Bad news - this guys a troll...not great at it...not subtle enough.
Good news - He gave everyones "humor" muscles a good work out!
I find all the responses very encouraging in a wonderfully expressed way!
i was baptized 30 years ago and have been in the faith for over 35 years.. our organization isn't perfect.
but i'm sick to death of seeing stereotypes about us.
we are not mindless automatons.
Bad news - this guys a troll...not great at it...not subtle enough.
Good news - He gave everyones "humor" muscles a good work out!
I find all the responses very encouraging in a wonderfully expressed way!
i hope i’m not the only one who experienced this but i hated it when we moved to a new congregation and another family from the congregation we were in would move to the same congregation basically following us.
and it was annoying because i always felt like there was this competition over privileges and participation during the meetings with this particular family.
it was so annoying.
I have heard of family members moving when other family members did.
Havent heard of someone moving just to be where someone else moved but I can totally see how that would be over the top annoying!
i am sitting here, so utterly bored and waiting for this day to be over.
so i'm starting a new topic that probably has been done a thousand times but hey, i'm fairly new here.
humor me :).
Phoebe I recall so many things reading your words.
The going out in service and always feeling like we were intruding (plus we were cold- apparently our parents didnt waste a lot of money on niceties like gloves and mittens as well as "gifts on worldly holidays "). So the feeling of a cold winter morning and all the warm houses full of happy people and kids opening gifts and here we came interrupting with cheap paper magazines.
Once when I was around 8 or so I wrapped up old toys in paper and put them around the pedestal of a tall floor lamp in the living room. My parents were able to recognize the intention of a floor lamp with crudely wrapped old toys around its base as a mimic of a Christmas tree and demanded to know who did it.
Fortunately there were people coming over and in the bustle of things they forgot!
Today I am texting my worldly friends and family and DFd relatives and drinking egg nog by a nice fire. Life is good.
Your thread is cathartic and I love it.
just had a coffee on way home when two young mums with babys in strollers came in with the usual bags and stuff for the little ones needs.
i recall our days of little ones and the times we rarely went out.. i bought a coffee voucher for each mum and gave them my best wishes.
i delight in doing random acts of kindness.. i wish everyone here as well a safe and happy christmas/ new year time.
zeb
Just had a coffee on way home when two young mums with babys in strollers came in with the usual bags and stuff for the little ones needs. I recall our days of little ones and the times we rarely went out.
I bought a coffee voucher for each mum and gave them my best wishes. I delight in doing random acts of kindness.
I wish everyone here as well a safe and happy Christmas/ new year time. Hugs!
Live long and prosper peace unto you all
Wonderful Zeb.
I have been rushing about all distracted lately...I will deliberately seek out a kind moment I can give to someone today - all thanks to you and your post.
i know that some are upset because of the time lost because of ever having been a witness.
have you moved on as an ex jw or are you stil devastated because of your past jw lige?.
The Fall Guy
Years ago, certain steel components were heat treated in baths of molten salt and then a furnace, in order for them to withstand the stresses of the rigours to which they'd be subjected. Some components were twisted by the experience and discarded. The parts which endured could then take whatever came their way.
Ruined? Definitely not. More determined and resilient.
and...
mentalclarity
I did need a huge learning curve when I left to get some life skills I didn't posses as a born-in. The choices I make now about my life are very intentional - that includes being responsible for becoming aware of how my JW upbringing might have skewed my thinking. Being a JW took time away from me and I am not willing to let it take any more of my time. As soon as I got out I hit the road running and I am now reaping the rewards. My life is far from ruined.
I copy pasted the replies above because they express how I feel better than I can. On a good day and even a so - so day the above is exactly how I view it.
On a really bad day (usually precipitated by hurt due to still in family members words or actions) I remind myself that many people walking the earth today - in fact most, struggle with something. Some of their backgrounds are less than ideal, far less.
Being raised a JW was an obstacle but not the only one. Most people have situations from childhood of one sort or another they have to overcome, and overcoming them is the true heart of the matter.
This helps me when I think along those lines and I can honestly say the bad days come less and less the further away you get from the whole JW experience.
i saw an article in the news yesterday that laws are going to be passed subjecting the police to being recorded by anyone while performing their duty or enforcing the law and encourages citizens to sue if they interfere.
some law enforcement agents become angry and confiscate recording devices from people recording them while making an arrest, etc.. it does seem that the work that the police and other government agents do is public and not private or confidential so there should be nothing to hide from the cameras.
on the other hand, how can one distinguish being shot by a camera or by a weapon until one is hit?.
Yes.
i feel that there aren’t many of that type anymore, but there have to be some – mostly old-timers.
how do they study?.
when i was active, i collected all the old publications i could find.
Magnum I hear you on the puzzlement at what happened to deep researchers. Last contact I had, they all seemed to be using that same energy to learn to use tablets and such.
I guess most have either left or have gotten very quiet. There are other distractions such as other language Halls that some are using to create some challenge for themselves.
One big problem is there is no oracle now. Ever since Franz, they were coasting on fumes. The last part of the 90s onward there was a lot of copy/paste going on in the new publications being rolled out, I cant be the only one who saw that?
i'm sure many of you are aware of the jwtalk site, a message board which has yet to succumb to apostasy (give it time).. some of the forums there are visible to the public, and i've seen some crazy stuff.
here is a sampling:.
"satan is really trying his best to make things worst for the witnesses, knowing the 6,000 years is almost up, from eve's creation!".
I signed up and still have an account but dont go there much because they all sound so very crazy to me now.
hi all.. it's being a while that i don't share in the forum.
after moving to another country and finding a job, i asked my congregation in my country to send my publishing card here.
once i did it, i stopped attending meetings.
Good job Skepsis! You have accomplished much in a short time.
i have noticed in the uk a few families i used to know while in the borg have exited together.
some include former elders and ministerial servants.
i observed on social media pages that the kids have 'worldly' boyfriends and girlfriends and they look so much happier than they did in the org.
My personal family left over a period of 2 years. This occurred 5 plus years ago. My siblings with their families are all still ragingly "in" but since none of me or mine are actually DFd, they are somewhat fragmented in how they chose to deal with us and associate with us. Some more, some less.
I dont think they (my in family members) realize how very close to the edge as far as being mentally ready to walk some of the younger still in family members are. These young ones confide but vaguely. I listen with complete empathy and support but do no "campaigning" for leaving.
I think it should happen organically on its own if that is the choice.