Posts by Mum

21

I realized I've been *hit on alot

by skeeter1 in

about a month ago, i realized that i didn't really care about my still-in jw family.

i just want to be left alone by them.

they caused me so much grief.

Mum

Wow! The more I learn about other families, the more I realize how much alike we all are! My story is somewhat similar to yours, but not quite to the level of yours.

My parents are deceased, and sometimes I feel guilty that I do not miss them at all. I feel evil for even confessing how I feel.

The rest of my family I left behind and moved to the other end of the country, Here I have my daughter, granddaughter, and great-granddaughter. We feel like the family outcasts, but it's really for the best. My mother's "love" was possession and toxicity. My dad was narcissistic. My brother and sister are both on total disability and hardly able to function in life.

Like me, you can be proud that you have pulled yourself up by your own bootstraps and left the poison behind.

Life can be wonderful. We are making a wonderful life, and I believe you are, too. Congratulations!

12

Wife and Kids at Meeting

by lambsbottom in

so wife and kids went to meeting while i stayed home because i am on a religious cleanse.

i feel really sad and lonely but i know that it is for the best.. on a side note, doe anyone here still agree with jw doctrines?

trinity being false?

Mum

Paris: Welcome to the forum. Are you an ex-JW? Some people on this forum have never been JW's and we welcome their sensible perspective. We hope to hear more from you.

lambsbottom: Take it easy. If you want to attend a Christian religious service and have never attended one, you might wish to start with the Methodist Church, as it may be the least offensive in terms of being middle-of-the-road. Personally, I love the Episcopal Church, but it might be a bit much for someone just exiting Watchtower indoctrination because it is ritualistic, much like the Roman Catholic service.

For now, keep reading and researching. If you have a college nearby and want to take some courses in Religion or related topics, that might also give you a good start. I took NewTestament and Old Testament survey courses, and courses entitled Introduction to the Study of Religion and Psychology of Religion. Your mind will open gradually and you will shrug off the brainwashing little by little as you go along.

Best wishes with your new life of freedom and free thinking!

83

Do You Support Illegal Aliens Coming Into The USA As They Have This Past Year?

by minimus in

i think it's hurting the country..

Mum

People are human beings. Labeling them based on where they come from is ridiculous. Political boundaries are a farce! If each billionaire and multi-millionaire in the United States had to pay his/her fair share of taxes, there would be more than enough money to take care of any human being instead of applying labels.

My first ancestors came to the U.S. in 1727, so I consider myself a descendant of "illegal aliens." We want everyone to speak English, but when our ancestors came here, they didn't learn the native languages, but required the natives to learn English and/or French.

We choose to spend billions, trillions on war and weapons. I consider helping human beings more important than having the means to kill them.

There was a town in New Jersey (Toms River?) that expelled all of the "illegals." Then they had to ask them to come back because there was no one left to do the menial jobs.

I refuse to look upon other human beings as unworthy of the right to pursue happiness, at least a decent life, because they were born someplace on the other side of an artificial boundary.

9

JWs everywhere!

by NVR2L8 in

jw
friends

i'm traveling through the us on my motorcycle and yesterday i tried to get a hotel room in indianapolis.

the first 3 hotels were sold out and when i finally found a room i realized that everyone in the hotel were hispanic and wearing lapel id cards for the convention.

the other rider accompanying me is the only active jw i'm friends with so i had to be careful how i handled myself with the brothers...of course he engaged some of them but i managed to keep my conversation to a simple introduction.

Mum

Hi, Listener. I see it the opposite way. I feel I'm getting over on them because they doin't know thery're being nice to an apostate. In a business suituation, I believe your employer would take a dim view of telling a JW you're an apostate and and possibly losing a client or customer because said client or customer doesn't want to speak to you.

As far as I'm concerned, if I saw a JW I knew in a public place, I would give them a hearty hello and start a conversation. I would let him/her/them show themselves to be a**holes!

9

JWs everywhere!

by NVR2L8 in

jw
friends

i'm traveling through the us on my motorcycle and yesterday i tried to get a hotel room in indianapolis.

the first 3 hotels were sold out and when i finally found a room i realized that everyone in the hotel were hispanic and wearing lapel id cards for the convention.

the other rider accompanying me is the only active jw i'm friends with so i had to be careful how i handled myself with the brothers...of course he engaged some of them but i managed to keep my conversation to a simple introduction.

Mum

Funny you should mention places you can meet JDubs. In 2003, I went to London to participate in a Silentlambs march. There was no march, and if there had been one, the impact would not have been nearly as strong as having the mrch in Brooklyn. The Brits did not participate in the "march." In fact, there was no march. What it boiled down to was that another apostate and I, just the two of us, went to the Watchtower House and spoke with the people at the reception desk and left a stuffed lamb.

Now, how this story relates to your post: On the flight to London, I sat with a middle-aged couple who were Jehovah's Witnesses! They had been to Patterson for their daughter's Gilead graduation. I did not tell them I was on my way to their country to partifcipate in an anti-Watchtower-policy protest. I acted completely unflustered, though I was a bit uncomfortable for some unknown reason. They wsre very nice to me and very solicitous of my comfort. I was bemused that they were unknowingly being kind to a "mentally diseased apostate!" If only they knew!

A few years earlier, I took court reporting classes at a community college. The teacher had two assistants, both JW's as it turned out.

I have also dealt with JW clients on the job.

Its fun for me to know that they can't look at me and know I'm an "apostate." I'm getting over on them.

NOTE TO JW'S: You don't know who you're dealing with in your everyday business. Apostates are often at your service or somewhere nearby. Get over it! We will speak to you, and you won't know who you're dealing with. Oh, no, so many JW's have been deceived into not hating me and, I am sujre, many other "apostates." Suck it up!

14

Do you ever get frustrated and feel dirty after sharing experiences on JWN?

by BucketShopBill in

it's a giant boil on my butt, thinking how long we all were tricked by a cult.

reading so many of our fellows threads, it help's reinforce we made the correct choice in mentally or physically leaving the watchtower's path to truth, they never had it and nobody can prove they did!

ray franz jr. came to that conclusion, even he had to accept "this is not the best of all relgions, in fact, it's on the bad side!

Mum

No, I don't feel "dirty." I have been out for 36 years, so most of my issues are resolved. Life is a learning experience, and I feel I had to do the "Watchtower thing" to learn what I did. People tried to stop me, but I wouldn't listen because the brainwashing took so well. While I wish I had spent those years more productively, I know it could have been worse. After all, there are worse cults.

What I learned inside the cult was not all useless. As a teenager, when I first began "publishing," being a JW actually opened up my world and possibilities for travel and meeting other people. The experience started out very positive and went downhill after a time.

I am grateful that I escaped relatively unscathed and young enough to start over.

20

A peek in to future of transportation

by jgnat in

trends include self-driving clean vehicles and temporary leasing rather than buying vehicles (the driverless vehicle arrives to pick you up, and you drop it off at your destination).

the result?

1/8 the traffic on existing roads!

Mum

My goal is to live without a car. Even an old car that is paid for is quite an expense, with gas and oil, maintenance and repairs, and high insurance rates.

Thanks for the hope imparted by your post.

50

thinking of leaving

by justme67 in

i am 46 and have been a jw for only 6 years.

i was doing ok until about a month ago.

we were having an international convention and i heard the brother that had to pick up 2 of the members of the governing body had to get a background check done on him and his wife.

Mum

You had a pre-JW life of 40 years, so you're one of the lucky ones. I also had a (much shorter) pre-JW life and had no other JW family members. It's easier for you than it was for me because I was married to a JW and had achild. I moved to another state on the other end of the country. I moved back to the town of the congregation I had attended for a short time, and I'm glad I did because they called me in for a JC meeting. I went begrudgingly. They were such asses that I could see clearly that they were full of themselves and arrogant bastards. They had nothing on me but tried to harass me into "confessing" to something so they could DF me.

All you have to do is stop attending and change your e-mail address and phone number. You also might want to move to a new location. If you don't have a great job, you might want to launch a nationwide job search and go elsewhere so they can't be bothered to hunt you down.

Don't let them get to you. They have no power over you other than what you give them. Don't give them ANY!

Best wishes!

33

What Would It Take To Prove......

by metatron in

jw
friends

a hypothetical question.. at a minimum, what evidence would it take to prove that the society is trying to quietly shed publishers?.

now, i don't think we have evidence of this yet but that doesn't mean it could never happen.

we must consider where the trends of magazine/literature cuts, branch office sales, coerced contributions, bethel/do layoffs, and emphasis on jw.org lead us.. otoh, you might argue that there would never be a deliberate move to get rid of them, just moves that discreetly abandon them.

Mum

Most recent converts are coming from the Third World. Europe is a wash. The U.S. may be a wash as well, except for immigrants from poor countries. I don't know where these facts fit into the speculation that they're trying to reduce numbers, but it must have some relevance.

If they really wanted to reduce the number of publishers, it seems like they might just pull out of the poorest nations.

48

Florida' s Gold Coast-- Latest WatchTower REAL ESTATE

by rip van winkle in

http://gotoby.com/news/article/2245/watchtower-buys-former-faa-training-facility-in-palm-coast-for-$7025000.

watchtower buys former faa training facility in palm coast for $7,025,000the facility was owned by embry riddle and had been leased to the faa.

watchtower plans to use the facility in much the same manner as did the faa.by toby tobinadd a comment palm coast, fl june 30, 2014 watchtower, an entity ofjehovahs witnesses, purchased the former faa training facility in palm coast from embry riddle aeronautical university for $7,025,000.

Mum

AndDontCallMeShirley pointed out that JW's are cheap. The fact is that they are also poor and uneducated, not the sort of people who want to acquire a taste for fine food and fine wine or buy great books or classical music. Mind you, I am generalizing here. I'm sure some JW's are well off and highly cultured (?) and will contribute to the local economy in the manner befitting their station in life.