Posts by Navigator

102

Where are you ?

by sunshineToo in

jw
friends

.

in which part of the planet are you?

i'm in the sf bay area, ca, u.s.a. i have been there for 17 years.. how about you?

Will they disassociate me?

by Sirona in

my boyfriend was disgusted with the jws after the panorama programme, and has decided to da himself.

none of his family are jw and he just simply does not want to be listed as a jw anymore.. since we are known by the congregation to be together, will they da or df me for seeing him?.

bear in mind, neither of us have set foot in the kh for a couple of years.

Based on the experience of 5 of my children, I agree with those who have advised the "fade away". My wife (full time Pioneer) is allowed to sit down for dinner with those who managed to "escape and evade" and avoid being DF'd, but not with those who got officially dF'd. It's a technicality to be sure, but important to DUBS. Give your family an out if you can.

42

Before you open that door....

by Bona Dea in

things that you definitely will not learn upfront: (and again, this is just a few...).

fight against independent thinking.

6-8-1986, page.9 would that all were prophets!.

Navigator

Bona

I wish that I had had your post before I opened the door in 1963. For my wife, who was suffering from Post Partum Depression at the time, the JWs were like a life buoy thrown to a drowning person. How wonderful not to have to think for yourself anymore! She wanted it all to be true. If I had had your post, I would never have let them in the door. We managed to keep our marriage together, but it was an extremely painful process for both of us. The children (6) all became JWs and all except one married JWs. Of the five who married JWs, four are divorced. All are out of the JWs now except one. He would be out, but doesn't want to go through the divorce which would certainly result if he left. My wife is a full time Pioneer and believes she is one of the 144,000. Managing family relations with the 5 who are out remains an interesting challenge since all of our children still live in the city. If you fail to become a JW, your husband will be advised to divorce you since you would be an obstruction to his "spiritual growth".Good luck!

39

Why do you believe???

by truthseeker1 in

i have a question for everybody.

it has probably been asked before, but i'll ask it again in case anyone changed their minds.... why do/don't you believe in god/god.

what give you faith in things not beheld/makes you not believe?.

Navigator

I believe in God because I have experienced love! As they say, God is Love, and Vice Versa.

16

Facing the inevitable....how will you handle it?

by Makena1 in

or - how are you handling it?.

my subject is how we deal with getting older - realizing that we are headed in just one direction, aging and eventually dying.

for most of us born after wwii, raised as jw's, we did not give a thought to getting older.

Navigator

So many of our friends are facing aging and the end of their working lives without any resources to carry them through. They didn't put anything aside because they didn't think they would need it. The real tragedy, however, is that they have become so attached to their flesh bodies that they have come to believe that that is who they are; a belief fostered by the WTBTS. The flesh body is merely a shell that reflects the beliefs we hold about ourselves. Our attachment to it is part of the price of admission we pay when we come here. Another part of the admission price is our belief in death. Jesus certainly demonstrated that it could be overcome. Guess what folks! We are all made of Divine stuff. We are all God's children and a part of God. God is not going to lose any part of Himself/Herself. God is not going to take pity on us because we have chosen to "play in the mud puddle" and experience suffering and death, however much we think we deserve it. We have created these situations in our lives by our screwed up thinking. We can also make a conscious choice to change that thinking. I realize that thinking for ones self if frowned upon by the WTBS, but it is absolutely necessary.

9

Law in USA, fyi, (hey texas!)

by one in

jw
friends

http://www.nolo.com/texas/professor.html .

"de tocqueville described this elite strain of thought quite well in democracy in america, where he characterized american law as an "occult science" that only those trained in the priesthood could understand.

de tocqueville contrasted obscure american law with the law of france, where codification made law accessible to everyone.

Navigator

Not every state in the U.S. has law based on the British system. Law in Louisiana is based on the Napoleonic Code. Could that be why Louisiana is one of the more corrupt states in the union? It certainly the reason that I now live in Texas.

27

Disgusting JW Funeral story

by PopeOfEruke in

i heard of a funeral held for a sister last week in a kh.. her non-jw daughter-in-law write a poem for her, and wanted to read it at the service in the kingdom hall.

the d-i-l had studied many years ago but was never baptized.

however, because she was wearing slacks, she was refused to read it from the platform and had to read it from her seat in the audience.. how low can you go?

Navigator

I have informed my ex-JW children that, should they allow my JW wife to give me a JW funeral, I fully intend to come back and haunt them.

3

"You can't use both ends of the stick"

by DazedAndConfused in

i am so frustrated.

on one hand i want my parents "out of the truth" and then on the other hand...i wonder if it were to really harm them if they stayed.. i know that for me...to be out is the best thing to ever happen to me.

i have talked to my parents, devout jw's...mom is an ex-pioneer (disabled now) and dad is a ms (pushing for eldership).

Navigator

I can tell you from many years of experience that it is unproductive and damaging to family relationships to try to lead your loved ones out of the "borg". It often has the opposite effect as you have experienced with your Mom. They have to come to that point on their own. A minister friend of mine who had considerable experience in this area once told me, "you just have to out-love them. Besides, it confounds the heck out of them when you don't fit the pattern they have been led to expect." Dubs thrive on persecution. It is validation that they are serving Jehovah. You would get more "mileage" toward your goal by demonstrating unconditional love. Five of my six children are out now. The other would leave, but it would mean a divorce as he is married to a JW. Three of the five have divorced their JW spouses in order to reestablish relations with their DF'd brothers and sisters. Three of the five who are out have gone on to college which was discouraged when they were in. Their mother (my wife) is a full time Pioneer and one of the 144,000. The youngest was able to get out without being formally DF'd. I make it very clear to the Elders, some of whom are good friends, that Jehovah made me the head of this family and most have respected my headship. The ones who don't get a phone call. I am a retired Air Force Lt. Col. and am not accustomed to taking any "crap". I did not encourage any of them to leave, but was very supportive when they did.

39

JW Family Tries Black-Mailing Me

by Prisca in

i have spent the last week or so with my sister and bro-in-law and my 6year old niece, all jws.

they live in a town not too far away from me, and i visit them every couple of months or so.

my sister and i are close, not extremely so, but we appreciate each other as we have no other bros & sisters, our mother died 21yrs ago, and our father treats us as though we are dead too (due to non-jw issues).. last time i went to visit them, my bro-in-law asked my niece to ask me if i'd go to the meeting.

Navigator

Unfortunately this sort of behavior is all too typical. I watched my wife use emotional blackmail on my six children for years. The message was "if you don't toe the JW line, mommy won't love you anymore". The kids are all grown now and mostly out of the "truth" and Mommy is paying a high price in damaged relationships with those children. When they were small, she would use the older kids to intimidate the young ones who "got out of line" (like daring to attend a bad church with Daddy). It has taken years for those relationships to heal.

9

growing up JW DOES DAMAGE (re-post)

by lisaBObeesa in

jw
friends

good post!

but there are those who stay for other reasons.

even though they know the beliefs and practices are wrong, they cannot bring themselves to pay the price for leaving.

Navigator

Good Post! But there are those who stay for other reasons. Even though they know the beliefs and practices are wrong, they cannot bring themselves to pay the price for leaving. That price typically includes giving up the only friends and community they have ever known since they have been prevented from developing others. Others can't bear to give up family associations. Then there are those that stay because they are put in positions of power and place that they couldn't achieve in other walks of life. All of my six children were raised as JWs. Their mother was a full time Pioneer and one of the 144,000. Only one remains. He can't leave because his wife is a JW and he knows she will leave him if he does. Those who married JWs have all gone through divorces except that one. They were actively discouraged from going to college since the system was going to end in 1975 anyway. One went anyway and was DF'd. The others did not and found themselves working for people not as bright as they but who had degrees. I'm glad to say that two more are now getting the degrees that they should have gotten 20 years earlier. The task is much harder, however. I understand that the GB has now changed its position on higher education, but too late for my children. The damage was already done.