hi folks.
one of the things that has been most frustrating for my wife and i since beginning our fade as been the way certain family members have responded by ramping up their own involvement in the organization seemingly in a bizarre attempt to compensate for our lack of activity.. close relatives who were once doing precious little study and weren't going out of their way to attend meetings or go on the ministry are now studying every morning and busting a gut to attend "theocratic" arrangements.. it makes no sense to me, because salvation is supposed to be based on the beliefs and actions of each individual, not on those of his or her loved ones.
just what is the logic by which they think they can make things better by doing more themselves?.
My husband has been doing the exact same thing, and it is maddening!
Yet, last night, he told me I looked radiant, and was glowing (no, not pregnant!) and that I looked happier than he has ever seen me. I told him that was true, I felt happy, and useful, liberated and at peace. He never, ever said those things when I was in...then today, he races off for the convention...something he would've tried to avoid 3 years ago...
hello folks:.
i was just thinking...what do you think the borg would look like if they said it's no longer necessary to do the preaching work...it's voluntary?
1. some would go tru the motions just to appear 'spiritually strong'.
My parents and in-laws would be completely lost. Their whole lives are wrapped up in their scheduled days of field service. I would have broken out the bubbly and shouted "Hallelujah", myself.
i'm new to this forum and wanted to give everyone a shout out.
i've been a silent observer of this forum for a long time, but now i feel it's time for me to break the silence and get involved.
i've been inactive since november of last year.
Welcome! It is rather difficult not being a people person and trying to go out in service, isn't it? I had the same problem.
i have been wandering around the board for a while now, and have decided it is time to contribute a bit of my history.
i have described my involvement with the witnesses as being from the outside looking in.
my sweet honey has been trying for two years to get reinstated.
jgnat-What a delightful and heartwarming story! Thank you that you've stayed here for all of us who came after.
so i have a friend in a congregation in new jersey who recently called me to tell me that he got a divorce.
nothing surprising there at first but it is the fact of when it happened.
his wife began pioneering april 1, and after about three weeks she came to him and told him that about 4 years she had engaged in loose conduct (fondling the penis and the guy kissing her breasts) during a time that she was inactive.
I agree with Diana, why would she want him, if all this comes out as being in error on edict from the Branch, and he finds out he can't get remarried. He is an ass. Poor woman, she tries to do 'the right thing' JW style, by pioneering, gets a lecture about secret sins and starts feeling guilty about something that happen years earlier. She confesses, they make her feel like crap and poison her pathetic husband's mind against her.
To him: Good riddence, jerk.
To her: Have a happy, wonderful life. Find your old college boyfriend and make up for lost time.
before the usual suspects start reaching for the pich-forks and forming a mob, i invite you to actually read and consider this, not just leap to conclusions.. http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/130607/7-graphs-america-overrated-nsa-prism-privacy.
why do i care?
it seems the people being screwed the most are also the most visciferous defenders of the status quo which sees them being severely disadvantaged.. maternity leave?
This may have been covered already, I haven't read all the comments...I keep trying to figure out why an employer should be responsible to pay for maternity leave, the employer wasn't the one having sex, and doesn't benefit in anyway from the baby. I can understand unpaid maternity leave, but as an employer to pay for the consequences unprotected sex seems silly and expensive to me.
canmore has been hit really hard, looks awful.. and all that water is coming our way .... http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=m9f35m-fovi.
http://www.calgarysun.com/2013/06/20/heavy-rain-in-banff-canmore-area-causes-flooding-forces-evacuations.
http://globalnews.ca/news/658584/flooding-washes-out-trans-canada-highway-banff-canmore-declare-states-of-emergencies/.
Simon and others in that area of Canada-wishing you all to be safe and sound!
over the course of decades as a jw, an elder, a bethelite, then learning ttatt and wanting to leave, i'd collected a lot of insight into the power of "confidentiality.
" although the confidentiality in a judicial hearing is supposedly to protect the sinner, in actuality, i saw that it was about control and was protecting the power of the jc.. i didn't use any of this knowledge until i was called before the boe because the other elders figured they had grounds to remove me as an elder.
it was a work situation that only lasted a matter of hours, but it was enough that they seized the moment.
Billy-What interesting experiences you share here. This is great, that you, 'the sinner', were willing to not be 'protected' and shared you story with everyone. This must have killed them, to lose the power over you, to have the star chamber exposed willingly. Love it!!
well first i want to thank everyone here for the good points etc... i have received over the last few months.
you guys have really been helpful!.
so the other day my mother wrote me a 3 page letter telling me how she was so scared for me because she could tell my love for the truth was gone etc.. so i decided i wanted to totally rip the band-aid off and get this matter over and done with.
soso-You are really, truly brave. Your poor mother, insisting on being completely mislead. I'm glad your father was more reasonable and willing to accept your beliefs without rocking the boat...my mom would react ths exact same way that yours has...
now that enough time has passed and i've moved away, i think i'm overdue to share some of the stories from my fade.
i've mentioned some of this before, but i think it deserves its own thread.. we all would like to be able to freely ask questions about jw beliefs and get our family and friends to really think about certain questions.
however, when you're a baptized jw, you really can't ask any good questions or you'll get the "apostate" label slapped on you!
Brilliant! I can just see this method used on a part at the Ministry School, two sisters, sitting at a tacky table, one asking the question-"Why can't we join the YMCA?"
The other sister answering, "Let me see, I came across this NGO application from the WTBTS to the UN, what is their reasoning on this matter".
