Posts by strawberry cake

8

Out-of-Wedlock Children: How Does WT View Them?

by cameo-d in

what is wt policy concerning illegitimate children?.

if child is conceived out of wedlock but parents wed before the birth, how does wt determine if they "qualify" for spiritual inheritance?.

does wt have any policy concerning jehovah's acceptance of illegitimate children of single mothers?.

strawberry cake

I personally knew of a sister that had a child out of wedlock..when this sister, who later married the non JW father. was having a hard time keeping her youngest toddler quiet...I found the congregation, in general very intollerant and insensitive. Also her eldest daughter, aged 13 was being stalked by a known pervy brother(he offered her jewellery and kept hounding her.) and the elders were not seeing it from the teenagers view point at all.They counselled the brother, yet refused to move her out of his book group...( he kept sitting next to her)

When I complained that, if she were an elders daughter they would have done something..I was reminded of the nature of her birth( I tell no lie, I could hardly believe what I was hearing!) Her mother is a very sweet, honest lady, who I believe, wisely found herself a very nice, caring husband outside the Org. Yet no matter what she did since, or how she is as a christian, she, nor her children get the same treatment. I've heard similar stories from others.

15

So my undercover "exposing the lies" is still working

by BonaFide in

yesterday in the car group in service, 5 of us in one suv.

so someone says that on friday, a worldly family member of their bible study had died of a drug overdose.

then he said, "well, that the protection that we have being in jehovah's organization.".

strawberry cake

Moshe...One of the first things I did when I came off pioneering and left was to go to the dentist and the doctors and to sleep in every weekend. I had been neglecting my health, too busy trying to reach my hours.

At the time, I realized I mustn't, especially as some years earlier, a friend of mine died of cervical cancer because she did not go back for a repeat test. she was too busy working and pioneer, with a young son.

Also, I knew some very fragile, always depressed, JW sister friends who had had breakdowns, usually from trying to stay pioneering, whilst working, or with children. They told stories of being let down by the congregation, elders, family, or they were sad because they couldn't get someone to date them, never mind marry them. Also they wanted children.

I knew of 2 suicides that rocked the congregations. Both these sisters were genuine and sweet. They tried so hard to please 'Jehovah.'

I knew of many that were just not supported when they needed help(Just judged and marked!)

48

Have You Ever Walked Out Of a KH "Meeting"?

by african GB Member in

did you have enough of boasting, and decided to walk out?.

that's what happened to me during this week's bs about how to "treat the disfellowshipped"?.

i just picked up my bag and stormed out...... will i get called into the back room?.

strawberry cake

I asked my son about the book study and mentioned African GB's comment. My son said he felt like walking out..(but he didn't)

51

What Were Your Consequences For Leaving The "Truth"???

by minimus in

jw
friends

was it as bad as everyone says, that if you leave the organization, you'll go back to the world, get into trouble and suffer?.

strawberry cake

I got shunned by most of my 'friends.' The elders tried to get my sons to shun me, but it didn't work. 2 no longer go and 1 is only going to hold on to friends. He also has non- JW friends.

I got shunned at the school where I work by an ex pioneer partner. Interestingly she had'new light' and started to talk to me after the Head Teacher gave her a warning, (as I threatened to sue her for religious discrimination.) I was quite surprised when she walked up to me and sat down. She accused me of trying to initiate conversation with her. I said, no, I was just saying goodmorning. I explained that the brainwashing was interpretting my goodmorning as a wicked apostate trick to take her from Jehovah. I told her that I am not under the WT any more so will not be shuffling around with my head down. She started wining on about how hard this all was for HER!

She hadn't spoken to me for about a year. Point blank, refusing to say goodmorning or to respond to my greetings. She would actually greet the person sitting next to me and ignore me. She was absolutely bare faced. Now she's back peddling, desparate to prove to staff at work that she is not a religious biggot. She hadn't realized that I had told everyone at work what she was doing.

I also reported a JW supply teacher who came once a week to teach. I knew her and said hi but she totally blanked me. The Head Teacher decided not to ask her back.

I may get shunned outside, but I won't tolerate it at my place of work.

SC

8

Zoned out ' friends.'

by strawberry cake in

this is a note i got from an old 'friend' when i contacted her on facebook.

she was one of my closest jw 'friends' who shunned me, yet would greet me if she saw me in town or at an event.

i thought she had some independent thought: i was wrong.

strawberry cake

Thanks Ninja, nj, RI, Maybe I missed an opportunity. I sense that when I try to explain, her apostate alarm goes off and she doesn't hear me. I am baffled that she hasn't wised up and therfore may be using the structure to cope with life.

We did explain our view to her, as she was the first person my husband and I told when we had made our decision to leave. We explained everything and told her to check the internet and investigate what we had told her.

Even with all this, she decided to stay. Ironically, she wasn't even that strong a JW, always complaining about not being able to do enough and torn between her love for teaching and the demands made on her by the Org. She ignored a lot of the societies adivice when it suited her. On my leaving she actually become a stronger witness.

Oompa, it does indeed seem like a waste of time trying.

Wobble, I have tried explaining to many, when we were leaving, yet they are still going! She knows how strongly I feel and indeed why. It seems that her trust in the Org is similar to a trust in the bible, a leap of faith.

SC

Lurk3r, Yes I did kinda make her part of my family for years. We went on holidays and her children are close to my children. I find the finality of the shunning hard to understand. I thought we were so connected as friends and that she would see beyond the JW rules. And of course I think that she is wasting her life on this and want to save her.

8

Zoned out ' friends.'

by strawberry cake in

this is a note i got from an old 'friend' when i contacted her on facebook.

she was one of my closest jw 'friends' who shunned me, yet would greet me if she saw me in town or at an event.

i thought she had some independent thought: i was wrong.

strawberry cake

This is a note I got from an old 'friend' when I contacted her on facebook. She was one of my closest JW 'friends' who shunned me, yet would greet me if she saw me in town or at an event. I thought she had some independent thought: I was wrong. I hope one day she'll wake up.

I am sincerely sorry for your pain. All people believe what they think to be true. You and I know what each other believe and the reasons why we act the way we do. You are the same J that I grew to love as a dear friend and will always remain that way but now your view has changed and so we cannot associate as worshippers together and share spiritual things. I am here the same as before but we can only be reunited in a shared understanding of scripture. I pray that that day will come and we will find each other again.
Love M

SC

40

Describe The Jehovah's Witness Community

by minimus in

jw
friends

in your experience, are witnesses all about love?.

is the brotherhood really what it is said to be?.

did you feel the love from "the friends"?.

strawberry cake

Deluded!

xxx SC

31

How about a list of "loaded" words used by the JW's?

by cawshun in

jw
friends

apostate.

strawberry cake

Mother.

37

How bad IS this religion on a relationship??

by -Tank in

see below post, edited for paragraphs.

strawberry cake

Her love will always be conditional. Is this the sort of love you want?

Also the organization will ALWAYS come between you, spoiling your relationship and she may be disappointed in you for not committing.

xxx SC

17

Raising children as JW's

by lancelink in

jw
friends

tonight my wife and i attended a christmas play held at a local church.

it was really cute, 4-8 year olds recreating the whole christ story, when suddenly this totally empty feeling hit me like a punch to the face.

i realized how much we missed out with our own two kids by raising them as jws.

strawberry cake

I look back on how I raised my 3 sons with some relief. Even thought I pioneered and was quite a zealous JW. I always made sure they had lots of fun.

We camped a lot and went out on day trips almost weekly. We made our family study fun, by keeping it to half an hour and always playing a board game or having a special treat to eat after.
Saturday ministry, also under an hour, we would ALWAYS end up at our favorite cafe for a panini, danish and hot chocolate.

My kids had Parties,sleep overs and take-out nights with friends,also puppet shows.
The last thing we did (secretly saying goodbye to them all)was to have man come to our house and do a reptile/insect party for all the kids in the congregation.

all in all,ironically, because of our hard work, our kids have a very close network of JW mates, who they would find hard to lose and some happy memories.

The one thing I couldn't do, was to make those mind numbing meetings more interesting for them.During the meeting, my two younger sons would chew and peel their finger nails till they were dripping with blood! Also my middle son started to build up a real resentment of me...for being so full on as a pioneer.(strangely enough, resentment for leaving also) Lately, however,(I think, because I am not setting his theocratic goals and he is free to be himself now,) I feel he is actually starting to let me off the hook.

This year they had their first Christmas, my eldest is still going to the meetings, but we still enjoyed a special day, with a large roast dinner and all the trimmings. (Last night he went to his first new years eve party with non JW old school friends. He said he had lots of fun.) We all sat together after dinner to watch Christmas telly. It was great! My youngest especially loved it. Next year there is no stopping us! Christmas tree,presents,decorations the lot!

xxx SC