Posts by Ucantnome

19

How successful are others at getting ex-dubs together?

by dubstepped in

jw
friends

for my first shunniversary i reached out to the local ex-dubs that i know.

i invited 11 total to join me in a little get together at a local restaurant, then back to my house to hang out.

one friend asked if he could invite others, and i encouraged him, and all, to do so.

Ucantnome

It was very disappointing and reminded me of my days inside the Borganization where I could never get anyone to do anything with me.

When I was in my mid-twenties I left a congregation that I had been part of for 4 years. I was a regular publisher and had good meeting attendance on the School, giving a few bible reading, answering in the meetings etc. I wasn't marked or anything. There had been quite a few get-togethers and weddings and picnics that I had attended and had dated a couple of sisters in the congregation that hadn't worked out and another one was interested in going out.

One of my friends had a leaving, going away party for me and invited everyone in the congregation. He provided plenty of food and drink but no one came. It was just me and him my brother and one of his. Even my other friend his brother didn't come.

i often found at Witness parties it was difficult and I hated walking in. One I when to I stopped at a bar on the way there then went home I knew what it would be like. Another one at an elders house me and a couple of others were going to take a couple of six packs of beer. I was the only that took any and it disappeared in a couple of seconds of putting it down.

Recently I attended a BBQ one of my cousins had. I hadn't seen him since the 80's. and before that the 60's some I hadn't seen because we were Witnesses when we grew up. But it was totally different to any Witness party, BBQ type thing that I had ever attended. The people were friendly.

I'm not a very out going sort of person and I think that is to do with my upbringing as a Witness. Always being guarded in what I say and who I associate with. So many times I've gone to social events and agonized most of the night about what I've saidbeing unable to sleep, that doesn't happen anymore since I left the Witnesses.

I wouldn't go to ex-dubs meet-ups myself. Nearly didn't go to the BBQ of my cousin.

44

Why Do People Become Jehovah's Witnesses?

by minimus in

jw
friends

besides being raised in the religion , why do people become jws?

.

Ucantnome

Besides being raised in the religion , why do people become JWs?

I was raised as a JW. Why did my parents become JW?

I don't think they were looking for something. My mother was contacted first and she was married with a child and I think my father worked quite long hours. I understood that my father wanted to meet the Witnesses he had some contact with them and thought he would be abel to dismiss them.

I think, recently due to a question one of my children raised regarding being scared of God and a thread on this site, it was to do with his view of Jesus. The difference between mainstream Christianity and JW view of Jesus. My father showed no interest in religion and was very politcally minded.

He said he couldn't prove them wrong, but I also think the Jesus that the Witness present was more in line with his politics.

I always felt that my mother was in line with whatever father said, although some think she called the shots he just thought he did. She came from a large family and she witnessed to them but they never accepted it. She told me how lucky she felt that she would never experience old age (she has dementia and is in a home now)

I think in the late 50's early 60's the Witnesses were somewhat different than today.

In my view I think my father was looking for something better politically and the Witness Kingdom government with a Christ as presented appealed to him. My mother I think she was a little interested in religion and going to some church with people as he worked long hours appealed to her.

34

Do you have / admire Charisma?

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

"charisma is a certain quality of an individual personality by virtue of which the person is set apart from ordinary people and treated as exceptional".

as a kid i was afraid of such charisma, as it was usually the quality i noticed elders, head masters, and parents had to exercise with unloving authority over me.. but now i think about it "charisma" doesn't need be only for people with authority.

" charisma" is something even we can have?

Ucantnome

I think my dog had it, I didnt

39

Is changing the "truth" / presenting "new light" really so bad?

by Zana in

jw
friends

playing devil's advocate here.... what's the difference between the gb changing bible interpretations compared to parliaments all over the world changing laws?

although the us constitution (=bible) remains untouched, congress passes i don't know how many new laws every year.

and of course people are expected to follow them.

Ucantnome

I saw some of my cousins recently at a BBQ. When we were all kids my parents witnessed to them and their parents. Telling them of 1975 and the generation that will not pass away and how we would never grow old. Now a lot of my aunts/uncles are dead and our grandparents are gone. As I was leaving one them asked about our lives as witnesses.

I'm sure had I told them about the overlapping generation I would have got a big laugh.

18

Joseph and his generation

by maninthemiddle in

so the wt used ex 1:6 to define a generation from the very beginning.

then in the this september broadcast the same person (splain) who spent 20 min with charts to explain a generation, makes a point that joseph and his brothers were very close in age?

(min 4:29).

Ucantnome

I thought the new idea was the generation was marked by the event, like the Woodstock generation so ages dont matter so much

l could be wrong but I thought the event was the sign and in the comparison with Joseph the event was his life

54

where have the demons gone?

by aboveusonlysky in

jw
friends

does anybody remember some of the sensational demon stories jw's would tell back in the day?

i was a kid in the early 80's and i remember a few times hearing of people having real life encounters with demons.

for example, one sister claimed that before she became a jdub she would regularly talk to demons and they would even fix stuff like her washing machine!

Ucantnome

Does anyone else remember such stories? The demons seem to have gone,

I haven't been part of the congregation for over twenty years. However one of my relatives related an experience with demons in the house of someone we knew very well. This was things flying around the room and other problems. Fairly recently.

A Witness who has spoken to me in recent years and expressed his doubts regarding the faith told me that when he spoke to an elder these experiences were mentioned as part of why he believes in God.

So it doesn't seem to be gone to me.

Also one of my customers not a witness told me of a very similar experience to one I heard of years ago in the congregation, the customer could not explain it and had the police in several times to investigate what was going on in the house. Nothing was found.

35

Is the Jesus of religion conservative, and the Jesus of the New Testament liberal?

by Fernando in

is the jesus of religion conservative, and the jesus of the new testament liberal?.

your thoughts?.

Ucantnome

I was looking up fascism regarding my father not really knowing what it is. Anyway I came across this on Wikipedia

'A number of historians regard fascism either as a revolutionary centrist doctrine, as a doctrine that mixes philosophies of the left and the right, or as both those things'

Maybe Jesus was a bit of a fascist by this definition.

Being quite political ( we had a picture on the mantle piece of a politician ) and my father becoming a JW and supposedly a friend in the same party. There were some things that appealed to him.

I think my political views are slightly left of centre and his were more to the right. I struggled with being a witness and feel more comfortable with my Christianity since leaving.

27

Are you sad or angry?

by raven in

after exiting the org, i mean cult, how have each of you felt personally about the lies you had been taught, the hurt from feeling betrayed by these people, actual hopes of once believed false teachings, rose colored lenses of seemingly just and right doctrines that turned out to be a bunch of horse $#!+, the shunning of family and friends?

right now i am going through the motions, i've just moved to a new home, which means hopefully no more elders searching for me at my previous address.. i can't help but feel sad though right now because of the fact that although i am not df'd ( maybe the elders will do it in absentia assuming i've been avoiding them and the 2 jc's they've invited me to as well as the last handwritten letter at my door before i moved ) my mom treats me as though i am dead to her, she says " i am living the life of a disfellowshipped person, and until i come back to jehovah this is how things will be because this was my choice to leave jehovah " ok i get it, but i don't- everyone has free will, so yes this was my choice but it is also her choice to shun me, especially after the "shun unrepentant wrongdoers" talk at the rc, funny how they come out with these talks to reel members back in.. she claims that she has an obligation to jehovah of which she promised to him after she was baptized not at 11, 13, or 17 ( young ages ) but fricken 26 years old.

i absolutely hate this organization and everything that it is, it's taken away my family and most importantly my own mother.. i always thought that a mothers love was to be unconditional, but hers for me is only conditional.

Ucantnome

I felt happy and sad and angry.

I felt happy and saw some witnesses in service when I was leaving some twenty years ago and felt I wanted to stop and share with them the reason I was leaving but I knew they wouldn't get it so I didn't.

I felt sad that the end wasn't imminent and the fulfilment of Rev 21:4 wasn't soon.

I felt angry about the decisions I'd made based on false hope.

19

Share Your Favorite Shakespeare

by compound complex in

jw
friends

give me my romeo; and, when he shall die,take him and cut him out in little stars,and he will make the face of heaven so finethat all the world will be in love with nightand pay no worship to the garish sun.. -- romeo and juliet 3 ii.

Ucantnome

I can't say that I really like Shakespeare. Admittedly I have not read much or seen many plays. We had to read Romeo and Juliette and Richard III at school and not long ago I saw the play The Comedy of Errors and I started reading The Two Gentlemen of Verona a while ago but it remains half read. I saw Doctor Faustus (Christopher Marlowe) last summer performed in a large old cemetery which seemed like a great setting and I really enjoyed it.

58

Reading The Bible Again After Leaving

by pale.emperor in

at the moment i dont beleive in anything.

im pretty much an open book, but my critical mind is very alert to bullshit.

but anyway i decided to re-read the bible with a non jw filter.. i researched online first which is supposed to be the best translation out there.

Ucantnome

when i stopped attending the meetings I found the bible more interesting and read a lot more of it and enjoyed it.