awhile a go i was uptight about a matter i can't remember now and my friend said to me " give the other side the victory".
a while ago my little boy was getting uptight and argumentative with his mum i asked him " to let it go" in effect i suppose " giving the other side the victory".
anyway i am sure our life exsperiences have allowed us both receive and give good advice.
When I was still a JW, I was whining to a JW friend of mine about things I wanted to do, but my elder husband wouldn't "let" me. She said, "Sometimes you have to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps."
So I started pulling. I'm no longer married to the elder. I'm no longer associated with JW's. I have had a better life ever since.
never was a jw, but been here long enough to have made some friends and respect opinions.. retired in 2004, lived in cyprus 2005-2010. back here in wales since then.. just back from a holiday in france (most recent of many).
love the country, the lifestyle, can get by in the language.. just seen an advert for a country estate (british-owned) they want someone to live on site, do a bit of handyman stuff, etc., look after (mainly brit) holiday visitors in return for zero rent (only utitlties).
family would be abe to come and stay for free.
I would just do it!
altho the neighborhood seems too upscale for witnesses, i was passing time before a medical appointment, reading old fashion magazines.
a leaflet fell on my lap.
one would have no clue that it is the wt people.
I used to make labels that said "http://www.silentlambs.org" and "freeminds.org" and stick them on WT literature I would find in laundromats, medical offices or wherever. I need to get back to doing that. In fact, we all should.
in a letter in the 2013 yearbook of jehovah's witnesses, the governing body sign off with the words, "we love you all very much".
these words were later echoed by one of the governing body in an address to french jehovah's witnesses in july this year.
these words sound so marvellously compelling and heartfelt - goosebump inducing, even.. imagine the governing body wrote these words to you or expressed them to you in person- yes to you reading these very words.
Some years ago, the Pope said something similar to this to a Latin American audience if I'm not mistakes. That's probably where the GB got the idea, IMHO.
There's a saying I made up for women who believed their abusive significant others "loved" them. I would say, "Thank God nobody loves me!" I stand by that.
this might be my last post.
i've had quite a few things on my mind over the past few years, mainly my belief in god.
i've tried to move on from the jw past but that's really being foolish.
If you don't feel comfortable with getting professional help at this time, you should read some self-help books, such as Steve Hassan's Combatting Cult Mind Control. When I first exited, I did not speak of having been a JW for many years because I didn't want to talk about it.My personal recommendation for a self-help book to get you started and in a non-cult frame of mind is Your Erroneous Zones by Dr. Wayne Dyer. It helped me immensely.
Don't give up on yourself. You're the person you have to live with no matter what. Don't expect things to smooth out too quickly. It takes time, Be patient with yourself.
well,the guilt trip worked in getting them to the international convention,even though,for some,it put their health at great risk.. i'm glad that an elderly relative showed some common sense and realized she couldn't make the convention.
but,people still treated her oddly about not going.. one of her friends,who had a stroke in the past,thought about not attending,only to get screamed at by her so-called friends.
she did go,but it was hard on her.
99.999% of what JW's do is out of concern for how other JW's might judge them, not out of "love" for "Jehovah" or a sense of right and wrong. They are living inauthentic lives, masquerading as paragons of piety when all they really need is a week off to relax with no concerns about how it looks to their JW buddies.
the similarites between the mormons ( lds.org ) and jws ( jw.org ) are startling!!!.
here is another, both false religions have governing body's made up of predominantly white anglo men, but tout themselves as being worldwide united religions... where is the diversity???
both groups look like board members of any top fourtune 500 company.
Have any of you seen the play, "The Book of Mormon?" It was written by the creators of South Park, who are former Mormons. It is hilarious! I've heard that it's being made into a movie. I hope so, because EVERYONE should see it!
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.
