Posts by nugget

48

Need Help - Looks like some one in my family got to know that we are fading...

by MissConfused in

letter from a close family member... need help responding.... what a powerful illustration of the affect that our choice of friends can have on us, especially if we leave jehovah after being 'raised' by him from infancy!.

pack of wolvesthere was a farmer who raised sheep and had trouble with wolves stealing his sheep.

he loved his sheep and didn't want to lose even one of them.

nugget

These stories are nauseating but well befits the jw attitude of zero forgiveness. It didn't matter to the farmer that the wolf had the same thoughts as the prodigal son, it does not matter that he resisted the other wolves nor that he appealed for mercy. The wolf remembered the sheep were his friends, the farmer saw the sheep as his property.

What is the purpose of a flock of sheep? It is to provide wool, milk and food. The farmer would eventually slaughter all his sheep to make a profit the wolf would eat what he needed to satisfy his hunger. In this story the farmer is no hero but a selfish hard hearted man with no compassion for either the wolf or the flock.

In the organisation the congregation are treated as property any that do not add value receive less support and sheep who question the benevolence of their spiritual farmer are given over to the wolves. The sheep that remain in are fed pap and fleeced regularly so yes there is much we can learn from this illustration.

134

Another story... possibly final story

by confusedandalone in

this is the exchange of text messages i had with my super spiritual brother.

it is sad... it is pathetic... it has helped me realize that i have no connection to these people anymore.

i feel free today.

nugget

This reminds me of Jesus rebuking those who were saying they couldn't help their aged parents because their money was dedicated to the temple (corban I think.) If it was wrong then it is certainly wrong now. Your brother needs to consider his financial obligation to his parents before reaching out to the circuit work. If they had given to him out of their surplus then he may be able to forget it but this came out of their need. The man has no conscience.

I expect you will fume and give them the money in the end. It says a lot that their JW son is more selfish than their non JW one. What I would do is ask your parents if they would sell you your brother's debt, then tell your brother he is in debt to you and as you are an evitl apostate he would not wish to be embarrassed by such a financial obligation and would need to pay this off as soon as possible.

21

Christmas

by Mahtaw in

jw
friends

was raised a jw, started fading out about 3 and a half years ago.

i recently had a child, and my in laws are baptist.

they love christmas.

nugget

I love Christmas and making it an annual celebration of freedom from the organisation. Each year I add one decoration with the year on it to remind me that we have had another year of freedom. My husband had the traditional upbringing of no wrapped presents and so I particularly enjoy the fun side of finding things for stockings. Christmas provides shared happy memories and sense of family. It does not have to be huge or expensive but it is fun. If family do all the traditional stuff then ask them what they do and why. You don't have to go overboard but when we did not celebrate it was a way of isolating our children from their peers and making the cult the only place where they would be understood and accepted so celebrating has helped to normalise them and helped them reintegrate into their peer group.

37

Great News!

by haboob48 in

well i do not post here very much and usually what i have to say........well...isn't that important!

but......i am the proud grandmother of twin girls as of august 10!

i am so proud of my daughter, who is 25, just gave birth to twin girls.........no painkillers........nothing!

nugget

Congratulations.

50

Well I gotta go......

by punkofnice in

jw
friends

...i might drop in every now and then but i hope you all enjoy life, escape the watchtower(r) and live prosperous lives.. i can't say i contribute much here anyway (and i'm not attention seeking).. i'm just going to get on with life away from the constant reminder of the mistakes i made being a jw zombie drone.. i guess i'm just going to fade.......rather quickly.. of course i didn't need to make any posts here to disappear but i thought it'd be polite and very british to bid you all a fond farewell.. see you all sometime.....maybe.....maybe not.....maybe....... bye!.

ps.

don't pm me as i won't be checking the pms.. .

nugget

See you around will miss your posts here but life is for living.

20

The happiest people on earth... Yeah right

by Bells in

jw
friends

i am looking for some advice - or maybe just some moral support.. i can't find the link to my previous thread... but in a nutshell... husband and i got married a couple months ago after 10 or so years together.

he was never baptised, but grew up 'in'.

i never had any exposure to the craziness til i met him and his family.

nugget

Don't let jws and their crazy rules spoil your married life. They are prejudiced against anyone who does not share their beliefs. This is unsurprising since all their magazines reinforce the idea that people outside the faith are not important, are selfish, do not have morals and do not need to be considered.

Jw relatives count for more than non jw ones that is the fact. They will never see things from your point of view since you do not count.

It is good that your husband finds their behaviour offensive and he is starting to question his upbringing. For now celebrate your victories, this is a huge one. You have gained more from this episode than you have lost.

29

My August Update

by OnTheWayOut in

jw
friends

i don't really have a purpose in this thread, but wanted to share my thoughts and updates.. fading has, at least for now, totally stabilized.

my jw wife doesn't discuss jw things and, as difficult for me as it is, i haven't been discussing anything directly against jw policy.

oh, i slip in comments when she tries to judge people or groups based on her jw training- things like gay marriage, medical marijuana, pedophile news stories.

nugget

Nice to hear how you are doing. I agree that witnesses are woefully ignorant of their own doctrines and just sleepwalk to the meetings. I think that the writing style and meetings are designed to be repetative and boring so that people just accept what they are told and don't think about their beliefs.

I hope that your wife wakes up eventually life is too precious to waste on slavery to this organisation.

12

Asking for money...AGAIN

by raymond frantz in

i live in the uk ,a letter was read as local announcements on thursday about the relocation of london bethel and the need to donate (yes they are blatantly asking the flock )..more money .considering the fact the london bethel is located in one of the most expensive areas of london ,the sale of of these buildings will bring in hundrends of millions of pounds in revenue.there is no need asking for more money .as one poster posted here 11 years ago on the same project that nows seems to be going ahead the conservative estimates are that they will get approx 193.5m for the site (inc bittacy hill) and the new greenfield site (whichever) wil cost less that 35m.

whip up the building committes and up it goes foc (materials are estimated @ 9.23m).that was an estimate 11 years ago..so my question is did you had this letter read in your local announcements recently?

i see a pattern emerging also the sale and relocation of bethel houses build in prime land that are worth alot of money to less expensive areas and the generation of million of pounds in income .so not only makinf money off local refurfrfbrisment projects but milking it off bethel homes sale.

nugget

They will have a period when they have the old facility and are building the new one. Rather than take out a bridging loan that they pay back from the sale of property they expect the congregations to cover this cost. The congregations will be expected to fund the build, provide the labour and see none of the profits as usual.

14

I wonder if my mom will ever go back to the meetings ?

by scary21 in

jw
friends

well, my 89 year old jw mom has been in her new apartment now for over 4 months.

my sister and i moved her back to mi.

from fl.. we were forced to by the jw's who wanted to commit her.

nugget

What right have they to commit your mother? That is surely a decision taken by medical professionals at the request of the family. The fact that they feel that have the ability to interfere in family matters shows that they lack any perspective or compassion.

I would be surprised if your mum rushes back.

106

WT SHUNNING POLICY: What has it done, or could it do to you?

by flipper in

jw
friends

hi y'all, this is mrs. flipper.

please share your experiences with this, or possible consequences of being outed.. this recent controversy and resulting arguments all stem from people being outed - possibly losing friends and family because most jw's will blindly follow the watchtower's rules to shun them.. among people i know and experiences read here, the grief and loss caused by this is terrible, and maybe now is a good time to put up some experiences here, and put the focus on the worst villians of all - wt policymakers..

nugget

I am very lucky that I left with my husband and children. Two of my sisters are out of the organisation and only one remains in the cult along with my mother. My sister actively shuns my mother does not.

It is a very surreal experience when you are in a room but treated as if you are not there. I look upon it that I can talk to anyone I like, I am not restricted it is my sister who is limiting herself unecessarily. It hurts but it is her choice however idiotic.

It is funny that I am only aware of relatively few occasions when I have been shunned, however this is generally because when I am out I am focused on what I am doing and don't really notice people around me. There have been several incidents when my husband or children have pointed out to me that a witness is in the same store or has shunned us but I didn't even see them. What a waste of effort on their part.

I did get shunned on Monday when I said hello to my mum's jw cleaner mistaking her for my sister and she ignored me. I carried on with the visit regardless of her. If she doesn't wish to be civil then that is her perogative.

If I had never been a witness I would never have met or known these people anyway. So a few hundred people in the local area wish to forget every shared moment and every act of kindness and turn themselves into mindless robots. I have thousands more that I can choose to get to know and I have learnt to value the new friends I have made who like me for who I am not what I believe. I do not pine for the past I have too much future to cram in.