Posts by Juan Viejo2

41

Elder Just Told His Son I Am Sick Of This Religion !! And Reveals His Secret

by Hairyhegoat in

jw
friends

this was a very moving story just posted on another ex jw site please read it's good .

elder reveals his secretjanuary 28th, 2011. by shadow elder, jr.. a few weeks ago, my father and i were out working together in the door-to-door preaching work.

that morning only four of us showed up at the kingdom hall my dad and i, and a married brother and sister.

Juan Viejo2

Jookbeard,

I can only tell you that the father and son are real people. Can I say that events took place exactly as they've described them? Of course not - I wasn't there.

But for just a moment, put yourself in Shadow Elder's position. You want to tell your son about how you really feel. You want his support. You really want him to get an education while he is still young. You don't want him to waste his life away. You are out in the car one day, all by yourself. Mom's not there, brothers are not there, no other JWs are there. Just you and your son. Here's your chance to share your secret.

How would you have handled that opportunity? Yes, I agree that some of the events seem just a bit too easy, but remember - it's not the father telling the story about how he shared his secret. It's the son who tells the story. He admits that his father was troubled, uncomfortable, reluctant. The son also admits that he didn't really believe what his father was telling him - it just seemed so out of character for his dad to admit to something that far out.

So, while you have every right to question the credibility of anyone's story on this site, just take a moment and think about how you would have handled the same situation. I believe these two stories - because I've had other contacts with both the father and the son. They are real.

I think it is ironic that some people on this site can not believe the personal stories of some of the contibutors here - and yet they accepted the teachings and leadership of the Watchtower and its governing body for years without question.

Jook, every one that comes out has to come out of the cult in the way that is most comfortable for them. Let's face it, Shadow Elder and his son are still in the JW religion. They haven't left yet. But their story tells you why they haven't left yet. They want to - they really do. But they just can not imagine the pain of losing their relationships with their other family members. That reluctance is very understandable and far more realistic than someone who has an ephiphany one day and then tells their family and JW friends to F*** off the next.

JV

41

Elder Just Told His Son I Am Sick Of This Religion !! And Reveals His Secret

by Hairyhegoat in

jw
friends

this was a very moving story just posted on another ex jw site please read it's good .

elder reveals his secretjanuary 28th, 2011. by shadow elder, jr.. a few weeks ago, my father and i were out working together in the door-to-door preaching work.

that morning only four of us showed up at the kingdom hall my dad and i, and a married brother and sister.

Juan Viejo2

cameo-d:

I have to agree with you 100%. I personally know of several JWs and ex JWs who are not registered on this site (I think because they are afraid that somehow they might be traced), but lurk and visit it frequently.

Whenever I get permission to republish or adapt an article from a JWN thread, I always include a link back to JWN so that readers can come here and follow the commentary. My analytics show that a lot of links out from my site at ex-JW.com come here after they've read an article there.

Lurking is a good thing - especially for JWN. The fact that Simon has allowed access to most of the sections to lurkers gives them access to subjects and resources unavailable any where else.

Ex-JW.com is not intended to replace or compete with any other JW or apostate sites - but rather to point to them. No one can duplicate what Simon has done. Likewise with Randy Watters, Barb Anderson, Doc Bob, Rick Fearon and so many others. Those sites all stand on their own and approach JW issues and debates in their own unique ways.

JV

15

So a man walks into a Kingdom Hall for the first time...

by sabastious in

...he's wearing sloppy casual clothing, comes in after the song and prayer.

he sits down in the backrow and puts his feat up on the row ahead of him.

he looks very relaxed and starts to intently listen to the public talk.. people start looking back at him, wondering how he could be so brazen.

Juan Viejo2

The fellow that just walked in has long greasy hair, a week old beard, and obviously has not bathed in several days. His clothes are handouts or something he got at Salvation Army. He is quiet and respectful, but all eyes in the Hall keeping looking back over at him - wondering why he is there.

Elder walks over to the guy sitting in the seat and says, "Excuse me, but we do not allow that kind of behavior and unbecoming style of dress in our place of worship. Would you please leave?"

"YOUR PLACE OF WORSHIP?" the man replies. "What makes this place YOUR place of worship? This place belongs to me."

"I must ask you again to leave immediately before I call the authorities and have you removed," the elder replies.

"Been there and done that before. Got thrown out of a Jewish temple once. I've been arrested and dragged through the streets by the authorities after being accused of disrespect for religions. There's nothing you can do to me that I haven't been through before - so do what you have to do. I'm not leaving because this is where I am supposed to be."

The elder sneaks off and goes in a conference room and calls the police. About ten minutes later five police cars pull up in front of the Kingdom Hall. The cops rush in, speak briefly with the elder and then go into the main hall. The man has moved to the stage and is sitting in the reader's chair, waiting politely to speak. The police approach the stage and ask him to stand up and give them his name.

"Before you arrest me I just want to say that I've made a horrible mistake. I thought this place belonged to me. But I was wrong. I should have known because my name isn't on the building anywhere. In fact, I don't see it anywhere on the walls, on the books or magazines. After listening to the talk for a few minutes I've heard references to 'Jehovah,' whoever that might be, the Organization, the Society, the Governing Body, and the Faithful Slave class. But no one has mentioned my name. So I guess I don't belong here and maybe never did."

He then steps down from the stage and walks toward the exit. The police take him in custody. "What is your name, mister?" one of the cops asks.

"Yeshua. My name is Yeshua. I just came back to town and I was looking for my home. I thought this was it, but obviously I made a mistake. On the way over here, though, I did see a couple of other places that looked like they might be mine, but I'm probably wrong about that too."

With that, the police haul the man out in handcuffs, throw him in the back of a patrol car, and drive away. In a few minutes, the meeting in the Kingdom Hall resumed where it left off. It was like "Yeshua" was never there.

They didn't know who the man with the foreign sounding name was or why he came there, and frankly they didn't care. After all, they had seven more paragraphs of the Watchtower to study before they could go home.

JV

41

Elder Just Told His Son I Am Sick Of This Religion !! And Reveals His Secret

by Hairyhegoat in

jw
friends

this was a very moving story just posted on another ex jw site please read it's good .

elder reveals his secretjanuary 28th, 2011. by shadow elder, jr.. a few weeks ago, my father and i were out working together in the door-to-door preaching work.

that morning only four of us showed up at the kingdom hall my dad and i, and a married brother and sister.

Juan Viejo2

HeGoat -

No problem at all. You are still my friend. In fact, come on over for dinner. We're have pasta and a great Oregon cabernet.

BTW - just got an email from Shadow and his son. They are so pleased about the article appearing here and the mostly positive comments about it. Shadow wrote that he and his son are laying a plan to tell the two unbaptized brothers about what has happened and then maybe Mrs. Shadow in a few months. That would leave only the oldest son ("he may be lost to us forever...") and a few more distant relatives. Your comments and the fact that the article has had over 200 unique hits in less than a day have really boosted their spirits.

I'm hoping that they will get registered logins on JWN and start participating with the rest of us, but I guess the home computer is under constant surveillance.

Every single JW that makes the decision to either leave the WT Borg or at least take another look at their ridiculous beliefs is another victory for truth and freedom. Thanks for your help.

JV

41

Elder Just Told His Son I Am Sick Of This Religion !! And Reveals His Secret

by Hairyhegoat in

jw
friends

this was a very moving story just posted on another ex jw site please read it's good .

elder reveals his secretjanuary 28th, 2011. by shadow elder, jr.. a few weeks ago, my father and i were out working together in the door-to-door preaching work.

that morning only four of us showed up at the kingdom hall my dad and i, and a married brother and sister.

Juan Viejo2

Leolaia -

Here is the original discussion on the first Shadow Elder article here on JWN...

http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/182302/1/An-Elder-wrote-anomously

41

Elder Just Told His Son I Am Sick Of This Religion !! And Reveals His Secret

by Hairyhegoat in

jw
friends

this was a very moving story just posted on another ex jw site please read it's good .

elder reveals his secretjanuary 28th, 2011. by shadow elder, jr.. a few weeks ago, my father and i were out working together in the door-to-door preaching work.

that morning only four of us showed up at the kingdom hall my dad and i, and a married brother and sister.

Juan Viejo2

BTW - thanks HHGoat for bringing this article to the attention of JWN. I know that the young man who wrote it will be very happy to see that some of you really enjoyed it. Maybe he'll write more in the future as he finds his eventual path out of the Borg.

Balsam - thank you as well. Your comment validates what I think we've all known for some time. There are a lot of elders and R&F JWs who are in, not because they want to be, but they give up their freedom just to keep their families together and close to each other.

But we all know that's why the WT enforces the DF and DA shunning rules so heavily. They know that if they ever let up and really let Jehovah's Witnesses follow their own consciences in the matter of who they will associate with, probably 35 to 70% would head for the Kingdom Hall doors and never come back.

JV

41

Elder Just Told His Son I Am Sick Of This Religion !! And Reveals His Secret

by Hairyhegoat in

jw
friends

this was a very moving story just posted on another ex jw site please read it's good .

elder reveals his secretjanuary 28th, 2011. by shadow elder, jr.. a few weeks ago, my father and i were out working together in the door-to-door preaching work.

that morning only four of us showed up at the kingdom hall my dad and i, and a married brother and sister.

Juan Viejo2

Sir82 and bigmouth --

I can assure you that the article is legitimate. "Shadow Elder" emailed me and asked me if his son could submit an article for Ex-JW.com because he wanted to tell the story "about the day I got the nerve to tell him what I'd done. My son is not a kid - he will be 21 this year - and is very mature for his age. Of all of my sons, he has always been the most serious and dedicated about serving Jehovah. My other sons could care less one way or the other because they haven't been baptized, and I'm definitely not pushing them to make that commitment."

I agreed to read the young man's draft. It was actually much longer and more detailed, so I asked him to focus on just one or two incidents, which he did (the coffee shop and the library computer). His father helped him to do the rough edit on the story. But it was the young man's words and point of view entirely. As the editor, I also did some minor work on the grammar and punctuation, and replaced a couple of words - just the usual thing an editor does.

So I'm sorry if it doesn't pass your "smell test." Shadow Elder's article from 2009 was also ravaged by several JWN posters, but that is to be expected. That's what the members of this forum enjoy doing. Shadow managed to live with those critics and I'm sure his son will survive your comments and criticism as well. He even mentioned those comments in this story.

I thought the young man did an admirable job describing how his father built up the nerve that morning in the coffee shop. I think the father's warning about what would happen to the family if his son told anyone was well placed and applicable. Remember, Shadow is trying desperately to keep his family together - so I think that would be something a father would tell his 21 year old son - although I'm sure the young man had already figured that out.

Oh, and the "Gee" word? Yes, the WT considers that a curse word, but that doesn't mean it isn't used. Please note that he also used the word "freaking" as well in his version of the story. I think we can give him a pass on language. We are not the Governing Body.

In any case, thanks for your comments and interest in the story. I'm sure that Shadow is very proud of his son's writing talents.

JV

Editor @ Ex-JW.com

41

Elder Just Told His Son I Am Sick Of This Religion !! And Reveals His Secret

by Hairyhegoat in

jw
friends

this was a very moving story just posted on another ex jw site please read it's good .

elder reveals his secretjanuary 28th, 2011. by shadow elder, jr.. a few weeks ago, my father and i were out working together in the door-to-door preaching work.

that morning only four of us showed up at the kingdom hall my dad and i, and a married brother and sister.

Juan Viejo2

Anne Marie - PM me for the permissions.

110

A Concerned Elder Speaks

by Franklin Massey in

jw
friends

a lot of talk has centered around information dispensed at the recent km schools.

many brothers feel there is a "tightening up" taking place.

i had a recent experience that you may find interesting.. after the meeting i was working with our cobe on some congregation tasks when out of nowhere he said, "have you looked up any extra information about higher education since the km school?

Juan Viejo2

Mad Sweeney - did you get my PM?

28

Well the JWC@fe is no more...

by serenitynow! in

jw
friends

i tried to find it, but it's gone.

as well as the jehovah's witness fb page.

it seems in the recent weeks those sites became "overrun" with apostates and were no longer encouraging.

Juan Viejo2

Wasblind - thanks for the update. Makes total sense why they would start using it.

Just wondering, though. Is it in common use now among JWs? Or is this something specific to the younger generation or to a particular geographic area?

J V