Posts by maxwell

10

WTBTS name recognition.... they ARENT such a big deal!!

by chickpea in

jw
friends

it absolutely stunned me that a b0rganization that had been so central to our lives was literally unknown to the attorney who was assiting us with the updating of our will..... three times we had to repeat "watchtower bible and tract society" ...

"track?

tract!!!

maxwell

I agree. I have been out since 2002. I have always lived in apartment buildings so of course that affects their access to me. But in all that time I have only been approached by a JW once. A guy tried to hand me a tract on the street. I've never had a telephone call, or either they called from blocked numbers which I ignored when I had a land line. I've seen them at metro stations, but they never walk up. Maybe I have the look of an evil apostate. But if I had never been a JW, I probably wouldn't recognize them. There's always people trying to hand you junk paper, and I usually just walk right by them and maybe throw them a "no, thank you". There is no reason I would distinguish them from any other person trying to hand me a piece of litter. Just one of many minor annoyances. Maybe I would have seen the sign on the Kingdom Hall, but where does anyone see WBTS?

57

How much does a house cost in your area - Is it affordable???

by Witness 007 in

where i live in australia nice newer 3 bedroom brick houses go for $220,000 up.

i think this is reasonable.

(aust.

maxwell

According to homefair.com, the average home sale price in my zip code $450,000.

I rent in a moderately priced building. It is not luxury by any means. A new condo building went up right next door and they were advertising prices from 400k-1 million. I never went in the place, but I'm fairly sure that 400k wouldn't get you anything more than a 600-800 sq ft. studio.

Is it affordable? It's affordable to someone. Not me.

60

Feb. 1 mass calling campaign. Will you call?

by Shawn10538 in

i'm not sure if it was mentiopned.

but i think that we are talking about not just one call from each person, but we are talking about spending a good length of time calling repeatedly.

othrwise it just won't have much of an impact.

maxwell

Also. I am interested to hear from people who are dead set against any action against the WTS. If you are out there would you identify yourself and state exactly why you want no part of any real action? Curious.
Also, those of you who ignore all posts about action and are not even opening this post. If you DO open this post by accident why do you not even offer a reason for not participating? Can you talk about it anyway against your better judgement? I'm just trying to draw out those who are patently against or apathetic about group actions. wHAT IS THE REASON FOR your apathy? Were you just not hurt that bad by the Society?

I would not describe myself as dead set against any action. If it makes other people feel good, more power to them. However, I will never make taking action against the WTS a big part of my life. I wasted plenty of my life preaching for the society. I am not going to waste my time preaching against them. I much more enjoy wasting my time doing other stuff like posting on this message board or looking at porn. If a JW wants to talk to me about what I believe, I would be more than happy to share, but I am not going to seek out people to tell them how bad one silly little religion is.

I don't necessarily avoid clicking on these action threads. I'll often read them because I am curious about what you you zealous preachers are doing, but I usually don't post because I have nothing positive to add. As I stated before, I'm not going to try to stop you. I simply have no desire to join you.

Some would say the WTS is dangerous. They are no more dangerous than any other main stream religious organization. They are much smaller than most main stream religions so really they are less dangerous. If an adult is a part of that organization, they have made their own choice. For most adult JW's who have put the blinders on, no amount of preaching, action or picketing will change their mind. If and when they decide to take the blinders off, there's plenty of information available at the library and on the Internet, which is where I found information. When I was a JW, I just saw picketing apostates as nutty. They had no effect. When I took off the blinders, I went to the Internet and I went to the library.

The question "Were you just not hurt that bad by the Society?" is interesting. In another thread someone mentioned playing the victim. Obviously everyone's experience is different. Some people left JW much later in life and suffered much more from being JW than I. Looking at another area, I am black. Other black people have suffered much more racism than I have. But there are some JW, some black people, some women, some latinos, some whites, etc. etc. who play the victim card too much. There are a few JW who are/were truly being victimized by the religion. Perhaps some sort of in your face action would help those who are currently being victimized. Often trauma is what motivates a person to take the blinders off. But most adult JW are free to make their own choices and they must face the consequences of those choices just as I face the consequences of my choices. Dealing with the consequences of decision that I made does not make me a victim. No one is forcing adults to be JW just as no one is forcing some black people to assume "thug" culture is black culture.

12

When you where still 'in'

by brinjen in

jw
friends

who did you get along with better socially?

fellow jw's or 'worldly people'?.

how have your social interactions changed since leaving?.

maxwell

I got along with everyone about the same given lack of social skills. I do remember identifying with some of my college classmates better than people at my congregation. But that was just during class and studying.

Yes, my social interactions have changed. I am a lot less guarded now since I am not worried about bad "worldly" association.

I have a handful of friends now. I didn't really have any when I was a JW. It is a little easier to make friends now. As a witness I confined my potential friendships to JW's. About 1 out every 1000 people. Now, I have that whole other 999 out of 1000 that are potentials.

34

Now That We're Outta The "Organization" Can We Be Who We Really Are?

by minimus in

jw
friends

when you come here, are you comfortable to be who you really are?

can you express how you truly feel?

i know that not everyone may "understand" who we are, but being out of the organization and its myriads of rules, we should be able to be comfortable.

maxwell

Who am I really? Who I am is a function of all the experiences of my life. And being a JW was a big part of the experience of my life? If my parents had not used that religion as part of the structure for my life, would I have been as diligent in school? Would I have gotten some girl pregnant? Would I have experimented with some drugs and let it get out of control? Or would I have devoted more time to music and became a professional? Or would I have been even more diligent in school? Would I have more degrees and better social skills that would have led to a much better career? It's like some of those movies with time travel (like Back to the Future). If you could go back and change something, maybe you could fix something, but there's a good chance you would mess things up worse than they are now too.

As for being who I want to be, I do agree that now that I am not a JW, I am much freer to work towards being who I want to be.

53

Any introverts out there?

by wings in

jw
friends

i took freedom frogs personality test yesterday, three times.

my lowest introverted score was 67. i think that borders on recluse.

are you comfortable with that part of yourself?.

maxwell

I haven't taken the tests referred to in this thread, but every other personality test I've taken has said I was an an introvert. And I can basically recognize myself as an introvert. I am not a recluse. I don't necessarily want to be alone all the time. I like living alone in my own space, and I anticipate that this is how I will live the rest of my life. And believe it or not, I have actually considered what it would be like to be a recluse or a hermit. But that idea doesn't appeal to me. I want regular human contact, but I very much like living alone.

I'm fairly comfortable with being a quiet introvert. It is discouraging at times that most people seem to be drawn to extroverts and are sometimes even suspect of quiet people. I try to be a little more outgoing without making the mistake of attempting to be something that I am not (for example, the life of the party). But I am perfectly happy hanging out with a few people and having a half hour or so go by without any words being exchanged. Unfortunately, for many other people, that makes them uncomfortable. So depending on the situation, I'll come up with something meaningless to ease their discomfort.

23

What are your plans for 2014?

by DT in

jw
friends

2014 may be a great year for apostates.

i'm already making plans.

i think the arrival of 2014 will be a disturbing event for many jw's.

maxwell

I really should have my goals set out more concretely. But I hope to have bought a condo by 2014 and perhaps I'll be in law school then too, even better if I graduate then. Perhaps I'll take an international vacation that year. I'll turn 37 that year. Actually, all that stuff I hope to have done before 2014, but who knows. I definitely plan to ride at least three 100 mile bicycle rides, maybe a 200 miler.

I think 2014 will be as significant as any other event hyped by apostates.

47

COULD YOU HANDLE LIFE ALONE?

by Mary in

jw
friends

if you mate died suddenly or left you, could you handle life alone?

would you remain single or get married again?

i ask this because my brother in law's witness mom just died recently, and we're wondering how his dad is going to handle life alone now.

maxwell

I was married for 7 years (separated the last 1/2 year), and that was enough for this lifetime. I can't imagine myself getting married again.

I like living alone. Of course, that doesn't mean I don't want friends or companions. I am fortunate to be in an urban area where there are many things to do and where it is easy to find people who share your interests. I do want some kind of non-platonic relationship. But I don't want to come home to the same person everyday. I don't want someone asking me how my day was every day. I love my freedom and space.

There's an episode of Seinfeld where Jerry and George decide to get serious about their relationships and think about marriage. Then Jerry has this exchange with Kramer about marriage. I found the quotes on from that episode on wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Engagement_(Seinfeld_episode)

It's very hilarious, but I kind of agree with Kramer.

43

Vasectomy Horror Stories- Have Any? Or Normal Vasectomy Stories ?

by flipper in

jw
friends

well, i know you all pretty well now after 9 months of being on board , so i feel o.k.

to approach this subject.

this subject is a pretty touchy one for most of us men, especially those of us that have been put under the " knife" , and got to the point where we did not want any more children.

maxwell

I had a vasectomy about three years ago. Very smooth, no problems. I had the local anasthetic and was awake during the entire thing. Other than the needle, there were a few twinges of pain and I could feel the tugging on the vas deferens (sp?). I got a prescription for a pain killer, but I never used it. A couple of advil, maybe. I rode the bus home from my Friday appt. I rested over the weekend, took my two advil, and went back to work on Monday. I sit at a desk all day. I stayed off my bicycle for two weeks, but after that no problems.

I don't know how much the price of things have changed. I paid a $300 deductible for my insurance, but I think the total actual cost was around 1500-2000. Perhaps because this urologist preferred to do the procedure in an actual surgery room in the hospital instead of in his office.

I agree with mouthy about getting the follow up checks done to make sure the sperm count is zero. If you're going to do it, follow through, and make sure everything was successful.

31

Getting married too young

by freedomfighter in

have noticed an inevitable trend in australia.

(probably is all over the world).

as a jw u can't have sex before marriage right?

maxwell

I was 23 and my wife was 25 when I got married. No, I was not ready. I didn't know myself well enough. Like others, I'm still learning about myself.

I sort of have mixed feelings about it. I know now that I have no interest in marriage. But as with many things in my life, I value the experience. I regret many non-actions, but I rarely regret actions that I did take, opportunities that I did pursue, even if the outcome wasn't what I wanted or expected. At least I tried it and I know and I don't have to wonder, what if. On the other hand, if I had waited, I probably would have figured out that I don't want marriage in my life without hurting someone. Getting married isn't really something you should try out considering the feelings and high risk involved (not that I felt I was trying it out at the time. I felt very serious about it.). Maybe people can try shacking up. Further, part of the reason I am still learning about myself is because I got married as a Jehovah's Witness. I'm 30 years old and I've done about as much dating as a 16 year old. When I got married, I was burying my true self under JW indoctrination.

The ironic thing is that as a teenager, I always thought to myself that I would not think about getting married till I was 30. But here I am 30 and I've already tried it and lost interest. If only I had kept to the original plan. Ah, there's a "what if" scenario for a non-action.