Posts by Reopened Mind

I am Still Totally ADD's wife. As he says he has ADD, not ADHD. He works very hard but he is not hyperactive, which is what the H stand for. ADD is Attention Deficit Disorder. And yes he fades in the afternoon when his ritalin begins to wear off. We have been married for almost 43 years and I can tell you that ritalin has made a definite difference in both our lives. He has remodeled at least 20 houses. He can see in his mind exactly how he wants to transform a house and then proceeds to do it. He is working on remodeling an old farmhouse we just bought. Someday (sigh) I hope not to live in a construction zone.

Reopened Mind

50

Why Finding the One True Religion is Impossible

by Simon in

jws like to think they have found the one true religion.

but like so many other religious people, it's usually the religion they were born into, the only religion they know because it's the first one they found or, at the most, one of two or three (typically the second one after they left their first / born-in faith).. the trouble is, there simply isn't enough time to explore and investigate each and everyone of the many thousands of belief systems, religions and sects around the world.. think of it this way: which is the best neighbourhood to live in where you would be most happy and most successful?

not just in the city or even the country you are in, but the entire world.. how would you ever know?

Reopened Mind

LOL Outlaw!

When we walked into a Unitarian Universalist church for the first time, it had a KITCHEN! And in that kitchen was a refrigerator with beer and wine. We said this is our kind of church.

Reopened MInd

35

What age were you when you were counted as a publisher?

by OrphanCrow in

the wts has always included minors and adults in the same categories - publisher and baptized.. i am interested in knowing how many minors, approximately, are included in the publisher count.

and, at what age a person started publishing.

what age was the youngest publisher reported?.

Reopened Mind

I converted to this religion in my teens. I didn't go door to door until after I was baptized at 20. I did, however, turn in time of incidental witnessing from the time I was about 18 or 19. I believe I was counted as a publisher then.

When my youngest son was one year old I began pioneering. The secretary suggested that since he accompanied me most of the time it would be interesting if I turned in a time slip for him. I doubt if he was actually counted as a publisher at that time. He gave his first talk at 5 and I know he was an unbaptized publisher by then.

Reopened Mind

ps: Still Totally ADD is my husband

84

I COLLECT QUOTES. . . Here are some of my favorites

by Terry in

jw
friends

please post your favorites too.

my favorite quotations:.

you cannot change what you refuse to confront.. sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.. don’t think of cost.

Reopened Mind

One I heard from my mother (nonJW) growing up:

The more you know the more you know you don't know.

Reopened Mind

91

Just wondering ....

by talesin in

jw
friends

there are many new posters here, and i'm very interested to learn why you chose your screen names.. .

one book i read, the mists of avalon, was very important to me.

among the main characters was merlin, who in the book, was called "taliesen".

Reopened Mind

When I was a youngster in my teens I considered my self to be open minded. Well I opened my mind up too far and let in the JW cult. It flew in, set up housekeeping and shut the door for 40 years. I am gradually reopening my mind to all the possibilities I missed. Just that now I am more cautious.

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