other bug owners on the road you'd always wave to each other. I cried when I had to say goodbye to it because it needed too much work done to it, and the rust was beginning to set in. It used to go like a dream though and quite fast as it was a 1600 engine.
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Do you have more and/or better friends now?
by sweet pea inbecause of the season i have been writing a list of friends/'worldy' relatives to send cards to.
i can't believe how many are on it!
i am so excited and hopeful for the future.
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sweet pea
Because of the season I have been writing a list of friends/'worldy' relatives to send cards to.
I can't believe how many are on it! I am so excited and hopeful for the future.
It's been a tough seven months and I have lost many good friends, for now at least.
However, for those of you that fear leaving and having nobody - there is a wonderful life out there!
I feel very lucky right now as I finally feel I have survived the trauma of losing those friends I thought I couldn't live without.
Now quality is more important to me than quantity but the quantity has happened without me noticing it.
I've sought out many old friends who have left the organisation and it's been wonderful getting to know some of them again - it feels like there's never been a break in our relationships and I haven't been able to actually arrange a meetup with all of them yet! New friends have come into my life - some who I began to cultivate prior to leaving - relationships that have deepened over the course of the last 7 months and many of Besty's friends that we never spent that much time with because they were 'worldly' are now people we love having a good time with.
And not to forget all you wonderful friends here.... :-) Roll on the Apostafest on the !st December in London.....
Besty and I have so many invites right now - there are not enough weekends to get to them all!
Life is good right now.
So how about you all? Have you replaced those you've lost? Do you have more or less friends than when you were a JW? Have you made contact with many ex-JW's that you used to know? Do you have better friends now? and if you're fading, have you started to cultivate friendships outside of the org? Or are you still missing your old friends terribly? Do you need some more friends and a bit of TLC right now? -
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www.jw.org
by LtCmd.Lore indunno if you guys know about it yet.. the elders just read the letter in our hall today.
they will be releasing audio versions of the magazines online for download.. i think the service is supposed to begin january 1st.. https://www.jw.org/index.html?option=ybtvr2.
i have no idea what they hope to accomplish by requiring a password.
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sweet pea
So when and where does one get the password and account id from?
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How I handled Child Abuse cases when I was an Elder (1996-2006)
by slmdf inhey ya'll.
i know there is a lot of buzz due to the nbc story.
i thought i'd share my experience as an elder dealing with abuse.. i attended 23 different congregations in my life and served as an elder or ms in 9 of them.
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sweet pea
Oldflame - the elders do not have any consciences! They subcontract them to the organisation in the name of obedience and loyalty, under mind control. Yes there are consequences to their actions but they are not totally to blame. They are victims too.
Now the GB, that's a different ball game altogether. -
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Why the Hate???
by Confession inoften a person asks of ex-jws, "why the hate?
it's possible that they've seen examples of how some can be opportunistic in their finding fault of people or groups.
some people hate walmart.
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sweet pea
(((Confession)))
Sorry about your mum.
Thank you for your well thought out, to the point post.
Makes me want to send it to every JW I know. -
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Elder Pedophiles that you personally know of . . .
by JK666 inafter the ambiguous response by the wts to the nbc broadcast, i would like to know how many of you had an "elder chester molester" in your own congregation?.
we had an elder that molested his daughter's best friend when she was 14 years old.
the elders in the congregation tried to keep the matter quiet and handled the matter privately.
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sweet pea
marking for later
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I dont understand the hate...
by JamesWind ini grew up as a jehovah's witness.
my mother was uneducated and so we moved every 2-4 years as she tried to find stable enough work to support a child so ive attended many kingdom halls and have known many witnesses and many elders.
i've never gone back to the witness organization and never will.
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sweet pea
Thanks for calling BS on my post - nice touch! :-)
Ok, so what about this situation - a friend of mine just diassociated himself because he is dying of cancer and needs to have regular white blood cell transfusions which 'currently' is not tolerated in the Organisation and is counted as a regular blood transfusion which apparently is breaking God's law (the Organisation conveniently forgets about Jesus breaking one of the 10 commandments to save a life..). So at a time when he needs his friends and family around the most he is treated as though he's dead already. A real loving brotherhood - weeding out the evil ones?
I agree that an Organisation has the right to ask people to leave/cancel their membership if they are not playing by the rules but where they cross the line with human rights is the way they encourage people to shun each other which has been proved to cause lasting psychological harm to a person on a par with post traumatic stress disorder. Check it out on Wikipedia if you don't believe me.
I have lost my best friends overnight, friends of the last 36 years - they will not answer my letters/emails/texts - it is as though I do not exist - all because I have a different opinion to them - this is not natural behaviour it is what the cult has done to them.
With regards to a domestic abuse situation, if the woman continues to bad mouth the ex-husband because she knows he's still abusing others all the while giving the impression he's an attractive, loving, great guy, then she has every right to warn others or give support and advice to others that have been in her position.
I do agree that we need to move on and create new, happy, successful lives but 7 months later I still hurt and being on this forum helps confirm I made the right decision to leave and I feel have been able to give help and support to others when they have needed it. I may leave here one day as many have done but for now this forum is a community I enjoy.