Posts by ambersun

61

What made you leave "The Truth"?

by Chemical Emotions in

for me it was many things.

most concerned certain teachings that invloved genders, children, sex, sexuality and sexual orientations, disfellowshipping, apostates, blood, rape, and few other things, as well as the jw's unloving attitude toward so many people..

ambersun

I had known it was not 'The Truth' for many many years and just kept going because of not wanting to hurt my parents and later, for the sake of my marriage.

It all started a few years after I was baptised when I found a load of books and Watchtowers going back to Russell and Rutherford on a book shelf in the house of a very elderly brother, including a Birthday Book! I couldn't believe what I was reading and how the Society had changed so many of its doctrines. The scales fell from my eyes that day but I was terrified of telling anyone how I felt for fear of being disfellowshipped and shunned by everyone.

I started to fade as best I could after the birth of my second child using every excuse I could think of to miss meetings and not go out knocking doors, but was just considered 'weak'. There was no internet support in those days and I wasn't even aware that there were other JWs who felt the same way I did.

20

Oct 15, 2011 WT on jw.org now

by Gayle in

i could only scan quickly,,but some could point out other things there:.

(quote) we can create opportunities.

to rejoice with them by occasionally inviting.

ambersun

On the other
hand, if a certain leisure activity is made up
of “ingredients” that are wholesome in Jehovah’s
eyes, then such recreationmay well
be beneficial and refreshing to you.—Gal. 5:

Like knitting!! It does not involve riotous celebrations or excessive risk taking, and ticks all the right JW boxes.

I spent many a looong winter evening at home knitting jumpers when my teenage peers were out enjoying themselves. Oh the memories

23

I wish JW's would stay home when they are sick!

by life is to short in

as some of you know my husband got pneumonia on the way down to lake tahoe and wound up in the hospital.

we have not been around anyone that was sick nor did he seem to have a cold he just got pneumonia.

i had, had surgery for hernias amost three weeks ago but i doubt that gave him exposure to pneumonia.. well out of the blue while i was in tahoe a older sister called me and told me one of the elders had bronchitis really bad.

ambersun

Back in the 1960s, it was the unquestioned rule that as long as we could actually stand up we felt obligated to attend all the meetings and assemblies however ill we were. People would literally drag themselves up off their sick beds to attend.

I used to hate the disease ridden meetings and assemblies, especially in the winter months as I knew if there was someone there sneezing their heads off (as there frequently was) I would be in bed the following week with a bad cold and asthma which would develop into bronchitis or pneumonia. It happened every year without fail! One year after repeated visits to the doctor and yet another prescription for penicillin I remember my doctor pleading with my mom to keep me away from "hot crowded environments" as I kept being reinfected and my health just couldn't take it. Of course as soon as I was well enough, I would be there at the next meeting being sneezed and coughed on all over again.

My health has improved greatly since I stopped going to those virus infested boasting sessions 20 odd years ago thank goodness, although the constant infections of my youth has left me having to take permanent medication.

Comments like the one made by fairplay 105 make my blood boil. Sorry because I know you are new and welcome to the board by the way, but it is the truth. I can only think that by making such a comment you have never suffered from a low immunity system. If I am in a shop where someone is obviously ill, I hold my breath and walk past them as soon as possible so as not to breathe in their germs. You can't do that when you are forced to sit by someone coughing and spluttering in a stuffy meeting hall for two hours!!

29

Was there a clique in your congregation?

by Chemical Emotions in

jw
friends

there is in mine.

.

ambersun

Just about every congregation I have known has had cliques. When we first started going to meetings when I was a teenager this was made worse by the fact my parents would only allow me to have 'upbuilding, spiritual' association which was mostly the very cliquey and bitchy elders' daughters who did not like me as I was reasonably good looking and therefore unwelcome competition. My mom found out years later by chance how badly I had been treated on one particular occasion and was very upset about it.

Another congregation we went to when I had a young baby was just about as bad. There were a couple of lovely sisters (just humble publishers) I could call friends but most of the others (mainly elders and MS wives) were so engrossed in their clique they didn't even notice when I was ill and in need of some support. That congregation also had a strong male clique, which my husband was offered the dubious privilege of joining but he chose not to suck up to them, they were so pompous and full of themselves it was sickening. They were like a bunch of schoolboys the way they treated hubby because he didn't join their little gang, and punished him by not giving him 'priviledges' at the meetings

I could go on and on with my bad experiences involving JW cliques

46

what religion are you now?

by deservingone26 in

jw
friends

its been a while since ive been on how is everyone doing?

but just curious after you left jehovahs witnesses did you look into other religions?

or are any of you currently involved in any other religions now?.

ambersun

Like 30 years out I am also drawn towards Wicca (though not practising as this would freak out my JW relatives big time) but my 'religion' is feeling at one with nature, hugging trees, got a garden full of wind chimes and I listen to Wicca songs and New Age music

7

Here Is How My Day Went Today and Can I Start all Over?

by orangefatcat in

today i was at my mother's house i thought i'd stop in and see how she was assuming she opened the door, she said to me that she was just reading about satan i said to her mom i am not satan and then she invited me in she said to me why are you visiting me today you know you shouldn't be here i said mom i'm concerned about your health and i wanted to know how you are and how your help this that's all.

so she told me that she was feeling fine but i could tell otherwise as it is very evident in their eyes and the way that she moves that she is not at all well in the past month i have noticed her face was more gaunt than usual and her gait was rather slower than normal.

we spoke for a while about how she was doing and then she got on the subject of course of religion and how disappointed she is that both my sister and i have left the organization, as i explained to her i can't be a part of the jehovah's witnesses anymore as i no longer believe it.

ambersun

Orangefatcat, I am so sorry to hear about your stressful day and I am sending you a ciber hug as I feel that is what you need most right now.

You obviously love your mom very much and it is painful to see her looking ill and frail. The WTS is so cruel the way it encourages its elderly folk to cut themselves off from the people who love and care for them most, just because they do not share their religious convictions. If only your mother could see that this does NOT make you 'Satan' or any less of a loving, caring daughter. It would be laughable if it wasn't so tragic.

Regarding your son, as the song goes "you always hurt the ones you love, the ones you shouldn't hurt at all", which happens to all of us when we are upset. Go give your son a big hug and tell him how much you love him and how sorry you are. Explain you were just upset and not thinking straight when you said the hurtful thing to him which you obviously did not mean. I am sure it will work out OK.

Just carry on visiting your mom, showing her love and affection as you are doing. This proves what a warm, kind hearted person you are which I am sure deep down inside she realises. She is only saying these cruel things to you because she has been indoctrinated by the WTS, and they are not really her own thoughts and feelings. I have learned from experience it is no use arguing with them when they are in this mindset, just try to ignore it and keep to discussing light hearted issues.

The main thing is to make sure you keep in regular contact with your mom so that you are available to help her when she needs you, as I doubt very much if she will get the same level of care and attention from the 'loving' congregation.

Take care orangefatcat

66

Youngest person disfellowshipped -- ever?

by FatFreek 2005 in

well?.

ambersun

How can JW parents who claim to love their children allow them to be baptized so young knowing full well they can now be removed from the congregation for doing what normal teenagers do?

Many JW parents convince themselves that baptism will somehow provide a protection for their child and keep them safe from harm. They literally breathe a sigh of relief when they see their child coming out of the baptism pool, thinking that they are now safe and secure forever within Jehovah's organisation. After all, Armageddon is coming any day and they will soon be living in the New System!! At that particular moment in time any thoughts of disfellowshipping and shunning couldn't be further from their minds. They could not even contemplate their beloved child behaving like an average "worldly" child and doing anything that could possibly lead to them being disfellowshipped. When the baptised child reaches his/her teens and starts behaving like any normal teenager it all comes as a huge shock when they end up in front of the elders!

Likewise, when teenagers show a healthy interest in the opposite sex, many JW parents feel it is best to get them married off young as a "protection" against fornication. Once again, they think they are keeping them safe as Armageddon is so very close, and are unable to see the potential harm they are doing to them.

8

Thank you one and all

by truthseeker1969 in

jw
friends

for the longest time i was so depressed and lonely although my old lady is a great source of comfort.. i had contemplated going back to meetings etc but then i found this site not long ago and i have found real comfort in each of you although i do not personally know you all.. i have had things revealed to me that i never knew which has changed my life and blondie in particular, her posts are always so balanced and clear and i thank her for them.

each of you now feels like family to me and i feel a genuine love and concern that is so lacking elsewhere and to each of you "thankyou".. .

ambersun

Hi truthseeker 1969, I totally agree with you, and I think it is so nice of you to take the time to acknowledge the help and advice that is so freely given by the likes of blondie and many others.

Like you I have also learned so much since I came here and have been really touched by the genuine love and concern expressed by many regular posters towards people going through a tough time and in need of some TLC and support.

I only wish this site had been around 25 odd years ago when I was trying to pluck up the courage to start my fade.

49

Movies that resonate with you as an ex-JW or awake JW

by RayPublisher in

the matrix - "do you want the blue pill or the red pill?

", "all i offer you is the truth", "ignorance is bliss", "the matrix is all around us".

shutter island - creepy, is it real or isn't it, it turns out the whole thing is a dream.

ambersun

Stepford Wives. They all look spookily like they just stepped out of WTS illustrations.

122

This convention blows

by Anony Mous in

seriously, half day in (already had an argument with the wife this morning about individuality in the organization in which she conceded that a lot of it is based on looks) and this is already getting on my nerves.

i'll post a rebuttal based on my annotations later in the week but one thing i got to get off my mind: saying the feminist movement (women going to work instead of staying home) and the diversity laws (allowing for homosexuality - but also religious freedom, racial discrimination etc.

) caused a lot of the problems in our world right from the stage.. there are less people here than last year - about 500 less..

ambersun

They actually had the nerve to say that Jesus appointed his apostles as the governing body of JW in the first century and the governing body is the successor to those apostles.

Good grief! I have been like this after reading about most of the stuff that is coming from the platform at this convention, but this statement just about takes the biscuit!

I am SOOOO glad I no longer have to go. I don't think my already high blood pressure could take the strain lol!!

The explanation for tigers no longer in the paradise pictures: They're going extinct and it may be that we're not going to be able to play with them in Paradise (that's from a Bethel-vet, no kidding).

Thanks for that bit of information Anony Mous! And I presume that explanation was given in all seriousness without his tongue firmly in his cheek? I was in need of a good laugh today and that little gem has certainly given me one