Frank and I keep in close touch...he and Barb are doing well, and he has "moved on" quite well. We still have some great discussions about our JW days, but as most of us here have to one degree or another, Frank and Barb have gone on to enjoy life and their new found freedom. I will pass on that many have been asking about him...it would be great to have him post on some of his Bethel/GB experiences.
tenyearsafter
JoinedPosts by tenyearsafter
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43
Brother Kavelin injured in Santa Monica?
by NikL inwe just received this e mail.
it may or may not be true but it is making the rounds in dubdom.. here ya go.... just a quick note to let you know that out of the 9 dead and some .
injured in the run away car incident at the farmer's market in santa.
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Had a Frustrating Discussion with Mom...
by tenyearsafter inmy 80 something year old mom is a die hard jw, but to her credit, she has not shunned me.
as would be expected, she is always "praying" that i return to jah and get reinstated.
is consistent...every time my wife and i see her, she always tries to steer the conversation to "how bad the world" has become.. today, she escalated the "theocratic attack" by coming out directly and asking me what i thought of world conditions.
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tenyearsafter
Great suggestions everyone!
I will hope that a few things we talked about will get her thinking...she is a very intelligent woman. She is also alone...she just has my brother (a diehard JW) and me to rely on. The "brothers" have pretty much ignored her at this point since she is no longer able to go door to door or regularly attend meetings. The only time she gets to meetings is if my brother takes her. The elders think they did their good deed because they allowed her to have a phone hook up to listen to the meetings. She has been in her current house for almost 5 years, and I don't believe anyone in the congregation, other than my brother, has offered to take her to a meeting. When she is sick, it is up to my brother and I to take her to the doctor and arrange for her needs. I don't expect others to do this, but it amazes me how invisible she is to the congregation (she pioneered until she could no longer go door to door). I can only hope that she sees the lack of love and concern, and it resonates with her. She basically told me during our "chat" that I could never shake her faith or change her mind. I told her that was not my intention, but she should not expect to change mine my mind either.
I will use the suggestion of "Jehovah can read my heart", and let her get some comfort from it. In the meantime, I can just hope that she (and my brother) can open their eyes enough to at least think for themselves and ask themselves the honest questions.
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Songs everyone should hear--at least once in their lives
by WTWizard inand no, the sxxx that comes out of the kingdumb hell is not among that.. with all the rubbish you hear on the radio these days, one wonders if there are any decent songs out there.
and "rubbish" doesn't mean debased music or music with satanic messages encoded in it.
it means the crap that is thrown together, auto-tune'd for homogenization, and stuffed onto the radio.
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tenyearsafter
How about the entire Brothers in Arms album by Dire Straits...classic! (mid 80's)
Best know track from that was "Money for Nothing"
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Had a Frustrating Discussion with Mom...
by tenyearsafter inmy 80 something year old mom is a die hard jw, but to her credit, she has not shunned me.
as would be expected, she is always "praying" that i return to jah and get reinstated.
is consistent...every time my wife and i see her, she always tries to steer the conversation to "how bad the world" has become.. today, she escalated the "theocratic attack" by coming out directly and asking me what i thought of world conditions.
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tenyearsafter
Thanks to all for the suggestions and comments. I have resigned myself to the fact that she will never change her mind or see my side of the issue. I am glad she doesn't shun me, and I guess I should be grateful for that. Let's just hope she has gotten this out of her system for a while!
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Had a Frustrating Discussion with Mom...
by tenyearsafter inmy 80 something year old mom is a die hard jw, but to her credit, she has not shunned me.
as would be expected, she is always "praying" that i return to jah and get reinstated.
is consistent...every time my wife and i see her, she always tries to steer the conversation to "how bad the world" has become.. today, she escalated the "theocratic attack" by coming out directly and asking me what i thought of world conditions.
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tenyearsafter
LOL Outlaw and J_W!
As to the comment about the road slipping into the ocean in CA, I would shudder at the absurdity of it if I wasn't convinced that many JW's actually believe that! My mother is somewhat housebound, so she stays glued to the TV all day and gobbles up any "bad" news as supporting the "things are getting worse" proofs. When I pointed out to her that modern technology has given us real time ability to see events happening around the world, she just ignores that comment. When I told her that it could take a year or more to hear of disasters in far flung places in the world 100 years ago, so that silence is interpreted as being "not as bad" as today, she just moved on to the next point in her agenda.
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Had a Frustrating Discussion with Mom...
by tenyearsafter inmy 80 something year old mom is a die hard jw, but to her credit, she has not shunned me.
as would be expected, she is always "praying" that i return to jah and get reinstated.
is consistent...every time my wife and i see her, she always tries to steer the conversation to "how bad the world" has become.. today, she escalated the "theocratic attack" by coming out directly and asking me what i thought of world conditions.
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tenyearsafter
I know my experience is nothing new to many of the people on the Board...it is just amazing to see how such a well read, intelligent woman can become so unable to see anything but what she has been indoctrinated with. I just sat there fascinated by the whole conversation as it unfolded...it was as if it were scripted and that script was distributed to every JW family member to use for "helping lost ones come to their senses"! It is certainly a slippery slope to see how far you can take the discussion before you are labeled an apostate.
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Had a Frustrating Discussion with Mom...
by tenyearsafter inmy 80 something year old mom is a die hard jw, but to her credit, she has not shunned me.
as would be expected, she is always "praying" that i return to jah and get reinstated.
is consistent...every time my wife and i see her, she always tries to steer the conversation to "how bad the world" has become.. today, she escalated the "theocratic attack" by coming out directly and asking me what i thought of world conditions.
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tenyearsafter
Hi Shirley, I actually have been on the site for a long time...I just managed to keep my mother at arm's length when it came to this type of discussion. I have been out for 16 years, and this is the first real "sit down" we have had. I just found the timing interesting...she is really pressing now, which would go hand in hand with the new emphasis by the Borg on how "close" we are to the end. It still is sad to see how such an intelligent woman can be so blinded to reason, but as I like to say...it is what it is!
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Had a Frustrating Discussion with Mom...
by tenyearsafter inmy 80 something year old mom is a die hard jw, but to her credit, she has not shunned me.
as would be expected, she is always "praying" that i return to jah and get reinstated.
is consistent...every time my wife and i see her, she always tries to steer the conversation to "how bad the world" has become.. today, she escalated the "theocratic attack" by coming out directly and asking me what i thought of world conditions.
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tenyearsafter
My 80 something year old mom is a die hard JW, but to her credit, she has not shunned me. As would be expected, she is always "praying" that I return to Jah and get reinstated. Her M.O. is consistent...every time my wife and I see her, she always tries to steer the conversation to "how bad the world" has become.
Today, she escalated the "Theocratic attack" by coming out directly and asking me what I thought of world conditions. I finally took the bait and told her that I thought some things were worse and others were much better than in past years. I pointed out that war casualties were the lowest in the past 25 plus years versus other times in history, death through epidemic was lower, etc. I pointed out that in the Dark Ages, 2/3 of the known world population died from the Black Plague. She just gave me that "deer in the headlight look" and said that she didn't agree...times are far worse today.
She then asked me why I had become ignorant of what the Bible teaches. I responded that I wasn't ignorant, but that I had now had a chance to actually study the Bible versus being told what I believed about it. The discussion went that way for over an hour, when I finally told her my main problem with JW's was the veneration of the Organization. She kept saying that JW's don't place the GB on a pedestal. I told her that I could never be reinstated as long as I didn't believe and follow exactly what the GB says is "current" truth. She flat out said that was wrong...sheesh! I then asked her what would happen to her if she went to the elders and said she no longer believed that 1914 was not the date of Christ's Presence, and Mom actually said that that would be fine...we all can have questions and doubts. I told her that she would be disfellowshipped if she didn't immediately recant her belief...she denied it. I finally asked her the big "Ah Ha" question..."if I believed all of the core doctrines of JW's such as two classes, no Hell, no Immortal Soul, no Trinity and lived an exemplary life, but I wasn't a member of the Organization, what would happen to me at Armageddon? She wouldn't answer the question. She side stepped any hard question I asked, ie: changing doctrines, 1914, 1975, the Generation...it was always, "we are adjusting our understanding as the light gets brighter". I asked her if the GB was God's Channel on earth, didn't they reflect badly on God with the constant changes in belief? God is infallible, so why would he give flawed information to his channel? Again, no response.
When all was said and done, she just kept saying I needed to "get back to basics and study the Bible". She said she couldn't do it with me, but that an "older man" could help me regain my Bible knowledge. I told her that I would be happy to sit down and study only the Bible with an "older man", but I refuse to sit down and study a WT publication with someone. That set her back, and she just kept repeating I needed to get right with Jah.
The conversation ended with that, and she is still "associating" with me, but it was an extraordinarly frustrating two hours. It is the first time I have seen how blinded to thinking JW's are. I guess the only good thing to come out of the whole thing was that she didn't label me an apostate and tell me never to see her again.
Sorry to ramble on, but I now see how frustrating trying to reason with JW's on simple issues can be. I have a better understanding of some of the frustration others on the Board have had in discussing things with JW family and friends. JW's just can't grasp the concept of critical thinking, and that is the saddest thing of all...they truly are "captives of a concept".
TYA
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What is the most embarassing moment you've had while still a JW?
by african GB Member ini remember having to preach to my girlfriend/classmate while i was still at school.
i was with one of the elders and it was my 'house' to preach.. wished i could vanish from the surface of the earth..
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tenyearsafter
The worst for me was when I was in field service and I knocked on a door, and the "hot" girl I lusted for at school answered the door. No one really knew I was a JW at school, so when she asked why I was there, I just stammered and made up a lame story...I am sure she figured it out, but she was cool and never made a big deal out of it. I can't remember being more embarrassed in my life.
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Why are so many JWs and exJWs unaware of the New World Order and the World Goverment?
by Infowarrior inwhy are so many jehovahs witnesses and escpecially ex-jws so unaware and ignorant of the new world order and the world goverment?
and is the watchtower a part of the new world order and the world goverment under the united nations and the vatican?
my rrsearch says this is the case.
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tenyearsafter
Huh?