Posts by burningbridges

22

Hello all

by peace in

jw
friends

hello all i am new and have been checking this site out for a few weeks and find it informative as well as supportive.

i look forward to getting to know all of you better.

i have a problem that i hope i can get some help with.

wow. rought boat. As difficult of a thing it is, I also agree that it is best to keep her from them. It may hurt her now, but in the long run it is going to be much better and healthier for her to not be influenced by them. Just think of the potential problems if they hit it off and they start witnessing to her and she wants to go to the hall with them, things like that. They might make remarks to her that are hurtful about holidays, the church she attends, ext. Of course its their "christian duty" to teach them to shun too... and that means you. I like the idea that was suggested that they think that church is family. Also, never forget that kids are way smarter than we give them credit for. You could explain that they have chosen to not have you be a part of their life because you worship God different but that our family doesn't do that to people because we love everyone. (right there that will put a negative condenation with the religion in her mind)

Are thier other older family friends of yours/ neighbors who could fill the roll of "aunt jenni" or "grandma sweetheart" ? The title and the close association might be a good subsitution. My boyfriend had no family, all of his had past as a young boy. However, he grew up with numerous friends of the family that were refered to as "uncle so and so" and such and to this day he feels that they are just as good as family and the bond is just as strong. I think she needs that space in her heart filled, it doesnt necessarily need to be with them.

burningbridges

44

Dropped from my Bible Study like a hot potato

by navytownroger in

i had a bible study with a jehovah's witness for the past year and a half.

i was also attending meetings, but never went out in field service.

during a recent study, i told the conductor that i didn't believe in the 'annointed' & didn't believe the fds had a 'hotline' to jehovah.

burningbridges

congrats!!!!! I'm proud you had the courage to speak up instead of dropping HIM like a hot potato like so many others do. Maybe it will make him think some day, or when he tells everyone else why he (sniffle) "lost" his study, they'll pay attention and think themselves. wishful thinking.

burningbridges

17

Jesus the Firstborn - What the Bible REALLY Teaches!

by UnDisfellowshipped in

what the bible really teaches: the firstborn of all creation.. jehovah's witnesses teach that because jesus is called "the firstborn of all creation" at colossians 1:15, this has to mean that jesus was the first creation by god.. .

since jesus is called "firstborn" because he created all things and existed before all things, this shows that he is not called "firstborn" because he was the first thing created.. paul himself, at colossians 1:18, explains that he is referring to the position or rank of "firstborn," because paul says jesus is the one who has "preeminence" or "first place" in all things.

therefore, paul was not saying that jesus was the first creature created by god.

burningbridges

Very insightful and logically presented. I'm going to keep this is mind....

34

The Efficacy of JWs Shunning (Your experiences and analysis)

by JW_Researcher in

im doing a bit of research for an academic paper on shunning and am interested in your response to any or all of these questions.. please think back to when you were a jw (if necessary) or to other jws you knew.. 1) does shunning work?

(for example, does it bring sinners to their senses?

does it keep the congregation clean?

burningbridges

For me, and for a few others I know, it has pushed us away further and further, NEVER "bring us to our senses" however, those I speak of have had family on the outside for support. The one case I know of whwer shunniog worked, the lady had no other fmaily and no other firends and was a social outcast of sorts, SHe had a real hard time making new frends and was only lonlier then. So in her case, she had no one and reterned. I think shunning is ridiculous. I think it only works if you have no one wlse on the outside, if all your family is in the "truth"

46

DIASSOCIATED NO WHERE TO GO LOST AND BROKEN

by DonaLeigh in

.

dls.

burningbridges

Hun, I dissassociated myself too. I know exactly what your going through. It feels like your life is broken, ruined, destroyed. It a few months for me to start smiling again and its been seven months now. THe difference is astronomical. It seems right now like your world is over but that is not the case. YOU HAVE A BLANK SLATE, A NEW LIFE, A BRAND NEW BEGGING. Do you know what I did the day I dissac? I typed the word "Genesis" (means begnning) on the banner of my cell phone. Now every time I open my phone I see that and i remember that i INTENTIONALLY started over. You took a stand for what was RIGHT. You have GUTS. You did what you felt was right, and that is the BEST thing you could have done. You have support here, you are not alone, you are among friends. Don't get discouraged. So much awaits you know that you haev thrown that weight off of you. Remember, this was your choice, and you choose to leave them, they did not boot you out. SO when your at Walmart and they look away, you hold your head HIGH because you are being snubbed for taking a stand in what you BELIEVE in, and that, my friend, is beatiful. I am proud of you, and so is God. You took a stand for him and boldly procalimed that what they were doing was discraceful and wrong. He is proud of you. Hold your head high. Don't you ever cast your eyes down

burningbridges

46

Shunned again

by tak in

my son called me yesterday, first time in probably 6 weeks, because he lost his car keys, the car is in my name, so i had to get another set from the dealership.

anyways, it doesn't really matter what he called about, it was just in 6 weeks he only calls because he needs something, not a peep before that (very hurtful).

a brother drove him to my office and it was quittin time so i went outside with him and gave him the keys, i was hurt and didn't say much to him.

burningbridges

I would personally cut off the "favors" to your son who won't even give you a shred of decency. When you cut him off, print him off a copy of the 1952 11/15 Questions from readers out of the watchtower which says this :

If children are of age and continue to associate with a disfellowshiped parent because of receiving material support from him or her, then they must consider how far their spiritual interests are being endangered by continuing under this unequal arrangement, and whether they can arrange to support themselves, living apart from the fallen-away parent. Their continuing to receive material support should not make them compromise so as to ignore the disfellowshiped state of the parent. If, because of acting according to the disfellowship order of the company of God’s people, they become threatened with a withdrawal of the parental support, then they must be willing to take such consequences.

I think he needs to stop being such a hypocrit and only benefitting himself.

burningbridges

25

Letter of Disassociation

by Maryjane in

jw
friends

i walked away from the jw religion nearly 9 years ago after "waking up" to the lies & mind games.

since then i've learned the full extent of the manipulation (thanks to websites such as this & the coc book)and have successfully overcome the emotional & spiritual crisis that i experienced the first few years after my departure.

i can say that i am at a place in my life now where i am happy, spiritually fulfilled and religion-free!

burningbridges

I did it because I felt I needed closure. Perhaps you could write it and burn it. Just realize that these "brothers" will treat you as though you have leprosy for the REST of your LIFE because of it if you turn it in. Not to mention how it will effect all of your family. They are not the "truth", they are not god appointed. You do not need to "resign" from a fake and blasphemous organization. If you still are a religious man, dissassocate yourself in prayer maybe, in your heart from the organization. Do not give them the right to control your life, becasue they will, and it will effect how they treat your relatives as well. I regret what I did, when so badly I had wanted it. I wish I would have just walked away, but stubborn me, I just HAD to stand up and make my voice known. Still, to this day, no one freaking knows. After my family told people I was doing it, friends wouldn't accept personal letters of farewell and explanation I had written (as an earlier individual had suggested) because they knew it was coming and already considered me apostate since I was disass. not disf. Hardly anyone has any clue why I did what I did. You think they'd wonder huh? The rumor is I commited a sin so horrible I beat the elders to the punch and just left, so not true. I saw through the organization and it sickened me. There was no "sin".

25

Letter of Disassociation

by Maryjane in

jw
friends

i walked away from the jw religion nearly 9 years ago after "waking up" to the lies & mind games.

since then i've learned the full extent of the manipulation (thanks to websites such as this & the coc book)and have successfully overcome the emotional & spiritual crisis that i experienced the first few years after my departure.

i can say that i am at a place in my life now where i am happy, spiritually fulfilled and religion-free!

burningbridges

DONT DO IT. i did this, and all it did was aid in allowing them power over my life. THey do NOT own you. They do NOT deserve, nor need, any letter or justification for your actions, nor do they care. My letter was not read, all they said was "so and so is no longer a jw." the elders who did read my letter spread lies about why I left, they told people i "lost it" and "went off the deep end" Now, I am shunned, and I wish I never gave them the right to do that to me. You by no means need to give them that power. I felt so deeply at the time that I needed to "stand up" for my belifs and that people needed to know I intentionally left, not that I was disfellowshipped. No one knows the difference, it was never told. Please think deeply about this, I can never take back the power I gave them over my life, and I wish I could..., PM if you want to talk.

burningbridges

26

Speaking of WTBTS illustrations, what's up with all the dress clothes?!

by Lady Zombie in

jw
friends

gruesome armageddon illustrations aside, what's up with never drawing women wearing pants (unless they're worldly)?!.

picturing them at the kh is one thing, but picturing "christian" women (i.e.

jw women) outside of the kh wearing dresses is a bit ridiculous.

burningbridges

I fricken hate that!!!! A pet peeve of mine for years!!!!!!! ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Who the HELL is going to go to a picnic by a mountain in a dress? A DRESS? COME on now!!!!!!

burningbridges

54

How Long Did It Take You to Realize It Wasn't "The Truth"?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i see some posters still aren't 100% sure that the jehovah's witness religion might not be "the truth"....was there a moment when things became very clear for you regarding this religion?.

do you still think, maybe----jws aren't all that bad??

?.

burningbridges

It just chipped away slowly over the years, once i started thinking it just started falling apart.. then as new publications thigs all kept changing. ALl the time the beliefs kept modifying. How the hell could the "truth" from god CHANGE? I went on a four month pychotic study binge on the whole history of what all the witnesses have always believed and how it has changed over the years. The old revelation book was the best, its totally different now. It all went down the pot from there.