Posts by Hopscotch

48

Were YOU A "Good" Jehovah's Witness?

by minimus in

jw
friends

when you look back, were you considered a "good" jw?

?.

Hopscotch

Absolutely yes. Up until the last bit when we started fading. Always regular at meetings, field service, aux pioneered from time to time. Elder's wife. Gave impromtu stand in talks. Generous to those in need. Well known for my hospitality. Made meals for the sick. Visited those in hospital. on and on and on the list goes - really thought I was doing the right thing. What a fool I was - so much of my life wasted. Then when things unravelled a bit and I needed help because of illness with parents and in-laws, hubby sick etc no one wants to know me because I wasn't as "Good" anymore!

Hopscotch

43

so why do we do this???

by oompa in

jw
friends

why?........is it therapy or revenge?....or wanting to save others from the real truth?..what else is there?...........i feel all three...and why do i so want to help others...does not evryone have a right to their own belief?.......oompa.

Hopscotch

oompa of the dots.....thank you for asking us this.

I lurked on here for quite a while last year when we made the decision to actually look at 'apostate' sites and see what we could find out. This was after hubby and I had pretty well decided after 40 years that we were leaving the WT. So we came to this forum and were shocked by the info we found out such as the UN thing, the pyramids and Russell etc etc. Then we read the stories of mistreatment etc by the WT and were disgusted. Then I found out that I was normal for thinking the way I had been - that I wasn't spiritually sick or demonised etc etc - hundreds and thousands felt the same way about the organisation. Then when my family gave me an ultimatum - return to JW's or they would shun me - I came looking for help in what to say. Then after they cut me off - it was for support. Reading that so many others were going through the same was a comfort. Now reading the posts on here and another JW forum and somtimes posting helps me vent my anger and disgust at an organisation that tears apart close families. Also it gives me hope of building a normal happy life after over 40years as a witness. It's a good deprogramming tool.

Hopscotch

41

How common is swinging among JWs?

by JimmyPage in

jw
friends

my wife and i recently heard about two couples we know who switched partners in the past.

we then got to talking about a different couple we ate dinner with a while back who i thought gave off the vibe of wanting to swing.

my wife said she got that vibe too... thus the question: how common is this in wt-land?.

Hopscotch

Mattieu - hi. Hint as to where I live - "beautiful one day, perfect the next", "where else but Queensland!". I actually live just north of Brisbane and at the moment the weather is perfect up here - beautiful clear sunny days and cool nights. I wonder if it was all the peanuts as well as Flo's pumpkin scones that did for the swingers in Kingaroy!.

Hopscotch

41

How common is swinging among JWs?

by JimmyPage in

jw
friends

my wife and i recently heard about two couples we know who switched partners in the past.

we then got to talking about a different couple we ate dinner with a while back who i thought gave off the vibe of wanting to swing.

my wife said she got that vibe too... thus the question: how common is this in wt-land?.

Hopscotch

There was some wife swapping going on in the Kingaroy, Queensland area (Australia) in the late 70's/early 80's. I was told this personally by the elder and his wife who were sent up there to sort it out.

Hopscotch

99

April 15th WT- Satan = Apostates = Critical Towards Brothers = Shun Them

by flipper in

jw
friends

wow.

and so the wt society tightens down the screwdriver a bit more !

one of my wife and my lurking jw friends sent us this article which has some very pointed words in it inciting all jehovah's witnesses to take an even harder line view of apostates in this recent april 15th wt.. on pg.

Hopscotch

Flipper this article is disgusting and insulting. How dare they say that those who will not stand back and keep quiet about the lies, injustice and hypocrisy going on in the WT organisation are basically sons of Satan and are displaying characteristics of the devil. This is all the ammo that our families who are shunning us need to feel vindicated in what they are doing to us. It's sick. And they keep getting away with this type of thing.

Hopscotch

12

Sorry! I decided to return to the Kingdom Hall!

by sacolton in

jw
friends

i woke this morning and realized that i'm really missing the truth, so i've decided to just go back being a jehovah's witness.

things will be different this time.

i'm going to stop questioning and just accept everything i'm told and attend all the meetings.

Hopscotch

OK sacolton I will stop questioning everything and go back like you suggested. What a great idea. Oh I just realised it is well past midday over here in Australia, but what has the time and date of your suggestion got to do with an idea like this I wonder? LOL

(Good one by the way)

Hopscotch

24

After you left JWs, did you join another organized religion?

by Albert Einstein in

jw
friends

if yes, how did you choose it?.

if no, why?.

albert.

Hopscotch

No and I never ever would - I will never again give a man made organization authority over my spiritual life.

Hopscotch

20

Who knows of an Annointed one getting Disfellowshipped?

by annalice in

jw
friends

ok ,so if new annointed ones can still come about , who here has ever heard of any annointed ones in their congregation or surrounding congregations getting disfellowshipped or simply fading out of the organization.

thus allowing some new annointed one to take their place?.

and if someone says "hey i am annointed" do they have to check with bethal who then checks a list or something to see if there is a annointed one somewhere in the world who just got d'fd?.

Hopscotch

During the 1970s we had an elderly annointed brother (in his 70s) in our congregation who was disfellowshipped for disagreeing with things about the organisation. It caused a huge stir because he was very well known all over the city as he had been of the annointed for decades. Eventually he was reinstated, but I can't remember whether he was still referred to as annointed after that.

Hopscotch

38

Today at the meeting we got a gift from Jehovah!

by Albert Einstein in

today at the meeting we were told by the co, that we got a gift three months ago!

the gift we got is the one more free evening weekly, because of the new meeting arrangement.

this gift was given to us by jehovah through faithfull an discreet slave.

Hopscotch

Does that mean that Jehovah feels 'worldly' people are even more deserving of his gifts because they get seven free nights a week to do as they choose.

Hopscotch

42

Does Coming To This Site Make You Feel Better?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i recognized, when i first started searching the web, that there are tons of information regarding jehovah's witnesses.

most is negative toward the religion.. coming onto jwd/jwn gives one a different perspective.

you get to interact with those thinking about leaving, those who have already left and even some who never were in the cult but are fascinated by the experiences of those that were in the "truth".. when you are on this site, how does it affect you??

Hopscotch

I have to say that coming to this site has made me feel much better on many occasions. When I first found this site around the second half of last year, my husband and I had been fading for a couple of years and had just started looking on the internet for information about the history of the organisation. That was a real eye opener in itself. However, it was the posts I read on this site that made me realise that I wasn't the only one who thought the way I did about the beliefs I had been inculcated with during my 40 years as a JW. Reading the comments here made both my husband and I feel much more 'normal' about the way we felt about the organisation as well as giving us even more insight into the scandals and coverups going on in JW land. It was on this site that I first read about the WTS involvement with the UN. By that time we had decided we were never ever going back to the meetings, in fact last year we missed the memorial for the first time.

I would have liked to join the forum then, but by that stage it was closed for new registrations. However, I kept on reading more and more of the older threads as well as keeping up with the new ones. Doing this gave me much reassurance that it was OK to feel the way I did, that I wasn't evil or bad or any of the other names I knew I would be branded with (and eventually was) when my family found out we were not going back. It was in January this year that things came to a head with my family. I emailed PurpleSofa for help and she posted my request for help here - the replies I received on this forum gave me a lot of courage to stand up to my father (a staunch elder) and say "No we are not coming back". My brother had sent a letter in December saying he was shunning us, now Dad said the same thing. My sister also now shuns us. Those few weeks around that time were emotionally tumultuous to say the least, so being able to read on here of others who went through or are going through the same thing and how they coped was an enormous help to us.

So thank you Simon for making this forum possible and to everyone on here for the support you give to others.

Hopscotch