Posts by VIII

31

Knocking on doors.....How successful is it?

by Quirky1 in

jw
friends

i found this to be pretty unsuccessful during my time since i was a jw.

i actually had my interest sparked with the jw's by family members and freinds that were jw's.. were you a statistic of the knock at the door?.

VIII

Being born and raised in the Troof, I can say I never sold one magazine set. (that is when we actually sold them; they cost .05-.10 cents a piece and a cute little kid couldn't sell a set)

I never was able to garner any interest in the mags or the books. Granted, I missed the doorbell when my Service Mate wasn't looking and it was my turn to push the bell (wink, wink) or, I would very lightly tap the door if the door bell couldn't be found. My fervent hope was that no one would come to the door. Why? It might be a school-mate and I would be supremely humiliated. Even more than going to school every day and not saying the Pledge or participating in birthday parties.

My Mother has had some Bible Studies with numerous people over the years. Zero have resulted in baptism. Zero. This is in 40 years of pounding on doors. Zero. If she were doing this for a job with an evaluation, she'd be fired. (I would have quit-and did as soon as I could)

I see the Mormon young men on their bikes and with their ties and bike helmets and wonder why I recognize immediatly that they are Mormon and when they will get to my street. Then I wonder why the JWs are less recognizable unless it is at a Dunkin Donuts on a Saturday morning?

The Mormons are doing something right that the Dubs are missing in their sales approach and in their recruitment methods. I don't want the Dubs or the Mormons to grow. They are both Fundy groups from Hell. However, the Dubs could learn something from the Mormon playbook.

23

Pieces Lost

by SeekingSanity in

jw
friends

how do i begin this... i feel like pouring my heart out about something that is bothering me.

i'm getting older.

you know when we were young, we were given hope.

VIII

Hi SS and welcome!

I am sorry you are lost and feeling so badly.

First, I hope you give yourself time to heal from your divorce. I am guessing that you are recently divorced. Healing from that takes time.

Leaving a mind-controlling organization which has told you, convinced you, that *Worldly* people are evil and cannot be trusted is a double whammy.

You will need to give yourself time to meet new people.

A great place to meet new people is through volunteering. Anywhere. The American Heart Association. Habitat for Humanity. A soup kitchen. You not only have time to not reflect on only your problems, you get to meet *Worldly* people who really are selfless and helping people as no JW would ever do. For free.

Lots of women, young old, pretty, not so pretty, widowed, divorced, single, etc., volunteer. They do it for the satisfaction of helping others. That says a lot for someone's character.

As for JW women being loyal, honest and "honorable", all I can say is that I would put my female JW relatives up as examples of all that is wrong with that Borg. They are dis-loyal, liars, hypocritical, mean, petty, etc. I pity the man who might marry any of them. Perhaps being told they need to be in "Subjection" has gone to their head and they are rebelling in the only way they know how.

32

Hello! I am no longer a Lurker!

by VIII in

jw
friends

i have been reading the board for months and have been waiting to join!

thanks for allowing new members.

i was a jw.

VIII

I came across this site a few years ago and would read it on and off. It seemed the easiest to navigate of the various Ex-JW web sites. I would think about registering to respond to something and then realize someone already said what I had to say.

I decided to register when the site allowed new members due to the nature of the e-mails and phone calls I have been getting. They have stepped up the Great Trib and Armageddon stuff in the last 6 months like I can't believe. Getting some more objective responses would be great. I have resorted to grunting lately.

92

Now Some Witnesses Are Buying Backpacks To Get Ready For The Great Tribulation!

by minimus in

jw
friends

some witnesses are making sure they're ready for the great day.

i've heard certain family members are getting supplies ready including 5 gallons of water, cans of food that can be opened without a can opener, and other "survival" stuff.

they have figured that since the awake (i think) reported how the "friends" got ready for hurricane katrina, they too must be ready for survival when the storm of armageddon rains down.. what will they think of next?.

VIII

Funny stuff.

I tried bringing up the point that since The Big Jah will be destroying all the man made things and all the materialistic things the JWs put down, why oh why would he leave up, cell phone towers? The electric grid? Nuclear power plants? All those man made things that make the world go around?

Oh, lest I forget, the Internet? How will all of these things run during the Great Trib Mom? She has no answer except "Jehovah will provide" (JWP) and when pressed on what will happen in the aftermath, as in where will she and the others live, she said "JWP". Standard, canned response.

I then asked what her cats will eat? They, being carnivores, need meat. Not vegetables. Meat. She said Jehovah will make animals all perfect like in the Garden of Eden and they (the cats) will know what to eat.

So, the cats will make it through.

I won't apparently.

18

Being a Jehovah's Witness - What did it do to your mind?

by jambon1 in

jw
friends

i was raised in a non religious household that was very stable & loving.. through circumstances, i bacame a jw.. .

during the 10 years that i had the misfortune to practice the religion, my young energetic & happy.

mind became negative, worried & depressed.. .

VIII

If you have a mental illness it will make it worse.

If you don't have one, you might get one.

If you weren't angry, distrusting and of the belief that everyone who isn't a JW is out to get you, you will be after a few months of In Home Book Study.

And Saturday Morning Field Service? Who honestly enjoyed that?

32

Hello! I am no longer a Lurker!

by VIII in

jw
friends

i have been reading the board for months and have been waiting to join!

thanks for allowing new members.

i was a jw.

VIII

I really appreciate the Welcomes. Thank you all.

I want to clarify the "nuttiness" I refer to above: I get the craziest e-mails from my family. All referring to Armageddon, The Great Tribulation, etc. Some of the stuff in them would get them referred to a mental hospital. For lock up, not just treatment. I'm talking full out crazy talk. Tom Cruise would be proud.

I try to reason that they are in full control of a cult, yet, I just can't wrap my mind around how they can not only believe that stuff, but type it out and hit the send button.

I also get the phone calls. They say similar stuff. I hang up the phone and yell into a pillow.

So, when I come here and read stories like mine, I realize "I am not alone". That is good.

24

Greetings!

by viva in

new here, lurked for a while, glad to be able to join.. my introduction from jw recovery:.

"i am new to the board, so a short introduction is in order.

i am 26 years old and just out for about a month (update: four and a half months).

VIII

Hi viva and welcome to the board! I am a newbie also, though I left the dubs years ago.

Congrats on your escape and on your education.

16

Only 37% of people raised as JW's stay JW's when adult.....

by My Struggle in

jw
friends

this comes from a religious study of several faiths which included jehovah's witnesses.

there is a ton of data in this research and there are several things that are very interesting about jw's especially when compared with other denominations/faiths.

you can do a basic search of the study here http://religions.pewforum.org/portraits .

VIII

OMG is that true! I left, my sibling left, a couple of cousins who never were baptized left, a couple of cousins who are baptized are still in and more hardline than ever. The cousins kids refuse to go. They think the dubs are nuts.

32

Hello! I am no longer a Lurker!

by VIII in

jw
friends

i have been reading the board for months and have been waiting to join!

thanks for allowing new members.

i was a jw.

VIII

Thanks for the Welcomes!

Every time I speak with my aunts, cousins or Mom, JW stuff comes up. I can't escape it. Yet, with *worldly* people, religion never, ever comes up in standard, everyday conversation. That is the weird thing about Jdubs which I can't escape. When I see caller ID and see one of their phone numbers I sigh and do a mental dance of "do I answer it or don't I? What Great Trib story am I going to hear today?"

Then I am happy that talk to me. Then I regret that they do. It is driving me crazy.

And I have been out for 20 years.

Sigh

32

Hello! I am no longer a Lurker!

by VIII in

jw
friends

i have been reading the board for months and have been waiting to join!

thanks for allowing new members.

i was a jw.

VIII

Hello! I have been reading the board for months and have been waiting to join! Thanks for allowing new members.

I was a JW. All of my family on my maternal side still is. My paternal side never was save for a few who went to the meetings on and off. I was baptized as a young teen (13, like many here) and faded in my late teens. Again, like many of the stories I have read here.

For some reason I can't quite put my finger on my JW family still will speak to me and e-mails me regularly.

Overall I have had very similar experiences to many, if not most people here. I grew up in the time when Armageddon was going to happen in 1975 so I was prepared for the Great Tribulation to start and Paradise to begin soon after I was baptized. When it didn't happen I was relieved on one hand but greatly disappointed on the other. (I really wanted to pet a lion~LOL!)

I have come to a basic understanding with my Mother; we have agreed to not discuss religion. I do save her e-mails in a file for the future, just in case she ever decides to leave them.

This religion has caused numerous problems for my family. The shunning, the distrust, the complete nuttiness it seems to bring out in people just has to be experienced to be believed. That is where boards like this are important. Unless you have lived through it and continue to experience it, you just can't understand it.

Thanks again for opening up registration!