My mother was baptized and didn't attend a meeting for the last 30 years of her life. She never felt safe. She had 4 sisters and a brother-in-law and numerous nieces and nephews still in. But she never felt safe.
Scarred for life
JoinedPosts by Scarred for life
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18
How long is long enough to consider yourself safe?
by cherrypye infor those of us that were baptized and faded, how long do you think before we can stop worrying about being called in for a jc?
i've faded 13 years ago, but i still never answer an unknown phone number, don't answer a knock at the door unless a friend has told me they are on their way, etc.
also, i avoid giving anyone other than my mom my contact info and no one gets my address.. i could care less about avoiding a df, were it not for my family that is still in.
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Anyone from Rome Georgia?
by sherry123 inhi i am new and i have been df for years.......best thung that could have happen to me..
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Scarred for life
My husband grew up in Rome, GA. He has never been a JW. His parents still live there.
I also had a cousin who was married for many years to a guy from Rome, GA. They were both JWs. He still lives in my aunt's house in Anderson, SC and is now married to another woman.
I live in suburban Atlanta.
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50
What Would Bring The Watchtower Down?
by metatron inrandy/dogpatch has posted some interesting material about troubles in the organization.
this info generated a lot of skepticism about the possibility of watchtower fragmentation.
frankly, it is very easy to be skeptical considering everything that ordinary witnesses are willing to believe or put up with.. i think it would be useful to realistically consider what sort of event(s) would bring the watchtower down or cause its fragmentation?
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Scarred for life
It will all come down to money. I believe the WTS is already feeling a huge downward trend in donations. The economy is so bad and their members are so poorly educated and so strapped for time that they cannot get good jobs and are the first to be laid off. I'm sure the unemployment numbers for JWs is staggering.
The internet is already a factor. Any JWs with even a hint of doubts can quickly and secretly find out many things through a google search. These people will stop giving money because they will know that it's all a fraud even if they are still pretending to be JWs for family and social reasons.
Fewer and fewer young people are going to stay in this cult. They are just not going to put up with the totalitarian ways of the WTS. Young people are too aware of other ways of life.
I believe the WTS is already shrinking. I don't think it will come down in some sudden event.
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Will there ever be another defection from the GB?
by stuckinamovement inray franz decided to leave bethel and the governing body because he could not continue to promote or support the lies and half truths that were being told.
do you think that it is possible that one of the new boys might actually grow a pair of balls and stand up for what is true and reject what is false?.
there are so many doctrines that time has annulled.
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Scarred for life
If there is another one, he'll have an anchor tied around his neck at the bottom of the Hudson River. They won't let another one do any damage.
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Are some of you scared?
by BlackTwisted inare some of you scared that armageddon may be coming anytime?
lol.
just the thought and the picture in your head that anybody can get killed....>.<.
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Scarred for life
No, I am not scared about Armageddon at all. That is a terrible fantasy made up by the WTBTS. It did scare me as a child. But I haven't thought one thing about it since 1975.
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What made you start questioning: people or doctrine?
by In inlet us know what got you questioning wbts in the first place.
i've got a theory that it starts with people hurting us and only then does the "apostate" turn to looking at the beliefs.. anybody who started questioning beliefs first?.
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Scarred for life
If I had to choose one, the people made me question and want to leave this cult. But the doctrine was wacko too and I knew it. By the time I was 14 there were things said in meetings and watchtowers that were just bonkers and it was starting to seem like a big bad joke. But the people were what really made me leave and run away to never return.
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Anyone remember the stupidist of talks?
by letsslatejws ini remember a talk being devoted to use of the correct grammatical pronunciation of words.
in fact any elder or brother for that matter who didnt use the correct pronunciation was viewed as illiterate and dorky so the congregation snubbed them.... i remember the word machinations (of the devil) and the emphasis that it should be pronounced mack in nations.... another one was.
behove was meant to be pronounced 'behoooved'.
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Scarred for life
I very specifically remember the heart/emotion talk or WT study. I was 14 years old. We were visiting my JW relatives in Anderson, SC. I was starting to wake up but I was VERY confused since I had been raised since birth as a JW. I thought this was the STUPIDEST most IGNORANT, most UNacademic article and talk I had ever heard. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. And everybody was just sitting there nodding there heads and agreeing with it.
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Is it socially and professionally acceptable to drink a beer during your lunch break?
by miseryloveselders ini've been watching my alcohol intake for dietary reasons.
i've been limiting my consumption to a small half glass of vodka, or a shot or two of bourbon.
alcohol just doesn't do well with the gains i want to make working out.
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Scarred for life
No.
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20
My Story: Short Version
by In ini... well, i need to face this fear that someone will read my story and know who i am and harrass me.
there are enough distinctive things about my story that who i am is pretty easy to identify, if you know me.. so, here goes.. i was raised as a witness.
my dad was abusive.
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Scarred for life
Welcome to the board!
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14
then and now 40 years later
by bigmac ini want to put "pen to paper" so to speak, comparing what i left behind as a young jw man 40 years ago, with what ive been reading on this site.. i cant include everything in 1 post, so please put up with me while i compile my recollections.. this is not a hate-filled diatribe, but hopefully a worthwhile comparison.
i grew up as a jw, being baptised at 14, left school at 15, started pioneering at 17.. the congregation i spent 5 years in, 1966-71, brings back many fond memories, the most important being the love we all shared for each other.. the emphasis was on helping one another; circuit servant visits were eagerly looked forward to, assemblies a treat.. very occasionally, someone might slip up & sin.
usually it involved sex, most times the person was put on probation ( ever heard that word?).
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Scarred for life
I'm just saying that in the congregation that I was in from 1967-1973 and my parents and sister were in all the way until 1978 there were no get-togethers or music and fellowship. The elders in that congregation did not think that was important and created cliques and dissension. They were very paranoid about anyone disagreeing with their rules or interpretations or judicial decisions. This is my experience. I realize that other people's experienes are different. Maybe the Commonwealth Avenue Congregation in Charlotte, NC was a foreshadowing of things to come over the whole cult.