Posts by Max Divergent

112

Back from the Memorial

by ScoobySnax in

jw
friends

well like i say, just got back from the memorial, have been going most years, but this year i went by chance (knew it was roughly at 7pm at the nearest kh) to my old congregation that i grew up in.

i didn't find the "evil" people spoke of here on this forum, or those too stupid to see.

all i did see was people i hadn't seen in years, and let me tell you, what lovely people they were.

Hi Scooby - I'm glad you had that expereince. I went to a wedding not so long a go and had a similar experience. I'm fairly sure that if I went back to one of my old congo's it'd be the same. JW's are generally very nice, decent people (though misled into sometimes indecent actions).

Some (many?) here are outspoken, opionionated folk (not critisising, just observing) who would no doubt have stirred up the nest on the way out and wouldn't hesitate to do so at any opportunity. You and I probably didn't and would be accepted on face value back there again.

Also, many American's tend to take things like this incredibly seriously compared to the British who tend to be more convivial on the whole (and get less done in life coz they're busy chitter chattering about nothing over cups of tea or pints of best bitter).

Max

88

Ever have an affair????????????????

by jurs in

jw
friends

i've been married 14 long years to a real s.o.b.

and i think i might just take that plunge.

i was having a drink at a bar last week with a gal i work with.

Max Divergent

Wow! Thank you to people who've been so open in this thread.

I can't speak from expereience, but from what I sense from your post I'd think that if you want to go with this person and you're in a position to accept any consequences that may come from it cheefully and at no deep personal cost, then that's your choice. If don't or you're not, then you'd be a fool ... probably. You might do better to fix the current problems one way or another before opening yourself up to more.

Personally, I've never wanted to enough and have never been ready or willing to accept the consequences (even though we've been apart for many months for work) and feel a sense of responsibility to my wonderful wife to not cause her to suffer the consequences too... but that's my happy circumstance, not yours

The lady who cut my hair today is half a well known swinging couple, works for some - totally screws up other peoples lives... I doubt there's a single answer... But don't forget that he might have the clap...

Mmmm... . if your husband really dosn't care, maybe telling him the stories of your exploits might liven up your home life too? Even if you make it up to start with... You might end up with a permenent smile... or divorced... or both...

44

The Ultimate APOSTATE SURVEY!!! Check it out!! please respond!! ^_^

by NaruNaruChan in

jw
friends

ok, we all get them in the mail, but here's one geared towards us that i just wrote up.

feel free to add to it, as i'd love for it to go around a bit ^_^ .

copy and paste this into your response box because i just wrote it and i figure whattheheck, this could be good!!!

Max Divergent

Whoops...

44

The Ultimate APOSTATE SURVEY!!! Check it out!! please respond!! ^_^

by NaruNaruChan in

jw
friends

ok, we all get them in the mail, but here's one geared towards us that i just wrote up.

feel free to add to it, as i'd love for it to go around a bit ^_^ .

copy and paste this into your response box because i just wrote it and i figure whattheheck, this could be good!!!

Max Divergent

What is your name? Max Where were you born? Australia Were u raised as a JW? Yep, didn't go to many meetings until I was about 15 though. Foolishly accepted a study and that was the end of me... When were you baptized a JW? 1988 I think When were you disfellowshipped, or disassociated, and for what? Walked away in 1998 Are you Married? Yes, and happily. Walked away together hand in hand...

Did you ever pioneer/aux pioneer? How long? Auxilaried twice. The second time really knocked me around - I hated and resented every minute of it. It was bloody awful and was part of my process of leaving. The first time was just as bad, but I didn't know enough to even think of walking out back then.

Which teachings of the WTBTS do you disagree with the most? 1) The ones that require JW to do things to the exclusion of their own needs - like, go to meetings/conventions/pioneering/whatever ahead of earning a living/getting an education etc;

2) The ones that distort peoples thinking and capacity to think for themselves, especially by using guilt and the sorts of manipulations Ray wrote about in In Search of Christian Freedom;

3) Everything else they ever wrote, said, implied, thought or omitted...

Which Teachings of the WTBTS do you agree with still? I can't think of a single one. And I've tried.

If you could take any of it back, would u? Like, if I could tell my 15yo self to reject the bible study and never become a JW.... Ughhhh..... I'm alive, healthy and have a great wife who I met through the JW's... so would I risk all that.... I don't know.... Are there things I'd like to undo... Of course..

What was your worst experience at the door in the field service? Can't remember... It's just one horrid blur now... Everytime someone came to the door was bad...

What was your best experience in field service? Meeting a guy for about 15 minutes who was probably a professor and the greatest teacher of all time... I was doubting, but he just prompted a few more brain cells to do their job and realise the JW were just recycling the same old religious garbage that's been coming out for 1000's of years...

What was the last memorial u attended? 1998 I think Did you have to go through therapy after leaving? No, only needed that when i was in. It helped me see the bullshit for what it was. Has anyone else quit the religion because you left? I didn't stick around to find out, and I never told anyone why because it wasn't in my self-interest to do so. My brother did though.

What did you do to your literature after you quit? It's at my mothers place Have you been to an APOSTAFEST, and was it fun? No

Did you go sex crazy when you left? ;-) We tied a few new things and our sex life is way, way better... thank you very much for asking... Would you like more details? ;-) Did you dye your hair, get a tattoo, or pierce yourself? N Have you picketed a convention yet, or will you? N

Do you have any regrets? Ughghh... Telling someone to dob on a fornicatrix bothers me... But she got out before being baptised, so maybe she came off the better for it? Do you think you will ever recover fully? Oh, I dunno...Would you ever go back? As an undercover cop maybe... but only if being anally retentive becomes a crime

Cheers, Max

42

What Were You Told That You Had To Work on By The Elders?

by minimus in

jw
friends

the elders feel obliged to have you work on at least, something.

what did they tell you?

Max Divergent

''Be less dramatic in your talks'"

Then there was the one where I called a whore a whore, and got chewed for it...

There was another where I portrayed magic in a positive light... I said my favourite story as a child had been ''The Magic Pudding" about a pud that kept growing back to full size after someone took a slice. The talk was about, umm.. Elijah I think? Anyway, some prophet who got stuck in a cave and his eaten food kept returning... seemed like a match in popular culture to the bible to me...

But poor ole Phil couldn't cope, and gave me public council on it... :-)

:-)

82

Daughter counselled on dating a wordly guy

by minimus in

jw
friends

my daughter recieved this email from one of her witness "friends".

she is counseling my daughter (indirectly) about her choice to date a "worldly" guy.. hey, so, we had a talk recently that was about love & respect in your marriage.

the brother brought out that this was more for us witnesses rather than worldly people, because it seems that even in the truth now marriage has lost it's correct place.

Max Divergent

Well, this poor misdirected girl is doing what seems right to her and isn't doing anything truly wrong (just strange and weird and nasty), and she knows the consequences may not be comfortable and that she'll probably fail (again)...

I've lost a lot of friends to this type of thing. And I try my best to help them and it doesn't seem to work. And then I kick myself thinking "what else should I have done?"

So your daughter must equally have the right do do what seems right to her, knowing the consequnces may not be comfortable.

Is she prepared for the worst case senario (which is DF obviously)? If so, who gives a rats-arse about them? Act as you see fit.

If she's not ready for that, then best to get ready for it so it's no longer a real threat (easy said, I know).

If you don't feel like ignoring them, you could offer to help sheperd this stranger she's writing about and guide her with your daughters experience; or you could get stuck into her father - he's responsible; or engage in a family orgy/love-in on their front lawn... who cares...

I'd just have a laugh about it and show it to all my friends....

Max

13

what should I do...

by davidsf in

jw
friends

unbelievable... the guy i studied with called my house tonight after 10 years i left.

fortunately my wife answered and told him i wasn't available so i have time to think about my options.

he left his name and number.

Max Divergent

Welcome!

When I stopped going, I said I just didn't have anything religious to discuss but they were welcome for a coffee anytime. That worked quite well - they haven't been aggressivly barred from the premises which would piss them off, but they have no motivation to call either (and didn't).

Remember that they have a duty to call on every former JW every 12 months. They usually don't (thank goodness), but even if they do they usually don't expect anything out of it except a tick in the box by your name on their list.

(I used to make some of the calls on the more harmless x-JW's with an elder. It was usually just a mechanical duty, and so long as everyone played their role and maintained the status-quo, all was well. They asked us in for a cuppa, we either accept or decline on the basis of how comfortable the house looks or if we've got somthing better to be doing (ie: somthing even slacker). We chatter about the weather, offer the mags, invite them to the hall or for more discussions, have a second cookie and move on and forget we ever made the call. No-one enoyed it, but it was a break from the door-to-door stuff for us and showed the CO the Congo was doing the right thing)

Or it might just be a social catch-up? Who knows? Did you like the guy? If so - well, catch up with him or don't - your choice. If not, tell him to go hither or ignore him or meet him anyway- your choice.

Well, that's my thoughts anyhow...

Max

5

What teachings from the WTBTS still hang on now that you've left?

by NaruNaruChan in

jw
friends

for example, i think i'm the only lesbian in the world who dates with a view toward marriage.

Max Divergent

I've tried to think of somthing that I beleive that's the same as what the JW's believe... but I can't... Not even a single thing...

That said, I don't do much differnet now to when I was a JW - I just have different reasons for it (I like to tell myself...). And if those reasons changed, so would my actions (I think...). But I don't knowingly do things or catch myself doing things becasue they were what I did or beleived as a JW - although my upbringing and life till 28 must have heavily influenced my general demenour.

Thanks for the question.(and lighten up on those poor girls whydonch 'ya:-)

Max

8

Test your biblical knowledge

by JH in

jw
friends

.

pass this test and win a free pass to the new system.

.

Max Divergent

I got an appropriate score for a born JW: 2/20. When I was active, I may have got a few more, maybe 5 or 6/20? Scary hey!

But I knew all the rules, and that's what counts for a JW.

46

Should the US & Canada use the same currency?

by JH in

jw
friends

since a few years, the euro has been introduced in europe.

many countries share the same currency.. would it be a good idea if everyone in north america would use the american dollar just like everyone uses the euro in europe?

would this be financially beneficial, or would this be a first step in canada becoming a part of the us?

Max Divergent

Hi Pleaseuredome - That's not actually the case that the Australian Dollar is fixed against the USD.

The AUD (which is used by several Pacific countries as legal tender), like the currency of most (all?)first world economies, floats in value against any given currency depending on the whims of the currency markets.

It was floated as part of the economic reforms of the early-1980's known here as Economic Rationalisim, in the US as Reganomics and the UK as... somthing including Thatcher's name...

Max