Posts by Mum

33

Are there people who have returned

by His Excellency in

jw
friends

considering all the consequences of leaving the organization (especially the loss of family), some who have already known ttat have decided to return and continue with the flow just to keep their families and friend.. my question is if anyone here had tried it and how they have been managing living a lie constantly day-after-day?, as i am seriously considering returnning back to the full routine..

Mum

I feel for you. Do you have minor children at home? If you become a dub again, be sure to provide them with some activity that is not depressing or hopeless, and help them to understand that "worldly" people are good people, but with different beliefs.

Letting go was one of the hardest thing I ever did. I resisted, but after about 2 years, everything came together, and I was mentally free as well as free in any other way.

Make a list of pros and cons. Talk with a psychologist, especially on what to teach your children if there are any.

If you do go back, try to move to another town where the JW's don't know you. Miss as many meetings as you can. Find excuses to get away and be with other people. Find the meetup group in your town and keep in touch with ex-JW's for support.

Remember that even if you do go back, you can still change your mind. Learn ways to cope with depression and despondency.

Best wishes with your decision.

3

Compilation of Candice Conti brief quotes.

by zound in

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Mum

I say turn Kendrick and his ilk over to Lorena Bobbitt.

2

Hate speech in newspapers

by zound in

in australia the local newspapers usually run a story about jw district conventions when they roll into town, with crap that is probably fed to them by the watchtower society.. is it worth approaching the newspapers about the apostate hate speech talk and referencing perhaps the 'slaughter the apostates' article?

how should i approach them to best get a foot in the door?

is it a useless endevour considering that newspapers (at least the shit-house ones in australia) are mostly concerned with not making waves and just filled with advertising space..

Mum

That is right, zound. There is a department at the convention that writes news releases for the local media. I was a good typist in high school, and good at English, so I regularly worked at the conventions typing news releases. They were usually printed verbatim in the local newspapers.

It would be good to get the other side of the story out there.

32

Then (1960) and now (2013)

by theron ware in

i was raised as a jw from the age of 7. i was df'd for apostasy in 1971 at the age of 23. it has been 42 years since i have had contact with any jehovah's witnesses, including my family.

last year i moved to tucson.

when i read that a district assembly was coming to town, and that it would be at the convention center only minutes from my house, i decided to check it out.

Mum

Welcome to the forum, Theron! I've been free since 1979. Life is a lot more fun in the real world, eh?

11

Week of worry

by gma-tired2 in

jw
friends

my husband and i have had a long week worrying we would lose our niece, and yes the blood issue was very much part of the problem.

it is new to us to actually have the blood issue affect our family, but it really makes you think.

we would have immediately given her blood, but she and husband are still jws.

Mum

Sorry, Gayle, I think it sounds like the elders and others are afraid the DF'd new grandma might be about, and they don't want to bump into her. Or it could be that they just don't give a damn!

Anyway, gma, I'm glad everyone has made it through so far. Best wishes for your niece's full recovery and enjoyment of motherhood.

My congratulations to the new parents!

28

1914 gone??

by Crazyguy in

now that russell is no longer important do you think this is designed so they can drop 1914??

?.

Mum

Many other dates have been abandoned, e.g., 1844 (according to Adventism/Millerism which Russellism grew out of), 1894, 1925, 1975, etc.

They've put themselves in a bind with this one. Ever since the 1950's (and before), when we had our first contact with JW's, they have been preaching the significance of 1914. I can remember sitting and doing calculations from 607 BC.

After the end did not come (at least not visibly ) in 1975, there was talk about how long Adam was in the Garden of Eden before Eve was created, one of the few times a woman was significant in JW "theology."

So we are at last at the point where they don't have a date set. I think they're waiting for a new generation to set a new date. They need people like I was in the 1950's who never heard of the previous dates to hold the carrot in front of.

I am very proud of myself for realizing in the late '70's that I might have to live into old age in this world and needed job skills, a retirement plan, etc. It has made all the difference in my life.

8

Why do they keep doing this?

by TTATT in

"even many who claim to be religious feel that they are at liberty to do what they think is right, without any obligation to obey god and his commandments.

(ps.

14:1) this attitude may pose a real threat to true christians.

Mum

They're so much like the Roman Catholic Church that, given the choice we all have, why not just be Catholic?

Catholics are pretty tightly controlled if they're devout. But they differ in a good way from the JW's in that they are encouraged to put their family first, not making converts.

9

Oblivious to Father's Day

by Nosferatu in

jw
friends

hey all, it's been a long time since i posted here.

life's been having its ups and downs, but that's a subject for another day.. anyway, this year i thought it would actually be nice to spend father's day with my kid.

his mom usually has him for sundays and for past father's days, i didn't mind because he was still kinda too young to realize what the day was about.

Mum

It is often someone other than the biological sperm donor who is a child's real father. Such is the case with my granddaughter, now 23 years old. Her dad died when she was a child. He never properly took care of her anyway.

Since she was 4 years old, my son-in-law, i.e., my daughter's second husband, has been a wonderful father to her. He has accepted her and loved her unconditionally since that time. She has not always been lovable or fair to him, but he does not hold a grudge. He is still very supportive of her and very giving. He loves her 4-month-old baby, too. He makes me wish I had had a stepfather.

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!

22

I nearly forgot how Jehovah's Witnesses are programmed to respond to us

by God_Delusion in

yep, that's right, i nearly forgot that jehovah's witnesses, even the young ones, are programmed with the "la la la i'm not listening" trait.. here's a brief conversation with my sixteen year old nephew, angelo:.

http://www.jehovahswitnessblog.com/cult/my-jehovahs-witness-nephew/.

let me know if you've been taken aback..... .

Mum

Xerxes has gone where the good doggies go.

43

Fading ... and Feeling Lost

by What Now? in

prior to that we had been in a new congregation for about 9 months, and we were just irregular.

my husband rarely went, and i would go occasionally with our toddler son just enough to show our faces and keep the elders off our backs, and for the sake of some friendships in our old hall.

all of the reasons i had for going were just no longer important.

Mum

It is wonderful that you guys have freed yourselves at such a young age. You said that you signed up for some classes, but they didn't work out. Is there a community college in your area. They often have a class that's just one or two Saturdays in things like flower arranging or cake decorating or tole painting. It's a good way to explore things that you might become interested in.

In some neighborhoods, stay-at-home moms get together for play dates and have tea and chat while the kids are playing. Look into that in your area, too. You could organize a block party by going to your neighbors, and asking each neighbor to donate one food item and one suggestion for an activity. I'm sure you could find some ideas for block parties online, too.

Personally, I'm not terribly social anyway. Being a JW was exhausting for me because I'd rather have been at home reading a good book. I understand that each of us has our own needs and priorities. A book club might also be a good place to meet people. If you'ver never been a part of one, each person in the group reads the same book, a little bit each week, then they meet to discuss what they've read that week.

If you bowl, join a bowling league.

Best wishes with your fade. You have many years of happiness and freedom ahead of you.