considering the fact we've had so many newbies here i thought it would be good to just open it up to you folks to see how life is going for you since you exited the witnesses ?
it's hard many times to move on- however with lots of ex-witnesses on the board here who have been through similar experiences - perhaps those of us who have been out awhile can give you someideas on how to move on in your post jw life to make it a little easier .
so fire away newbies and recently exited jw 's.
We've been out 4 years. Doing great. Never going back. Ever. We don't miss the grind or "the friends". Our immediate family is active and does not care that we walked out the door never to return. Have made some good friends who love us unconditionally.
Freedom is wonderful.
Cult Classic
hi, i dont post here too often, but i was reading the other post about why bad things happen, and i am curious for everyones thoughts on this: i have recently left about 9 months ago.
at first i thought i was closer to god and was reading the bible more than ever.... praying asking for help, clarity, etc.....but after a while i started to ask myself why would god answer my messily little prayers when hundreds of thousands were dieing in haiti?
the witness mindset that i remember was not to pray for things to happen, but for strength for yourself to do something.
I noticed many years ago that my life is pretty much the same whether or not I pray. I notice also that those who believe in the power of prayer often talk about their thoughts and feelings instead of facts and logic. The benefits many attribute to prayer can also be gained by meditation and talking out our problems with another human. People even feel better and resolve some of their problems while talking to animals and plants.
Cult Classic
yesterday i was sitting here and all of a sudden realized i was humming one of those dreadful songs.
i even remembered the words!
<chills>.. so i sat here and started singing other songs out loud, which i normally don't do even though i live alone and don't have to listen to people begging me to stop singing.. so how do you get those songs out of your head?.
OMG! I hate when that happens! Unfortunately I was one of the born in faithfuls who knew every song by heart It's happening less as time goes on but when it does, I almost wish I had a gun. Every once in a while my husband or I will call the other during the day and say "guess which song I was humming today?" .... lol
Cult Classic
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/n/o/nowtheda.htm.
also called vespers.. we used to sing it before leaving out little two-room school.
syl.
LOL Syl, I can't get it to play. I'm sure it's beautiful.
just had an anniversay card from my a friend who wrote on it "may jehovah be with you and return you to his flock.".
it has made me feel sick to the pit of my stomach.
why is it bothering me so much?.
Hi there TNL - We all know that sick feeling. It's a beast to deal with. It will wax and wane for a while. The important thing is that you're out. Good for you. That's great you were able to move so far away.
Good point Designs
Cult Classic
another thread has set me off ...the one about anniversaries ...and i read an extract that blondie posted on there....suddenly i am soooo bl**dy furious...so indignant!!!!.
why did we allow a bunch of men to dictate to us not only what we believed, but even how we parented our kids,and then even how we spent our free time?????
how could we allow this stuff?????.
Loz - when I first registered I was pissed as hell! Not a day went by that I didn't want to blow up a kingdom hall! I got great advice and support and validation here. And they were right. The anger does subside and you'll feel a lot better. Part of our anger is that we were taught to suppress so much of ourselves. Anger is a natural reaction to oppression.
Don't worry. You're heading in the right direction. You'll start to laugh soon. Me and my husband were born ins. Sometimes we have ranting sessions that end up with us in stitches laughing.
Cult Classic
i don't pretend to understand what motivates my husband when it comes to his family.
he's completely fine ignoring, even hating mine, but his he's wishy washy.
(they have completely shunned me, but still try to be kind to him and our children, blaming me for tearing their poor family member away from jah).
That is such a shame Heartbreaker.... you're funny tho'... lol
I know that all families have issues but JW families are particularly ridiculous b/c they use the religion as an excuse to be a$$h**** !
on fb yesterday, an old friend of mine 'friended' me....and once again, i was hesitant to actually accept because i didn't know how she would feel about me being df'd.
but i accepted, and she sent me a msg.
well we ended up talking back and forth for awhile, and found out that she lives right around the corner from me!!!!!!!!!!
It's all about keeping Jehovah's organization clean. Didn't Jesus say something about whitewashed graves ...... ?
i was a jehovah's witness for 10 long years and during that time i developed the opinion that most of the world knew what we believed, but chose to ignore it and go about doing their own thing.
then in the almost 18 years i have been out, i have come to understand that the outside world knows very little about jw's.
other than they don't take blood transfusions and do not celebrate holidays, most people have no idea what we believe and only think of them as another offbeat religion among many.. did anyone else think that the jw religion was more known than it actually is?.
dgp - I hear you and appreciate your kind words. Of course those who are close to the situation have a personal interest in the JWs. We can only hope for our loved ones to escape intact.
i was a jehovah's witness for 10 long years and during that time i developed the opinion that most of the world knew what we believed, but chose to ignore it and go about doing their own thing.
then in the almost 18 years i have been out, i have come to understand that the outside world knows very little about jw's.
other than they don't take blood transfusions and do not celebrate holidays, most people have no idea what we believe and only think of them as another offbeat religion among many.. did anyone else think that the jw religion was more known than it actually is?.
A couple that we have become good friends with since leaving googled JWs. They were quite surprised at how weird the religion really is. They knew the deal with the D2D and magazines but that's about it. They had so many questions and were curious about our personal experiences within the borg. One night while out to dinner they were like "Ok you guys might not realize this, but you were in a cult and you escaped." They think we're so cool! LOL
I actually was more surprised at how little the "world" cares about JWs. Witnesses are legends in their own minds!
Cult Classic
