hi folks,.
i'm doing some interesting research on the procedure of reinstatement back into the org.. if anyone here can relate how many months/years passed by from the time you got df'd, till the time you got reinstated, it would be very helpful.
also include how often elders met with you, if you attended meetings regularly during the time you were df'd, and if you approached the elders for reinstatement(and how many times you approached them), or they approached you.
Somebody,
Talk about enormous pressure on JW's. Did you read the posting about being "Magazine Conscious?" Good lord! They're asking everyone to make huge pests of themselves by constantly shoving a magazine in someone's face everywhere they go. That would make you popular with your neighbors and coworkers, wouldn't it?
I have been DF'd for 25 years and have never been approached by any elder about returning. I hope they think I dropped off the face of the earth!
HH
hi folks,.
i'm doing some interesting research on the procedure of reinstatement back into the org.. if anyone here can relate how many months/years passed by from the time you got df'd, till the time you got reinstated, it would be very helpful.
also include how often elders met with you, if you attended meetings regularly during the time you were df'd, and if you approached the elders for reinstatement(and how many times you approached them), or they approached you.
HalfWayThere,
Are you still attending meetings. What is your status at this time? Just curious.
people leave the wts,willingly or unwillingly(df).. what was that 'final straw' that told you "that's it...enough is enough..'.
thanks in advance.luv,tina.
'boycott shampoo!
In February of 1975, while the WT was preaching that the end of "this system of things" was emminently due in October 1975, they were also in dire need of a way to explain why so many individuals in other parts of world (ie., Asia) would die without ever having heard "the truth." I don't know if this was ever published in the WT, but at an assembly in February the brother who gave the main talk told us that Jehovah would destroy those people because they were beyond hope since they were so steeped in false religion. In short, it didn't matter if JW's preached to them or not. I finally had to accept what I had not dared to suspect -- the GB are nothing more than a group of sociopaths without an ounce of human compassion.
a new poster to this board claimed this is not an official witness site because of the flag displayed here.
one of the big jw problems has been with flags.
the right not to have to salute a flag has been claimed as a big freedom victory.
Hey, thanks for the info. This is interesting stuff!
as a witness what occupation did/do you hold?.
i was speaking with a friend of mine that is a former witness and we remarked about how many of us have worked in some sort of janitorial work.
After reading this thread, I'm convinced JW's must clean the office buildings of the entire world! At least one brother in every congregation I was in owned a cleaning business (usually employing naive young brothers for slave wages and no benefits). But that's "Jehovah's way," isn't it?
While in the borg, I worked for a finance company, then after my daughter was born, I stayed home and delivered throw-away papers for a few bucks (a true intellectual challenge, that was).
Now I work for Northrop Grumman (aerospace contractor on the F-14 program) as a Manufacturing scheduler, love my work, and am thrilled to be supporting the defense of my country.
I'm proud of all of you who went back to school! It's not easy.
you can hit witnesses with child screwers, un arse kissing, 1975 redux, etc.
etc.. you will influence people who do not have an emotional attachment or who have lost their emotional attachment to the society, but you won't get anywhere from people who still have that emotional attachment.. religion, including that of jehovah's witnesses is based on emotion not logic, so trying logic is a waste of time.. you have to get people emotionally detached by getting them emotionally attached to something besides the orgy.. flugs.
joel
Has anyone here read "The Road Less Traveled" by Scott Peck? I remember a passage in the book concerning belief systems and why they are so hard to change. To paraphrase: Everyone carries in his head a map of reality that is often locked into place early in life. Few people are up to the challenge of redrawing that map as it is painful to give up a cherished belief that has become part of you. People who are real grown-ups (good character, introspective, innately honest, nonjudgmental, etc.) have usually been raised in an atmosphere of unconditional love and acceptance and they may be up to challenge to redraw their maps. The org so drastically discourages personal growth and independent thought that these poor folks don't progress emotionally past adolescence, though they may walk, talk and act like adults. They are held by an emotional attachment and logic will not work.
the posts in the elders meeting thread got me thinking about this, so i've spun it off for into another thread.. were you ever 'counseled' because "some" in the congregation were disturbed by things you said/did/listened to/watched?.
here is just some of the stupid stuff that the elders brought me in on.
though they were usually handled through shepherding calls, not in the back room at the kh.. 1: because i decided to change my first and middle names.
In 1968 our CO counseled my sister and I, both teenagers, on the immodest length of our skirts (just grazing the kneecap). Back then ALL teenage girls wore mini-skirts except Witnesses and Holy Rollers. We stuck out like sore thumbs at school. You all know the drill. These days girls can wear skirts of nearly any length and be in fashion, but not back then! This brother complained he could see up our dresses when he stood on the podium (the little Jezebels that we were). My mother listened to his spiel, then quietly opened up on him. "Brother ____, what are you doing looking at my daughter's legs from the platform any way?" He was literally shocked speechless. Needless to say, my family was never popular with the elders and good little Witnesses were probably told to avoid us.
Farkel, I think I would have gone stark-raving mad as a kid without the solace of good ol' rock and roll, and that included the Beatles. As an adolescent you often feel that "music is your only friend." Has anyone ever noticed that elders comdemn any type of music they personally find distasteful as Satanic or worldly, but rationalize that their musical taste is okay. I remember one elder, a Norwegian immigrant, who had an affinity for Abba, a scandinavian group. The song "Fernando" was next to Godliness, but, of course, all other rock and roll was from the devil. Go figure.
ok bobsgirl got a bunch of advice, now i'd like to hear from the women.
our anniversary (27 years)is this weekend.
i've rented a place that has beach access and a hottub (on whidbey island for those in the seattle area).
Oh, Mr. Moe,
I think you're on to something. I like your style.
in one or two recent threads i've seen reference to the possibility of a rising number of jw suicides being another of the organization's very dark realities about which it is vigilant in keeping concealed from its pub populace.
is there anyone reasonably informed regarding this?
is there reason to suppose the incidence ratio among jws is any higher than among any peoples/religion?
First, I'd like to add a couple things to LDH's excellent list of things JW's aren't allowed to do (or at least are discouraged from doing):
-- Read anything but the Watchtower, Awake, or the newspaper (as long as it is done in "moderation"
-- Listen to anything but Kingdom songs or bland elevator music ..when I was counseled as a teenager for listening to "Satanic rock and roll" like Led Zep, I thought life was over as I knew it.
What dreary little lives witnesses lead.
Secondly, I knew of two suicides during my 12 years as a JW. Both were young men barely 20 years old -- and both blew their brains out with revolvers. One was the son of an overseer, and the other was the son of a hard-driving, beady eyed pioneer sister who loved to verbally skewer anyone who was "weak." The day after her son's funeral, she showed up the Sunday meeting with the rest of her family and sat in the front row like nothing happened.
My father, an "unbeliever", committed suicide when I was 18. The gathering at our home following his funeral was one of the strangest experiences of my life. Witnesses descended on us in the afternoon (and some of them very kindly brought casseroles and good intentions). However, most of them acted like they were attending a party. I suppose it's their peculiar mindset about death and the resurrection that makes them think people aren't entitled to grieve over a loved one. Ot is it that grieving over a loved one indicates that you love that person more than Jehovah? Anyway, I digress. My father's family (all nonwitnesses) showed up in the middle of our gathering and were highly offended and hurt by the party atmosphere. I was deeply ashamed in front of them that day.
here's a question i always wanted answered during the years i was a witness.
what's the best way to stay awake during the watchtower study?
oh, furthermore, what's the best way to stay awake during any witness "snooze-a-thon" brainwashing session?
I haven't been to a WT study in years and years, but I've been laughing my ass off reading all these anecdotes. And to think I wasn't squirming in my seat alone! One of the maddening policies of the org. is to force everyone to be a public speaker, regardless of whether he has talent or even the desire to stand on the podium. I saw so many poor brothers trying to deliver talks with shaking hands and sweat streaming from their foreheads. It was downright painful to behold. And soooo boring for the rest of us. All the speakers who had irritating speech mannerisms like repeating the same words over and over. That was one way I entertained myself -- counting the number of times our CO said "possibly this" and "possibly that." Maybe one brother in ten could give a decent public address.
BTW: I hated giving talks (I'm female by the way so was spared the humiliation of the podium) so much that I used to throw up my dinner in the bathroom.
