Posts by Mum

66

Another Newbie

by Skinnedsheep in

jw
friends

i recently came to the realization that the organization is corrupt and is false.

my story is similar to many i think.

i was raised in the religion, pioneered and served as an elder for a number of years.

My exit did not come because I woke up. I was bitterly disappointed about 1975 because I had not planned for old age and retirement. I was only 27 in 1975. I was losing what mental health I still had; i.e., I was bat crap crazy, without hope or anything to look forward to.

I wanted to go back to college to at least learn some job skills, but my elder husband was against it. Family members gave me enough money to take two classes at the local state university. We had a fight about it every day.

My cousin, who lived on the other end of the U.S. told me I could come and stay with him while I sorted things out. Little by little I came to realize that it was not evil to get an education or plan for the future. I also knew that I did not want my daughter to have the kind of life I had.

Fortunately for me, I did not come from a family of JW's. So I did not risk losing family by my choices.

Best wishes with your roller coaster ride. If you can move to another location, I recommend it. Otherwise, just keep up appearances.

3

Is it proper to kneeling before adults?

by KSFernando in

jw
friends

as per the sri lankan customs, sri lankans kneel before adults (such as parents, grand parents, teachers etc) to show their respect.. i have quoted some writings from jw literature,.. in some parts of the world, it is the custom for young children to honor adults by kneeling respectfully when in their company.

in this way, they do not stand taller than those who are older.

in these communities, it is also viewed as an act of disrespect for a child to turn his or her back to an adult.

Mum

Welcome to the forum!

Customs and propriety are not as big a deal as people make them. When in Rome, do as the Romans do, etc. Just stay out of trouble.

27

For all my Liberal/Progressive Friends

by Jomavrick in

jw
friends

i am going to be unplugged while i gallivant around europe for a while, which means there will be one person short of holding up the conservative banner on this site.

so you can all pile on your leftist views of society, obama, health care, benghazi, irs, union thugery, socialism, redistribution of wealth, racism, sexism, gay marriage, right wing conspiracies, talk radio, fox news, wall street, the national debt, the educational system without my counterbalancing your neurotic views.

but i do love you non the less by brothers and sisters.

Mum

You're going to love socialist Europe. Almost all European countries have "socialized" medicine, six-week vacations and other "liberal" benefits. Have the time of your life living in societies you totally disapprove of!

3

Neil deGrasse Tyson Funks the Universe - Music Video

by cantleave in

jw
friends

i found this on google+ today, as well as touching on some mind blowing astrophysical ideas, it made me laugh.

so i am sharing for your enjoyment...... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e831odxzkwo.

Mum

Neil deGrasse Tyson is brilliant! I'll bet he's a lot of fun, too!

112

Silly TV Programs From The 1960s to the 1970s

by minimus in

jw
friends

mcmillan & wife with rock hudson is what i just saw on tv.

watching rock hudson kiss his wife while smoking a cigarette is pretty funny.

and he solved a murder case as he lit up another cigarette at some wealthy person's party.....good stuff!.

Mum

I was always fond of Leave it to Beaver. I wanted Beaver's life.

Even before I was a dub, I was brought up by very religious fundamentalist Christian grandparents. What struck me about TV at that time was that nobody ever went to church or even talked about Jesus. The committed "sins" (e.g., going to movies, ball games, drinking alcoholic beverages, wearing make-up, etc.) but nobody ever said anything to them about it. In fact, everybody did those things. They all had nice houses, nice cars, stylish decor, and all the amenities of modern life and seemed to do anything they liked.

66

So apparently I'm now a Secular Humanist

by Oubliette in

jw
friends

i was doing some research on the subject of beliefs and belief systems when i came across an on-line survey/test that supposedly helps you determine which religion or philosophy is most like your current beliefs.

if you're curious, you can take the quiz here: belief system selector quizafter answering the 20 questions the results were spit out!

tada!!!.

Mum

I'm a secular humanist, too. Unitarian Universalist second. On another test, I was Unitarian Universalist.

Of all the religions on the list, the one that appeals to me the most is Taoism, but I scored 64%, so maybe I'm not as Taoist as I would like to believe. To me, the Tao is about reality and acceptance.

I scored pretty high on Quakerism, too. I've been reading Chesapeake by James Michener, which gives some good info about Quakers in colonial America. They were ahead of their time for sure. They were the first (not sure about that) to object to slavery and the first to free their slaves. Even when they had slaves, they taught them to read, and tried to accept them as full human beings, teaching them to read and caring about their families.

If you have not read the Tao Te-Ching, I strongly recommend it. It makes me feel centered and at peace.

42

Can you help me encourage Reopened mind.

by TotallyADD in

jw
friends

as most of you know we got a very angry letter from our oldest son.

it hurt her very much.

i feel so bad for her because he attacked her for what i feel was very unfair.

Mum

When it's your own child, it's so heartbreaking. Children, even as adults, do not understand what parents go through for them.

Just before I left the JW's for good, I read Dr. Wayne Dyer's book, Your Erroneous Zones. It's about dealing with negative emotions and putting things into perspective. He talks about how people feel when their mother does not love them. He makes the point that it is no reflection on you, and it's better to forgive and accept what is. No, it is not easy.

What is called for now is patience. Just be there for your son. He does understand that you are there if he ever needs you, right? That's really all you have the power to do.

Go out there and make a great life for yourself, and one day, out of the blue, he is likely to show up because no one else can take the place of Mom.

35

Have You Given Up on JW Friends or Family Ever Seeing The Light And Getting Out?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i'm always hopeful but mostly doubtful that they will get out of her..

Mum

Fortunately, I do not come from a JW family. I was the first convert in my family, and few others followed. I have a couple of distant cousins who are still dubs. I am not in regular contact with them, so I don't know what might happen. One of them is 80ish, so she's probably not going anywhere. The other is 60ish and delayed becoming a JW because she wanted to have fun in her youth. I would never give up on anyone, but I'm not optimistic.

What I am thankful for is that my daughter never bought into the dub life, even though she was born in. Did I mention that my daughter is a flippin' genius!? I am also grateful that my granddaughter was never indoctrinated. My granddaughter went to one meeting with a JW relative in her childhood, and she still describes it as "the longest two hours" or her life. She hated it! My 4-month-old great granddaughter will not be exposed to JWdom at all, I hope.

There are plenty of cults besides JW's to look out for. I want my descendants to have happy, fulfilling lives so they do not feel vulnerable and are not easy prey for all of the cult vultures out there.

My granddaughter told us the other day that a JW came to her door. She told him a lot of things she has done that JW's are not allowed to do. She reminded him that she can do these things and not worry about called into a kangaroo court, i.e., JC. She said he seemed amused. Cute!

19

Moving out, away and starting a new post JW life

by OneDayillBeFree in

recently at my last meeting, an older brother "in good standing" got disfellowshipped.. sitting only two seats away from him, i saw as he burst into tears as lifelong friends and family began their shunning and immediate gossip in the form of whispers came up from above the brothers and sisters in the kingdom hall.

i felt like giving him a hug and telling him that it was going to be okay and that whatever the reason for his disfellowshipment was, it didnt matter and that god still loved him but before i could muscle up enough courage to do so, he stood up in tears and left.. i shed a few silent tears for him.

i didn't see anyone else do the same.. it was at that moment that i realized without a doubt that living this way is just not worth it at all.. so i've thought about it long and hard and now i just want to move far away and just start new again.

Mum

Many years ago, I moved from the east to the west, over 2,000 miles. I had a relative in the place I was going to, so I had a support system. I had a job in two days. No JW's knew me there. One day as I was walking home from work, I realized that I was on my way home to relax, read, enjoy my time, with no pressure to do anything I did not want to do. The longer I was away, the more I enjoyed it.

Don't get me wrong: it was not all roses. There were plenty of thorns. Nevertheless, I could decide for myself how to handle obstacles and did not have to worry about "stumbling" anyone or whether anyone would approve or disapprove.

That was about 35 years ago, and I know my life has been infinitely better than it would have been if I had remained a dub drudge.

76

Do You Believe Gods name is Jehovah and why?

by sarahsmile in

many internet sites claiming that god's names is jehovah.. do you believe it is the name of god?.

Mum

To give something a name diminishes it. I love the Tao te-Ching, which starts out like this:

The name that can be named is not the eternal name

The nameless is the origin of heaven and earth