Posts by confuzzled777

14

Birthdays: Anniversaries of baby showers?

by alamb in

jw
friends

well, aren't they?

my jw father is arguing with me about holidays and birthdays so i asked him what baby showers were and how they differed from birthdays?

if mother's day and father's day are wrong, how is a baby's day (shower) not idolatry too?.

confuzzled777

White Dove, these are questions that I have asked myself.......You are right in that if we are not supposed to put someone above others ie. mother's day, than why can we celebrate when someone graduates or retires?

I do know one thing......the celebrations that we are allowed, have restrictions put on them. Not to have too large of a gathering......being careful on the amount of alcohol that is consumed......make sure to have upbuilding spiritual conversation. Might as well NOT celebrate ANYTHING as it is all under scrutiny. If things get out of control, then the one who arranges the celebration is held responsible for the actions of the guests, should anything go out of control or anyone has issue with the event.

30

Can't help myself! Have to share this pic! LOL!!!!

by coffee_black in

jw
friends

this is bailey 2 1/2 (the big sister) and zoey who is almost 4 months old, my youngest granddaughters.

is zoey sending a secret message?

look closely!

confuzzled777

TOO CUTE!! What DARLING granddaughters!! Thanks for sharing!! It is SO refreshing to see their sweet faces.....even if one is flipping us off! LOL

73

Awake! July 2009 No one should be made to choose between their beliefs and family

by Awen in

just as the title says.. .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bw1dfohdkao&feature=related.

peace,.

confuzzled777

WOW!! I am speachless right now......just WOW!!

13

Family Reunion this Summer and the delima that goes with it.......

by confuzzled777 in

jw
friends

so, this summer i have a family reunion to attend.

we have not had one in a few years and am looking forward to getting together with my cousins.

the problem is on my dad's side there are as many non-witnesses as there are witnesses.

confuzzled777

THANKS SOOOO MUCH GUYS!! You should see the smile on my face right now......a good smile! You know that kind of smile that you smile when someone touches your heart.....That is it!

I WILL go and hold my head up HIGH and be proud of who I am. You are all right.....it is THEIR issue on whether or not to talk to me, not mine.

Mamalove, we play Squeak. It get's CRAZY too...... Sounds like your dice game would be great fun as well! I will google it and send it to my cousins for something else to play. Thanks for the suggestion!! Might be something that those who don't get in on the action of Squeak could play too.

Thanks again for the listening ear and the shoulder to cry on.......

13

Family Reunion this Summer and the delima that goes with it.......

by confuzzled777 in

jw
friends

so, this summer i have a family reunion to attend.

we have not had one in a few years and am looking forward to getting together with my cousins.

the problem is on my dad's side there are as many non-witnesses as there are witnesses.

confuzzled777

So, this summer I have a family reunion to attend. We have not had one in a few years and am looking forward to getting together with my cousins. The problem is on my dad's side there are as many non-witnesses as there are witnesses. In the past years, it has been mainly the non-witnesses and my parents, sis (and family), bro and his wife who get together. But there are a few witnesses who also come.

Because we don't see each other every year, our reunion is on both Saturday and Sunday. 2 days of catching up, playing cards and eating! I was REALLY looking forward to going.

Then it dawned on my yesterday. I am disfellowshipped. My witness Aunt's/Uncle's and cousins are not supposed to talk to me, let alone eat and play cards with me. On the other hand.....the majority there will be non-witnesses.

I called my mom in a panick and half heartbroken last night to see what her and my dad thought. They said GO! If the witnesses don't want to talk to me, then that is up to them. I can just hang with the non witness family. SO I AM GOING TO GO!!

This just pisses me off more and more. The way that I am, I am going to feel bad for putting the witnesses in a bad position by just being present. Why does my joy need to be taken away from me in every direction? I am NOT a bad person and yet I am treated as if I have a contageous disease.

Heartbreaking. Thanks for listening........

51

New Board members within the last 1 year.....

by stuckinamovement in

jw
friends

i can't believe the amount of new posters this board is getting.

it seems as if every day there are at least 2 to 3.. if you are a new poster, what made you decide to stop lurking and start posting?

how many of us are there that have joined in the last year?.

confuzzled777

Franklin Massey......I was disfellowshipped for exactly what you mentioned in your post above. An unrepentant attitude. This was because an "interview" about a certain event was turned into a JC committee for me. They actually had a 3rd elder in waiting, just in case. They excused my hubby and me into another room and when they called us back in much to my surprise there was 3 elders sitting on the other side of the conference table. I felt as if I had been suckerpunched. My stomach hurt SO bad at the end of the almost 3 hour meeting that I was doubled over in pain. I will disagree with you on the crying though......I sobbed. I left the room with my face in my hands and my heart broken in two. No apology to me when I finally returned (although they did apologize to my hubby when I first left). So, for me, crying got me no where.

Not sure if you are familiar with my story.....but there were 6 publicly reproved and 4 (including myself) disfellowshipped at the same time. I was announced 2 weeks after everyone else as I appealed my decision. This was orchestrated by the CO and the PO in our hall. They were out to make us an example as the night in question had been talked about throughout the circuit. Talk about gossip......

50

What would you hate about the Paradise...

by Butterflyleia85 in

jw
friends

well i was thinking... kinda random stuff this morning.

there was on the news of volcano eruption in brussel and it was so cool looking.

no injuries were found but i got to see the lava and thinking how beautiful it was.

confuzzled777

Butterflyleia85, I really like your version of Paradise.......sounds like something that would be a more reasonable version than what the WTS portrays.....

I really hate it when the topic of Paradise comes out while in service or while out with friends (not that I have been able to talk to any JW's in almost a year). People get to speculating on what won't or will be in Paradise. Some state their beliefs as facts too like it says so in the scriptures......where do they get these ideas?

50

What would you hate about the Paradise...

by Butterflyleia85 in

jw
friends

well i was thinking... kinda random stuff this morning.

there was on the news of volcano eruption in brussel and it was so cool looking.

no injuries were found but i got to see the lava and thinking how beautiful it was.

confuzzled777

Interesting post.......If the whole world would be turned into a Paradise that the WTS portrays in all the publications, than I would hate to not have the transportation that we have now. I want to travel the world......NOW I understand that I would have eternity to travel, so it would not matter how long it took to get there and back. BUT I cannot imagine life without cars, planes or trains.

BUT I think that there will be everlasting life on earth. Call me crazy. I know of MANY christians who are NOT JW's (Baptist friends and Catholic friends for example) that believe in a Paradise type life. So, for me, I feel that maybe there is some truth to the concept. I don't know if it will be the type of Paradise that the WTS portrays.......Everyone has their own view of how Paradise will be for them.

Having said that.....I have NEVER felt like ONLY those who profess to be JW's will be there. How can God deem one faith more worthy than another? I am a fairly optamistic person and I CHOOSE to believe that God is the one who judges the hearts of people of all kinds of faiths.

I believe that we will still have emotions......one can experience anger without violence, sadness without death, etc. Why would we have emotions that as you stated make life a bit more interesting and have them taken away? I enjoy cursing to release my frustrations and anger! It IS a release to just let it all out and have a good cry, even if it is over some sappy commercial that played on Animal Planet. lol

Cthulhu, NOT all JW's who proclaim to be His followers will even make it...... So those who are sanctimonious, self-righteous and pretentious assholes just might NOT make it......just saying. No disrespect at all. I would not want to live forever with those type of people either!!

I will continue to live my life as close to what He expects of me and IF there is a Paradise, which I hope there is, MAYBE I will be considered for it.

21

Attended meeting last night

by sd-7 in

jw
friends

i was almost as worried as if i was giving a talk instead of my wife last night.

i parked and they went in well before me.

i gathered my thoughts and realized that it was only proper that way.

confuzzled777

WOW.....heartbreaking. All too familiar to me, your thoughts on being there and contemplating going back just so you can worship together. Your wife is a very fortunate woman. For you to put aside your feelings and attend the meeting so you could be there to support her as she gave her talk. That speaks volumes about the kind of husband that you are. I am sure that it meant the world to her......

When I was attending the meetings a while back, I refused to sing and I put my focus on reading only the bible......did not pick up the publications and follow along. Had to find some sort of middle ground for me. I was there, supporting my husband and kids, but trying to tune out the bull that was being spewed out from the stage. I will make my return next month.......get sick just thinking about it.

thanks for sharing......not judging at all.....actually healing for me and maybe most who read this......

29

Do Ex-JWs have reason to be disgruntled?

by sabastious in

everytime i have ever told an active jw about this forum and described it's designation they all, in essence, say the same thing.. they say that we are nitpickers, that we are all just rubbed the wrong way and can't get out of the state of disgruntlement that we have allowed ourselves to enter.

some throw in supernatural elements some just stick to human imperfection and call it murmurings.. these kind of assertions highly imply that our anger is exaggerated or misguided; that we don't have all facts and are drawing highly speculative conclusions.. as participants on this forum how do you refute such a claim?.

my first thought would be to point out that "murmurings" is what created the watchtower to start with.

confuzzled777

mad sweeney......for as much as one tries to little by little tweak the cognitive dissonance of a JW, the WTS warns them of that very thing on a very regular basis so as to always have their guard up against that kind of tweaking. We hear it over and over again......warnings about thinking like that of the world. Being told that Satan is very sly and if you let your guard down for a moment he can mislead you and put doubt in your mind. So the walls are built and the guard is always up.

On the night that they told me they were going to df me, I actually blamed my heart condition on my being disfellowshipped. I said that Jehovah read my heart and knew that I needed dicipline in order to appreciate him and the org. I even had family (not mine) that told me that Jehovah diciplines those he loves and that he must REALLY love me. For a while I believed it. I was in denial. I let it define me for a time. But eventually I realized that I was still the same person, I had not changed. they were trying to make out to be someone that I was NOT. REALITY SET IN......then the doubt......

SO hard to break down the walls of JW's.......but as you stated, maybe if you chisel away bit by bit, those walls just might start to come down and one might be more receptive to different thinking. Not an easy task as you stated.