Posts by bbdodger

20

Were YOU Set Up To Fail?

by Sarah Smiles in

jw
friends

as a child, i believed jdubs were the only ones who had truths.

we as children tried to live our lives clean without smoking, drinking, cussing, stealing and etc,.

as i became an adult and associated with others, i had fallen beneath the jw cracks.

Set up for failure, maybe... but morality is morality, and no matter how you slice it, it helps you avoid a lot of the pitfalls that cause certain people to have a real rough go of things. Keep your principles high, but know that you're doing it because you have self-worth and respect for yourself by being a moral person, and not because you're being scared into it.
I sense a lot of guilty feelings coming from you... embrace your high standards, but try to separate them from the Cult's standards. Make them your own, and be proud.

I know exactly how you feel. I still get a chilly feeling when someone says the "F" word, I still smoke cigs (once in a while) in a sneaky way and feel guilty for doing it, and I actually still think that if I am possessed by a demon, and yell "JEHOVAH, JEHOVAH", I will automatically be rid of the demon.

*yeah, that was one thing I was told... sound familiar to anyone else?*

65

DF and heartbroken

by cassyrene in

let me begin by saying that i never expected to even talk about my situation let alone discuss it on the internet but i guess im just feeling so sad that i must hope that someone will understand and give me encouragement...so here it goes.. .

but the more active i got, the more abusive my stepmother became.

ironically, he sent my stepmother to the wedding.

bbdodger

You post left me so angry! I have family that won't talk to me either... love, family, does it mean nothing to these people??? I often think about the fact that my Grandma, cousins, uncles and aunt aren't going to know when I have children... I don't even think they know that I'm married. If I died, they wouldn't attend my funeral (which is another can of worms... I've read some doozies here about that subject too).

I can relate to your story in so many ways, but so do many of the other people posting. I've been here less than a week, but it's been so therapeutic, so yes, you have come to the right place. Reading other people's reactions to your story, and the stories that they share will make you feel that you are NOT alone, because you're NOT alone!

Everyone here can relate to your story in some capacity, and it's always best to learn and grow with people who have been in your shoes, and know how it feels to be abandoned. It's hard to move on, because of the incredible amount of guilt that consumes you when you were a part of something so controlling to your every move!

Please, keep reading, posting, and participating. It really helps.

37

Did you lead a double life as a JW? Are you leading a double life still?

by Bumble Bee in

as a jw, alot of us lead double lives.

i know i did.. in talking about our situations with my sister in law, realized that i now lead a double life as a "fader"!!!

my husband and i are "out" of the religion (my brother, sister in law and the kids too) but for the sake of family, they think we are still "in" although they know we are not active.

bbdodger

I remember a lot of "talks" warning people to look for signs that they might be living a "double life". That was a popular topic when I was around.

44

old pink songbook / pamphlet style one

by monophonic in

jw
friends

anyone have one of the old pink songbooks?.

or know how much they pop up for on ebay?.

bbdodger

When you were a kid, did your book study conductor assign the children projects like memorizing the order of a certain number of Bible books. From that experience I can still name them off in rapid order: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, etc. etc. etc. Do BS conductors still do things like that for the kids?

YES! I can still rattle off the 66 books of the bible in the same rhythmic pattern... and also I remember memorizing the 12 apostles. My mother made a mobile for my bedroom that I could look at before going to bed at night, that had the names of each apostle. I had flash cards too.

So... there WERE things for the kids!!!

Remember going to "banquets" and pot lucks, and seeing other JWs in their "street clothes", and how odd it was to see men in jeans, and women in pants instead of frumpy dresses??? Okay, off topic, sorry.

44

old pink songbook / pamphlet style one

by monophonic in

jw
friends

anyone have one of the old pink songbooks?.

or know how much they pop up for on ebay?.

bbdodger

I haven`t been to a Kingdom Hall in decades..They don`t have "piano players" any more?..What do they use for music?..Tape?..CD?...

I remember that since about 1987(year is approx.) or so, they stopped using a piano player, as NOT to "draw attention" to someone's talent. Does anyone else remember that?

And in our cong., it was always tapes... and not the orchestra tapes that were used during assemblies... but pre-recorded boring piano tracks. As a child, I taught myself to play piano, and to this day I still use a lot of the same left hand chord patterns as frequently used in Kingdom Songs.

44

old pink songbook / pamphlet style one

by monophonic in

jw
friends

anyone have one of the old pink songbooks?.

or know how much they pop up for on ebay?.

bbdodger

Loyal love (pause) God is Love (pause) that's all I can think of. I can hum the melody. Thanks for the lyrics.

44

old pink songbook / pamphlet style one

by monophonic in

jw
friends

anyone have one of the old pink songbooks?.

or know how much they pop up for on ebay?.

bbdodger

Which song was #61???

44

old pink songbook / pamphlet style one

by monophonic in

jw
friends

anyone have one of the old pink songbooks?.

or know how much they pop up for on ebay?.

bbdodger

Oh, how I'd love to get my hands on one of those! I remember that some melodies were vaguely reminisant of Christmas Carols. They were hot pink, right?

Here's an oldie, but a goodie:
"From house to house, from door to door..."

How about this chart topper:

This is Jehovah's Day...

"What will you bring?... Jehovah's Kingdom
Triumph of Truth, and righteousness.
And bring what else?... Jehovah's Kingdom
Eternal life, and happiness...
Praise the Universal Soverign.. for His love and faithfulness"

I can't believe I remember the lyrics!!!

Here are a few more lyrical phrases I remember:

"You make known, that the truth, is your own"

"Keep your eyes on the prize"

"Here I am.. send me, send me"

"Move ahead, move aHEAD in our ministry... dah dah dah, la la la, dah dah, la la la la la la"

Wasn't there one... "We're Jehovah's Witnesses" or something? Gads!!!

Remember when the brown song books came out? That was exciting! Remember when the KHs went from piano players, to pre-recorded tracks (as to not "draw attention" to certain people's talents)

Boy... we sure had lame stuff to get excited about.

We use to convert Kingdom songs into cheers for the local baseball team. BAD WITNESSES!!!!

24

NWT Oddities

by snowbird in

the nwt rendering of this scripture has always irritated me: psalm 10:4the wicked one according to his superciliousness makes no search;.

all his ideas are: there is no god.. why select a 16-letter word when all other english translations use pride/haughtiness of his face/countenance?

i used to cringe whenever this psalm came up for the bible reading because superciliousness was almost always mispronounced.

bbdodger

The New World Trans. sounds so "Engrish-y" when you read it... like a bunch of Chinese, Korean and Japanese people got together and tried to translate the bible. This is not meant to sound insensitive... so quit being so damn sensitive.

If you don't know what Engrish is:

Q. What is Engrish?

A. Engrish can be simply defined as the humorous English mistakes that appear in Japanese advertising and product design.

Q. Why can’t they get it right? Don't Japanese study the English language?A. The Japanese educational system is one of the best in the world - one of the primary reasons Japan was able build the world's second largest economy. It is not a perfect system, however - although most Japanese study English for anywhere from 6 to 10 years as a second language, they get little practical use since there are not enough native English speakers to practice with. The fact that the grammatical structure of the two languages is quite different does not help. The Japanese language also does not contain many sounds that you find in English Q. Is Engrish found only in Japan?

A. No, Engrish can be found all over the world, but the vast majority of the really funny and creative Engrish is from Japan.

Examples:

http://www.engrish.com

27

Some Thoughts... I'm new, this is THERAPUTIC for me... read if you'd like

by bbdodger in

in a cult, the society of the cult tries everything in their power to keep one in that society, as well as keeping one ignorant of any information that would sever the guise of legitimacy.

given a version of the bible, not being able to read any other version of the bible is just one example of this kind of inflicted ignorance.

in a cult, it's impossible to get out without a fight.

bbdodger

I am writing an account of my life as affected by JW's and I find that very therapeutic, I can go back and re read it and see the ridiculousness of my upbringing and not feel so guilty.

That's exactly it! I loved reading your story. I

isn't it amazing how everyone's story has some element to it that rings true??? I guess it might have to do with how they wanted us to all live lives that were so similar.

This is my second day in the forum, and it's great! Everyone is intelligent, welcoming, and kind. You're going to love it here.