i have been reading posts for a while, but everytime i try and post my intro, i dont know what to say, so i suppose i will just write what comes to me.
lets see, i was born and raised in the "truth", i have never known anything else my whole life, so this is weird for me to think differently.
i was df'd about 4 years ago when i met my "worldly" husband, i have tried for the past 2 years to be reinstated, but i guess that i have not tried hard enough, according to the elders (who btw have not been very nice or loving toward me).
Welcome Monkey! No matter where you are now or how difficult it is...believe me...YOU WILL SURVIVE!!! True happiness is just around the corner! I am shunned by my mom, sister and brother and feel that it's THEIR loss...I'm really getting over it. Too bad for them!!
Cathy L.
okay, so i got annoyed yesterday when someone told me i looked like debra winger.
i find her most unfeminine and unattractive.
but it doesn't piss me off half as much as when i'm told i look like liza minelli.
Hmmmmmmmmm....me thinks I do have a certain resemblence to Kathy Bates...you know, the one who starred in "Misery". Yup...at least from the neck down.
But...my oldest son bears a remarkable likeness to Ben Affleck (spelling???). (Sorry girls...he's married)
He must have been a throwback or mutation from our gene pool.
Cathy L.
jw's can't do this.
they can't do that.
restrictions abound.
Compared to "worldly" people , I suppose the JW's drink no more or no less than these "worldlings". BUT...since JW's are supposed to be such good, upstanding, sterling examples in today's debauched, immoral and excessive world...they should be doing LESS drinking than the "world". From my fine-tuned observations over the years, I have witnessed many a witness overindulging in the bubbly and other alcohol laden beverages. Especially at JW wedding events, which in this area were notorious for underage and elderage drinking. But a blind eye was the method of dealing with this "worldly" problem. Also...my daughter-in-law worked for a time as a cocktail hostess at a local supper club and was frequently serving a fine and vast variety of mixed alcoholic beverages to our esteemed and irreprehensible elders. They could slug 'em back with the best of them. I also remember having fine association when invited over to many elder's homes & ms's homes where the liquor cabinets rivaled something you might see perhaps behind a SALOON/BAR located at the Playboy Mansion. I also believe, and this is pure speculation on my part, that a few of our older elder's succumbed to diseases which were hastened by overindulgence in alcohol over a period of many years. This of course was all hush hush and again, a subject of gossip and conjecture which of course I NEVER participated in. But nevertheless; from what I witnessed about the witnesses is that they had a certain fondness for a brew or two, or three, or four, or five, or six.....etc. etc. etc.
Cheers .......Cathy L.
hiya everyone!!!
as we told you in our short intro, we decided that we had enough proof?
evidence?
Wow...Stephanie and Brandon...you are an inspiration to us all! Such a thoughtful and patient and loving way to "break" the news to your children (plus you all got ice cream; add bonus points for that!). Kid's are a lot smarter and wiser than most adults give them credit for. Now that you will all be off the JW "treadmill"...your little family will be so much closer and even more loving than you already seem to be. And who knows what may happen with the grandparents? They just might take it a whole lot better than you think...perhaps they themselves have doubts about the org. too and you may be the catalyst in helping them out! THINK POSITIVE! (And...if the worst does happen and they decide on the shunning routine; I lost my mom, brother & sister when we left after more than 40 years in the org...and somehow I'm living through it and feel it is THEIR loss, not mine.) Many grandparents are NOT willing to give up the precious relationship they have with their grandchildren, borg or no borg.
Hang in there...Cathy L.
you may be confronted with relatives and witness friends who annoy you, with self-righteous comments about "coming back.
to the 'truth' and other judgemental urgings.. suppose you replied "i forgive the watchtower society for the terrible things they've done, i need to do that so i can progess as a. spiritual person".. such a response might be very disarming - and difficult to counter.. witnesses generally reject the notion that the watchtower can ever do anything wrong - rationalizing that any cruelties they.
inflict are somehow part of a greater divine purpose.
Ahhhhhhhhh...such a very interesting subject metatron. Forgiveness. Well..I've actually been reading some books on forgiveness. I like a lot of the stuff about how if you don't forgive you're still a victim of the crime, etc. etc. But wanting to forgive and actually forgiving are two very different things. I would like to forgive; but when you've been so deeply wounded and there is no repentance on the part of those that have wounded you...I just don't know if it's possible.
I do agree with some posters here that it probably is easier to forgive individuals who are "brainwashed" by the watchtower...but the watchtower? I don't know. Jehovah (if he exists) doesn't just go around forgiving everyone...or why would there be the "second death" or whatever the heck all that stuff is in Revelation. (Man...shouldn't I remember that stuff after studying that Boooooooooooooooring book 3 timess??? Yuk, yuk and triple yuk.) And as far as I can see...the watchtower is an unrepentant murderer of innocent people through their teachings on blood, the Malawi stuff and people who just can't take it anymore and commit suicide and probably other things too numerous to mention. That IS unforgivable.
Most of the time I just wish I would get hit really hard on the head and get amnesia and maybe that would take care of everything! If you can't remember then you don't have to worry about forgiving or anything like that. Any volunteers? (to hit me over the head). Cathy L.
i've heard for years how we should really appreciate the circuit overseers and their wives for all that they give up to enter the circuit work... do you think that's true?
?
Heck...I'm gonna write this anyway even if it puts me in that dreaded "unthinking one's" category.
When we were active JW's we generally liked most of the CO's. This was when they mostly stayed at people's homes and did have to live a life "out of a suitcase". I never got close to any CO's wives...they usually hung around with the "in" clique at the hall because they were the ones most likely to have the big bucks and needed to suck up to get their husbands up the org. ladder.
But the last CO we encountered who was part of the catalyst of our leaving was the CO from HELL!! He didn't like anything here. Our hall has a CO's apartment built on and it was very nice. But this guy wanted it remodeled and expanded. New carpet, fixtures, furniture, the works. He needed a fence put up around his little yard so he could grill out in privacy. He had a converted VW bus that they used for vacations and camping trips, besides the new car provided by the circuit. He kicked the elder's out of their elder "sanctuary" (the interrogation room/holding cell) so he could use it as his own private office. Kept it locked at all times. He was a weasel of the first degree. Lied to us many times. Haughty. Only hung out with the elder's who had $$$. Had absolutely no tact. Would pick on anybody (except those who supported him materially) with his rude remarks and sarcasm. He put new meaning in the word boring speaker. If I ever see him again I'm gonna slap his face and give him the evil eye!!!
And even if he hadn't been involved in the crap that eventually led us out of the org...I would have thought the very same thing about him.
Minimus is my hero. HadEnuf (Thoughts from an empty head)
dear friends:.
what a pleasure it has been to browse this website over the past couple of years...first as a lurker and then as a member.
i now intend to "come out of the closet"...blow my cover and tell you my story (and i'm sticking to it!).
Helloooooooo Panda: You've got a good point there about writing a letter of DA...I do think that might put a final "nail in the coffin" so to speak. My husband really discourages me in this because his mother (89) is still a JW and has a heart condition and he thinks that it could adversely affect her health if I did this...you know, the SHAME of it all (and yet being a JW can't be so great for her health either). I do think that at some point I will finally DA myself...that is if they don't DF me first. My last letter to the "Depends Club" in New York was pretty nasty and who knows what they might do with that??? Oh dear...what's a girl to do?
Onacruse...Helloooooooo to you...I keep hearing this point about hanging on to that old literature and I think it is a valid point. Maybe this fall when it cools off I'll venture out into out shed (that place really scares the heck out of me; even without all that watchtower literature in there)...and sort through some of it and put it in some garbage barrels to protect it from vermin and eight legged creatures. My husband is actually the one who wanted to keep it...but we will think on what you said about perhaps "donating" it to a good anti-JW cause! Thanks for the suggestions!
Greetings Rayzorblade...we love Canada...we don't get up there very often; and only across the Minnesota border...but it is so beautiful up there! Thank you for your response to my posting
Hi Jesika! It really is nice to have a new family, so to speak, here at this website. It pains me to hear of all the damage done to people by the org...but it also has given me hope that you can recover and live life like you've never known you could! It is an ongoing process though. Some days I find myself still angry; other days I do my happy dance for being free! When I first came to this site it would only get me riled up and mad all over again; and then gradually I realized that it was just a huge support group with super people and it was so much cheaper than having a psychiatrist...hahaha!! Nice to meet you too!! Cathy L.
my wife and i are new to this forum, and really, we're now new to life as well.
or rather, life is new to us, normal life that is.
i don't want to turn this into a novel (at least, not yet).
Welcome Brandon & Stephanie!!
It's gonna be a long, hard road out...but it's worth every painful step! I am shunned by my family for just trying to walk away and you know what? I don't really miss them that much! I know that sounds callous (spelling?), but true. It's really hard to feel affection for those who turn their backs on you. It hurts a lot at first...but I knew, along with my husband, that we were making the right decision. By not wavering in our course of leaving the JW's for once and for all...I am hoping that someday THEY will come to THEIR senses and get a little curious why we are standing firm for OUR beliefs. It is wonderful having a conscience that is at peace!
Keep your chins up! There are a lot of great people on this board with great advice and many shoulders to cry on!
Welcome again...HadEnuf aka Cathy Laszewski
comments you will not hear at the 8-24-03 wt study
wt article quotes are in
yes in their day 1914, 1925, 1975 were also "now so near" and it is 28 years after 1975.. wait with "holy acts of conduct".
Oh Blondie Oh Blondie!!! (HadEnuf is wildly waving her hand in the air to catch Blondie's attention)...May I please be excused to go VOMIT now??? Please, please, pretty please??? (oh no...I feel my lunch all coming back up...arghhhhhhhhhhhhh)
Oh how I look forward to watchtower studies now! Thanks Blondie! Cathy L.
dear friends:.
what a pleasure it has been to browse this website over the past couple of years...first as a lurker and then as a member.
i now intend to "come out of the closet"...blow my cover and tell you my story (and i'm sticking to it!).
Hey there Claude! Thanks for the comments...yes...it took me a while to take the plunge; but after a while you feel like you just aren't being honest with yourself by not just "outing" yourself. I have wavered back and forth about dissasociating myself (spelling?)...but why should I bother with that? That would be following their rules again just like I have for most of my life. AND where in the heck is that stuff in the bible?
You betcha..."Ain't no cult gonna keep us down"! Hmmmmmmmm...maybe we should put those lyrics to a song? We could have our own anti-witness songbook! Cathy L.
