Posts by Mum

37

GB asks every JW to give Putin their home address

by MrHappy in

jw's around the globe have been encouraged to write letters to putin and the russian government.

they are expected to give their personal details on the envelope.

i appreciate that this might be normal when writing to your own government if they are tolerant, but is this not a bit strange that the gb want to give putin the address of every jw in the world?

Mum

It sounds like a set-up to trigger persecution. The GB gets some free publicity, and JW's get to feel like martyrs. The world sits up and takes notice of JW's. It's a win-win for the old guys at the top.

8

Could use some advice, divorce and children

by SonOfLiberty in

i understand a lot of you have had experience with different situations but i just need to see if there is anything to shed light on my situation.. i separated from my wife of 13 yrs (been apart for the past 2 now), and left.

this was our second separation.

i couldn't deal with her ways anymore so i chose to leave.

Mum

Your situation is not an easy one. It's clear that you care about your kids a great deal and want to have a good relationship with them. It's best to not try too hard to control things. If your kids choose to be JW's, it's best to just let them be and make sure they understand that you're there for them no matter what they believe. When you are with your children, it's best to appear to be happy even if you're really feeling down. Kids don't remember everything you say, but they do remember how you made them feel.

Someone else suggested hiring an attorney who has some understanding of how JW's operate. You may need to educate your attorney about what you're up against. No matter what you tell him/her, or anyone else, put it in writing as well. It's only when things are written down that the arguments over who-said-what can be shown accurately. People are forgetful as well, and misconstrue things you say. So, write it down.

Meanwhile, go on with your life. Decide what you want to do, set goals, and take steps toward living the life you want for yourself.

Best wishes,

Mum

25

Has anyone here joined a different church after ditching the JWs?

by NikL in

jw
friends

i am just curious.. i have a cousin who is a baptist and his church streams their sunday services and i've been checking them out before i go to meeting with my jw wife.. i haven’t been to a church except for the occasional funeral and wedding and the only sermons i had heard were the tel-evangelist type.

anyway, all the church bashing by jws over the years made me unsure what to expect and i was pleasantly surprised.

they do use the bible and they don't spend the whole time begging for money.

Mum

When I married my second husband, we joined the Episcopal Church. He had graduated from an Episcopal college (Kenyon in Ohio) and came to have an appreciation for the liberal views of that church.

I also wanted my daughter to see that JW's didn't have an exclusive on Bible reading, morals and ethics. Neither of us attends church at this time.

17

Do You Know Any JWs That Were Wealthy AFTER They Became Witnesses?

by minimus in

jw
friends

the only witnesses i knew that had money were those that either had family businesses or had money before they got into the religion.

.

Mum

The first congregation I was associated with (not in the territory where I lived because my dad's boss conducted our study) was very well off, in the wealthiest neighborhood in town. My dad's boss was a construction superintendent, and I thought he was rich. I didn't know much about the jobs and careers of others in that congregation. The CO (before the "elder arrangement") worked as some kind of artist at a TV station.

Two of the guys my age, whom I was friends with, got good jobs. One was a talented artist and got a job as a draftsman. The other got a job in sales, and I think he did quite well because he had a fun-loving personality.

After I moved to a state farther south, things were not nearly as good for the brethren and sistren(?) there. There was one wealthy family in the circuit, and everybody knew about them. There were about five or six kids in that family, and most of them were DF'ed at one time or another.

My JW husband was an auto body repairman, and did rather well. He could have done even better if he had chosen to.

9

Are you old AND dependable?

by compound complex in

jw
friends

greetings, aging young men and women:.

the term, "aging young man," came to my attention when in my early 40s.

now, nearly thirty years later, i am definitely old.

Mum

Funny thing, but I feel younger now than I did in my 20's.

I have a part-time job, from 2 PM to 7 PM five days a week. Yes, I'm dependable, but the hours are wonderful, and I don't have to drag myself from a sound sleep at 6:30 in the morning! Work is a choice, not a matter of survival, and that takes a lot of pressure off as well.

During my working life, I almost never called in sick regardless of how I felt. Compared to my co-workers, I was the most dependable employee in the place. It counted for very little, IMHO.

I've also proved myself dependable when my daughter and granddaughter create crises and call on me to bail them out.

37

"Isn't it disgusting?", a sister said to me in service today

by Isambard Crater in

jw
friends

"sorry, what's disgusting?

", i replied.

"that thing we've just called on", the sister said in response.

Mum

What is really disgusting is the level of ignorance, bigotry and hatred JW's are required to carry around with them. It must be debilitating. No wonder so many JW's are ill or think they're ill so much of the time.

32

Have you ever believed something that turned out to be wrong?

by slimboyfat in

apart, of course, from the obvious example of believing the evidence-free assertion of the governing body to be god's representatives on earth.

not to side-step that issue, but i wonder if it might be interesting to relate that huge mistake to other things i've been wrong about and how they compare and contrast with the big one.

a couple of examples of things i was wrong about:.

Mum

As a child, I believed that the trees waving their branches made the wind blow.

I believed in Long Ears and Bloody Bones because my parents (more accurately, sperm and egg donors) threatened me with them to scare me into submission.

I believed that I was inferior, and, apparently, obvious about it. One of my classmates wrote in my school yearbook something like, "You're a nice person. Lose that inferiority complex."

I believed that Jehovah/God would not allow men to land on the moon and otherwise controlled and/or limited human activity. But He/She did and didn't!

26

What Do Witnesses Do For Fun These Days?

by minimus in

jw
friends

when i was in , i went on many vacations, ate out at restaurants a lot and drank alcohol.

loved music and dancing too.... do jws do anything but watch watchtower videos now?

?.

Mum

I've been out for so long I didn't know fun was allowed. We used to have picnics, invite one another over for dinner, denigrate people having a hard time, and see an occasional movie (usually on a holiday when everybody else was enjoying family time). Then I started thinking and then drinking Jack Daniel's . . . .

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