Posts by Had Enough

19

Sexual Terrorism

by Amazing in

jw
friends

23 years ago

why call pedophiles "sexual terrorists?

" look into the eyes of a young child who has been a victim and you will see why.

look into the eyes and life of a grown women whose life has been scared from childhood, and hear about the hell she has had to work through.. if you could see my eyes, you would see the eyes of experience - you would see a man who, as a 5 year old boy, watched his sister raped by a pedophile - and who knew the feeling of being totally helpless.

23 years ago

Had Enough 23 years ago

Amazing:

Again..thank you for this thought-provoking piece.

I was talking to some friends just yesterday about how it boggles the mind how so many JWs can hear about this and still support the WTS's policies and denials of hiding pedophiles. Yet they do and will continue.

When you say:

because good responsible, mature adults cannot sit by and do nothing while this sexual terrorism continues and is harbored by the JW religion

...how can anyone believe that a loving God could sit by and watch even one horrified child be brutalized by some monster, let alone the thousands on record?
How can they think that God could not step in right away to stop it? If this is God's only true organization, what possible justification could there be for God to allow this to go on for so long before "causing it to be revealed"?

Yet that's what they are actually saying God is doing when they do nothing and say "God will step in in his due time and straighten this out" or "we are leaving everything in God's hands to handle".

Yet, at the same time, it warms my heart to know that there are open-minded, caring JWs, who upon finding this has been going on for so long and they've been duped, are shocked into reality and freeing themselves from its hold....and there will be more to leave as this gets known....I am sure of that.

Thank you again.

Had Enough

"Never doubt that a small group of citizens can change the world.
Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."...Margaret Mead

Link

52

Appeal to NBC Dateline

by Amazing in

jw
friends

23 years ago

i will be sending this letter/email to nbc dateline at: dateline@nbc.com.

i am posting it in the event some of you decide to do something similar: you can also mail this to:.

nbc news - dateline.

23 years ago

Had Enough 23 years ago

Hi Amazing:

Just saw this thread now and I'm so glad you're doing this. I've been forming a letter in my head for several days now....and now I'm moved to get it done. I agree...the more that send in their well-thought out and to the point, non-abusive non-accusing, non-hysterical letters, the better.

I too realize this has gone on in other religions for many years even centuries, and that this will be not be a "devasting blow to the WTS", but I still feel that JWs need to know about this...they deserve to know.

Most of all though, the victims need this exposed. They need the truth to be known, to feel believed and their pain acknowledged. They need to know that their abuser will be stopped.

Had Enough

"Never doubt that a small group of citizens can change the world.
Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."...Margaret Mead

Link

44

Downsizing Rumor is Confirmed

by metatron in

jw
friends

23 years ago

got more information recently.. brooklyn bethel is downsizing , bigtime.. first, they are moving a lot of printing out of brooklyn.

and into "regional" branches, perhaps closer to where.

the material is distributed.

23 years ago

Had Enough 23 years ago

metatron and JT:

I agree...this IS GOOD NEWS.

It is encouraging to hear the chips falling out of the foundation of this decaying structure.

That is what I continue to hope for and to see it weaken and lose its grip and control.

Had Enough

"Never doubt that a small group of citizens can change the world.
Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."...Margaret Mead

Link

28

My experience at the Memorial...

by Richie in

jw
friends

23 years ago

the memorial was held last night at a community center about 15 km away from the kingdom hall.

as a df'd person, i always feel more uncomfortable if the memorial is held at a location other than the regular kh, as i would otherwise know my way around where to sit in obscurity, as well as arriving just as the meeting is about to start.. well, i decided to come a little bit earlier (although not too early) - then walked inside the community center and suddenly i was standing in front of the wide entrance where practically everyone was gathered in order to get a perfect view of who were entering the hall.

needless to say, i felt like an alien, someone who did not exist at all, yet when i gazed into the eyes of many of the ones i know, i noticed that they were secretly looking at me and then quickly turned their heads away from me.

23 years ago

Had Enough 23 years ago

Richie:
I'm so sorry you had to go through this horrendous but typically hypocritical treatment. I experienced the same treatment when I had to go through this same "looking for an empty seat because of being told to only come into the hall when the meeting started" routine, for the usual year before being reinstated.

Looking back now, it is beyond me how they all can hold their heads up and think this is how Jesus would have treated someone coming back into the fold. I am infuriated each time I think about it and even more so when I continue to read of this treatment going on everywhere.

As for your statement

If you stay overnight just one time with a boy or girlfriend, in the eyes of the elders you already have committed fornication...

Yes this IS true.

This same thing was told to me by my PO at the time my son was starting to miss meetings and had moved into a house rented by him and 5 guys.

When this PO and another elder went there to talk to my son, they could see several young girls sleeping on the floor in the livingroom having stayed there after a party the night before.

The elder told me that very same thing, that even if there was no fornication committed, that in the eyes of the elders, there was, so he could be df'd because of that.

At the time I was the meek and mild JW, not wanting to make any waves, and I didn't even think to ask that PO where this is stated in the Bible. Of course it isn't....but I would still like to ask him this question and maybe will get the chance yet.

Had Enough

"Never doubt that a small group of citizens can change the world.
Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."...Margaret Mead

Link

24

The Memorial has just Started

by Prisca in

23 years ago

well, it's almost 7pm in sydney australia and no doubt some congregations would be starting their memorials very soon, if not already.

due to the overcast conditions, i can't see the moon, but one of the special things about this time of the year is seeing the full moon, which reminds me of the specialness of the memorial ritual held for me as i was growing up.. this is the second time in my entire life that i will be absent from the memorial.

it was strange last year to be not attending for the first time ever, but this year i feel more comfortable about it.. i'm not sure why.

23 years ago

Had Enough 23 years ago

I'm really glad to read the comments of everyone on this subject. I don't feel so alone now in what I too am feeling.

Angharad and Abaddon: I too feel bad about letting my family down in not attending. My mom just recently died but she always made a forceful point of how "vital it is not to miss this meeting". This will be the first one I will have missed because of choosing not to attend.

I talked it over with my da'd son since we've both been "invited" to attend, and we both agreed that to go will feel too hypocritical. Still, it hurts to know I will be getting those "looks of distain" when my daughter asks me if we went.

I'm still in the "floundering around" stage with my beliefs so I'm experiencing one extreme to the other about partaking of the emblems. Years of ingrained thinking at first made it seem almost repulsive to think of ever joining in...almost sacrilegious, since "only the chosen few" should partake.

Last year when I attended the BRCI where so many former JWs were and heard of some taking communion and attending other churches...I found this very difficult to comprehend and deal with and yet I appreciated so much hearing their thoughts and comments. It opened up some whole new questions in me.

Then I flipped to questioning everything about the bible, God and Jesus. Now, having done more research, I seem to see why so many have changed their reasoning on the scriptures to feel the need to join in the communion.

Kismet: I appreciate your comments on how you personally handled your first non-attendance. I feel now that I understand too little about the Bible, and I need to do more examining and self-analysis to find my "happy place" and want to acknowledge the great sacrifice Jesus made if it really did happen that way. I guess I still have a long way to go yet.

Prisca: Thanks for your thoughts and starting this thread.

Edited for dumb spelling. Why does a word look OK while I'm typing and then looks weird only when I've posted?

Had Enough

"Never doubt that a small group of citizens can change the world.
Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."...Margaret Mead

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22

Wow! I'm so glad I found you all.

by curlers in

jw
friends

23 years ago

i was raised 3rd generation dub.

my dad is an elder as his dad was and my brother and the other brother is ms on the way to elderhood.

i'm df for 21 years when i was 20. the only credit i can give my parents is they're crazy would be whether they were catholic, buddist or atheist.

23 years ago

Had Enough 23 years ago

Hello and Welcome Curlers and Ashraven:

Glad to you found us too!! It's always encouraging to me to see new find us and join us. I too was so relieved to find this site and receive its support and to get my eyes opened even further. I've learned so many more things about the WTS that continually boost up my resolve that I did the right thing for the right reasons.

This site just proves the org is wrong as to why JWs leave, over and over again....that most people leave the org because of the hypocrisy and errors in their teaching and the hurt and cruelty they have seen or experienced.

I do have memories of good times and good people...but somehow that just doesn't justify turning your life over to the control of a few men so out of touch with reality.

We're all looking forward to hearing more from you both.

Had Enough

"Never doubt that a small group of citizens can change the world.
Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."...Margaret Mead

Link

4

To Be Shunned is to be Persecuted

by Quotes in

23 years ago

oh, the irony!.

*** w71 9/15 575 persecuted for trying to serve god ***.

sad to say, this did not stop their persecution, for now it went into a cold-war stage.

23 years ago

Had Enough 23 years ago

Thanks for finding these quotes! Yes...very interesting and ironic.

Imagine...the nerve of that OTHER religion to go this far to "protect its sheep from the evil apostate thinking"

So strongly does the Church wish us to shun their evil doctrines that any Catholic who reads publications of the Society leaves himself open to excommunication.

Somehow, it was always OK for the WTS to do the very same thing it condemned other religions for, because..."We are the only TRUE religion with God's blessing".....blah, blah, blah

So glad to be free!!!!

Had Enough

"Never doubt that a small group of citizens can change the world.
Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."...Margaret Mead

Link

27

This JW Lurker's Posting Anniversary

by jst2laws in

jw
friends

23 years ago

hello old friends,.

this is my anniversary of a big step forward on this forum.

any jw lurkers please read this and see where i have come from.

23 years ago

Had Enough 23 years ago

Hi jst2laws:

Happy Anniversary!!

This is my 1st year anniversary or birthday month..(whichever it is)too and I remember well, my first post too. My hands shook as I typed the words about my life. Once I was past that and saw that I wasn't ripped to shreds or ignored, I settled in and posted a topic on a subject bothering me the most at that time...."Restrictions on Disfellowshipping" based on a post of Ozzie's.

Once I got past that, I settled in and started to enjoy the bantering back and forth.

When I first saw your post, I recognized right away what your "handle" jst2laws meant and could appreciate how you felt about the WTS and the Bible.

I always enjoy your posts and look forward to what the next year will bring.

Congrats!!!!!

Had Enough

"Never doubt that a small group of citizens can change the world.
Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."...Margaret Mead

Link

87

Life Is On the Hairy Edge

by AlanF in

jw
friends

23 years ago

got a call late this afternoon: "your daughter was in a car accident along with four other girls.

you need to come to the emergency room.".

daughter not there yet.

23 years ago

Had Enough 23 years ago

Alan:

What a shocker to read this!!! I am so sorry. This has to be a parent's worst nightmare. I am so glad to hear Julie will pull through, but it will be a long haul getting back on her feet.

My kids are now in their 20's but I still worry about them on the road. When my son was a teenager he had a couple of minor accidents through his own inexperience and I'll never forget the horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach when I got that phonecall.

That experience can't possibly be even close though to what you must have felt at the hospital. How parents ever survive their kids' teen years, I'll never know. There's never a dull moment or rarely a sane one, it seems.

Just know that I am thinking of you and your family at this time and I know you are strong stuff. I'm sure Julie knows this too and will come out of this a stronger person.

Tons of best wishes coming your way.

Had Enough

"Never doubt that a small group of citizens can change the world.
Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."...Margaret Mead

Link

35

Apostfest Toronto 2002 EH!

by Beans in

23 years ago

yes brothers and sisters i am setting a date saturday may 4th 2002. i would like some feedback from our locals as to where we should meet as some have met before.

i believe downtown seems to be a good spot, let me know.. beans, glenv@telusmail.net.

23 years ago

Had Enough 23 years ago

Wow!! I almost missed this thread.

Hey you guys know I always try to be there...I think I've only missed 1..maybe 2..of all the ones last year...so count me in.

Hey Dana...we gotta talk!!!! (Yup...I'm almost done with my work, yeaaahhh!!!!) You and outnfree just have to make it up our way again.

It'll be great to see all you guys again and to meet some new ones too. Wahoo!!!

Had Enough

"Never doubt that a small group of citizens can change the world.
Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."...Margaret Mead

Link