i go to my home town to visit my family for the holidays.
originally, i did not want to go and instead wanted to see my sister for thanksgiving.
my wife wanted to go home so we did.
Thanksgiving does have many pagan roots. If you are curious, look here...
http://paganismwicca.suite101.com/article.cfm/thanksgiving_pagan_roots
My family often has a non-Thanksgiving turkey dinner on the Friday after Thanksgiving. I always thought it was rather silly of them. What difference does it make which day you eat turkey and dressing on?
i know of a few jws who enjoy watching vampire shows like twilight and some have even said they will go and see the vampire movie new moon.. it seems that some sisters have a fascination with vampires!!.
how do they justify watching what is clearly questionable entertainment while still attending meetings and going out on service?.
.
I've wondered this same thing. My sister still calls herself a Witness and yet watches Twilight and even shows like True Blood. I can't believe a Witness could watch that....But I like it ;)
Not sure how anyone can watch Twilight or New Moon though...ugh
it seems the watchtower leaders believe that if you were to think about leaving the organization (and listen to "apostates") that you must have a place to go in return.
they feel you must have something, if you were to not accept the organization.
you need hope and belief in something.
I guess I left the organization and found myself...so I replaced it with me.
last night i was at my 'friends' house she hasnt been to the meetings for about two years now, but let's have it said: in the twelve years i have known here shes done about two good stints of attending, been dfd and gone back etc.
she lives with her boyfriend.. well i happened to just mention something about my family and she launched into this whole don't attack the witnesses you know its right barage at me.
i hadn't even mentioned religion.
I completely understand what you are feeling. My sister irritates me beyond belief. She still thinks the religion is correct. She still preaches it at her daughter. And yet she does a billion things that are not in line with their teachings and kinda picks and chooses what to follow. And she has not attended a meeting in years, nor gone in field service. She's not DF'd, but I would like to ask her, "If Armageddon came tomorrow where do you think you'd stand?". She qualifies herself by saying, "Well, Jehovah knows my heart and he knows my reasons and I think he would understand". If that is the case then me, being DA'd should be right there beside her in the New System because I had my reasons as well.
Such hypocrites people can be. But I just try to grin and bare it and realize that none of that should really matter to me anymore.
I have 2 kids, a husband, 2 cats and a dog. My house is always messy to me. But I am constantly cleaning. I'm a stay at home mom so that is part of my job discription. I think it is important to have a clean and comfy home for my family and friends to enjoy. It irritates me to have someone drop by and my house be messy. I think it looks bad on me since that is part of my job.
i noticed this comment by awen on cyberjesus' thread about needing help because the elders were going to call and he wanted to perform an intervention.... awen wrote: "i was informed by one of the elders (not the po, but someone with "pull") that because i had been involved in paganism after i was disfellowshipped, that i would have to wait longer for reinstatement than for the immorality i was originally dfed for 10 years before that.
i pleaded my case that i was no longer practicing that and had been out of it for a year prior to seeking reinstatement and that it shouldn't matter.
i came to learn from this elder that because of my pagan practices, in his opinion i would never be reinstated....".
Guess I can never be reinstated. Not that I ever wanted to be.
how to tell the difference between a man & a woman.. but on here!!!
i cant tell wheather they are male or female, .
yes some have the identifying mark ....pink or blue.. but some dont.
Female
whether you are new 'out' of the org or you have been out for a number of years, how does the org affect your life at the moment?.
how do you feel about the way the religion influences your life at the moment, even in the smallest ways?.
thanks.. please state how long you have been away from the religion if possible.. .
I've been DA'd now for 10 years. My sister is on the fence in regards to fading. She has issues about the religion allowing pedaphiles to sit alongside her daughter in the congregation and her not being told. But she still thinks it is the 'truth'. So she calls me and asks me questions from time to time on how to deal with certain issues in regaurds to questions her daughter asks like 'mom isn't this against jehovah's teaching? but we don't go to kingdom hall'. Why she asks me I do not know. I just tell her it is a cult and they need to get out.
And I am still dealing with my own anti-social tendencies. Coming to these forums has made me realize parts of my own personality that are still affected from the way that I was raised. Having lost 21 years of my life to that religion, and only being out for 10, I think I am still seaking and learning things about myself.
And I have an aunt and uncle who do not speak to me and a couple of cousins. Was never that close to them to begin with though. So no big loss.
daing simple but brutal.. many here faded.
how did you accomplish this?
if you moved, how did you move without the elders trying to chase you down and send your information to a new congregation?
I DA'd as well. What can I say? I dislike lose ends. Afterwards we moved to a town about 30 miles away and lived there for about 8 years. We've since moved back. My family never really ceased contact with me. At least not the ones that matter. I have an aunt and uncle that do not talk to me but I don't really care. As my sister (who still claims to be a witness but does not attend the meetings) said the other day, after about a year or so, if not speaking to them has not scared them into returning to the religion, it isn't going to have any impact on them so why bother?
mine .... simply put, god is the invisible power which decides when things begin and end, who and what recieve which assets and/or liabilities, and how rewards and penalties are metted out according to a judicial system of which humans have no input, appeal, or even full comprehention.. and yours ....
God is a concept that mankind has made up to explain their own existence.
