Posts by Mum

16

What happened immediately after your Judicial Committee was over?

by civicsi00 in

whenever i went to my judicial committee (over 3 years ago), the elders opened with a prayer for jehbooboo's guidance.

then they followed up with their loyalty question, "do you believe in the faithful and discreet slave?".

of course i answered "no", and shortly thereafter i handed over my disassociation letter.

Mum

There was no reason why I should have gone before a JC, as if there is any "reason" why anyone should. I had moved to another state and had gone back to the place I left because of my daughter, who was about 8 years old at the time. I had left the borg and my elder husband at the same time. Nevertheless, the brainwashing had not worn off yet.

My ex kept coming to my place of employment harassing me about "making my intentions clear" and such nonsense, as if three ignorant men had any business trying to make me justify my choices to them. Elders were calling me at work as well, asking stupid questions. Finally, I caved and agreed to meet with them. I didn't want to, and was hyper anxious. I took a tranquilizer before I went.

While I went against my better judgment, now I'm glad I did. They played the good cop-bad cop game with me. As I was sitting there listening to their crap, I realized that, if it were legal, they would have taken me outside, tied me to a tree, and burned me for a witch. One of the Big Three asked me if I still believed in the borg as God's representatives on earth. Somehow I managed to evade the question.

I think the whole thing, to them, was inconclusive. I was not DF'd. The next day, my ex called me and said he previously thought I didn't want to be a JW anymore, but after that meeting, he thought maybe I dide. I don't know how I did that, other than the fact that I stayed calm and did not get argumentative or hostile during the whole fiasco.

After it was over, I drove to the Holiday Inn where my ex-JW friend worked, beaming with joy. I told her I was free of any delusion that those men had anything to do with truth or God. From then on, I was free in every sense of the word.

I allowed my daughter to be indoctrinated because I thought she needed the continuity and "security" of the way things had always been for her. She didn't buy their crap. She has a degree in Chemistry, a wonderful husband, and a good life, despite chronic illness. We've not had it easy by any means, but whatever happened, we didn't have anyone to blame, and we like it that way.

Regards,

SandraC

21

Report on the DFW Apostafest

by Terry in

jw
friends

the weather for february in texas can be punishing--but, not when apostates gather!.

it was at least 70 degrees and sunshine was spilling out of the heavens like copious golden coins from the fists of midas.. .

i assembled my crew of stalwarts before noon for the drive.

Mum

There used to be a lot of apostafests in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area? Were any of our old friends from the past (on this board) there, like COMF, billygoat and Elsewhere, and others whose handles I cannot recall?

17

Is the Watchtower the most "dumbed down" Christian theology?

by cantleave in

when i was a witness i used to think that the wt's interpretation of ezekiel daniel and revelation was quite didactic and intellectually robust.. then i left and started reading the works of real christian theologians and scholars.

i was amazed at how superficial and vacuous the watchtower theology was in comparison.. since i have left it would seem the standard of scholarly insight has dropped to a new low.

i am sure that this is because for generations the message has been, "don't go to college...." and a culture of mediocrity dominates, resulting in an uneducated leadership creating doctrine.

Mum

I grew up in Appalachia (Eastern Tennessee and Kentucky). There are a lot of churches there full of uneducated people who insist that the King James version of the Bible is the only one that has authority. Some are semi-literate, some completely illiterate. Both of my grandfathers were country preachers. My mom's dad finished third grade and went no further in school. He read the Bible aloud constantly. He thought "without natural affection" meant wearing make-up, and pronounced "lucre" as "looser."

However, the people I knew back then, though they were in the backwoods and didn't have formal education, had a purity of heart and certainly had their priorities straight. It was a struggle to survive, so they knew how to grow crops without modern machinery, how to preserve food, how to stop pain without a doctor, and how to endure hardship.

Some of their wisdom is preserved in books and on film: The Dollmaker by Harriet Arnow, Coal Miner's Daughter by Loretta Lynn, and others I cannot call to mind right now.

Regards,

SandraC

13

Transfusions and Thievery Whaaaat?

by BlindersOff1 in

transfusions and thievery.

.. some say blood transfusions.

are harmless.

Mum

I thought refusing blood transfusions was supposed to be a religious choice, not a choice based on some pseudoscientific fear of becoming someone else. I've seen this same argument used as a "reason" to refuse a heart transplant as well.

25

"Foreigners" and today's Watchtower

by 88JM in

jw
friends

i know this is true every week, and i say it all the time, and i know blondie will be doing her review later, but.... today's watchtower was bat-shit crazy!.

i knew it was going to be a bizzare one just reading it, but the comments at the meeting took it even further.

i can't post all the crazy ones, but in summary what they were saying was:.

Mum

My first congregation was in the Midwest U.S., affluent and lily white.

Then I got married and moved to the South, to a congregation that was newly racially integrated. On the surface, everybody was cordial. Away from the KH, however, there was a lot of offense taken on both sides. People carry baggage, and old ways of thinking cling despite instructions from the WTS to "love" the brothers and sisters.

In my lifetime of 65 years, I hae seen a revolution in the way people of different races are treated and accepted. Ironically, a friend of mine told me that she had an African-American friend who said that in the days of segregation, it was much easier to know how people really viewed her, but that now racists are hypocritical, so she doesn't really know their true attitude.

We've come a long way, but we still have a long way to go.

21

Faith In Action DVD... A tribute to Freemasons

by Alfred in

very few people actually know this but the watchtower dvd faith in action is actually a tribute to freemasonry.

this dvd presents illustrations of several famous freemasons such as john coustos (a portuguese grand master from lisbon circa 1740).

the dvd actually presents two illustrations of coustos being tortured by the clergy while the anonymous narrator denounces historic abuse from the clergy.

Mum

Ric B: Welcome to the board. Are you an ex-JW?

One of my professors in college told us that to understand the United States and how it operates, we needed to look into Freemasonry and labor unions.

I owe a personal debt of gratitude to the Freemasons because they run the Shriners' Hospitals for children. Because of them, I got more than a year of free medical treatment in my childhood. They even gave me clothes and toys to take home. Our family was very poor, so their contribution to our lives meant a lot.

Regards,

SandraC

45

It's a miserable life --- Really?

by Lady Lee in

jw
friends

i was at the check-out counter sitting in my wheelchair, listening to the customer behind me talk to the cashier.

he looks at her and says she looks tired.

she rings through one more of my purchases and she it has been a long day.

Mum

We who control our own choices and do not live under the control of anyone else can take responsibility for our own happiness. That, IMHO, is the beginning of wisdom. I understand that misery is justified if we have no control over our lives. But once we are free, it's all up to us.

53

Why Did You Get Baptised

by God_Delusion in

hi guys,.

so then, why did you get dunked?

were you pressured into it too, or did you do it because you honestly thought it was the right thing to do?.

Mum

I was 17, and had been publishing for two years. People were pushing me toward baptism. I had no excuses left. Besides, all of my teenage friends had been baptized. The whole JW thing for me was a kind of rebellion against my parents. It gave me acceptance that I did not get at home. At the time, believe it or not, being a dub actually improved my life. I got acceptance and friendship from my peers, praise from my elders, time away from home (meetings and service were a pleasure compared to our home life), eating out after service, and travel to assemblies in different locations.

Too bad it went straight downhill from there. 1975 came and went, but I patiently held on until 1979. Now I have a wonderful family. The younger generation is much kinder than the older generation was. Life is good.

Regards,

SandraC

30

Is there anyone out there who married a non jW...?how did it turn out for ?Are u happy?

by Chichi89 in

jw
friends

please be honest....did love conquer it all?.

how did u make it work?.

Mum

Interfaith marriages can work, but the likelihood of that happening if one of the partners (particularly the male) is a JW is a whole different ball game. I had a friend with a JW mom and a nonbelieving (i.e., not a church goer, not religious at all) dad. Because her dad was "head of the household" and had the say-so, she got to go to her cousins' birthday parties and have some normal childhool experiences. She was lucky.

That having been said, I believe it is less about religion than it is about the two people and their maturity and readiness for marriage. As Dr. Laura says, love is a good start, but nothing more. She points out that once a child is born, the religion moves to the forefront. If one partner is Catholic and want to have the child christened, and the other partner is Pentecostal, then there will be problems.

Sit down with your sweetheart and work out what the rules are going to be. Get pre-marital counseling. Understand yourself, and understand your partner.

Best wishes,

SandraC

5

Redistributing Magazines

by enigma1863 in

i received some magazines from some witnesses and want to redistribute them with some kind of jw facts inserts.

any suggestions?.

Mum

Print some labels with the aforementioned web sites printed on them, maybe silentlambs.org as well, stick them on the front of the magazines, and leave them at a laundromat. I've done that many times.

Regards,

SandraC