Posts by Thor

35

I just got my memorial invite

by twinkle toes in

well technically it is an anniversary invite/special talk invite.

the car group was just here.

i was home but hiding and my husband got the door.. i want to tell them exactly why i am not going , but i haven't got my head quite there yet.. i think i am gonna have to just decline!.

here i am - born in truth, hard-core spiritual everything all my life, early reg.pioneer, ms, elder, assembly parts, tour at bethel, etc, married now...... i'm trying to examine jw teachings a little closer...... i've spent the last two weeks reading many many posts, info , references on where ex-jw's are coming from.

i'm kind of concerned about a few things lately..... honestly - some points make sense to me - some don't - here are my general thoughts:.

-wt getting un membership for access to library - doesnt bother me - some passports and other governement documents have similar forms and requirements..... -blood issue - some counterpoints to the jw 'rules' makes sense (original intent of scripture is unbled animals, white blood cells similar in mothers milk) etc -however a lot of 'apostate' reasonings and proof are inaccurate.

Thor

Hello Makersmark and welcome!

Glad you are here

53

New member - my story

by Millions in

just a brief introduction, i thought i would try out one of the more established forums, have done some stuff on youtube and other places but thought i would give this a try.. potted history: raised jw by mother, in it for 30 years or so, baptised at age 18, regular pioneer at 20, ms a couple years later, mts at 26 and got assignment to a new cong, elder at around 29, came off pioneering around 31, came off as elder around 32, started to slowly wind down, completely stopped attending about 3 years ago, disassociated dec 2010. pause for breath.. the last 5 years or so have been a painfully gradual process of deconstructing myself and then piecing together fragments of my shattered life that are still valid outside the organisation.

the question 'who am i?

' has been a continual investigation; every day for the first couple of years i would realise another subject or issue that i didn't have my own opinions about.

Thor

Hi and welcome millions!

My husband and I just read your story and comments, and watched some of your videos.

We found ourselves nodding along in agreement with so much and enjoyed hearing about you!

Life is looking great!

Mrs. Thor

40

Here's one more free mind...

by Pika_Chu in

jw
friends

hey, here's one more free mind.

i've been researching and reading posts here and finally decided to join.

i have to say i'm grateful for this site.

Thor

Welcome! and congratulations Pika Chu on your free mind!

65

Things in the past that show you that your doubts started earlier than you thought

by sabastious in

i was just talking to my wife this morning about underlining or highlighting the wt paragraphs.. when i was 13 years old i would fight with my dad because i refused to highlight the answers.. the reason was because i wanted my comment to be genuine.

i felt that highlighting the "answer" made me lean on just using that as a crutch and not truly putting it in my own words.. i still hold that argument now, and i am 26. the only reason you would ever have to highlight something in a study book would be if you needed to remember it, maybe it is fairly complicated or subtle information that could be easily forgotten.. so many times in the wt the "question" has the same phrase that's in the paragraph!

it's literally like playing connect the dots.. so what i would do is not highlight during the family study.

Thor

This is such a good post.

I agree with so much of what's been said. I definitely had my doubts with so much, but somehow reasoned things away. Amazing how hind sight is so clear, and at the time it was muddled.

The "Revelation" book irritated me each time we went through it. All the 1918 and 1919's spouted off, and how they made everything fit every little thing they did, crazy!

Mrs Thor

65

As a JW, what did you do on Christmas Day?

by Magwitch in

jw
friends

growing up a jw, we always had family from out of town visit or we would go visit family.

it was fun to get together with my other jw cousins over christmas.

(however, it was hell going back to school in january as the only girl without a new sweater).. as a married jw though it was a different story.

Thor

Hi Magwitch!

In the really early years after we came into the "truth" we actually went out in service a couple of times on Christmas morning. We quickly realized that was no fun, so we didn't do that anymore.

We were both raised out of the borg, so Christmas always had a special feeling even though we didn't "celebrate" it.

Most of the witnesses we knew dreaded Christmas and complained about the music in the stores etc.

We on the other hand started looking forward to it more and more because we always had a long weekend off work, and the kids were always off school. We started our custom of going out of town for a couple of days to spend time as a family together. We went to Keystone a lot, Breckenridge, and Vail. We also got to go to Mexico a couple of times, and really had fun there.

Now we are starting new customs together, and enjoying ourselves! We went to Keystone again last year and stayed in a really nice condo, we might go there again this year. The kids and their significant others love to snowboard, and it's only about a two hour drive. Keystone has night skiing, so everyone can just play all day and have fun!

Love, Mr. and Mrs Thor

33

Were you ever embarrassed or somewhat ashamed when the WT patted themselves on the back in their own articles?

by miseryloveselders in

jw
friends

i was browsing through the december 2010 awake, and noticed an article on the earthquake that happened in haiti earlier this year.

it didn't take long for the article to disturb me.

the third paragraph initiated the sanctimonious tone that is present througout the article.

Thor

The horn honking never stopped. At conventions they thought they were the best dressed, most holy, cleanest, most honest, most polite people on the planet. And witness kids were the smartest kids in the schools as a result of their theocratic training. Oh, and the assembly parts where the kid was fending of girls who wanted to have sex with them. Crazy!

203

Questions for BANE, SCHOLAR, and All Jehovah's Witnesses!

by UnDisfellowshipped in

jw
friends

you don't have to answer all of them at once.

i would be happy to see your answers to any of these questions.. remember, the inspired apostle peter gave this direction in the holy scriptures: "always [be] ready to make a defense before everyone that demands of you a reason for the hope in you, but doing so together with a mild temper and deep respect.

" (1st peter 3:15).

Thor

Bane,

I just read many of your posts and I must say you are amusing.

The only excuse I can come up with for your behavior is that you are young and inexperienced.

As you grow and mature you will begin to understand things that you are not able to comprehend yet.

There has been much going back and forth here and it all seems pretty silly, you just need to grow up and quit thinking about these things as a competition.

You can be happy with your faith, just like millions of other people on this earth, but you don't need to cram your faith down other peoples throats. The Jesus you claim to follow would never act like that.

Try reading the bible and take notice of how Jesus treated other human beings and emulate his attitude.

One more thing that might help you deal with your emotions would be to talk to your local elders and your CO, show them your writings on this site and maybe they could help put your mind at ease.

It just seems like you are very agitated and could use some help from someone you trust.

May you find peace!

61

My First Post

by today in

jw
friends

i've been visiting this forum everyday, reading and waiting patiently for approval to post.

i've never been a jw.

my husband and daughter are.

Thor

Hello and welcome!!

My husband and I are new here too. We are very sorry to learn of your troubles! While reading through all the good replies you have received, I liked the advice that Mad Sweeney gave to try to make "life at home way more appealing and happy than life at the kingdom hall".

If life at home can be relaxing and without pressure, it would be in contrast to life at the kingdom hall, where you are basically told that you are not good enough and are given a lot of pressure to "do better".

We wish you success! Just give your two kids all the love and attention that they deserve!

Mrs Thor

23

Did You Screw Up Your Kids Because Of Being A Witness?

by minimus in

jw
friends

are they ok now?.

.

Thor

Both of our kids were raised in, and yes that did screw them up to a degree. We believe that both are doing pretty good now.

Things come up in conversations now and then that make us feel sad and sorry for the pain we caused them. Even though they say we are forgiven.

Primarily the school years were the toughest, they had to stand out as the weird kids that could never do many of the normal things the other kids did. Looking back we realize that they missed out on the normal relationship building skills that most people learn as they interact with their peers in the early years.

In some ways we wish we could turn back time and do it over but we cant.

They are great people and successful, so who knows what could have happened good or bad, you cant change the past. They are such awesome people we must have done something right.

Some of the things we do feel good about are, they know that they were loved unconditionally their whole lives. We were always a close family and had fun together. We never cut our relatives out of our lives and in fact had maintained a good relationship with our extended family. We also always believed in higher education and encouraged our kids to work toward college from elementary school on. Our son graduated and is happy in his career and our daughter has one year left.

Right after we left they had no friends of course but our son has now made many friends and our daughter is starting to as well. They both have good relationships with their significant others as well.

We are the ones with the friend problems but there is always hope.

So all we can do is go forward and make sure we are the best parents we can be to our children.