Posts by Reopened Mind

13

It doesn't seem like 5 years....

by Open mind in

jw
friends

...but 5 years ago today, i made my first post here on jwn.. .

i was an elder, had a true-believing jw wife and our unbaptized publisher children were beginning to feel pressure from other jws to take the plunge.. .

amazing how much can happen in 5 trips around the sun.. .

Reopened Mind

Open Mind,

Celebrate! Celebrate! Celebrate!

How does it feel to have released the bonds of slavery to the WT? Even better you got out with your family.

I know for me coming out with TotallyADD was the best thing. No contention, no divided household, no worries about being judged by my husband. Now we have the freedom to live our lives by our own choices and to love unconditionally. We have one son totally out and one son with one foot still in. We hope some day he will join us.

Congratulations for a life well lived.

Reopened Mind

22

Feel like I'm living a lie....

by mochamint22 in

it's been a while since i've posted on the forum but im needing to get how i'm feeling out of my head and out in the open.

i don't know what's going on with me but sometimes i feel overwhelmingly sad and my eyes well up like i'm going to start crying.

i'm not thinking about any one particular thing when this happens.

Reopened Mind

What country is he going to? If it is a Muslim or third world country you may not have any recourse should the situation suddenly worsen. Don't discount this as a real possibly.

If there is any any way for you not to go to his country I urge you to not go. If you think he is disrespecting you and your children now it will only increase tenfold when he gets to his home country.

Please you deserve better. You are a good and loving mother. You can't help your children if you don't help yourself. Consider very seriously what effect this situation is having on your children.

Do you want your daughter grow up thinking it is normal to be controlled by a man? Or do you want her to develop her own thinking ability and be able to stand up for herself? Mom show her the way.

Reopened Mind

22

Feel like I'm living a lie....

by mochamint22 in

it's been a while since i've posted on the forum but im needing to get how i'm feeling out of my head and out in the open.

i don't know what's going on with me but sometimes i feel overwhelmingly sad and my eyes well up like i'm going to start crying.

i'm not thinking about any one particular thing when this happens.

Reopened Mind

This man is telling you just like the WT did that there is no one to go away to. Don't you believe him. Once you get out from under his thumb you will begin to think more clearly. You will find there are many good and decent men who would cherish you and your children. Don't jump quickly into another relationship without first getting help for yourself. Don't be afraid to be single. You are not alone. You have your children and you have many friends here on JWN. Keep posting. We are here for you.

Reoened Mind

22

Feel like I'm living a lie....

by mochamint22 in

it's been a while since i've posted on the forum but im needing to get how i'm feeling out of my head and out in the open.

i don't know what's going on with me but sometimes i feel overwhelmingly sad and my eyes well up like i'm going to start crying.

i'm not thinking about any one particular thing when this happens.

Reopened Mind

Honey this man is abusive. You've already seen how he is a first rate liar. Don't cave in to the pressure to let him come back. He is just crying crocodile tears.

RUN DON'T WALK TO THE NEAREST WOMEN'S SHELTER AND TAKE YOUR DAUGHTER WITH YOU!!!!!!

The only way you can stop him from abusing you is to get away from him ASAP.

I can't imagine what you are going through but I want you to know that I am interested in your welfare. So please listen to those who have been through similar and take their sage advice.

Reopened Mind

ps. Your life and your daughter's life depends on getting as far away from this abusive man as possible.

60

Society tells us to stop asking questions...

by cedars in

i was just glancing at the back of the october 15th watchtower and the questions from readers.

the question under discussion is "what should i do when i have a question about something i read in the bible or when i need advice about a personal problem?".

the article goes on to discuss how we should consult the watch tower publications index among the many 'tools' that have been provided by the faithful and discreet slave whenever we have a question that is not directly discussed in the publications.. one statement really caught my eye, because it's the first time i've ever seen the society actually dissuade people from writing in with questions.

Reopened Mind

EVIDENTLY the "faithful and discreet slave" does not have enough food to feed the entire flock.

Some of us are on special diets and want to be fed the genuine truth.

Reopened Mind

15

RESCUE OPERATION: What did you do to help others Wake-Up?

by 00DAD in

jw
friends

please share anything--whatever facts, methods, ideas, etc.--that you found successful in helping other family members or friends to "wake-up" and leave jws.

also, include anythings that you found didn't work or even backfired.

i'm particularly interested in how you were able to reach family members that initially shunned you out of mis-guided loyalty due to wt indoctrination.

Reopened Mind

00DAD,

I can't take all the credit for this but TotallyADD began asking if there had really ocurred a worldwide flood. So I offered to research it for him. When he was satisfied there was no evidence of such a global catastrophe, he started wondering what else might be wrong. This opened the door for me to show him the websites I had found, namely www.freeminds.org, JWN, jwfacts.com. By this time he was not afraid to read "apostate" literature. Having served as an elder for more than 25 years and having been raised a JW, he readily related to what Ray Franz wrote in "Crisis of Conscience". We followed up by reading "Combatting Cult Mind Control" and "Releasing the Bonds" by Steve Hassan. Two excellent books.

I think the most important thing is to listen closely to the concerns of the person you are trying to help. Ask leading questions a little at a time so the person sees for himself what a hokey religion the JWs is. When I visited a long time friend in the org she was spouting all the familiar catch phrases so I just left her alone. If she's happy with where she is, who am I to make an enemy of her by trying to change her? Although TotallyADD and I have left we are neither DF'd nor DA'd. I know that will make it more difficult for you to reach out to family members still in.

PATIENCE PATIENCE PATIENCE

Reopened Mind

2

We Were Interviewed for Cult Free Radio

by Reopened Mind in

jw
friends

last evening totallyadd and i were interviewed by mad sweeney for his cult free radio.

i must admit i was nervous at first, wondering if i would make an identifying slip of the tongue.

mad sweeney is a skilled interviewer who just talked to us and put our minds at ease.

Reopened Mind

Last evening TotallyADD and I were interviewed by Mad Sweeney for his Cult Free Radio. I must admit I was nervous at first, wondering if I would make an identifying slip of the tongue. Mad Sweeney is a skilled interviewer who just talked to us and put our minds at ease. Thanks Mad Sweeney. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and I know that TotallyADD did as well.

MS started out by asking us how long we had been in the organization, if we were true believers when in. Then he proceeded ask deeper questions such as "Were there any sources of cognitive dissonance that you had to place on the shelf and 'wait on Jehovah' in order to remain faithful"? We explored the trigger that started us researching the truth about the "truth", then focused on the last straw that motivated us to leave the WT.

This program concentrated on husbands and wives who exited the WT together. TotallyADD and I discussed how we let each other know what we were learning and how we helped each other escape from our prison of indoctrination.

So fellow JWNers, if you would like to hear our story tune in to Cult Free Radio on Sept. 10.

Reopened Mind

97

Wouldn't the predators on the ark have eaten everything by the time the 40 days was over?

by highdose in

let say noah did manage to get all the species into the ark... about half of them would have been predators and the other half natural prey.. are we going to belive that they went without eating for 40 days and nights?

or the ridiculous theory as the wt would have it that noah fed them nice tasty bales of straw which they happily munched on?.

and even if one of these two exhuses were true, when the animals were let out of the ark into a world now deverstated by a flood, then wouldn't they have continued eating eachother???

Reopened Mind

It rained for 40 days. According to the Biblical account Noah, his family, and the animals were all in the ark for a year. Genesis 7:6 says, "And Noah was six hundred years old when the deluge of waters ocurred on the earth." Then Genesis 8:13 shows that it was a year later when they emerged from the ark, "Now in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, it came about that the waters had drained from off the earth; and Noah proceeded to remove the covering of the ark and to look, the surface of the earth had drained dry."

This makes the story even more ridiculous.

Reopened Mind

17

Do you remember the first time your Mom or Dad cussed?

by Open mind in

jw
friends

i do.. .

how about you?.

om.

Reopened Mind

My non JW dad would use the letters BS and GD but never the words themselves in front of us kids. We weren't allowed to say "shut-up" when we were kids. However when I married my raised-in-the-cult JW husband I learned cuss words from him and his elder father I'd not heard before.

Reopened Mind

58

How old were you when...

by agent zero in

jw
friends

..when you got baptised, and when you discovered the truth about the truth?.

me: 20 and 27.

Reopened Mind

Baptised at 20. Began researching at 54. That's when my mind began to be reopened.

Reopened Mind