I can't believe I missed this post all these years.
Awesome analogy.
Thanks for sharing (again)!
To the lurkers,
Life definitely gets better when you get off that bus.
imagine boarding a bus with your family for a long anticipated vacation.
the destination is a place that is promised to be beautiful warm and sunny.
as you are boarding the bus you are given a ticket stub with several paragraph's of fine print.
I can't believe I missed this post all these years.
Awesome analogy.
Thanks for sharing (again)!
To the lurkers,
Life definitely gets better when you get off that bus.
... unlike the rest of humanity, you looked forward to mondays because it was a day off from a meeting..
..... you disagree with the dictionary's definition of the word apostate.
.... anytime a "brother" or "sister" relates a story that seems to be a "blessing", you respond with, "That's Jehovah. Isn't he good?"
so our family fade is well under way.
we changed congregations as regular attenders and left in good standing with those giving hugs and kisses simply knowing we "needed a change".
we moved to a neighboring congregation that is out of our original region knowing we would see no one and the two boe's wouldn't really have immediate dealings.
I have been asked before by those that may/may not know I don't attend the meetings, "How's the congregation?"
Sometimes I say, "Great!" (My wife attends and doesn't seem to complain. So I use her opinion as my answer.)
Or I say that I currently don't attend and don't care to discuss it.
Another thing that I have said is that I am taking time to be honest with myself. And if the end comes (I don't believe in "the end" but it is language the JWs understand), I would rather be judged for being honest and 'inactive' in the org rather than hypocritical and active.
That has stopped several people from questioning any further. Pretty damn honest and straightforward in my opinion.
i find it extremely amusing how each year is passing without armageddon.
"for the year 2000, i visualize a world transformed into a beautiful paradise!
but i don't think that either the present world or its rulers will live to see that day.. we are living in the last days of the system of things.
Wow! This thread is going on 16 years!
And not a sign of the big A!
you start listening to music deemed "unsuitable for christians".
you pretend to knock on the doors.
you explain a jw teaching to someone and realize how ridiculous it sounds.
...you completely forget that (insert day here) is a meeting day/night.
...you sleep in on the weekends instead of getting up to "meet the group".
...you no longer worry about researching for and preparing your "part" or "talk".
hey guys.
first of all, i want to thank everyone for being so welcoming and helpful on this forum.... i was thinking about my last 3 years as a jw when i was attending the portuguese congregation and learning that language to bring in more converts.
interestingly, we were told not to attend meetings in our native language in order to immerse ourselves in the new language.
Novicelocs14, what a coincidence!I was also in the Portuguese foreign language group, Northeastern US.
I know some folks that moved down south and continued with the Portuguese groups.
I didn't struggle with the language as I also speak Spanish and there are many similarities.
Anyhow, while I immersed myself in learning the language and really trying to grow in my spirituality, serving as a ministerial servant in the congregation is what really woke me up.
I saw politics as part of the reason why decisions were made. I couldn't stand the hypocrisy that brought!
That led me to question things and become curious enough to research online.
I was also pioneering at the time. I gave up all the "privileges" and became "inactive" fairly quickly.
Don't remember the last time I attended a meeting. The last memorial was probably 3 years ago I think.
Best decision I have made and I haven't looked back.
I do believe that that being part of a foreign language group made my fade much easier and quicker and gave me more time to think and clear my head of JW brainwashing.
in my case; 27 years.
7 of which were as a ministerial serpent ... sorry, i mean 'servant' ;).
Not born in. My parents got serious with the JWs when I was about 7.
10 years later I got baptized and was a part of the lie for about 13 years after that.
Rose up the ranks as a pioneer and a ministerial servant.
Woke up and faded.
So roughly 23 years for me.
Loving life now.
september 21, 2016 to all congregations re: global assistance arrangement for the 2017 service year.
ps to bodies of elders:.
this postscript should not be read to the congregation, and this letter should not be placed on the noticeboard.
..........."unexpected events"............
Funny, they didn't mention being sued for covering up sexual abuse of a child.
Maybe that isn't an unexpected event?
fate, chance, divine retribution or sh*t happens?.
so i described a cordial conversation with my jw wife and super-duper jw mil last week in which they encouraged me to ‘return to jehovah’.
i told them that i would not be fooled thrice.. later that week we were discussing a fine mutual jw friend, ‘brother x’, that met with a very untimely death.
I never quite thought about it the way NVR2L8. But it is a good point.
A JW says that another fellow JW could have avoided calamity if they had not gone to a concert, surfing, shopping, etc., during a meeting time.
Of course they won't get it. But you can ask if that individual were somewhere else instead of where the incident happened and at the same exact time, would the JW still have something overcome him?
Well they can't say yes because then it is predestination!
Doesn't matter where you are at, something bad will happen if you are not at the meeting.
If they say no, well then attending meetings, as we know here in this forum, is absolutely no guarantee of your life being spared from "unforeseen occurrences".
How did I believe this crap!!??
the watchtower 2007 feb 15 pp.30-31 explains why jehovah's witnesses are not to toast.
what is astounding is that for each point they then go on an explain why the point is irrelevant, yet still conclude toasting is wrong.
what did people think when reading this?
Great thread JWFacts!
Using their logic, I rejected the JW religion because it has a religious background too.