Posts by happpyexjw

39

Hello there...

by IronHill in

hello everyone.... honestly i dont know how to start my first post.

i have been an avid reader of jwd for some time now, and now have decided to say hello.

i was raised as a witness, and have been baptized for 17 years.

gimme a break!

by stillin in

jw
friends

it's persecution, i tell ya!

ok, so i went out in service yesterday, ok, so i went to a meeting today.

i'm not ready to just chunk out everything i've believed even if there's a lot wrong with the picture.

StillIn, I admire your sense of ethics, despite the fact that you now know you were lied to. That being said, you will have to sort things out for yourself and it all will take some time. Forums like this one can sure help with the process. I faded out in 1990, before boards like this existed. I didn't know of anyone else who had done the same thing, so for me it was uncharted waters, so to speak. There are many here who will support and respect you as the individual you are, with a unique set of circumstances.

Best of luck to you as you find your way out of the WTS, if that is what you want to do.

47

WTS causing more anguish

by GapingMouth in

i don't really know where to start on my first post; i feel i have so much to say and yet i am so emotionally tired that it is hard to go through it all again in my head.

but, i do need support and advice and so i will make the effort.. i started having doubts about certain beliefs of the witnesses about 2 years ago and did research since that i now come to the belief there is no god, and witnesses definitely are a cult.. at first it bothered me more on the god issue, but now i am more bothered by the cult issue, mainly because it dictates my life even though i am aware of it.. when i was a child, my mother and father divorced and my mother told me i will live with my father because she was going to die at armageddon being a non witness.

i think, as well as many other pressures i cant list for fear of a very long post, this was the main pressure that made me get baptized even though i wasn't that happy being a witness.

happpyexjw

Come on folks...this is not the place for a a nasty fight! Gaping Mouth came here for support and advice, not to watch other posters argue about their particular ideas on religion or the lack thereof. He politely requested that his thread not be hijacked and here we are with a hijacked post.

Gaping Mouth, I hope you will return here and pick out the posters who are able to give you the support and ideas that are useful to you in your situation. Having loved ones still in the WTS is very difficult and no two people have handled it the same way. What is right for one person may not work for you, but at least it will give you some ideas about what to expect. I agree with Oompa, who has a believing spouse - slow down and take a deep breath.

Most importantly, know that you are not alone in your struggle. There are thousands of JWs who wish to leave and are in various stages of accomplishing that. Many of them are posters here, but there are others as well. I send you my best wishes as you plot your course.

Mary

47

WTS causing more anguish

by GapingMouth in

i don't really know where to start on my first post; i feel i have so much to say and yet i am so emotionally tired that it is hard to go through it all again in my head.

but, i do need support and advice and so i will make the effort.. i started having doubts about certain beliefs of the witnesses about 2 years ago and did research since that i now come to the belief there is no god, and witnesses definitely are a cult.. at first it bothered me more on the god issue, but now i am more bothered by the cult issue, mainly because it dictates my life even though i am aware of it.. when i was a child, my mother and father divorced and my mother told me i will live with my father because she was going to die at armageddon being a non witness.

i think, as well as many other pressures i cant list for fear of a very long post, this was the main pressure that made me get baptized even though i wasn't that happy being a witness.

happpyexjw

GapingMouth, welcome to the board. I'm sad to hear of your struggle. Many of the posters here have had similar experiences and will be here to support you in your situation. Whether to believe in an Almighty God or not is up to you based on your own research and how it fits into your life. No one here or anywhere else, for that matter, can tell you what you should believe. After all, that is the very thing from which you seek to escape right now.

For many of us, beginning to truly see the destructiveness of the WTS beliefs was a time of exhiliration and fear at the same time. While it is liberating to shed many of the beliefs that have held us back from leading a normal life, it is also scary at times to try and fit into the real world. When we have loved ones who are part of this cult it is even more difficult.

Spend some time here absorbing the experiences of others and take your time before making any big decisions about what to do next. You are not alone my friend - thousands of others are also trying to make their exit in their own way. What works for you may be entirely different than what works for someone else. I wish you peace and good luck.

21

What type of person makes a good JW?

by Sour Grapes in

jw
friends

i know many hundreds of jw's and there are several common.

threads that tie them together.. 1. they were born into the truth and got married, had.

children and now have deep jw family ties.. 2. people who are so gullible that they believe everything.

happpyexjw

I don't think all of these apply to everyone, but there are definitely some points to ponder here.

20

Have you ever fell from the roof or do you know someone that fell from the roof?

by asilentone in

how long does it take for someone to recover from that kind of fall?.

happpyexjw

Two guys. First one was a contractor who fell off the roof and landed in a tree with just a few bumps and bruises. The other one wasn't so lucky. He was taking down his Christmas lights and fell face first. He had some nasty facial fractures and a broken arm. He was laid up for a long time.

11

demons, demons, demons

by carla in

jw's are nearly obsessed with demons, they are everywhere, always out to get you, and can apparently inhabit used items, correct?

i never hear about good beings or angels within the jw's except for the story about the woman who knocked on the door of a rapist and he supposedly didn't rape her because she had two huge men (angels) standing next to her.

another poster did mention that he/she felt they had two angels 'at their back' when knocking on the door of some creepy place and was comforted by this.

happpyexjw

Carla, this is a very interesting question. Taking it a step further, if there are good spirit beings out there, why would only some be protected and not others? Why do some get killed by murderers, die in accidents, etc?

8

Scan of 2005 Watchtower Discouraging Higher Education

by cabasilas in

someone sent me the scans of the october 1, 2005 watchtower article which discourages higher education for jws.

this was the wt that began the current anti-education stance by the wt society reversing the more lenient policy from the 90s.

for those interested, a pdf of this article can be downloaded from this filesharing site:.

happpyexjw

As people become more educated and begin to see themselves in the context of the rest of the world and as part of the continuum of history, they will question some of the ideology taught by the WTS.

I had already left over my displeasure at the way the org. handled issues of child molestation, among other things, when I decided to return to school and obtain a degree. There is no doubt in my mind that if I had been exposed to higher education in my youth, I would have seen the holes in the WTS teachings much sooner. I IMO, the WTS fears education, not because of the boogey-men of sex, drugs and rock n roll such much as having young people (and older ones for that matter) exposed to critical thinking skills. God forbid that we have people applying logic and thinking ability to the tenets of the WTS!

48

Saddest day of my life

by WuzLovesDubs in

jw
friends

i followed my instincts that the changes my 14 year old son is going through ran deeper than teenaged angst and i made an appointment for him to see a counselor through the county so he could talk to someone.

it took two months to get it.

we went yesterday, he and i. i spoke for a little about our life now, including the separation, the house, the jws, the shunning, my husbands alcoholism and his treatment of the kids, my husbands familial bipolar and depression and adhd...and then she spoke to my son separately.

happpyexjw

Wuz - So sorry you are having to deal with this, but glad that you have your son in a setting where he can receive help in a safe place.

I had my youngest daughter admitted when she was 14 because she started having flashbacks to when her GF molested her and she tried to shoot herself. (fortunately she was not able to get the gun to work. The unlocked gun in the house and the anger at my ex over that is another story) She also took an immediate dislike for the psychiatrist and thought he spoke to her like a real jack-a. However, the counsellors there and the family sessions did help her. To this day she still struggles with depression at times, but she has developed coping skills she didn't have as a teen. Those years are tough on all kids, but for some it is exceptionally difficult.

I understand your fear about him coming home and what the future will be like, but please, take it one day at a time and take care of YOU. Your son will need your help and support, so make sure you have some help for yourself. The strain of these situations is enormous and can really take a toll on your own mental health. Find someone you can talk to and reach out to others just like you have done on this forum.

You have taken the right steps to get him help and that is so good. I will keep you in my thoughts and in my heart.

Mary

27

Watchtower says "Field Service Report NOT a Major Concern!"

by UnDisfellowshipped in

jw
friends

the watchtower, june 1st, 2005 issue, pages 14-15:.

"saved, not by works alone, but by undeserved kindness" (study article).

(paragraph 1): "christians [...] realize that in jehovah's service, right motives are more important than personal accomplishments.

happpyexjw

I seem to recall that when informally witnessing some Christians found fault with the fact that in their view, JWs believe in being saved by works, not by faith as the Bible says. Honestly, at the time, I just didn't get it. Could it be that the WTS is coming out with this in the WT as a response to those criticisms?