sprintcmp

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Posts by sprintcmp

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  51

  Lost on how to respond...

  by babygirl30 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so an old friend of mine from the congregation hit me up today.

  the story goes like this when we were jw's:.

  - this guy used to be madly in love with me but i didn't see him as anything more than a friend.

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  sprintcmp

  Dear ____, It never ceases to amaze me how mere humans such as yourself continually make assumptions about the spirituality of their fellow man. They believe they have the authority to interpret and judge the status of other peoples relationship with their heavenly father and assume they are unaware or have forgotten about the forgiveness he offers to us all. Some even go as far as to insinuate that others are in need of an extra measure of his forgiveness .

  Thanks for your misdirected concern and once again, I send my condolences to you and your family

  Pete's response This is response I would give....they always assume you have done something so bad that you are ashamed to return....This response calls them out on that and makes it clear that you have made a well thought out DECISION not to be a part of their fantasy.
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  7

  My life by the numbers..

  by myway2007 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i have enjoyed this site long enough, that i thought it was time to start giving back.

  it's been a reflective few days as i tried to quantify the passage of time.

  how time flies.... i turn 55 this year- and life is amazing!it was last year i reached out to one of my siblings via email to see if i could visit my mom beforeshe passes as she is over 90 now and the response i got was that it was too painful for herto see me until "i do the right thing"it was 5 years ago that i was able to finally become whole from all the anger and pain and normalize my life.it was 33 years ago that i was df'd.

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  sprintcmp

  "It was last year I reached out to one of my siblings via email to see if I could visit my mom before
  she passes as she is over 90 now and the response I got was that it was too painful for her
  to see me until "I do the right thing""----OMG...they have been holding on to this for 33 years???  Is this just your siblings answer? What does your mother herself say now? 

  "How quickly it was disregarded everything I did to take care of them both while dad was alive
  because I had the financial means to do so."----this sounds familiar...I know full well that if I were not contributing to my mothers upkeep that i would be shunned.  She tolerates me and occasionally tries to pull me back because of her "love" for me and not " wanting me to lose my life at Armegeddon".

  By the way, Congratulations on a life well lived!!! 
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  49

  My Story: from JW Elder to Born Again Christian to Agnostic

  by passwordprotected in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i first posted here on 3rd june 2008. at the time i was an elder, appointed the previous october, i was 36 and i was a born-in.

  at the time i'd become disillusioned with the society due to the governing body's letter explaining why the book study in private homes was being abolished.

  april 2008 saw me start questioning this decision, privately of course, and this eventually led me to this site, to jwfacts and to many youtube videos, all of which began to errode my faith in the leaders of the organisation.. in july 2008, having discussed my doubts with my wife, i attended the district convention, deciding to give the society one last chance to convince me it was the truth.

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  sprintcmp

  (Every day I relish the freedom I've received from religion, from dogma, from assured religious certainty, to having all of my decisions shaped or controlled by someone else's interpretations of a man-made religious book. This means that only I can take responsibility for today's actions, I can't hand my choices off to a higher being. This brings peace and a sense of greater responsibility for my life.)

  So well said! My sentiments exactly.
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  9

  New Tactic

  by sprintcmp in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28166192.

  i had not seen much of this even in the chicago area, but in small town bloomington-normal, il (pop.

  150,000) i have seen this new tactic for the last two days at a busy train/bus station which is located in the heart of town.

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  sprintcmp

  EOM....I didnt' think of it, but maybe they were on their way to the festival. It was just setting up so maybe they have a booth there.

  They couldn't be more cult like if they tried pulling those trolleys behind them.
• 
  9

  New Tactic

  by sprintcmp in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28166192.

  i had not seen much of this even in the chicago area, but in small town bloomington-normal, il (pop.

  150,000) i have seen this new tactic for the last two days at a busy train/bus station which is located in the heart of town.

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  sprintcmp

  http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28166192

  I had not seen much of this even in the Chicago area, but in small town Bloomington-Normal, IL (pop. 150,000) I have seen this new tactic for the last two days at a busy train/bus station which is located in the heart of town. It is eery to watch them just stand there, not saying anything not even holding the publications out to people. Just standing there like a stone beside their carts.

  I took a seat in the roundabout circle to watch and two sets of them were like ghosts, l looked away and when I looked again they had swithed positions or a new person came and an original one left. I was surprised they were there so late in the day, but I guess they wanted to hit the 6:00 train passengers. Then about 7:00 p.m. they floated away silently....It was more eerie than anything.

  Then again today, I saw them coming...but this time since there is a festival of some kind in the town circle, they will be totally ignored.

  What a colosal waste of time, never saying anything and people ignoring them left and right.
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  53

  2014 DC: Fewer, but larger venues in the U.S.

  by doinmypart in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in the u.s. there are fewer venues this year, but they will be held in larger facilities.

  as long as i can remember my family travelled no more than 2 hours to attend and in the last few years the dc was local (within a few minutes travel).

  this year my family is driving 6 hours to a major u.s. city.

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  sprintcmp

  Either the GB is not communicating this very well or the local elders are making a mess of the announcements. My family thinks that they are going to an International Convention also, complete with brothers from other countries. There convention is in New Orleans, about 3.5 hours away when they use to travel on 1/2 hour to 1 hour away. I asked if there were other cities and they were not aware of any. Had to look myself today to find that there are indeed more locations.

  They are terrified of going to the big city. I got invited to help them navigate. Though I would love a family visit, can't find the upside of travelling 800 miles and sitting thru 3 days pretending I'm listening and being asked, "How did you ENJOY the convention?"
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  34

  Are You Embarrassed Because You Were A Jehovah's Witness?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am not.

  everyone makes mistakes..

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  sprintcmp

  Yes..I was embarassed and ashamed of it when I was in, and I am still ashamed of it today after having faded for almost 10 years. I was born in and no, it wasn't my fault but the only thing I have felt and still feel about it is shame. My friends and people I work with don't know. Maybe they view me as weird and knowing that I was a JW would explain that to them.

  I belong to an Ex JW meetup group here and they are only ones that I speak freely about my young life. To all others, I leave that significant chunk of my life out.

  What is the shame about? Their beliefs are so weird, that I guess I am embarassed to admit that I come from such gullible parents and that I continued to believe it for some time as an adult.

  Recently, I meant a young woman who spoke publicly about growing up as a JW...she was comparing how differently people of various religions celebrate the holidays. She spoke of it as just another way to celebrate (or not), much like Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Ramadan, etc. I spoke to her afterwards to say how much I admired how open she is about it.

  So, yes, I do feel embarrassment about it.
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  85

  The final chapter in the confusedandalone story...

  by confusedandalone in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  this morning i get a frantic call from my sister (who has been baptized 1 year and one month and never attends meetings anymore).

  in tears she tells me that this morning my father picked her up in the car and told her that i was am apostate.

  that i no longer loved jehovah and that i was going to be disfellowshipped.

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  sprintcmp

  Wow....I have spent the better part of today reading up on the last few months of your wild ride....all I can say is wow!!!!

  Here are some similiarities in my JW family:

  1. an uber devout mother who is in poor financial shape because she ran up cc bills and other bills hoping that Armegeddon would come and make it all go away.
  2. I was born in but faded, however, even though I have disclosed that I don't believe the "society" is directed by god, I am tolerated because I pay mom's health insurance every month, have for the last 8 to 9 years. If I didn't or couldn't do this, I am CERTAIN that I would be cut off and my mother would convince my sister to not allow me around her toddler.
  3. mom once presented me with her $5000 cc bill and said, "I wish this would just go away". I guess I was supposed to jump at the chance to make it go away so that she could concentrate on "serving Jah".

  My guess: 1) the rules will mysteriously bend, and your parents will be able to ask for the 10 grand again in good "conshints". 2) that hateful KARMA bitch will slap your brother and HE will also need your help.

  Just sit back, smoke a cigar, wait and ENJOY!!!
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  38

  The World is going to end...

  by The Quiet One in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ..one day, as will our lives.

  any day could be the last day of our existence... with that in mind, how would you want to spend your final hours, if you knew that your life was going to end tomorrow?

  what would you like to say on that last day, and to whom?.

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  sprintcmp

  "I'm always alone, but never lonely :) I'm basically a cat in human form."

  OOOH MY GOD....I have never seen a more fitting description...of myself!!!

  Hilarious.....hope you don't mind if I used that one
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  1

  Aspiring EX JW anthem?

  by sprintcmp in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i think this song was written as a protest to the music industry, but the lyrics are soooo appropriate for leaving the "truth".. see the song performed here www.youtube.com/watch?v=exn0_oapozq.

  and the lyrics here ==> http://www.lyricsondemand.com/l/laurynhilllyrics/igetoutlyrics.html.

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  sprintcmp

  I think this song was written as a protest to the music industry, but the lyrics are SOOOO appropriate for leaving the "truth".

  See the song performed here www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXN0_oaPoZQ

  and the lyrics here ==> http://www.lyricsondemand.com/l/laurynhilllyrics/igetoutlyrics.html

  or