i wonder if anyone else has had this experience or know of others who have.
when i was disfellowshipped, i approached another disfellowshipped person after the memorial celebration and asked him over for some refreshments and conversation.
he turned down my invitation saying that the elders had told him that he could not even talk to other disfellowshipped persons unless and until both he and they were reinstated!
Wow! I never heard of that one before. Maybe you should treat it like my friends did when I was a kid. I would say, "Mommy said I can't do that." They would reply, "Your mommy's not here."
How are the elders going to track who disfellowshipped people socialize with? It's ridiculous!
People need to be taught how to make good decisions and healthy choices instead of obedience, especially obedience of people who kick you out of their "exclusive" club.
i have quite a big group of friends who were all in the cong together when we were teens.
about 75% of them stopped going or were df'd right after high school.
it is a varied group; a couple are staunch apostates, some dont care one way or another, and another handfull are fully "worldly", but still believe it is the truth.
So, deep down, these poor souls still think the meaning of life is to follow a carrot dangling before them. They are not thinkers. Apparently, they just can't bear the burdens JW's are called upon to bear. So they leave, then come back and load the burdens back on. Then the burdens become too heavy, and they leave again.
I agree that these non-thinking types need to do some homework and figure out that blind obedience to charlatans cannot lead to a better life in any way. It's harder for some than for others to think for themselves and forge their own path.
So sad!
in addition to the recent thread, "how to shut your mind down .
.
" (which is excellent) but there was another thread about the same time i'm searching for and unable to locate.
Reading (especially in a foreign language and cognac do it for me.
i'll wager that the number is close to 100 percent.
what number?
the number of jws who have lists--lists of things that make them go hmmm or even wha'???
These are questions I should have asked before I plunged into Watchtowerdom, but I thought that I was just a kid and would understand when I became "mature."
Why were the meetings so sterile and lacking in passion?
Why did I have to give up my childhood friends? I was a teenage convet and did not evern realize this until I got thick with the dubs.
Why were my grandparents, wonderful people, going to die at Armageddon when they did so much good for everybody?
Why were we always kept so busy that we hardly had any time for Bible reading or reflection?
Why wren't JW's upset about the Kennedy assassination? One "sister" said to me "They're so upset about this Kennedy thing. What are they going to do when Armageddon comes?"
Why was I chided for sitting during the prayer when we criticized the Catholic Church for being ritualistic?
If Armageddon was coming in 1975 or before, why was the WT buying new buildings and expanding their real estate holdings?
I could go on and on . . . . .
i just finished crysis of a conscience and all i have to say is wow!
showed how they sadly look for doctrine changes to fit their agenda vs what the bible says.
any new light or changes i'll be wondering the real motive behind them.
The Bible as History by Warner Keller
Peake's Commentary on the Bible
http://teacherweb.com/TN/BITS/BibleHistory/h0.aspx - the website of my ex-husband (not a JW) who majored in History and Religion at Kenyon College and was a teacher of Bible History - excellent info
in the 80's and 90's (maybe even earlier) i remember hearing lots of witnesses talk about "demon attacks".
whether it was someone studying the bible who then started having strange things happen in their house to people bringing stuff home from yard sales and getting personal attacks and horrible dreams resulting in them dystroying stuff they brought home or getting rid of it.. .
i also remember hearing a sister say she had to pray in a home with a study because the study started to get attacked.
Recently, my daughter talked to her JW father - an extremely rare occurrence which might happen every 5 years or so. She told me afterwards that he said that the demons were using me and that I didn't even know it. He's upset because our daughter has chosen not to be a JW, and he wants me to be the reason why. In fact, she's quite an intelligent woman and has had enough experience with JW's to know there's nothing they have to offer her.
So, every time we hear a strange noise or something goes wrong, we know that my "demons" are behind it.
i used to be very impressed with convention experiences regarding how worldly employers would hire jws because they were known as the most honest workers.
i was too indoctrinated to realise these were selective experiences, and there are plenty of experiences of jws being dishonest in the workforce.
i have received a couple recently by email.. i have cut quite a bit out of the following email i received so that the person and company cannot be indentified, but you will get the message.. .
Okay, I knew a JW who worked in another department when I worked for a municipal government agency. Her job required a lot of community involvement, and one of the yearly outreach programs was called "Christmas in June," in which I know she participated. She also won an award for her community service. I wonder if she counted her field service as part of that service that won her the award.
She always looked very nice and drove a Lincoln. She had a high paying position which, I believe, was probably beyond her education level, but she had great social skills.
Finally, she was fired for running a private business from her desk at her city job.
obviously i'm having ex cult issues, family still in and a wife that's all kokoo for cocopuffs as well as our marriage isn't good.
i would like to leave her, she has never been the kind of wife i wanted.
anyway the stress is getting to be to much, thinking about things all the time and its effecting my work as well as otherthings.
In my case, they do more harm than good. I prefer alcohol and oblivion. The only time I've ever been depressed were times when others were controlling me. Once I got control back, I was fine.
Therefore, I do not believe all depression is organic. Situations can trigger depression. My best perspective would be to examine what is bothering you and change it.
it does no good for the governing body to burry their heads up their ass in denial as to what people who have left are saying about them and their insane selfserving teachings.
i know denial is a real bitch to deal with and i'm sure this bunch of over the hill gang will have a hard time doing google searches and they are probably not sure where to look but they oughta get some one to show them how to find all this information, this willful ignorance is really hurting them, and reality can come crashing in more horrible ways the longer the denial exist and is hiding valuable information you really need before you proceed to make better decisions for your company and the direction you want it to go..
joel and DOC: I read on some ex-JW discussion board years ago that there is a special room at Bethel where people sit all day and monitor sites such as this one. I don't know whether that's true, but, given their mindset about "enemies," I can see why they would. They need our input.
I don't think they care what they're saying. If all the R&F leave, they'll be left with enough money to buy their own country if they want to. They exude that sense of entitlement that only the wealthy possess. The Shakers are a defunct religion that made a few hangers-on very wealthy.
A plague on all their houses!
people like robin williams can make you laugh.
we might think that they have it all but we really know nothing about their demons, their problems, their issues.
someone might be funny on the outside but be totally depressed from within..
Richard Cory
by Edward Arlington Robertson
Whenever Richard Cory went downtown,
We on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean-favored and imperially slim.
And he was always quietly arrayed,
And was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
"Good morning," and he glittered when he walked.
And he was rich -- yes, richer than a king,
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything,
To make us wish that we were in his place.
And so on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one warm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.
