Posts by Aussie Oz

many years ago i bought a house because the government basically threw money at us and the mortgage was pretty much the same as the weekly rent in $ per week.. obviusly that has changed, here in aust real estate has gone through the roof with a house considered a bargain at $300,000 for a first home buyer.. so here i am at 47, thinking about buying a house so that when i retire, the wife and i will not have to pay rent or mortgage at all.

we have to raise $25k more (we have 10) for deposit and fees in the next 18 months to do this.

(offer is to buy mil house at reduced market price).

Aussie Oz

We have in the last few days also considered the option of buying cheap land or house/s (i am talking between 10 and 35k) in remote or dying townships in the country. They do exist. And also good old saving and carefull investments in stead of having a mortgage.

Keep renting and saving and Then 'retire or sea change' later in life to one of these little comunities or sell them etc. We wont retire rich but hopefully content. we are simple people really who could happily live in a shed when the time comes.

All we want at the end of the day is a little place that is ours that we can run our life from... we think about checking out of the whole farce of suburban home ownership as we really think the times of it making sense are pretty well over unless the property market collapses here. Buying a house made sense when the mortgage was close to the same as rent per week, but when it gets to be 2 or 3 times rent it loses its appeal.

We were on track to take 4 years to build 30 or 40 k deposit until an 'offer too good to pass up' came along, bringing with it the pressure and stress of it all!

The only way in australia for a mortgage to be cheaper than rent (talking suburbia) is if you bought the house before it went skyrocketing, or you already had a large amount of equity from a previous property.

oz

71

How Do You Feel Being Thought Of As An "Apostate"?

by minimus in

jw
friends

does it bother you if witnesses regard you as an apostate?.

Aussie Oz

I want to keep it a secret while my kids are 'in'.

I am known by witnesses in this territory and the one next to it where i was D/F. My sons best mate is the son of his mums best friend in that cong and the last thing i need is whispers that i have become 'apostate'. Funnily enough though, i am not too worried if he finds my JW files on the computer as i do know he does not tell his mum a lot of stuff he does, sees and knows.

If my kids were out i would not hesitate to be known like that.

oz

15

What now? Where to from here on in?

by Aussie Oz in

jw
friends

well, it is about six months since i came on here.. i have a stack of files and information at my finger tips that frankly i dont know what to do with!

it is almost like i have forgotten more than i learnt when i go back through it all.

sometimes i re-read stuff just to make sure i am really really sure of it all.. one of my main reasons for beginning this journey from apologist to 'apostate' was first to de-construct the power that held me since i was 10 and secondly, when i realized the truth about the 'truth' and the watchtower corporation/s, to get my kids out of it.. on one hand i want the wbts to be some distant forgotten memory but realize this probably will now not be until i feel they are 'safe' and.

Aussie Oz

Thankyou for all the replies people.

Without those who have dedicated so much time and effort, like all those named here, i would still know almost nothing. I hope those have still been able to have a great life without being too tied up in an anti Jw persona.

Perhaps i too will one day be able to help others like that.

I will never totally delete my files either and would probably keep them all backed up somewhere in case i need them.

I do know that i am not ready and willing to stop participating here or learning more thats for sure. It has not taken over my life but does take up its fair share of time and attention.

I have started blogging about things i have learned as a way to put it all into some sense of order as otherwise it was just a jumble of information. A bit like telling others about it in my own words seems to sound it down inside me more too.

And like cyberjesus, sometimes i shake my head and doubt what i have learned!

it will be interesting to see where this journey leads thats for sure...

oz

27

Personal Story: Trying to Help the Flock

by OnTheWayOut in

and told him that we needed to handle both cases.

and his buddy.

's buddy on the case.

Aussie Oz

On the way out...

you remind me of the elders that dealt with me during the last few years i was in. I was glad they treated me with respect. When it came time to disfellowship me they were so hesitant that in the end i had to tell them they must!

Despite what i feel for the organization, i have enormous regard for those men and could never berate them.

oz

15

What now? Where to from here on in?

by Aussie Oz in

jw
friends

well, it is about six months since i came on here.. i have a stack of files and information at my finger tips that frankly i dont know what to do with!

it is almost like i have forgotten more than i learnt when i go back through it all.

sometimes i re-read stuff just to make sure i am really really sure of it all.. one of my main reasons for beginning this journey from apologist to 'apostate' was first to de-construct the power that held me since i was 10 and secondly, when i realized the truth about the 'truth' and the watchtower corporation/s, to get my kids out of it.. on one hand i want the wbts to be some distant forgotten memory but realize this probably will now not be until i feel they are 'safe' and.

Aussie Oz

Well, it is about six months since i came on here.

I have a stack of files and information at my finger tips that frankly i dont know what to do with! It is almost like i have forgotten more than i learnt when i go back through it all. Sometimes i re-read stuff just to make sure i am really really sure of it all.

One of my main reasons for beginning this journey from apologist to 'apostate' was first to de-construct the power that held me since i was 10 and secondly, when i realized the truth about the 'truth' and the Watchtower corporation/s, to get my kids out of it.

On one hand i want the WBTS to be some distant forgotten memory but realize this probably will now not be until i feel they are 'safe' and

on the other i want to do something with what i have learnt. I realize it is pretty useless to hit witnesses with the real truth, so other than using it for a bit of fun with them what do i do with it?

Sometimes it feels like a fire in my belly and i want to scream it from the roof tops, yet i know that wont really acheive anything at all. I feel so indignant at the WBTS that sometimes i wish i could do some harm there but the world is full of groups wanting to control people and people wanting to be controlled, i can not dent that.

Perhaps i should concentrate on the strategy needed to help the children and then hit delete?

I find an incredible mix of people here, new scared and unsure ones, angry and frustrated ones, funny ones, cool headed wise ones, researchers and those dedicated to exposing and educating, some with minds like encyclopedias that seem to be able to find and share rare material too.

Did you reach my point in the journey? Why are you how you are?

Oz feels a little lost for direction for some weird reason...

55

generation teaching reconsidered

by inbetween in

was thinking about this new generation teaching, and to some extend it makes sense, let me explain.. first of all, i personally believe, it only applied to jesus time, it only made sense there, and when jesus talked about it, in the year 33, this generation certainly observed the events leading to jerusalems destruction 70 ce.

( even though the context does not really give much hint, since he talks about the sign of the son of man being seen in heaven etc, something that did not happen in the first century).

the main question is, what is a generation ?.

Aussie Oz

Inbetween

IT DOES NOT MATTER how you spin it.

It is still a bald faced attempt by the WBTS to keep people hooked. Go back a few years and the teaching was FACT that the current generation of 1914 would NOT DIE OUT before the end. No amount of self manufactured new light changes it. It is NOT coincedence that at the same time as the generation was almost totally gone that they come up with this latest attempt to stretch 'generation'.

Its a load of horse shit and they, we and you know it.

oz

23

to buy a house or not... suggestions, experience, help!

by Aussie Oz in

many years ago i bought a house because the government basically threw money at us and the mortgage was pretty much the same as the weekly rent in $ per week.. obviusly that has changed, here in aust real estate has gone through the roof with a house considered a bargain at $300,000 for a first home buyer.. so here i am at 47, thinking about buying a house so that when i retire, the wife and i will not have to pay rent or mortgage at all.

we have to raise $25k more (we have 10) for deposit and fees in the next 18 months to do this.

(offer is to buy mil house at reduced market price).

Aussie Oz

I don't want to be renting when retired either.

But i also have seen people struggle their whole life and go without etc all for a house. Retire and die.

Life must also be about the journey not just the destination surely!

here are some scary numbers...

In 1998 a good wage was 600 a week, i had a 74000 mortgage and repayments were $110 a week

now, a 'good' wage is still 600, the repayments per week on 230000 at 7ish % are 369 per week.

that amount is like having to pay 26% interest on the 74000 twelve years ago on the same basic wage!

real estate is now 'unreal estate'.

oz