i haven't been posting lately - work is busy and all that.
so i get a letter from my dad yesterday.
he and family just recently visited.
thank you all for your suggestions - i agree that it needs to be a kind letter. i keep thinking as upsetting as it, my father is only coming from a sincere place based on his experiances and he has never allowed himself to think on things any way but what the society states. i will never change him, but i feel good that he see's be as an adult who must make my own decisions.
i'll keep you posted!
i haven't been posting lately - work is busy and all that.
so i get a letter from my dad yesterday.
he and family just recently visited.
hello all -
i haven't been posting lately - work is busy and all that. so i get a letter from my dad yesterday. he and family just recently visited. i won't bore you with details - as it was much of the same as what others have received. while he visited, i did state that my feelings had changed and by me sharing my beliefs it would only cause more of a rift between and i would rather enjoy our time together. i feel like his letter to me was sincere and kind, and yet i do feel the need to respond.
please help me find the right wording to convey the thought that it's not "bad association" that has caused me to examine and explore my own thoughts and beliefs. and the biggie - and maybe it's best left alone - i don't believe it's jehovah's/gods organization. if i truly did, i would belong to it. it's not a matter of laziness.
i feel sick over it. i could truly use some kind words and advice. thanks!
has anyone else heard tell of interviewees in convention parts being told what to say?
the way i've heard it is you're contacted to be interviewed in a convention talk because you've had a great experience in some form or other and they need you to boast about it.
so, you meet with the brother handling the assignment and you go through your experience with him (boast about it).
i have a personal experiance to share on this topic. many years ago my in-laws were interviewed for some dc part - i'm sure as an example on raising kids. well, they have 5 kids, oldest being by husband. he and i were inactive at the time, but there at the convention. when asked how many children they had, they "forced" my mother-in law to say "we have 4 children at home". i think that was the last convention my husband attended.
i was pondering this question today.
i thought it might be an interesting tactic to use with my family.
if i simply asked that they prove all beliefs by the bible alone.. growing up - every time discipline or counsel was given - it was based on getting out the bound volumes.
i was pondering this question today. i thought it might be an interesting tactic to use with my family. if i simply asked that they prove all beliefs by the bible alone.
growing up - EVERY time discipline or counsel was given - it was based on getting out the bound volumes. not to mention, just study in general.
it seems to me, so many things could be interepreted in a number of ways. the blatant cousel lately to not examine any outside sources, let alone not reasoning on things for oneself, is very troubling to me.
thoughts?
well where do i start?
i am 34, male and gay.
when i was about 15 i was exposed to the witnesses teachings.
welcome! i've been out about 10 years and i only found this site in the last year or so. it has helped me so much to move on.
my husband who was raised as a jw, as i was, hates when i bring up things on this board. his personality though is to move on and forget it - i guess we all deal with things in our own way.
i registered to vote this year! it was hard for me - but then i thought - i get to choose if i want chocolate or vanilla ice cream, why can't i choose who will be in office making decisions that will affect me? and then i thought - the governing body votes on stuff that altered my whole life!
anyways.....welcome!
going to an international assembly 1974 and one of the gb leo greenlees saying"this will most likely be the last international assembly this side of armageddon".. poeple selling their houses.. storing up food.. wondering what went wrong on dec 31 1975!.
i wish i could get my parents to acknowledge this time period. i was only 2 in 1975 - so i have no memory of it. however, i do remember being in about the 5th grade, i guess i was 7 or 8, and telling a little boy at school that my parents said i would never graduate high school! he looked at me and said how said and sorry he was for me. i think about that often.
recently my mom and me were having a causual conversation - i mentioned the economy - she made a comment that "it just goes to prove that jehovah will step in soon" - and i replied back - didn't the economy go through a rough patch in the late 70's early 80"s? she said "oh, not like this, this is far worse". but i can't help but wonder, was it? and the new fever about the book study change, and "we're so close, it can't possibly be much longer, see no bookstudy!" - do they have such selective memory, or has the world gotten that much worse?
i also, remember being so afraid as a child growing up. and i remember actually being happy if a news story talked about a war someplace, because in my mind it wasn't "peace & security" which would bring on armageddon. and i remember thinking how much i would hate the fact that "in paradise" there wouldn't be the music i loved, or museums, or cool books, or travel to other countries, or shopping for clothes, or razor blades! guess i never wanted it or believed it deep down.
sorry for the long-winded thoughts - this just has be thinking.....
hi everyone, im new.
i've been feeling a burden on myself for the years that i have been out and i just don't know how to ease it.
i can't talk about the organization or the people in it to anyone... if i try i immediately feel sick and want to close up and just disappear.
welcome to the board! everytime i here a story like yours, i feel sick inside. i was raised as a jw from birth to a family that would have been considered a main family unit in the hall.
i have had doubts my entire life. i have experienced ridiculous judicial commities as well. and i thought it was me - that if i was a stronger better person i would fit in.
i've come to realize though i am a good, thoughtful, hard-working, open minded individual. i saw some advice on seeing a therapist - i did, and it helped me so much to not only get my feelings out, but to also see how much my childhood affected me.
once out, i too was embarrssed to mention my past. but i soon found out that "worldly" people are usually open-minded and just curious. the single thing that helped me the most was coming to this site, reading all the books suggested. i then stopped feeling guilty because i had developed my own belief system, and most importantly, saw the jw's as not having the answers and in fact be very mislead.
i was having lunch today with some co-workers and my jw past was brought up.
always a facinating subject!.
i would love some clarification - i understand how russel was the first president and was calling himself and his followers bible students - was judge rutherford also calling himself a bible student?
i was having lunch today with some co-workers and my jw past was brought up. always a facinating subject!
i would love some clarification - i understand how russel was the first president and was calling himself and his followers bible students - was judge rutherford also calling himself a bible student? what was his background, religion wise? was he like the vice-president at the time of russel's death? were they both into printing?
just curious. trying to wrap my brain around the crazyness of it all. ive been out for at least 10 years and felt very foolish today explaining it all! how are so many people duped?
i have been lurking here for a couple of months.
i was born and raised as a witness, and am a little weirded out to even be posting on here (you know the paranoia).
anyway, i faded about 10 years ago, and after reading so many posts, i am so happy that it was a pretty uneventful experience.
greetings! welcome! as i've posted before - the idea of even being "spooked" to pos here was a huge wake-up that i'd been brainwashed all those years!
it rocked my world for a couple of hours.
great movie!
totally loved it! and i adore robert downy, jr..... one can dream!
