amama2six

Joined

• started 14 topics
• posted 363 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by amama2six

• 
  18

  Out of Body Experiences

  by amama2six in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i know there's been some talk of paranormal...but i wanted to be more specific with my post.

  i am going to admit to something i have only recently come to realize about my time being raised as a jw.

  blame it on selective memory (or lack of much memory at all).

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  amama2six

  No doubt...I can't say I didn't do a little bit of my own oogling at the brothers (and sisters) in the congregation from my happy little perch. :P
• 
  18

  Out of Body Experiences

  by amama2six in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i know there's been some talk of paranormal...but i wanted to be more specific with my post.

  i am going to admit to something i have only recently come to realize about my time being raised as a jw.

  blame it on selective memory (or lack of much memory at all).

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  amama2six

  I know there's been some talk of paranormal...but I wanted to be more specific with my post. I am going to admit to something I have only recently come to realize about my time being raised as a JW. Blame it on selective memory (or lack of much memory at all). I had out of body experiences WEEKLY as a child each time I went to Kingdom Hall. I never knew they were wrong, or even that they were "unusual". As a youth many of the "talks" were kind of boring to me, and I "tranced out" to survive the experience quietly. During these "trances" I would "leave my body" and fly up to the ceiling of the KH...shooting forward to the stage above the speaker, where I would look down on him giving his message. I would actually pay better attention to what he was saying this way. I can distinctly recount in my mind what these "brothers", the hall, the other "witnesses", and pretty much EVERYTHING looked like from the rafters looking down. I'm not sure when I stopped doing this (I cannot repeat the act though I have tried as an adult) but still remember most of the meetings (at least visually) from this position. The closest I can come now is the "falling out of bed" feeling where you jerk as the separation of mind and body begins to happen (yes, I've done some reading on it). Was I demonized, crazy, or did I just have a unique way of coping with the immense stress bestowed on me at the time? Even I don't know...but if I was demonized then I'd think I'd be even MORE so now...yet I can't repeat what I did back then.
• 
  8

  Hopefully this is a long time away but...

  by JimmyPage in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i hope ray franz lives on for many more years.

  however, if he were to pass i was just thinking.

  wouldn't it be great if a huge crowd showed up to his service?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  amama2six

  From what I have read Ray Franz is very modest and uncomfortable with praise...hence some people's skepticism about him being comfortable with a "mass apostofest" held in his town (mentioned in another thread).

  My belief is that it depends on the way this gathering would be planned and the way people at it would conduct themselves. Having a crazy party? No. Showering Franz with praise and compliments? No. A gathering of people celebrating their personal "freedom" and "awakening" modestly, perhaps seeking more information, and a general feeling of warmth and love for all (including Franz)? Maybe.
• 
  40

  I Live For Today - No Longer Fear the Future- After Exiting the Witnesses

  by flipper in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as some know here - i was born in the witnesses .

  raised in it and stayed in for 44 long years !

  i don't believe in armageddon.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  amama2six

  I really think I'll go back to the meetings so I can get my sprititual batteries recharged. They're D cells so it might take some doing.

  John...that sounds like D-cell-eration to me! :P
• 
  23

  *** Your thoughts on Apostate Literature ***

  by FlyingHighNow in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  when they'd warn us at every circuit assembly not to read apostate literature, remember how they'd tell us if we received it in the mail, to throw it away immediately?

  what thoughts went through your mind?.

  mine were: "i don't think i can throw it away.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  amama2six

  LOL John I was too! My great-grandmother gave me a stuffed monkey with a plastic face and hands (one hand had the thumb out that it could "suck" in it's mouth). I'm pretty sure she got it at a yard sale (she was a non-JW).

  ANYHOW, I don't know what the hell happened to me, I don't believe I was dreaming because I pinched myself and it hurt...but one night I woke up and looked over at my toybox (which was illuminated by my rainbow night light). On the very top of the pile I saw the monkey, almost appearing to be on a platform, very slowly spinning around. It freaked the CRAP out of me!!! Like I said I pinched myself and when it hurt I dove under the covers in fear until I finally fell back to sleep. The next morning I found it under some crap in the toybox like it should have been.

  Also, I was DEATHLY afraid of the dark for the LONGEST time. I kinda still am for no good reason. Back then, though, I would turn off my light and sprint across the room into my bed...fearful that the demons under it would grab my legs and take me to "Jehovah knows where"!!! LOL
• 
  15

  Was there ever a thread on the circuit assembly in 07 about the Do's talk?

  by IreallydidwalkoutofaKH in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the last assembly i attended was in 07. the do spoke about pushing and shoving and forcing the children to become bapticed!

  i really was actually concerned not mad or angry but just concerned.

  i think that was when i realized you have to either move on or become a part of the congregation and do your best to salvage whatever good there is in the congregations.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  amama2six

  A little more on the "fun and exciting" part of baptism...

  We had little to celebrate as kids. Birthday came and went with nothing to show for it. Progressing in the organization was the only recognition you were EVER going to get...so you strove for it.

  I received gifts for my baptism...a pen from an older brother with my name engraved on it, a heart-shaped necklace from my best friend at the time, a locket from my parents, lots of cards and a letter filled with praise and encouragement...a child who has almost nothing else celebrated in their life will eat this up like a bucket of candy and that's exactly what I did. I was so badly in need of self-esteem by that point I would have done anything to get it. How many "worldly" (or should I say "normal") children remember the exact birthday presents they got when they were nine years old? Probably not many. Yet this was such a hallmark moment in my life that I remember them all.

  I kept these things to myself for far too long. I did not want to be "apostate"...even long after leaving the organization. But if being "apostate" means finally expressing my TRUE FEELINGS about what happened during those years, feelings I had AT THOSE TIMES (not made up NOW) and for years to follow...then I guess it's about darn time I became one.
• 
  15

  Was there ever a thread on the circuit assembly in 07 about the Do's talk?

  by IreallydidwalkoutofaKH in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the last assembly i attended was in 07. the do spoke about pushing and shoving and forcing the children to become bapticed!

  i really was actually concerned not mad or angry but just concerned.

  i think that was when i realized you have to either move on or become a part of the congregation and do your best to salvage whatever good there is in the congregations.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  amama2six

  Oh that's definitely what I'm saying. The GB may be dead wrong about a lot of things but one thing they know well is that getting these kids baptized young is a good way to keep them in long after they would have left if they were NOT baptized.

  They really got me good. I was a very smart kid...straight A student with great memory...and answering their baptismal questions was easy. Apparently "knowing all the answers" is equivalent to "understanding what they mean", according to them. Hate to break it to them...but it's not. Of course I think they know that already. They actually make it easy for these kids to be "mature" for their age! Have them studying early on...then doing field service and theocratic ministry talks...taking notes at meetings weekly...study some more. You start that crap from the time these kids can read and you got them hook line and sinker a few years later. It's all they know and they're so brainwashed of COURSE they're going to know all the answers. Couple that with baptism made to look so FUN and EXCITING (in an organization where kids don't get much fun and excitement) and you have a nice recipe for a kid committing before they have the chance to get a "mind of their own".

  *claps for GB*
• 
  23

  *** Your thoughts on Apostate Literature ***

  by FlyingHighNow in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  when they'd warn us at every circuit assembly not to read apostate literature, remember how they'd tell us if we received it in the mail, to throw it away immediately?

  what thoughts went through your mind?.

  mine were: "i don't think i can throw it away.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  amama2six

  I felt the same way (from a youth's perspective). I was actually pretty curious but at the same time WAY too scared to actually seek the "apostate literature" out. Had it landed in my hands somehow, however, I would have looked.

  Speaking of apostates and the view pushed on us...I would see the protesters outside the conventions each year and wonder why they were so upset. We were to avoid them at all costs, to ignore their words and not read their picket signs, of course. I did read some but at the time was too young to really understand what they were saying to us. We didn't have the internet back then like we do now or I may have dug a little deeper.
• 
  15

  Was there ever a thread on the circuit assembly in 07 about the Do's talk?

  by IreallydidwalkoutofaKH in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the last assembly i attended was in 07. the do spoke about pushing and shoving and forcing the children to become bapticed!

  i really was actually concerned not mad or angry but just concerned.

  i think that was when i realized you have to either move on or become a part of the congregation and do your best to salvage whatever good there is in the congregations.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  amama2six

  They want to get these kids "committed" before they have the mental (and physical) capacity to fully understand what they're doing. It was EASY for me at nine years old (when I was baptized) to say I would not fornicate, marry outside the organization, masturbate, etc. I had yet to even have the DESIRE to do any of those things yet! Four years later I hit full-on puberty and WHOOSH...the real meaning of my "committment" started to become apparent. Unfortunately I couldn't take back my promise even though I'd made it before full understanding. Instead I was reproved at 16 for "sinning", then DFed at 18 for leaving to continue on in "sin".

  Some things I wish I knew at nine years old...

  What sexual desires WERE.

  What suppressing them COMPLETELY before marriage would actually be LIKE.

  That the chances of finding a sane, attractive "Brother" to marry were slim to NONE.

  These little facts would have greatly affected my decision...meaning I would NEVER have gotten baptized! I didn't see anything about the talk but I just joined here about four days ago. It certainly doesn't surprise me, though. Get them young, before they know what they're doing, so by the time they DO know what they did it's too late to just walk away without severe penalty (loss of all family and friends associated with the congregation...a frighteningly new and uncharted life begun ALONE). It's easier to keep those kids in than it is to bring in new adult recruits.
• 
  59

  I've been studying JW for 6 months. Please help..

  by fb130 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'm still trying 2 figure out if this is a pro or anti jw forum but here goes..

  i started studying jw 6 months ago & i do feel i'm growing.

  i think at the rate things are going i'll b babtised in another 6 months.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  amama2six

  Welcome to the board! I have only been here a few days, myself, but from what I can tell there is a mix of ex-JWs, inactive JWs, JWs that want to leave but are feeling the pressure to stay for fear of losing their families, active JWs with some minor doubts, and fully active JWs (very few of these).
  
  I will let someone else answer you on the UN issue as I am still learning all of this myself, I left the organization 12 years ago (raised JW...left at 18) but am just now educating myself on the true nature of the organization.
  
  I am glad you are here asking questions! Too many go in blindly without knowing all the facts. Whether or not you choose to go through with your baptism, at least you will be well-informed of what that decision will mean for you.
  
  *Hugs* ~April