Posts by Reopened Mind

37

Jehovah Witness vs Jehovah's Witness

by Simon in

being brought up as a jehovah's witness means you are so used to the term that you rarely stop to think about it.. one thing i've noticed is that people unfamiliar with the religion will say "jehovah witness" (no 's) instead which i always found a bit grating.. but watching the us election, something struck me.

people are often referred to as "trump supporters", not "trump's supporters" and so on.

thinking about other things, people would say they were "united fan's", not "united's fans" and so on.. it seems weird that a group would refer to themselves as though it was someone else talking about them (in the 3rd person, if i have that right).. what do you think?

Reopened Mind

When my husband and I were still Witnesses I would correct his grammar. Needless to say he would get very annoyed with me. Yes, I often did it at inappropriate times. I was not always the "submissive wife". LOL Since he was a sought after public speaker I thought I was doing him a favor. I still correct his grammar and pronunciation from time to time, especially to clarify what he says. He often counters with, "you know what I mean!". Well, no, I don't always.

Poor grammar, spelling, and pronunciation have always grated on me. As I get older though I try more to live and let others babble on.

And while I was still a full cult member I would introduce myself as "one of Jehovah's Witnesses".

Reopened Mind

92

Only a few days ago I was entirely lost and without hope the rug was pulled out from under me

by elderess in

jw
friends

only a few days ago i was walking around the house in a mindless wander thinking if i needed to seek professional help.

then i got the courage to seek the comfort of complete strangers on the internet and found a world of support here on this website.

thank you simon and whoever else has made this website possible.

Reopened Mind

elderess,

I, too, was an elder's wife when I began to wake up. My husband was the PO at the time. Like you and your husband we tiptoed around each other until one of us had the courage to bring the subject up.

When he came back from temp work at Bethel he kept saying how he didn't understand why the WT was maintaining so many empty buildings. I had the scales drop from my eyes when I read an article in the local newspaper about blood and Jehovah's Witnesses, looked up the cited website, then followed links to JWN, JWfacts, and more. My husband could not understand how the Flood could have been worldwide. So I offered to research it for him. That was the beginning of our talking about how we really felt.

By this time our two boys were grown with children of their own. When we shared with them what we were learning they at first agreed it was a cult. However, they have since returned to the organization and are presently shunning us. It has been 5 years since we have seen our grandchildren.

You have been given much good advice. Take things slow and deliberate. We were fortunate to have some of my nonJW family nearby to support us. We were able to move 1000 miles away from Florida to Pennsylvania.

We are here to support you and your husband. I am sending you a PM.

Take care and best of luck on your journey out of the JW prison and into the real world.

Reopened Mind

65

JW Expressions We Hate

by Socrateswannabe in

jw
friends

i was browsing through stuff on jw.org recently and ran across some expressions that really grate on my nerves: loyal love, loving-care, and loving-kindness, as in: "please exercise loving-kindness toward your servant.

" who talks like that?

they must be relics of the fred franz era.

Reopened Mind

undeserved kindness---who doesn't deserve kindness?

privileges---you know it's something you're expected to do

good for nothing slave---another way to control and destroy one's self esteem

elder---when addressing someone in their 20s

soon---how long is that?

Bible study when referring to a person---first of all it should be "Bible student", but more correctly it is a student of the Watchtower.

worldly---a term used to elevate oneself while putting down everyone who wasn't a JW

hurting Jehovah---going against the governing body

new light---the governing body can change what we are supposed to believe on a moment's notice even if a belief has been in place for many years

Reopened Mind

44

Fishing and JW's???

by lurkernomore in

so i was just reading a thread and came across a completely new jw 'rule', that of not being allowed to go fishing!..

at least it's new to me as i always enjoyed fishing as did others in my old congregation.

anyone else heard of this or had this imposed on them in they're jw lives?.

Reopened Mind

My father-in-law, a staunch elder, loved to go fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. He would go every Monday for as long as he was able. He named his boat "Field Service" so if anyone asked where he was, he would answer, "I was out in field service". Although everyone in the hall knew he loved to fish as he often would use fishing illustrations in his talks.

Reopened Mind

44

Are Jehovah's Witnesses marriages even legit?

by Joliette in

jw
friends

i ask this because of the circumstances behind why they get married and who they get married by.

i know people say that they are really in love, they love jehovah, etc, but are these marriages even legit.

i've talked to older jw's sister who are now widowed, some of them say that they were trapped in a marriages.

Reopened Mind

Like Ucantnome I married in 1974 after just having been baptized in 1973 to have someone to go through Armageddon with, which was supposed to happen in 1975. My husband was a born-in and I was newly converted. As time went on I felt like one of those that Cangie mentioned; ie., I would not remarry if something happened to my husband. After 41 years of marriage I am very happy to be married to this man. I feel a great deal of compassion for him and for he has had to endure because of his JW upbringing. He was humble enough to go for counseling for himself and our marriage. It was getting counseling, ironically from a sister who was a Witness, that was the beginning of his waking up. Now I am more in love with him than ever and I can't imagine my life without him.

Reopened Mind

211

Where are you from?

by BeautifulMind in

jw
friends

i know we are all anonymous for our own personal reasons, so i understand if you would rather not say.

but if you don't mind sharing that would be cool.

i currently live in georgia, usa.

Reopened Mind

My husband and I spent most of our time in the organization in Pasco County, Florida. Then we moved for a short while to Starke in north central Florida. To make a clean break from the cult, among other reasons, we moved a thousand miles north to northwest Pennsylvania.

Reopened Mind

11

Question - thoughts on explaining your fading to teachers?

by elderINewton in

jw
friends

weird/odd question, but with our family fading, and our daughter in school how or should one approach teachers with this?

our child is a little too young to understand why we are fading, but it proves challenging in school as they have been, well brainwashed, to say i shouldn't do that etc... .

i don't like explaining anything to teachers about the fade, etc.

Reopened Mind

A word of caution:

My fully indoctrinated daughter-in-law is a second grade teacher. Generally Witnesses who are nurses, teachers, etc., have no qualms about breaking a confidence of this nature. They put loyalty to the Watchtower above their job. Please be careful.

Reopened MInd

46

I had breakfast with 50+ JWs on Sunday

by zimunzucz in

jw
friends

we pulled into a hotel parking lot saturday around 6pm on the return leg of a wonderful family vacation to new england - an then fate stepped in---a man in a suit got out of a car with the rest of a picture perfect family.

i immediately noticed all the name tags--- and my blood pressure spiked 50pts- damn!!

i was booked in a 4 story hotel full of jws-- the only time they took off the name tags was in the swimming pool- they were so proud of themselves.. at 6:30 am the hot water went cold in the wife's shower- what do you expect on the 4th floor when a herd of jws is trying to get ready at the same time?

Reopened Mind

Wow, just wow!! One of the best experiences of witnessing I've ever heard! It is my hope that someday soon one of those in your audience will log on here and relate how they learned "the truth about the truth" from someone they heard talk at a hotel. Perhaps that 12 year old boy.

Well done.

Reopened Mind

26

Want to share your thoughts on JWs?

by punkofnice in

jw
friends

well, it's been a long while since i last visited here.

i've been doing this and that...you know....lugubrious life and all.. i am interested in collating views from all types of people about jws, albeit non jws, ex jws....anyone associated with jws who wants to share their viewpoint.

later on i'd like to self publish these collected interviews but cannot offer any money as the project is more about giving people an opportunity to speak, help, whatever, rather than make a best seller.

Reopened Mind

Name/Pseudonym: Reopened Mind

Gender: female

Country: USA

Were/are you a JW? Pick one.

Yes I was a JW

No

Other (please state)

How were/are you associated with JWs

Born in
Interested
Studying
Unbaptised
Joined from personal choice
Via friend/s I began studying with two girls in school when I was 14/15 years old. That was in the 60s when the "Truth" book had come out. There was the pressure to get baptized after six months of study. But because I was a minor living at home with parents who didn't like JWs they agreed to keep me as a study. I left home and was baptized at 20.
Other (Please state)

How long were you a JW? (If applicable) 38 years

What drew you to the JWs? Believe it or not that they would change their doctrines. At the time I thought that was because as they realized something was wrong they would correct it. They also projected themselves as one big happy family. Living in a paradise earth with no death, disease, war, or other problems appealed to my idealistic teenage self.

What do/did you enjoy about being a JW? I enjoyed meeting in small groups for the book study. Afterward we would celebrate couple's anniversaries. So as not to leave out singles and children we would have a special celebration for them too. I enjoyed visiting other congregations when my husband would give the Sunday talk.

What is your best/fondest memory? For several summers we took our boys camping in the north Georgia mountains. We had time off from our JW routine and were able to bond more as a family. I know that was the only time my elder husband was able to truly relax. We never went to local meetings during our vacation as the WT suggested.

What is your funniest memory? When a brother gave a tongue lashing to the congregation for not studying the lesson until someone informed him had done the wrong one.

If alive in 1975 as a JW, do you remember it? What are you memories as a JW? I married in 1974 so I would have someone to go through Armageddon with.

Can you think of anything positive or good to say about the watchtower organisation? It gives people structure in their lives who cannot think for themselves.

Do you believe the JWs have the ‘truth’? no

Yes
No
Partially*
Other

* If ‘partially’, which ‘truth/s’ do the JWs have?

(This is your platform to spill the beans. Go for it!),

Would you recommend being a JW and why do you answer thus?

Please tell us what you want us to know about being a JW
If you want an organization to intrude into every aspect of your life, then being a JW is for you. But if you want to make your own decisions and be free create your own life, then stay as far away from this cult.

75

Hey I am Back

by mouthy in

did anyone miss me????.

.

Reopened Mind

mouthy,

Welcome back! Do tell us what you have been doing since you left.

Reopened Mind