jonjonsimons

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Posts by jonjonsimons

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  86

  More Bethelite Table Crumbs Please!

  by MadApostate in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in a controversial post in a separate thread, janh makes an extremely good observation that a certain former gb member will likely carry many, many wts "top secrets" to his grave, for whatever reasons he does not wish to divulge such.. then, on this db, former bethelites constantly exchange posts where their word choice is "cloaked" so that many of us who were not insiders are left guessing at meaning, people, etc.

  obviously, even individual members of this fraternity have unique experiences and insights.

  if such info is not disseminated, it is lost if that person dies naturally or in an accident.. would you folks please post more elaborately so that the rest of us can benefit from your knowledge and experience.. the statement that motivated this post made a silent reference to the author of the happiness book.

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  jonjonsimons

  Amazing,

  You said "We already know that some were Gay, or had other serious problems."

  (Deep cleansing breath before I have to say this once again)

  Take it from someone who knows, being gay is definitely not a "problem".

  Peace,
  Jon
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  17

  risk taking

  by joelbear in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well, i'm getting closer and closer to turning my life upside down and breaking away from my 43 years of conservative living.

  any risk experiences out there?.

  the risk i want to take is leaving banking, living a much more bohemiam life, maybe work as a waiter or bartender or something, go to school, travel, work on my furniture art, write, read, live.. aaaack.

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  jonjonsimons

  Joel,
  I can only share a true story with you that might help. About 15 years ago when I was just a wee lad of 21 I took a one month trip to Indonesia. When I got to Bali I stumbled upon this small commune of huts on a black sand beach in a remote part of the island. The place consisted of about 10-12 huts that encircled a large dining/bar area in the center of the compound. On the day I arrived I met up with an Australian sailor named Guy, but that's another story! Anyway the day I got there I found out the bartender had quit that morning. I told the owner that I had slung cocktails before and would be willing to help him out for a couple of evenings in exchange for room and board. I figured if I could mix drinks in a nightclub on the weekends back home I could handle this place. Anyway to make a long story short, the family that owned the place offered to give me the job permanently and for some reason I said no. Ended up back in Ohio after the month was over as I had planned. The point I'm trying to make is that even though my life is great and I am very content, there are still times when I think about that chance and kick myself for not at least trying it. I didn't take the chance then because I was too afraid of change. Don't make the same mistake!

  Peace and love,
  Jon
  BTW that drag name is too much fun. My drag name was Streat Walker...get it. I only do Aids benefits now days...those heels are too damn painful!
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  76

  Why Are You Here?

  by larc in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the question, "why are you here?

  " is simple enough, and your answer may be straightforward.

  however, when i asked that of myself, i find that my answer is pretty complicated.

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  jonjonsimons

  larc,
  I'm not sure why I'm here. I started lurking a few weeks before I started posting and it's become addictive. I walked away from the borg when I was 16 and in the process walked away from my entire family and everyone I had ever known. Now that I'm a much older man (ok 36 isn't that old but sometimes it sure feels like it) I have finally come to grips with the entire situation and I hope that maybey my being here will help someone else who has had a similar experience. The one thing I didn't expect was to find the many warm hearted fantastic people that I have found on this DB. And that is what makes me stick around here!
  Peace and love to you and yours,
  Jon
  PS email me. We live in the same town, we might as well meet. I'm not really that scary in person, I swear....haha!!!!
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  174

  get a life -- 10 facts

  by joelbear in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i thought it would be interesting for people to just post a few things about themselves so we can get to know each other just a bit.. try posting 10 facts about your life.. joel.

  1. i was born and raised in south georgia.. 2. my favorite subject in school was math.. 3. i was in the fulltime service (bethel and pioneer) for 4 years.. 4. my favorite color is blue.. 5. mitch and i have been together over 12 years.. 6. we live in a suburb of atlanta georgia.. 7. we love to eat out and have friends over for dinner and board games.. 8. the only sport i was ever any good at is tennis.. 9. my favorite tv show of all time is the simpsons.. 10. we are both naturists and wish we could lay on the beach naked every day.

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  jonjonsimons

  Damn it Dave you're not being fair!!! Pricsa and ladonna I hate you, love you, hate you, love you, hate you, love you. OK I'm just jealous as all hell. If I had breasts mabey Dave would love me to! (hmmm silicone or saline?, nah the chest hair would be a dead giveaway and I wouldn't shave even if Sister Theresa asked me to, which won't happen because she's kinda dead!!)
  
  Peace and love,
  Jon

  PS Joel your threads always get more responses than mine. I'm going to go cry myself to sleep now.

  Hey Riz, me love you long time too baby....J (and take my word for it, our anniversary was fabulous. A good time was had by all, especially jonjon!!!)
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  174

  get a life -- 10 facts

  by joelbear in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i thought it would be interesting for people to just post a few things about themselves so we can get to know each other just a bit.. try posting 10 facts about your life.. joel.

  1. i was born and raised in south georgia.. 2. my favorite subject in school was math.. 3. i was in the fulltime service (bethel and pioneer) for 4 years.. 4. my favorite color is blue.. 5. mitch and i have been together over 12 years.. 6. we live in a suburb of atlanta georgia.. 7. we love to eat out and have friends over for dinner and board games.. 8. the only sport i was ever any good at is tennis.. 9. my favorite tv show of all time is the simpsons.. 10. we are both naturists and wish we could lay on the beach naked every day.

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  jonjonsimons

  Joel, Great Post.

  Here goes:

  1. I'm the 2nd oldest of 10 children and a huge dissapointment to my dad!(happy happy joy joy)
  2. I'm 36 years old with br hair and eyes and a goatee(this is sounding like a singles ad)
  3. I'm happily married for the last 8 years to my life partner Kevin.(today is our anniversary)
  4. I was born in central Kentucky and raised in southern Ohio.(no briar jokes please)
  5. Favorite movies are The Way We Were and Terms of Endearment.(imagine that!)
  6. Favorite music group is Fleetwood Mac.(I am the secret love child of Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham)
  7. Favorite author is Anne Rice.(her vampire novels are fabo!!)
  8. No kids but I do have a cat and her name is Ethyl.(don't ask me Kevin named her)
  9. Left JW's when I was 16 and am now an athiest.(Kevin is Catholic and swears that deep down I really do believe in God)
  10. Secret desire is to have one of my screenplays win an Oscar.(of course I have to get one made into a film first!)

  Peace,
  Jon
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  47

  "Special" meeting in October?

  by Esmeralda in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  question.

  my mother told my husband that there is to be a 'special meeting' in october at the local sports arena (same place as dc's are held here) and that "only publishers are allowed to attend" that they will get "special cards" for admission from their local congregation and have to hand them in to get into the building.

  i have no idea if this has anything to do with the "annual meeting" they always have (isn't that generally in october?

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  jonjonsimons

  blondie,
  I just read your comment and laughed out loud at work. Now everyone is looking at me, thanks a lot!

  Way funny,
  Jon
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  13

  Is monogamy realistic?

  by jonjonsimons in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  do you believe that humans are capable of complete sexual monogamy?.

  i believe 100% emotional monogamy is obtainable, but i'm not sure about sexual monogamy.

  does gender figure into the equation?

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  jonjonsimons

  Do you believe that humans are capable of complete sexual monogamy?
  I believe 100% emotional monogamy is obtainable, but I'm not sure about sexual monogamy. Does gender figure into the equation? Are women or men least likely to remain sexually faithful to their partner, and why? Does sexual orientation figure into the equation? If men are more likely not to remain monogamous, is it that much harder for two gay men to maintain a sexually monogomous relationship? As I've stated above I do believe in the concept of emotional monogamy, ie being in and staying in love with the same person for life.

  I posed this question to a group of people in my book club and received responses that varied greatly. One woman in the group agreed with my view that sexual monogamy was not a realistic goal, while one of the men in the group basically told me I was full of shit. I'm not looking for moral judgements but for your thoughts on the concept.

  Peace and love to you and yours,
  Jon
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  26

  how have YOU changed since leaving?

  by idaho in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it's obvious that the sense of freedom is a dominant.

  feeling among most persons here, but it would be .

  interesting to hear in what way(s) you feel you .

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  jonjonsimons

  The most obvious change that I noticed after about 5-6 years out was that I had lost that constant feeling of dread. Always wondering if someone was going to find out what I really thought. Always worrying that the big A was gonna come each and every day. Constantly praying to J to "fix me", that kinda stuff. I have also lost my ulcer which I first got at the age of 15. It took me about 10 years to finally allow myself to just be happy. Now I'm happiness overdrive!

  Peace,
  Jon
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  10

  shunning apostates children

  by jurs in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was aware when i da'd myself that i would be shunned.

  what i didn't expect was how my children would be treated by brothers and sisters.

  no phone calls or anything.

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  jonjonsimons

  Jurs,
  It's sick and it's twisted and there is no explination or excuse for it. You are correct, it is not a truly loving organiztion. I have witnessed this type of behavior in the past and it turns my stomache. Years ago a good friend of mine was DF'd. She had 2 children ages 12 and 14. Some of the sisters in our congo decided that they could no longer invite the kids to social gatherings within the congregation. When I asked why I was told by one elders wife to mind my own business. When I persisted she said that she couldn't in good conscience allow her children to associate with them since they no longer had any spiritual influence in their lives. I thought that was a crock of shit and I told her just that. Well that started WW3 in our congo but that's another story.

  I would suggest that you try as best you can to insulate your kids from those that treat them that way. We as adults can "take it" if we choose to, but kids can be damaged emotionally from this type of experience.
  
  One personal word of warning. Not to throw scare tactics around but I try to pass this along to any DF'd or DA'd person I meet that have young children. I don't know the status of the remainder of your family with the borg. If you have close family that are still witnesses I want to tell you about what happened to my oldest sister. She tried to explain until she was blue in the face to the elders in her congo that her husband, who was also a JW was abusive to her and the children. They gave her the normal spiel about how everything was her fault blah blah blah. She decided that the only way out of the marriage was to commit adultery so that she could get a divorce. She had a one night stand with a coworker and was DF'd. During the divorce proceedings our father and 2 other elders in the congo testified for her ex husband to get custody of the kids since they believed my sister to be an unfit mother. Of course it was ok for them to be left with an abusive father who was still a JW as long as they weren't with their DF'd mother who was trying to protect herself and them from that sick fuck. It worked and it took her 5 years to regain custody. Like I said I don't know if any of this applies to your situation but I just wanted to pass along the info just in case there is someone lurking that might need it. Sadly sometimes when you leave the WT you can't even trust your own family.

  Peace and love to you and yours,
  Jon
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  41

  Blanket Bomb Or Snipe?

  by hillary_step in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i wish to open a thread on a bit of a controversial issue so belt-on the self control!

  my question?

  why do some of us attack jws as people and who are our real targets?.

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  jonjonsimons

  Hello Hillary,
  I must admit your post struck a chord in my heart, but from a totally different perspective. You want to know why some XJW's treat all current JW's with loathing? Call me naive but I see it coming from the other direction. Why do most current JW's treat XJW's with such hatred? I'm not referring to the doctrinal issue of shunning either, I'm talking about human civility. For example, there are some JW's that I have known my entire life that will not only pass me on the street without speaking, but will look at me as if I had no right to be on the street at all. I've had elders in the congo that I grew up in snicker to their wives and actually point at me in the grocery store! Still there are others that will quietly ask me how I am doing when we meet in public while nervously watching over their shoulder to make sure no one has noticed. Believe me the cordial ones are in the minority. I was raised a JW and was taught that I should love all people. Mabey I took that too literally? When I was still in the borg, I truly grieved for my friends who were DF'd and I would search for ways to let them know that I was there for them. I would make eye contact with them at meetings and try to "bump" into them in public to make sure they knew I trully cared for them as people and not just about their status as a JW. Most current JW's I know that follow the shunning doctrine of the WT seem to do it with glee. It's like they enjoy the hell out of making someone feel miserable. I've witnessed it in my own family and it makes my heart sick! I understand your question Hillary, and I agree that there are some XJW's that despise all current JW's. But I must tell you that from my personal experience, it has mainly been the other way around.

  The only comment I have on the victims portion of your post is that I agree with Kent. A victim is only a victim if they allow themselves to be. And just to clarify I'm talking about adults, not children.

  Peace and love to you and yours,
  Jon