Welcome to the forum. Abusive religion is a life changing experience and whilst religions vary people have similar issues when it comes to rebuilding lives and making friends. It takes effort, will and opportunity and can be very hard for those doing it on their own. You did well to break free from the families dependance on bad religion. I look forward to readng your posts.
Posts by nugget
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25Newbie - Not ex-JW
by cog_survivor ini've been lurking on the forum for over a year now.
i'm not an ex jw but have some weird connections to the group none the less.. i was raised in the worldwide church of god.
a lot in common with jws.
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9
Lack of reading material provided by the Watchtower
by baltar447 inok, so sseveninches made this comment on another thread got me thinking:.
concerning reading books (life is to short): i read many 'secular' books, and my sister reads even more than i do.
we're very open about it - in our house we have a giant bookshelf of books we've read, textbooks, and some movies.
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nugget
Reading the societies literature is like taking tranqulisers for the brain. I read all the time novels, fantasy and mystery books. Psychology text books historical research. Once you start reading proper research you realise how weak and poor the research and writing in the watchtower publications is.
A lot of Witnesses rarely read more than the title and the contents list in the magazines it has always been the same.
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24
Kinda new here. A Backstory.
by SethBridge inim kind of new here.
i was a former member of this site, a little over a year ago.
had planned on writing a backstory of what happened in the past year but decided to keep it simple.
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nugget
Pleased to make you aquaintance, you have been through a lot. Hugs to you.
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nugget
May I encourage ex witnesses to get out there and make connections. It was a truly great day for me and I was deeply touched by the cards and gifts and would like to say a huge thank you. It is always a special time to meet up with my aposta friends some of whom feel as close as family now and some who I met for the first time this weekend. These were quality people all of them and I would happily welcome them into my home again.
People made a huge effort to come and I loved meeting in person those that I had come to know in the virtual world. The time passed so quickly and didn't seem long enough. I can honestly say that the parties and apostafests since leaving the organisation are some of the best events I have ever attended.
I am now chilling, cuddling my cards and chuckling to myself. Thank you all everyone should have a cake with fireworks at least once in their lives.
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37
Did you pick-up many people for the meetings??
by karter ini was a regular taxi for alot of people.. we (wife & family) pick up one sister and her 2 children for many years ...he husband had walked out on her and we did'nt mind.. however when we were asked by the cobe wife to pick up and elderly and infermed bro a 3 day assembly (we had 3 young children) i said no.. we pased her and her daughter traviling alone to the assembly.. .
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nugget
yes often and the lack of gratitude was outstanding.
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173
Atheists: Lowest Retention Rate Next to JWs
by breakfast of champions inarticle found here.. .
those who grow up in an atheist household are least likely to maintain their beliefs about religion as adults, according to a study by georgetown university's center for applied research in the apostolate (cara).only about 30 percent of those who grow up in an atheist household remain atheists as adults.
this "retention rate" was the lowest among the 20 separate categories in the study.. there were 1,387 atheists (weighted) in the survey.
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nugget
However people raised in an atheist household can choose a religion later in life but don't have to choose between family and faith. Changing beliefs isn't relevent, people are allowed to make choices that is part of life. It is the freedom to choose that is important.
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44
Is the Governing Body overdue to make new appointments?
by cedars ini'm doing some research for a new blog article on the governing body.
it's in a question-and-answer or "faq" format, and attempts to give simple but well-founded answers to most questions that people could conceivably ask about the governing body.. one thing i noticed when looking at the history of the governing body is that we seem to be in the middle of a lengthy "dry spell" when it comes to making new appointments.. gerrit losch is currently the longest-serving member having been appointed in 1994. however, his appointment came at the end of a 17 year period in which no appointments were made.
this contrasts notably with the remarkable six-year period between 1971 and 1977 when 15 members were added.. since losch's appointment, 4 members were added in 1999 (herd, lett, pierce and splane) and 2 more recently in 2005 (morris and jackson).. the seven year spell since the last appointments were made has seen the deaths of barber, barr, jaracz, shroeder and sydlik - cutting the number of governing body members almost in half.
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nugget
I think they have several issues. Firstly for someone to be acceptable to the rank and file the person appointed would have to be elderly to retain the myth of the generation. They are moving many elderly out of bethel into the community and reducing the pool of bethelites to pick from. Not everyone of the right age is annointed and also has the capacity or will to be part of the GB. They have created the problem because even with the idea of the overlapping generation there is also the underlying theme that the end is close so they cannot appoint mature, dynamic people as they have been able to in the past. As time goes on they will have an increasing struggle. Unless they change the terms and reintroduce non annointed into the GB to provide the energy they lack they are stuck with a reduced number of aging annointed.
There is also an element of control not dissimilar to that opperating in congregations. Some bodies of elders make people jump through hoops and still come up with reasons not to appoint qualified men. They don't want to change the make up of the body of elders. They don't want to bring in new ambitious, energetic men who may want to rule the roost. Everything is comfortable and cosy why change the dynamics. The GB don't like to share and they know that who ever comes in becomes a party to the deception and needs to be as amoral as the rest of them.
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23
Positive energy needed
by JeffT inabout three years ago my wife went through a bout of problems with her eyes, double vision, trouble focusing and the like.
after weeks of going to specialists etc no one knew for sure what it was and after a few weeks it went away by itself.
a couple of weeks ago it came back along with some other symptoms, notably weakness and pain in her legs.
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nugget
Thinking of you, anything debilitating like this is very stressful for all concerned. Hopefully they will get to the bottom of it quickly and will come up with an effective treatment plan that will get her back on track. Poor lady.
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nugget
I am often disappointed that JW funerals are so disrespectful. Funerals are a chace for people to come together to remember and honour the memory of the deceased. I find that they way that these occasions are hijacked by the organisation very distateful and disrespectful. It is no wonder that right thinking people are offended by these events. It is sad that witnesses are in their own little bubble and have no idea what a bad witness this is.
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8
Hi! First Post/Advice On a JW Friend?
by that_girl inlong time lurker, first time poster.
:) i'm not sure if a post this long is allowed as a first post (or if this is even in the right section), but here it goes!.
so while in high school, i became friends with a jw.
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nugget
Jws have very narrow lives and non JWs do not feature in them. As someone gets further into the faith then they are encouraged to draw away from anyone who might be perceived to be negative influence. Behind that the organisation fills their lives with lots of activity leaving them with limited time to pursue their own interests and friendships. After a while JWs feel awkward around non JWs since they are constantly on their guard for situations that might challenge their faith, such as holiday greetings or challenging questions.
Jws firendships are conditional on belief, if your friend has been absorbed into the faith you cease to be considered a friend a while ago. She may wake up and will need you in the future but for now she is behaving as expected.