Posts by xelder

3

I Would Like to Buy or Barrow....

by onemore in

jw
friends

the book titled sign of the last days.

by carl o. jonsson.

it looks like the book is out of print.

xelder

well....call me dumb, but I bought a used copy on Amazon for $50.00...WORTH EVERY PENNY

49

Hello - I´m new here

by Starfish in

just wanted to introduce myself.... .

i am a secret fader but since reading this forum i feel i am alot more confident about telling my family/friends that i don t go to the meetings and inactive.. my hubby is also a fader with me...we kind of drifted after my first baby was born.

she is now 11.. it all started with my mom who started studying with my cousin when i was about 15. while she was studying i also started studying (i was about 16).

xelder

Welcome...thanks for your experience....nice folks on here and you will be and feel welcome

8

Herbal remedies

by Ice cream in

if in the beginning when god (supposedly) created adam & eve, with the prospect of eternal life without sickness etc.

why did he create plants with medicinal values that could treat sickness & ailments?

hope that makes sense.

xelder

Obviously....so that 6000 years later Watchtower Farms could grow their own cheap medicine for Bethelites

22

Been verrrry, very sad

by xelder in

i last posted in mid february about my wife.

we were adjusting to the new realisation of what the wts really is.. she has since left me, and i have been reeling ever since, but now after 5 months, i'm getting back some strength.

i haven't been able to post on here because i just couldn't talk about it.

xelder

Dagney and Aude - you have pm's

Wow...thanks everyone.

Didn't mean to whine. I am doing much better, but thanks again to all of you.

22

Been verrrry, very sad

by xelder in

i last posted in mid february about my wife.

we were adjusting to the new realisation of what the wts really is.. she has since left me, and i have been reeling ever since, but now after 5 months, i'm getting back some strength.

i haven't been able to post on here because i just couldn't talk about it.

xelder

Ok CyberJesus - you have a PM - thanks. And thanks to all of you.

22

Been verrrry, very sad

by xelder in

i last posted in mid february about my wife.

we were adjusting to the new realisation of what the wts really is.. she has since left me, and i have been reeling ever since, but now after 5 months, i'm getting back some strength.

i haven't been able to post on here because i just couldn't talk about it.

xelder

I last posted in mid February about my wife. We were adjusting to the new realisation of what the WTS really is.

She has since left me, and I have been reeling ever since, but now after 5 months, I'm getting back some strength. I haven't been able to post on here because I just couldn't talk about it. She didn't leave because of my violence, cheating, drinking, drugs or any of that stuff. She filed for divorce and by WTS law, I'm scriptually free but that is of little consolation at this point.

I'm on the coast near Santa Barbara and I sure would like some nice apostate friends. Who else can I really talk to about all I'm going through and why. I'm 50 now and my life has really taken a turn over the last couple years. But I'm still young and energetic and will bounce. I've started volunteering for various community organizations (homeless, nursing home, symphony, battered women, fire department, etc) I guess it's that JW feeling of needing to go out an do something, although these things actually help someone now, as apposed to pushing publishers to push literature.

This site has meant so much to me. Would love to hear from all of you, especially if you are nearby.

28

Counting heads at the Watchtower Study

by Sour Grapes in

i was sitting in the back of the hall on sunday morning.

and about 30 minutes into the watchtower study two.

brothers get up to take a head count.

xelder

One time 2 of us were counting a vote on meeting times. It was important to everyone. Some wanted Thursday night, others wanted Friday night. We both counted everyone who was for Thursday night. Then, we both counted everyone with hands up for
Friday night. Even though we both had a majority for Thursday night, our figures didn't agree and I was trying to figure out what to say. So I said, "We have different numbers counted but its alright because WE'RE BOTH HIGH ON THURSDAY NIGHT."

Everyone died laughing and I was teased about being a pothead for months. LOL LOL

6

Elders Wives

by xelder in

i am sure that we individually are responsible for decisions and actions we take.

we reap what we sow, and ultimately must face the personal responsibility.

however, other factors do contribute.. i am a 5th generation jw, and my wife is a 4th generation jw.

xelder

Since our fathers were elders. We knew of many discussions of brothers who didn't agree with the WTS on certain points. For instance, 1975 had been an issue for my dad. I knew of traveling CO's who stayed with our family who would have discussions with dad about certain inconsistencies in the Org. But, we learned to just "wait on Jehovah". Elders families know stuff that others in the congregation don't. So we got married and understood the the Org was far from perfect. My wife and I always had free discussions of these organizational problems.

The biggest change for my wife emotionally was just maturing and realizing that she should be able to feel like a good person even if she was only a 7 hour publisher. She felt underappreciated and finally developed enough self worth to say that she was worth more than the WTS implied she was.

The biggest doctrinal issue for her and then finally me was the generation change in around 1995. The thought that 3 or 4 generations of our family before us had all served for nothing. (My grandma was born in 1913 - her aunt and uncle were coulpuerters in Russels time)

I was the one who finally had to know all I could. So I'm the one who ordered Ray's books and we read them aloud together.

6

Elders Wives

by xelder in

i am sure that we individually are responsible for decisions and actions we take.

we reap what we sow, and ultimately must face the personal responsibility.

however, other factors do contribute.. i am a 5th generation jw, and my wife is a 4th generation jw.

xelder

I am sure that we individually are responsible for decisions and actions we take. We reap what we sow, and ultimately must face the personal responsibility. However, other factors do contribute.

I am a 5th generation JW, and my wife is a 4th generation JW. We grew up together in the 1970's in the same rural area congregation where both of our fathers were elders. My father was very strict and emotionally abusive. It has taken me years to even be able to admit that. In his partial defense, his childhood was difficult. His method of correction was to strip your self-esteem to the bone. This is the type of man that can be a JW elder. Where is Holy Spirit involved in the appointment?

We married at 18 years of age. I know that we loved each other, but we both changed and grew as we matured. I was an angry young man and was at times emotionally cruel to my wife. We have stayed together because my wife is the finest person I have ever known. She is loving, longsuffering, very moral, kind and a wonderful mother. I was always doing "more important" things. I was a very good provider but, I was always after self-esteem and got at the Kingdom Hall. I was a MS, aux-pioneer, elder, circuit assembly, district stuff, temp bethel worker, blah, blah, blah. To have father figures (men twice my age) applauding my accomplishments was a real esteem booster. Like my father, how could I possibly be qualified by holy spirit to be an elder and give families counsel. I look back (like the apostle Paul) and consider it all a lot of refuse.

My wife was also the first to realize that the WTS was selling crap. She and I have been progressively waking up for about 15 years. We read Ray's books 18 months ago and it was extremely emotional on many levels. Sadness, relief, sympathy, anger, over so many areas of our lives and what could have been.

I am amazed at what elders wives put up with. The WTS always talks out of both sides of their mouth saying, "thank your wives that you are here at this special meeting away from your families." "We know your families sacrifice so that you brothers can serve" "Be sure and take care of your families needs". Then they tell you to get busy with a huge list of organizational stuff to do, and your worth as a person and an elder hangs on their opinion of you. It is like Corban. Jesus denounced the practice of setting material things aside for a holy purpose while not caring for aging parents. Elders give family time as Corban instead of where it is most needed.

I used to wish my wife was "more WTS spiritual". She felt inadequate for many years because she was not all that the WTS or I wanted from her. (In other marriages, many wives complain about their husbands not being spiritual heads). I now realize that she is the reason for all the good things in our lives. My WTS efforts were all a waste. I was a selfish person and will spend the rest of my life spending every day spoiling my dear wife. (she's really fit and pretty too - haha)

I want men and women to know that their mates can eventually get it. The WTS definition of how their spiritual routine is the most important thing in a marriage is extremely damaging.

14

"Old School" Elders

by xelder in

in the last few years that i served as an elder, and as i was discovering what the wts really was, the term "old school" would be used and it began to bother me more and more.

it was usually used to praise a person with a mean, unwaivering, dogmatism to an obselete policy.

a couple of times i would ask the person what he meant by the term.

xelder

In the last few years that I served as an elder, and as I was discovering what the WTS really was, the term "Old School" would be used and it began to bother me more and more. It was usually used to praise a person with a mean, unwaivering, dogmatism to an obselete policy. A couple of times I would ask the person what he meant by the term. The discussion was similiar to this

Me: What do you mean by "Old School"

Other Elder: Well, it's a strict adherance to WTS policy. Things were better in those days, back in the days of Rutherford, Knorr

Me: Is "Old School" a scriptural term?

Other Elder: Well no. but it produces a better product

Me: I think I maybe know what you mean. I know of someone who I think was of the "Old School", and do you know what he used to say?

Other Elder: No what

Me: He said "My yoke is kindly and my load is light" And I'm pretty sure that that school is older than your "Old School"