Posts by Judith

25

Reasons to Quit

by Frenchy in

jw
friends

-some of you might recognize that caption as the title to one of merle and willie's biggest hits but this is not about drugs and alcohol but about something many of us here hold in common.. i have read many reasons stated here for those who have left the organization either formally (through df'ing or da'ing) and those that are still technically in but mentally out.

some (quite a few as i expected) have left to pursue lifestyles inconsistent with teachings which they evidently once held dear (they were questioned about those beliefs prior to baptism) but have now abandoned.

that reasoning is absurd but it makes good sense to the rank and file.

Judith

Hello Frenchy.

"Without losing faith and hope." Ah, that is exactly what has happened to me. I didn't want it to be gone but I could not deny any longer that I was being lied to all those years.

I do want to hope and have a belief system. I know it is scarey without that most of the time. But maybe one adjusts and it becomes less scarey to not guess what might be and live what is.

I had become so used to praying about everything and hoping that I was being heard. It brought comfort in some ways and in others I always wondered if I was asking too much, or not asking properly. That is what the religion does to your brain. I was told to pray and yet only for what is right. Fine line there since we were not supposed to know what was right - only the WT knew. And that could always change like a blowing in the wind.

I sometimes envy that person or persons who have that total submission and belief in their religion. They don't know any better and have not had to sacrifice their peace of mind. It just is the way it is and that's okay. Gees! My mother told me I would keep getting in trouble if I kept asking questions and not doing what I was told to do. Seems she was right. <love her anyway>

17

Bizarre Urban Myth...have you heard it?

by Preston in

jw
friends

i remember a couple of years ago when i was out in field service i heard a story (haven't we all) about a district convention in california where the speaker was invited to give a talk, and as he was standing before the platform, he unexpectedly began to tell a slurry of sex jokes, profanities, and stories about his sex life.

everyone in attendance was shocked, and after he was removed from speaking, an elder had to inform the audience that what happened was completely unexpected and uncalled for.

being that i was a jw at the time i had no use for critical thinking, so i thought every word of it was true.

Judith

A brother was trying to quiet the little barking dog on someones porch where he rang the bell to witness. He hit the dog with his bookbag and the dog died. He stuffed the dog into his book bag and quickly left. This story was going around the hall about 10 years ago.

21

Seventh Day Adventist Funeral

by Judith in

jw
friends

i attended a seventh day adventist funeral today.

she was a really nice person that i had worked with some years ago.

she was kind to everyone, never a bad word about anyone, always willing to help, and didn't toss her religion down your throat.

Judith

Hi RR

Thanks for your answer to my post. I know that they believe in the Trinity because I heard it mentioned at the funeral tonight. So that may have been one of the reasons they split off from their cousin the WT. I was raised a Baptist and at age 12 Presbyterian. I never could understand the Trinity. How could God be the father and yet also the son. And then the Holy Spirit enters and is God also. This is yet another reason why the Witness religion seemed so right.

Nothing about religion seems right to me now.

You end your posts with "I still believe". May I ask what it is that you still believe? I am interested because I want to believe.

Thanks

21

Seventh Day Adventist Funeral

by Judith in

jw
friends

i attended a seventh day adventist funeral today.

she was a really nice person that i had worked with some years ago.

she was kind to everyone, never a bad word about anyone, always willing to help, and didn't toss her religion down your throat.

Judith

Thanks for you condolences UncleBruce.

Do you really think there is something in Pa. water? Could be since I started studying with the JW's when I lived in Pa. <grin>

Now that I think of it, the 7DA at the funeral did remind me of the people that attend the meetings at the hall. Poor and a bit downtrodden. Yet hopeful when the minister spoke of the resurrection. Yet sad and without light in their eyes. No wonder I felt comfortable being there with them. I have sat with people just like them for 28 years.

21

Seventh Day Adventist Funeral

by Judith in

jw
friends

i attended a seventh day adventist funeral today.

she was a really nice person that i had worked with some years ago.

she was kind to everyone, never a bad word about anyone, always willing to help, and didn't toss her religion down your throat.

Judith

I attended a Seventh Day Adventist funeral today. She was a really nice person that I had worked with some years ago. She was kind to everyone, never a bad word about anyone, always willing to help, and didn't toss her religion down your throat. She seemed to be one of the happiest people around. 7 years ago she developed cancer and has been going through treatments for the entire time. She died due to complications on Monday. I thought about calling her on Monday although I had not talked with her in two months. It was almost overpowering that I had to call. And then, I got a call telling me that she had died. How sad that she died and how sad that I didn't call before Monday.

I attended the funeral so that I could be at her last event. A saying goodbye and that I will miss you. I sat and thought about her, 49 years old and gone. I really believe that she loved her life and her religion. I stayed for the service (searching for another religion, am I?) I wanted to hear what they had to say. Except for mention of Jesus and not Jehovah, the words were on a par with the Witnesses. The minister said that she is in the ground awaiting the resurrection and that all the church members would see her again when Jesus came and took them up to the clouds. The dead being taken first.

I spoke with her mother and she said that it won't be long before her daughter will be with Jesus and that she will be with her daughter soon also. I did not want to question a grieving woman so I didn't ask for specifics. It sure sounded that they have some kind of time frame for the end too. Does anyone know if this is true?

I will miss Dianna and tonight I grieve.

25

Reasons to Quit

by Frenchy in

jw
friends

-some of you might recognize that caption as the title to one of merle and willie's biggest hits but this is not about drugs and alcohol but about something many of us here hold in common.. i have read many reasons stated here for those who have left the organization either formally (through df'ing or da'ing) and those that are still technically in but mentally out.

some (quite a few as i expected) have left to pursue lifestyles inconsistent with teachings which they evidently once held dear (they were questioned about those beliefs prior to baptism) but have now abandoned.

that reasoning is absurd but it makes good sense to the rank and file.

Judith

Hi Frenchy.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on my post. I guess we all feel that "fear and anger" when we finally realize that we had bought into a brain numbing doctrine. I am searching, although I have told myself there is nothing to search for. And what if I found something I thought was IT once more? Chills me to the bone. Perhaps I will find God in my heart as you said. The road is long and I don't know if I even want to travel it and find another disappointment. It's going to take some time to pick the sores of the WTS from my skin, drain the pus of illusion from my brain, and stop going back and forth wondering if I did the right thing.

Your input is important. Thanks again.

25

Reasons to Quit

by Frenchy in

jw
friends

-some of you might recognize that caption as the title to one of merle and willie's biggest hits but this is not about drugs and alcohol but about something many of us here hold in common.. i have read many reasons stated here for those who have left the organization either formally (through df'ing or da'ing) and those that are still technically in but mentally out.

some (quite a few as i expected) have left to pursue lifestyles inconsistent with teachings which they evidently once held dear (they were questioned about those beliefs prior to baptism) but have now abandoned.

that reasoning is absurd but it makes good sense to the rank and file.

Judith

Oh how I wish it were true. It makes me sad and then angry to think that I spent 28 years thinking they had all the answers. I talked with a DAed person yesterday and she said, "I know that if there is one true religion, that it is the Witnesses." I thought this way all the years that I did not attend the meetings. I started back this summer and attended for 4 months trying to be reinstated for I thought "This must be the true religion."

I watched the people at the Hall, I listened to the boring talks, I heard the same monotonous voices giving answers to the Watchtower study. I wanted so much for it to be the Truth but each meeting made it more obvious that it wasn't.

I found this site and looked into the teachings and the changes of the WTS. The UN letter, the blood issue, etc. It hit me pretty hard that it was all a Big Lie and I had been taken in and believed for so long and now it was just smoke and mirrors. It leaves me without a belief system, the belief system of the past 28 years. I am trying to put it all together, pick up all the shattered pieces, dump them into the trash and start all over from square one.

I have had two months to ponder my "unbelief" I haven't been able to find a starting point in believing something else. I don't even know how to pray anymore and if I should even be doing that. Is there any deity out there. How could I ever trust any religion again "Smoke and Mirrors" They all have smoke and mirrors. So, god or no god, god as I see him/her, is an invention of clever men to provide comfort and answers to people while they pick their pockets and ruin their lives. I guess that is a simplified explanation of what I think now. I look at the world, as a side effect of this seemingly harmless belief, millions upon millions of people have died clutching their cross, their Watchtower, their Koran or whatever symbol that expresses their superstition. How can this be a good thing? Even today the Irish are killing the Irish and, of course, Islam would sink all of the West and if they suceed, they will then go after Buddah. It seems to me that religion is only to gather the stupid masses to your cause, how sad.

"Religion is the opium of the people." Karl Marx

52

Active JW's Who Question The UN/WTBTS...

by zev in

jw
friends

one question.

have any of you who have written to the borganization, about the un/wtbts relationship, heard any replys?

i know many of you have.. i'm not looking for details, though you can include them as you see fit.. a yes or no will do for now.. thanks so much.. .

Judith

My son, who was studying with two witnesses, asked about the changed blood doctrine. They told him that it was up to a person's conscience. Ah, they made a fatal mistake when they told him that. Because the assembly that he just attended stated, "Don't Trust Your Conscience." Imagine that. This statement, along with the UN letter and other info I gathered, gave him insight into their lies. He left a note on his door that he never wants them to return. In the note he gave them some scriptures to look up and a copy of the UN letter.

21

Anyone read the book "Was Jesus Married?&q...

by Judith in

jw
friends

i was given this book by a psychiatrist 30 years ago.

the thought behind the book was that jesus would not have stayed single and they gave the reasons why.

now that i am looking for more insight into religion, i would like to have the book again.

Judith

MegaDude

Thanks. I will accept deceived over dumb.

I started to study 28 years ago, let go of all holidays, believed that I had found the one and only true religion. There were things that bothered me (that didn't quite fit)so I stopped studying and going to the hall and then I moved from PA to WI. After a year in WI, someone came to the door from the JW's and we got talking and sure enough I started another bible study. I got heavily involved when my children were 6, 9, and 11. Went to all the conventions, etc. Got baptized in 1984 and faded away, for many reasons which I won't go into right now, in 1986. Oh did I mention I was married to an alcoholic whos mother was a JW? She would tell me to keep my mouth shut, obey my husband, and make all the meetings, read all the literature, and pray.

I tried to be quiet but that little demon in me would burst forth and I would spew my anger at him. And then go an pray about it. Gees! Oh, sorry, I forgot that Gees is not allowed because it means Jesus!

I faded away and went to college in 1989. All my children went to college and have graduated. I disassociated in 1995 but I always had this feeling of doom because I wasn't doing what God wanted of me. Oh, sorry. I seem to be getting carried away and writing a book here.

I started back to the Hall this summer and it all came flooding back again. I found this site (nervous that I wasn't supposed to look at it from a JW standpoint) but rebelled and did it anyway. Here, reading the posts, is what got my thinking back on track and helped to pull my youngest son from their clutches. He started getting that glassy-eyed freak look and I thought he was lost to them. But then the UN involvement was posted here and other things and he doesn't attend anymore either.

Gees! <rebelling again> Thanks for listening.

21

Anyone read the book "Was Jesus Married?&q...

by Judith in

jw
friends

i was given this book by a psychiatrist 30 years ago.

the thought behind the book was that jesus would not have stayed single and they gave the reasons why.

now that i am looking for more insight into religion, i would like to have the book again.

Judith

MegaDude

After 28 years of believing in the WTS's version of religion, I felt such a void, a black emptiness when I saw through the lies. How could I have been so dumb? It all seems so easy to see right now I am so angry. Perhaps more with myself for being taken in and studying, always studying and so much of my life wasted on lies. Thinking that the true religion (what I was seeking since I was 9 years old) would require total obedience, tons of studying, sacrifices, and non-questioning (cause God might get mad if I didn't give up my entire life). Thank you for your insight into what I am feeling right now.

I will try to rent "The Last Temptation of Christ" and watch it tonight.

Thanks