Posts by babygirl30

34

Question for Billy The Ex-Bethelite and others who had forgone college sometime ago.

by garyneal in

jw
friends

i was talking with my wife today about college and i asked her about why the society makes such a big deal about witnesses not going to college.

in typical dub fashion, my wife tells me that they do not discourage college, but they do not encourage it either.

instead, they encourage placing kingdom interests first.. now i told her about you (billy) and how you were at bethel and are now starting college at the age of 40 (i think that is correct).

babygirl30

My opinion is THIS: WBTS's hoopla about college and the 'temptations' is bull ish! There is TEMPTATION everywhere (especially if you're HOT) I mean, anywhere there's PEOPLE - there will be temptation...

But this inherent fear of college always made me wonder WHAT the org was so afraid of. It's funny how all these JW-isms (live a simple life) come back to bite them in the arse. All the assumptions that people 'in the world' were living beyond their means and so that led to stress, broken families, etc. BUT in this economy, it doesn't matter how simple you lived, everyone is struggling - JWs included (probably moreso due to lack of education).

113

More Society cutbacks - Society says "screw you" to the publishers yet again

by sir82 in

jw
friends

at our service meeting it was announced that there is a change in the manner in which magazines are now to be delivered to the congregations.. up until now, magazines were sent to each kingdom hall via ups.

in years past magazines were sent to each congregation po's home address via ups.. going forward, magazines will be sent only as far as the assembly hall.

it is the responsibility of each kingdom hall to send brother(s) twice a month to drive out there, pick up the magazines, and return.. this of course saves a little bit of money for the society - shipping larger packages to fewer addresses will cost less.. however, what about the expense to the local congregations?.

babygirl30

Future Ass Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses

OMG that is hilarious!!! I would be rollin (out loud) if i saw that...

36

"Where else would we go?" - A common JW cliche'.

by Crisis of Conscience in

how many times have you heard that before, whether in or out?

in the past, i truly believed that.

if i were to leave the "truth", where else would i go?.

babygirl30

Abusive people use that phrase too. Where else can you go? You'll never find anyone better than me. So, the woman/man stays in a bad relationship.

THANK YOU!!! I was just about to post something along the SAME lines as what you said...but you beat me to it! In the past I was involved with an abuser who threw that 'line' in my face all the time. To put it bluntly - it is PARALYZING! That abuser convinces you that he/she loves you SO much and is the ONLY person in the world that accepts you or treats you well...so why WOULD you leave? Why would you jeopardize your life (as you know it) to go off and leave them - for what?

So that whole mentality used by JWs that they are the 'only place in town' is very disturbing to me.

3

I just watch INCEPTION, the reality of a dream

by cyberjesus in

i just watch leonardo di caprio's latest movie inception.

without ruining it for those of you who are going to watch it.

i enjoyed the concept that the dreams can be as real as experiencing life awake and how an idea is so powerful that infects the whole body like a virus.. being a jw is precisely like living inside a dream.

babygirl30

OMG! I just saw this movie and thought the same thing...how living in a dream is the SAME feeling as being a JW. Cause when you come OUT of that religion, there is this 'confusion' where you're unsure whether things are black-or-white, up-or-down, right-or-left and finding reality is difficult.

6

Process of Disfellowshipping

by ZeusRocks in

i'm unsure if this has actually been discussed before, but i often wondered about the process of disfellowshipping.

i know a lot here have been affected by it for many different reasons.

i'm writing this from the perspective that some who read this believe in the bible as gods word and that jesus words and teachings are what they are trying to emulate.. the wts process is primarily to hold a judicial committee overseen by at least 3 elders in a closed room and the final decision is made by them.. matthew 18: 15-17.

babygirl30

VERY good post!!!

What always amazed me was how often JWs use the story of King David and the Prodigal Son...as if both were disfellowshipped from 'the flock' and then returned to God (Jehovah). First of all, King David committed a ton of sins (premeditated murder, lust, adultery, produced an illegitimate child, lying) and NEVER ONCE was denied association nor shunned. He was approached 'informally' by a prophet one-on-one and that motivated him to repent. So using that as an example of "one who left the flock but repented and was returned to God's favor" does NOT suffice as one that I find any solice in?! As for the Prodigal Son...nowhere did I EVER read that he was shunned or banned from his family - he made the CHOICE to leave and live his life. And when he returned, there was no LETTER he had to write...he wasn't required to plead with a JC to be 'accepted' back - his family ran out to meet HIM!

So a lot of the stories JWs use to try to motivate shame and repentance out of people are blantant fabrications of the facts! Despite it being written clear as day - leave it to a JW to twist it like a Twizzler.

71

I would like to hear your experiences with being SHUNNED

by jwfacts in

i am going to put together a page of short experiences of how shunning has affected exjws.

you do not have to be disfellowshipped, even if you were shunned after being marked or after fading.

all comments are welcome, such as who shunned you, how long since family have spoken to you, what your situation is, why you are being shunned and how it has made you feel.

babygirl30

boyzone - WOW! That's all I can say...that letter was so DEEP and full of emotion!!! Beautifully written and truly explains how 'trifflin' shunning really is.

12

This commercial illustrates why I envy those who didn't grow up in a JW household.

by miseryloveselders in

jw
friends

i don't want to sound like i'm whining and for the record, i'm not mad at my parents at all.

i love them dearly, and i have many fond memories of my youth despite the jw upbringing.

at the same time, i often wonder what it would have been like to play sports during my school days.

babygirl30

The MOST my parents permitted was me playing instruments (piano and flute)...but NOTHING past that! My father (an athlete himself) FORBID me - his naturally athletic daughter - to play basketball or tennis. No afterschool activities (not even meeting up at a classmates home to work on a project - I always ended up 'inconveniencing' everyone by making them meet at the library cause MOM didn't want 'unnecessary worldly association'). When I hear my BF tell stories of riding his bike with the neighborhood kids, playing football, going to his prom, hanging out at friends houses...and I feel like a retard cause I don't HAVE stories like that!!! My JW family didn't DO those things.

I give my parents credit for giving me VERY high morals and all, but the method they used (JW religion) gave them an excuse to be hard-nosed! My parents didn't bend - EVER. If ANY brother on the platform said "x is bad and so is y" then my parents took that as the voice of God giving them direction...so that made it difficult as a kid.

15

Fade to white

by Sojourn in

ever since i was a kid, i felt so lucky - so lucky (i know, i know) that out of all the religions in the world, i happened to be born into a family that practiced the one true religion in all the universe.

it seemed much to good to be true, but i always thought it was such a happy coincidence.

my immediate family and grandparents were jehovah's witnesses.. .

babygirl30

I'm hungry...guess that's where that came from! - hehehehe

15

Fade to white

by Sojourn in

ever since i was a kid, i felt so lucky - so lucky (i know, i know) that out of all the religions in the world, i happened to be born into a family that practiced the one true religion in all the universe.

it seemed much to good to be true, but i always thought it was such a happy coincidence.

my immediate family and grandparents were jehovah's witnesses.. .

babygirl30

It's like eating at the same restaurant your entire life...swearing up and down it's the BEST food in town!!! You try to 'sell' the place to everyone you know, convicincing them it's SO good and fresh. You make them promises that the restaurants food is so amazing that they will never leave hungry - and they give you SO much, that it's inevitable they will leave with leftovers. Finally ONE (out of 35) of your friends decides to check the restaurant out. Afterwards they call you and tell you that the restaurant - the one you bragged about being SO good and having the BEST food - is disgusting! They tell you about the bad service, how the place smells like something is rotten, the floors are sticky and full of crumbs, there are rodents running around the place, and the food is burned and far from fresh. then another friend goes and tells you the same thing...then another friend. Now YOU go back to the restaurant and objectively LOOK at the place - and you see it - the place IS nasty!!!!

It's crazy how when IN the JW bubble, you rarely see things for how they really are. You believe what you want to believe because it's all you've known. But once you step back and really LOOK at the religion, what it teaches, how the people conduct themselves...you get a glimpse into the reality that alluded you for so long. Welcome to the board!!!!!

23

Circuit Overseers, their roles, and their spouses

by garyneal in

my wife and i took a trip yesterday to deliver her camera to her mom so she may take it with her as she goes to kentucky where the need is greattm.

her mom is currently still in virginia staying with some brothers there while she gets schooled in giving talks (at least i think that is what she is doing).

i met the co's wife at the petersburg kh and after we dropped the camera off, my wife and i went to have dinner before returning home.. i ask about circuit overseers and their role because i was intrigued to learn that the kh we went to had an apartment for the co.. apparently, co's have no job of their own outside the watchtower activities and while my wife insisted that they did not 'take a vow of poverty' like the catholic clergy do, they technically do.

babygirl30

I always assumed that since the CO took a 'vow' to serve as a 'slave' in that capacity, that his wife also had to take that vow to live the SAME way and to support her man?! As for having a children, I know of one CO who had kids before getting into the work...but again, always believed that NOT having children was part of the position.