Thanks all for the kind words and advice so far
gutted
JoinedPosts by gutted
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19
9 months into my fade... how things are looking so far...
by gutted inso for those that care or are in a similar situation just wanted to give an update how things are on my end as far as fading 9 months in.. april of last year i found out the truth about the truth, took one night of googling and the walls came tumbling down.
then i read read crisis of conscience, combatting cult mind control, first part of in search of christian freedom and eventually captives of a concept.
my last ever "meeting" was the 3 day convention in july of last year i attended with my family, i posted about it and just how utterly frustrating it was.
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9 months into my fade... how things are looking so far...
by gutted inso for those that care or are in a similar situation just wanted to give an update how things are on my end as far as fading 9 months in.. april of last year i found out the truth about the truth, took one night of googling and the walls came tumbling down.
then i read read crisis of conscience, combatting cult mind control, first part of in search of christian freedom and eventually captives of a concept.
my last ever "meeting" was the 3 day convention in july of last year i attended with my family, i posted about it and just how utterly frustrating it was.
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gutted
So for those that care or are in a similar situation just wanted to give an update how things are on my end as far as fading 9 months in.
April of last year I found out the truth about the truth, took one night of googling and the walls came tumbling down. Then I read Read Crisis of Conscience, Combatting Cult Mind Control, first part of In Search of Christian Freedom and eventually Captives of a Concept. My last ever "meeting" was the 3 day convention in July of last year I attended with my family, I posted about it and just how utterly frustrating it was. I then and there made the decision to NEVER go back, and I haven't and never will.
Family situation: Suprisingly I have contact with all of my family, and am on similar/good terms as when I was as a witness. All my immediate JW family and non-JW family know I no longer follow it. I still live with my mom and our relationship is good. Not sure when I'll move out yet lol.
Friends: I have kept one good friend who is still in, but I have shown him the Governing Body is just men. I forsee him fading when he moves out of home. I had a couple of JW friends pop by the house here and there, have been to some outings with witnesses (mostly not from my congregation) and it hasn't been too bad. Though I do try to avoid witnesses, it makes me uncomfortable and feel like I am being judged, I will engage them, I just never talk about anything truth related. I have made a couple of friends from work which is cool.
Mentality/beliefs: I am unsure if there is a God, and honestly I am leaning more towards no. Even when I was a witness I would read scientific articles and skeptical articles and they just made appealed to me as far as belief in a God. I suppose I am agnostic, but at the end of the day this question just doesn't disturb me, it makes for good contimplation mostly. It will not really affect the way I live my life, I will always try to live my life the best way I can, being kind and respectful. I still value Jesus' teachings from a moral perspective. Perhaps if I ever have a family I will truly need to evaluate this.
Emotional state: I believe I am "happier" being out of the witnesses, more "free". I still struggle with things that I always have, like shyness, but even without the idea that I will live forever I still am a positive person overall. I suppose I thought I would be better off emotionally, but the programming and ideas we have since childhood are pretty ingrained things. Perhaps the best is yet to come in this regard.
I think the main thing for me is that now that I am into my late 20s the thing I think most about is relationships. I've never had a real life romantic relationship, and I am ready for one but the JW mentality and my own shortcomings in just meeting someone are still big mental roadblocks for me. I know this is not just unique to being a witness, I've been reading about guys in a similar boat as mine, even ones who were not religious. Also guys in the truth have dated a lot too. I do feel like an outsider in this regard, especially when I'll be hanging out with "worldlies" (lol) and they start talking about their past relationships... I feel very left out. My plan for this year is to actually date, online is crap so far but I will work on my confidence and try to approach girls in real life.
Looking ahead: The elders have not been bothering me which I didn't expect. They tried contacting me a couple times at first but I gave them the cold shoulder and then I haven't heard anything since. Perhaps they will try to pin me down in the future and I'm still not sure if I will play the "I'm good, no thanks" card or the "I'm depressed and life sucks" card. I guess it doesn't matter as long as I'm not DFed, I don't want that to change some of the relationships I have with my family who are still in.
If you have questions go ahead.
Here is hoping 2011 is a great year!
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Video Of JW's WItnessing
by Pig innew cartoon, i hope this isn't considered spam but this one took me a while and i'd like to share it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_pqu0bln74.
one criticism (god, that word reminds me of the tms) was that my other videos weren't boring enough to match what it's really like as a jw, i think i've captured it a bit better in this video.. also, it's meant to be fairly non offensive because i hope jw's can take a sneaky peak.
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gutted
Fantastic new video!
I also have to say I absolutely LOVE your previous two videos. I've been sharing them with my friends and family (even active witnesses) and have gotten some great laughs!
Keep up the great work.
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Music Fans!! Once again I Ask, What's Your Top 10 Favorite Albums?
by flipper inhello gang!
didn't think i'd let you off easy did you?
this one might really make us dig into our personal archives!
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gutted
The Beatles - Help!
Radiohead - OK Computer
Weezer - Weezer (The Blue Album)
Dredg -El Cielo
Daft Punk - Homework
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication
Finger 11 - The Greyest of Blue Skies
Joe Satriani - Crystal Planet
Big Wreck - In Loving Memory Of...
Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
Smashing Pumkins - Siamese Dream
Had to be 11
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I am new,,just need to ask? Overcharging at Special One Day Assembly
by dreamgolfer inre; overcharging at special assembly daysmessage hey, .
having a wee bit of trouble but may have stumbled across a couple of things.
can you confirm or look into this- .
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gutted
Cool idea soldier. I'd love to see a newstory (TV or print) about the money practices of JW inc. I've read some stuff on this forum, like this post and for instance about the building of a hall (loan out money that people already contributed then own that hall anyway). I'd like to see some better details that I could share, not just personal accounts.
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And now, a Rap by sd-7..."I Watch the Watchtower Fall"
by sd-7 inas i watch the watchtower fall.
nothing left to govern my body.
i fall into the winter.
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gutted
Word to your moms, you came to drop bombs.
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HACKERS
by LV101 ini know nothing about hackers but overheard local radio commentator crediting hackers for information about the wikileaks saga and how he loves hackers and how they were responsible for the facts being released about scientology, also --- and many other matters.
why are they not helping us w/facts about how the watchtower is destructive/dangerous --- media coverage (more) would be excellent.
recall metatron posted how successful one man can be (referring to the wikileaks' incident) and it looks like hackers are the dream ticket.
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gutted
LV101 what the broadcaster was possibility talking about was that many people have distributed this information to different websites (as the original one was taken down) and also a group of "hackers" have attacked several websites that have been against WikiLeaks/its founder out of retaliation (ie. MasterCard, a Swedish bank had their websites service disrupted). A "hacker" is someone who wants to find a way to break into a system using its vulnerabilities. It can be a bad thing if the hackers motives are not pure, but it can also be a good thing as in "ethical hacking" to find flaws to fix them. In this case they are retaliating for certain organizations trying to supress freedom of information.
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Latest apostate warning in Feb 15 2011 Watchtower
by dozy inandre, who had served jehovah for years, had the bitter experience of being led astray.
by apostate thinking.
he felt that having a quick look at an apostate web site would not be dangerous.he recalls: initially, i was attracted to the so-called truths that the.
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gutted
Wow... maybe I should go back.
On second thought, nah.
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The Wheat and The Weeds
by dssynergy indoes this parable apply to organizations (i.e, churches or religious groups) or individuals (you or i)?
i know the jws say that they are the wheat...but the application of this doesn't ring true... any thoughts?
?.
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gutted
This parable was actually one of the teachings that spurred me on to get baptized. It makes a lot of sense by JW dogma... that there was always "wheat" (Christians) throughout history but they were not allowed to be fully identified till harvest (time of the end, supposedly now).
Whether it is individuals/organization I'm sure JWs thought it was initially individuals from the 1st century till now, and now it is the borganization.
A load of rubbish.
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gutted
I replied :)