Posts by Ucantnome

29

The true cost of being raised as a witness

by stuckinarut2 in

how do you view your upbringing as a witness?.

most of us who were raised as witnesses would appreciate that some aspects of our upbringing were ok. a foundation and measure of stability came with it.. but, it struck me too, that we also lost so very much!

and we lost a lot of potential.. by this i mean, we need to look at not just what we lost, or what was deprived of us, but what that ended up costing us as adults into the future.. if i take $10 from you, you have lost just $10.. but, if you were going to use that $10 to buy something that would end up earning you $1000, then i actually took $1000 from you!.

Ucantnome

How do you view your upbringing as a witness?

I think there is a view that if you are raised in a christian land or muslim or others you are most likely to have the religion of your parents.

I know when I was a young witness I felt lucky that my parents were witnesses and had accepted the 'truth' as I felt there was no way I would ever have gone to the kingdom hall and or the meetings and assemblies and I think the truth of this was borne out later when I left home. I attended the meetings and field service but most of the assemblies I missed and elders came to see me at one point 10 years before I left the witnesses and questioned me as to why I wasn't reaching out. I had no interest in privileges that I saw as a means of control that could be revoked in order to get your obedience.

I'm glad I came to know Christianity.

I think my relationship with my parents and other relationships could have been better. My upbringing affected my work decisions and my marriage, dating and other relationships I wouldn't say for the best.I think it affected my health.

29

The true cost of being raised as a witness

by stuckinarut2 in

how do you view your upbringing as a witness?.

most of us who were raised as witnesses would appreciate that some aspects of our upbringing were ok. a foundation and measure of stability came with it.. but, it struck me too, that we also lost so very much!

and we lost a lot of potential.. by this i mean, we need to look at not just what we lost, or what was deprived of us, but what that ended up costing us as adults into the future.. if i take $10 from you, you have lost just $10.. but, if you were going to use that $10 to buy something that would end up earning you $1000, then i actually took $1000 from you!.

Ucantnome

In the late 1960's my parents decided they wanted to have a simpler life and devote more time to their sacred service. So they sold up and moved. They rented a house and my mother and father devoted more time to the field service, study, and raising two children to be regular pioneers. My father was an elder and temporary pioneered and so did my mother.

The house they sold is now valued at £1.2 million the flat they own now is worth about 10% of that, our inheritance.

In the late 1980's I had a man from the bank come to my house to discuss insurances and he talked for along time about pensions. I declined and after he left I chatted with my parents who were visiting regarding how I would not need a pension based on our faith in God and message we preached. Over 10 years later I had left JW and I started a pension. The financial adviser whilst setting it up noticed that I had been offered one in the years previous and said if I had started it then it would be worth double when I take it.

These are two examples of how my beliefs as a JW have affected my life i believe

As for what would have happened in other area's of my life if we had not been witnesses of course I can never know.

However looking at my cousins and now my grown children I find no reason to suspect that anything like drug addiction or alcoholism or such things would have been anymore likely.

As to whether I would have been a christian I don't know. Both my children are, as are some of my relatives.

46

Circuit Assemblies in the "Good Old Days"

by BluesBrother in

jw
friends

just been reminiscing about how c/a's have changed since we were young.

i remember when they started friday night in some rented hall , as well as the two weekend days.

saturday morning was a brief session then field ministry (which only a few performed ) and sunday sessions.. in the free time around the venue we just used to hang out socialising and eyeing up the girls.

Ucantnome

We had to sit through all the sessions, no going to the toilet while the sessions were on and take notes from a young age, asked questions on the ride home to see if you were paying attention. No playing in the intermission either.

46

Circuit Assemblies in the "Good Old Days"

by BluesBrother in

jw
friends

just been reminiscing about how c/a's have changed since we were young.

i remember when they started friday night in some rented hall , as well as the two weekend days.

saturday morning was a brief session then field ministry (which only a few performed ) and sunday sessions.. in the free time around the venue we just used to hang out socialising and eyeing up the girls.

Ucantnome

I really disliked the assemblies as a kid and remember getting home from school and thinking, no weekend.

20

A serious question for any who believe in any God of any religion who think God is interested in humans.

by smiddy in

the world health organization states that in the year 2015 ,5.9 million children died under the age of 5 years of age.. in 2010 the death rate for children under the age of 5 years of age was 7.6 million.

thats over 13 million in just 2 years .

i dont think you need to be a rocket scientist to conclude that since mankind has been on the earth for however long you want to believe and i`m just going on a conservative estimate of 6000 years by the above figures i quoted their would be billions of children under 5 yearsof age that would have died.

Ucantnome

do you think it makes a difference if the past present and future all exist at the same time?

21

How much money people usually donate to WT ?

by Bardamu in

i grew up in the org and never got baptised, however i was wondering recently about how much money my family and old friends are wasting in all that.

.

i remember of course never talking in amounts, that it was important to give from what you can not what you have etc but i admit i have no clue how much the average witness gives (say in % of their income).. i'm sure it varies greatly, i'd love to hear what you guys have to say..

Ucantnome

i would get some tickets for food at the assembly and if I hadn't used them ( I usually ate at a restaurant) i would contribute the remaining ticket. that was it.

I didn't go every year to the assembly.

15

Spiritual paradise or proverbial straitjacket?

by UnshackleTheChains in

noas a current or past jehovah's witness, do you / or did you feel part of a spiritual paradise with full liberty in christ as the watchtower society/organisation describes?.

or do you / did you feel you were wearing a proverbial straitjacket in the sense you feel / felt restricted and controlled by the watchtower society / organisation?.

Ucantnome

I would say that as I had understood how the spiritual paradise was defined I felt that I was in the spiritual paradise when I was a JW.

I understand that the word paradise originates from a word meaning walled enclosure and as such I believe I would be somewhat restricted, I felt restricted.

Being restricted I felt was for my best interest when I was a JW.

19

Making life and death/life altering decisions based on commands from someone you're not sure exists

by jambon1 in

jw
friends

straight from the off, i will say that i'm 100% atheist.

i have no faith.

however, it occurred to me while thinking back over my involvement with the jw religion and especially when i take into account personal and family situations where people have made life altering choices due to being jw's, just how crazy it really is.

Ucantnome

But when it comes to the bigger things; life/death, blood, shunning, etc. Well, do they ever factor in the thought - 'what if I'm wrong'?

In the first century according to what I understood from the bible was that the first century christians received holy spirit which I would have thought would have been evidence and christianity grew through the years.

when my parents accepted the good news from the witnesses I think they felt they saw evidence of the holy spirit active on the anointed christians of JW in doing the preaching work in this time of the end and having an understanding of the bible.

i think that their faith came from this.

I remember the brother who studied with them saying that even if it was wrong it was still the best way of life and I think my parents enjoyed the 'truth' commenting in the early 1960's that after the meeting they felt they were walking on air.

I think there was a degree of 'what if I'm wrong' however I think this was outweighed by the what they saw as evidence of the holy spirit guiding the anointed. They never claimed to have an anointing themselves.

241

Another generation....

by joey jojo in

it has been 21 years since the 1995 article that pretty much buried the idea of the '1914 generation'.. remember those guys?

the ones born in 1914 that would still be alive when the end of the system arrived.. i'm glad i'm old enough to remember going from door to door, preaching this belief.

the reason i say that is because i have a lot of 'still in' jw friends and family.

Ucantnome

in the 1970's we lived at a house that had a mulberry tree in the grounds. as a young person I remember helping my mother with some gardening nearby. she was expressing her faith and how happy she was that she had the Truth she would never suffer old age like her parents and die.

i visited her today in hospital where she has lain for 11 days moaning and groaning and being fed through a tube. she hasn't acknowledged my presence for the last week.

the truth. lol

23

Was Ray Franz Playing The Long Game?

by rory-ks in

jw
friends

i'm just making my way through crisis of conscience for the second time and once again i am struck by the presentation of such detailed records.

letters are shown in full - copies of letters from the branch, and to the branch.

reports are quoted vebatim.

Ucantnome

i remember when i read his books feeling this almost euphoria and sadness at the same time. what took him so long he was on the governing body.