ok, it's been awhile and i thought i'd tell you guys what happened about the family reunion situation.
to rehash... i wrote a letter telling all the jw's in my family that i wasn't going to take any crap off them anymore, that i would embarass their dumba#* if they treated me badly in anyway at funerals and reunions and the like.
i told them i was going to bring information about the idiot jw's to every family event and i was going to get in their faces if they chose to treat me badly cause i refuse to follow the fools at the wtbts.
DAWG!!!!!
Man, I missed you!
Good on you for your letter campaign, glad to hear it went well.
Unlike some that might need counseling, you seem to be motivated by positive ideals of wanting your family free.
I don't sense any 'revenge motive'.
You stay in their faces, short of pepper-spray, and I got yer back, man.
RD
i don't hate the people.
i feel bad for many of them.
i don't like the religion because it is a cult.
No, my own mother is still one.
The WTS, however, boils my blood in molten lead.
RD
the jw's brought doctrine into a form you could tolerate, reformed the religion to allow better tolerance of those who disagree, and made prolific apology to those whom it has hurt [i know that some have been hurt that are not any longer with us, etc.
that's not my point.
], would you forgive them, and if you still believe in god, would you consider going back?
Even if 'doctrine' were transformed, would 'operations' be?
Would the elders still run the KH?
would they still count hours?
Would they still use manipulation and mind control?
If they didn't, would there still BE a KH to go back to?
I wouldn't go back in any case except maybe to tear up their ladscaping with my truck.
RD
I could care less for apathy.
take a look at most religions: if you change a doctrine here or there, it usually makes little difference.. you can be a catholic and take birth control.
you can believe in evolution and still be active in most.
protestant churches.. but what about the "truth"?
(to the tune of Blondie's Heart of Glass)
Once had a faith, but it was so crass,
Soon turned out, was a house of glass.
Seemed like a real faith, but only to find,
Mucho misleading, I freed my mind.
RD
sometimes when someone new comes on the board and makes a big splash, you wonder if it's all for real.. rollerdave arrived on this board in the last couple months and has lit it up with his insight and wit, including recent experiences dealing with his old family and congregation.. after i pm'd dave here i learned he was indeed the same dave i knew back in a north-side minneapolis kingdom hall oh so many years ago.
we talked on the phone last weekend and actually got together for the first time last night.
as i expected he is just as genuine and witty and fun as he shows on this discussion board.
If it's not one thing, it's another!
Got the truck running like an apostate top, now the van is acting cranky.
Got a friction whine in the engine compartment, seems dependent on engine speed, likely an idler, alternator, power steering pump, or water pump.
One of the belt-driven rotational assemblies at any rate.
So it's a good thing we have that truck!
Eh, whatever it is, I'll just have it fixed.
RD
sometimes when someone new comes on the board and makes a big splash, you wonder if it's all for real.. rollerdave arrived on this board in the last couple months and has lit it up with his insight and wit, including recent experiences dealing with his old family and congregation.. after i pm'd dave here i learned he was indeed the same dave i knew back in a north-side minneapolis kingdom hall oh so many years ago.
we talked on the phone last weekend and actually got together for the first time last night.
as i expected he is just as genuine and witty and fun as he shows on this discussion board.
Wow!
We're reviving old threads!
That's OK by me.
Yeah, Definitely gonna have an Apostate-Cookout here at The Point, Prolly next summer.
So keep a calendar slot open for the Upper Mississippi Aposta-Shakedown!
RD
hi everybody, my name is julie, and this is my first post.. i'm a third generation jw, or at least i was until a two weeks ago, when i was announced as no longer a jw.
i'm really happy about that, ecstatic in fact, although i'd been a jw all my life, and i'm 37 now.
i could have disassociated like my friends, but i couldn't be bothered to play their chikdish game, so i let them do it for me.
Welcome Julie!
I read your story, and YOU ROCK!
Glad to have you here, sorry about your loss, hope to hear more from you.
RD
i am very angry.
i visited the active talk site tonight, identified myself as restrangled as most of you know who i am, and skally referred to me as "the dog".
i have been a member for just about 2 years, contributed cash to those in need without question, supported those in any way i could and my husband has done the same.. i am beyond hurt..i.thought myself and my husband had supported your cause......to be called "the dog" by one one of your most prominent members lets me know we don't count for squat no matter what we do...much like the witnesses.. thanks skally...you made my day today.. r.. .
R,
I don't read minds or hearts, and I don't know what was intended, but have you considered that she might have been referring to your avatar?
I mean we call minimus the 'red dot' don't me?
But I just want you to know that I view you as a valued member of JWD and no matter HOW her remark was intended, I am sure that the way you took it is not representative of the way most people here on JWD view you.
Relax, smile, it's ok.
Words are just that and nothing more, We all love you and enjoy having you here.
K?
RD (the truck)
what kind of unusual sacrifices did you make as a jdub?
i knew a sister who avoided nail polish because a householder didn't like it.
she wanted to please the lady.
I sacrificed myself.
So long as I accepted that the WTS mindset was 'the truth' I either strove to live up to it, or wallowed in living outside it, whether I failed or succeeded, they controlled the paradigm.
There would have been oh so many perfectly decent other ways to be, but the standard held up by the WTS made me eschew as invalid any other path.
It wasn't until I slew the WTS dragon within myself that I began to consider other ways to be valid and proper, and found myself and got over my childhood.
If I hadn't been under the thumb of the WTS mindset, I seriously think I would have got my shit together long before age 32.
RD
