i was just reflecting about this site and it`s influence on me and what i have got out of it and it came to me that whatever subject i bring up , or others bring up , the obvious thing is we engage in discussion .that`s what it`s all about .. however , the feedback we get or the input we give , far outweighs anything we ever achieved going from d2d for the wtb&ts./ wt real estate agency /publishing house .. how many times did you have a meaningful discussion with a person at a door ?, as a jw ?
not many i would think.. the majority of times , they were not home or not opening the door to you , so even if you did meet people they were too busy to talk to you or they just were not interested.. whereas , here on this board you engage with many people from all over the world , and we can discuss a subject as long as we want.until it runs it`s course.. i think anybody who posts here has had far more satisfaction in their interaction with other people on this board than they ever experienced in the d2d work as a jw.. and i hope that people who just lurk here can see the benefits of open discussion in a forum like this without judgement and recriminations that occur in the jw religion for speaking your mind.. smiddy.
Had this board been around when I left, it certainly would have made my escape easier and less stressful. I left before the days of the internet so I did it alone, without any support. That was a lonely, terrifying place, believe me!
If it had been the internet age, with boards like this, I know I would have loved the interaction and support of others. It would have been wonderful to have my concerns about that cult confirmed, instead of thinking it was just me.
hello everyone, it's been quite a while since i was last on this forum.
originally i was under a different user name, but lost all that information when i moved to a different state.
anyways, i had left the jws back in 2001, after being raised up in it most of my childhood life.
I'm sure it burned your sister's butt that, by you ignoring her, it denied her the opportunity to do the ugly JW shun thing they so self-righteously love to do. Good for you! And bravo for not leaving early.
But I disagree with you just letting the whole thing go, like water under the bridge, without saying anything to the relative who sent you that text. I would have told them, in the nicest way possible, that it was a hurtful request. Perhaps write them a Thank-You card with a separate note inside?
Explain to them that you understand the uncomfortable position your JW relatives' intolerance placed them in, and that you understand she was only trying to accommodate everyone. Tell her that by you leaving early, it would have made you and your family look and feel like pariahs who had something to feel ashamed for or bad about. And that you would have missed out on enjoying the lovely time you all had, when you decided to stand your ground and stay.
I dunno, that's just the way I felt when I read your story. I wouldn't have just let it slide as if it were no big deal. It made me angry.
with last night's meeting it became official: here in the states is a must to keep up with 'jehovah's org' that one fully jumps on board with this tablet/iphone crap.. so, now, all of us that up to this point have refused to follow the wtbts in their electronic/wireless revolution will deal with the browbeating from the 'spiritual' ones.. already receiving lots of grief from hubby and rest of the family/close friends when seen at the meetings with paper publications.
damn it!!!
am i alone in this resistance???!!!.
with last night's meeting it became official: here in the states is a must to keep up with 'jehovah's org' that one fully jumps on board with this tablet/iphone crap.. so, now, all of us that up to this point have refused to follow the wtbts in their electronic/wireless revolution will deal with the browbeating from the 'spiritual' ones.. already receiving lots of grief from hubby and rest of the family/close friends when seen at the meetings with paper publications.
damn it!!!
am i alone in this resistance???!!!.
ms. elena valenciano, chairman of human rights commission in european parliament has been informed about this video:.
https://twitter.com/elenavalenciano/status/728122799336775686.
she is taking care to bring and claim about this situation within european parliament.
Fantastic news. It's getting a lot of coverage on various sites and many of the comments are very satisfying although the apologists are out in full force too, desperate to control the damage.
Technology will be the downfall of the WT. First, the internet allows JWs to see "apostate" material and sites. And then their intolerant and damaging dogma is exposed for all to see.
following on from my privous thread about being beaten.
(which seems to have got the most horrendous stories now, i'm so sorry to all those who suffered in that manner).
i'd like to ask when you think about all those people, jw's, family members etc who knew that you were being beaten/abused and did nothing to stop it are you angry with them about it?.
Since it was the 70's, "spanking" was still an appropriate parenting strategy with most so I can't get angry at society for not stepping in. Besides, our abuse happened in the privacy of our home, so I doubt anyone knew.
Maybe some neighbors wondered what the screaming and yelling was about, I'll never know. My dad worked long hours and I don't remember him being home when my mother was in full psycho mode. I used to excuse myself from gym class sometimes when the bruises were fresh and especially noticeable, out of embarrassment. I doubt even the gym teachers would have done anything back then.
Since I was so terrorized by my mother, I doubt I'd have had the courage to complain to anyone anyway. Guaranteed she'd have punished me for that.
She feels so righteous about her method of "parenting". Like I mentioned before, when I brought up her harsh methods, she wasn't apologetic at all, nor did she try to whitewash it. She was immensely proud of herself. Lost cause. Which is why she is still a JW and will die one. That harsh, hateful cult suits her to a tee. And it's why I was miserable in it and escaped as soon as I could.
i've been confronting my mother with her dubious parenting skills (abuse) of me as a child.
particularly the beatings i would get with the wooden spoon.
not a light smack but hitting me as hard as she could for as long as she could.
To be fair, physical assault of children by parents goes on even outside the cult but it's usually not something those parents are encouraged to do, nor do they feel so righteous & open about it. JW parents have no qualms about publicly humiliating their children at the KH, believing it makes them look good in front of their peers. It's particularly sick and evil.
Myself, yes, lots of times yet I was a submissive mouse of a child who walked on eggshells trying not to pi** my uber-dub mother off. I never did anything bad really, just minor mistakes that a child would be expected to make, i.e., drop and break something, accidentally knock my little brother over while playing, etc. Hands, fists, kicks, belts, shoes, wooden spoons, tree switches, fly swatters, yardsticks, books, rolled up newspapers, whatever she could get her hands on. She'd fly into a rage at anything. I'd try to get away, of course, cramming myself into closets, under furniture and wherever I could escape which enraged her even more. I rarely didn't have bruises, scratches and cuts. Sometimes I peed myself out of terror.
She also perfected the emotionally abusive "silent treatment" that could go on for 4 or 5 days. She'd either ignore me as if I were invisible or look at me with complete contempt like I was filth. She'd refuse to do any of the things she normally did for us kids - plate my food, include my clothes in with the family laundry, etc. These silent treatments were either separate or added onto the physical assaults.
But my worst memory was of my mother assaulting my little brother who was probably about 4 at the time. I was 13. His sin: not wanting to eat his lunch. I remember feeling so helpless and anguished that I couldn't dare stop her even though I desperately wanted to, and to beat the crap out of her. I just had to bear listening to his screams and the blows she rained down upon him and watch as he cowered and crawled out of the way. He peed and shat himself during that particular assault. So much for the "best life ever!".
I've never forgiven her because it was physical, mental and emotional abuse and when I brought it up once, she smugly and obnoxiously said it's how kids needed to be raised and we deserved every "spanking" as she called it. I left that psycho woman's house and her psycho cult when I was 20.
As for my own kids, there were only 2 or 3 occasions when I smacked them once, with my hand on their bottoms when preferred methods of discipline wasn't get through to them, and what they were doing was very hurtful to others, or dangerous. I hated doing it.
first of all; i must admit that i'm not a huge fan of putting people in boxes like this, it is not an exact science.
but i still think the data can be quite interesting and i intend to collect it and share it in a structured way with you guys.
so without future ado here are the details.. link to test: .
Personality: ISFP-T ... The Adventurer
Variant: Turbulent
Role: Explorer
Yup, close enough.
i really enjoy hearing about other people's lives.
feeling a little lonely this evening so please tell me if you have plans for the summer months.
i may go to some outdoor theatre with my daughter who's home from uni; with a picnic and a bottle of wine.
in my cong ( my wives cong.
) there is a lady who attends every meeting , minus the field service just like a regular dub.
it just seems odd she has not taken the dip yet.
They weren't pushing young kids to get baptized back in my day (late 70's), or at least not in the KH I went to. 16 or 17 was the common age for kids to get dunked at our KH, slightly younger if they were born-in keeners. But around that time, my doubts had become so strong that I knew the JW life was not for me.
From about age 17 to 19, I put up with some pressure to make the commitment. A couple of the hardliner elders were pretty passive aggressive about it to me, and sometimes not too passive either. My mother often got quite nasty about my avoidance.
It was stressful and sometimes miserable but getting baptized felt like I would be trapping myself forever. Something about it just scared me silly. I'm glad I listened to myself :-)
