Excellent read and well worth it !!!!!! Thanks for the Kindle version Terry.
Cheers - Brad
http://www.amazon.com/i-wept-rivers-babylon-ebook/dp/b00fmhq4gk/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=utf8&qid=1380884339&sr=1-1&keywords=i+wept+by+the+rivers+of+babylon+terry+walstrom.
i wept by the rivers of babylon is now instantly availabe at amazon.. i published the 6x9 trade paperback version last monday and the e-book book (non-kindle) versions.. http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/m0rtslaw.
i hope the decent reviews are posted before the customary savage knee-jerk jehovah's witness crew jumps on and finds the juggular.. .
Excellent read and well worth it !!!!!! Thanks for the Kindle version Terry.
Cheers - Brad
well, here's some of my story.
(am leaving out a lot of personal details.).
but i was prompted to look outside the wt because i'd been having doubts and questions for a long time.
Hey Muddy - Brad
once when i was profoundly sad for too many days, my brother in law sent us a mix tape.
he named each song after a person in our family.
this is the one he named heather.
Enjoying Tom Waits as I write.
why i left jehovahs witnesses.
they can be painful to bear, but sometimes that is part of life in a setting with many people and their various personalities.. it was my examination of evidence that did lead me to leave jehovahs witnesses.
they, of course, had failed to bear proper witness to his name.
I felt that Watchtower literature rarely did much to enliven the power of scripture without telling you how to think about it.
Enjoyed reading the whole post but the above line really struck a chord, toward the end for me it just seemed like at every turn you were told what to think not taught how to think.
Thanks - Brad
i figured out it's been 4 months and 5 days since my last meeting ever.
july 10th, it was a sunday.
i hadn't been there in 2 months or so and decided to see if anyone noticed i'd been gone.
special talk May 2009
now ex-wife wanted me to go as now ex-dear friend was giving it.
same old drivel and had it not been for that, memorial 2009 would have been last.
sure don't miss it - Brad
i miss a few but honestly i could count them on one hand after being in the organization for almost 5 decades.
some jws are ok but most, i simply tolerated, due to being an elder..
Mixed feelings over mixed drinks on this.
There are definitely a few I would enjoy contact with again but in retrospect one has to wonder what that new relationship would be even without the w.t.
Those few were in fact close confidants over many years but looking back there was also always that underlying sense of protecting the organization first and living your life second, so then did I really know them ?
C'est la vie - Brad
early in the exit process, it's very important to begin overcoming irrational fears.
fear of the devil.
fear of god.
Our thoughts and actions have been micro-managed to the point where some have trouble deciding what flavor ice cream to order without being told
So very true 3rdgen, and all across the board witnesses do, often as not, what they want to do and yet fall back to "what does the society say" when others are around. Just not a healthy environment to live in.
Brad
i just stumbled onto this by accident.
i was reading pz myer's blog, and just on a larf clicked on a link to another blog.
one of the first entries was "view from the watchtower" in which an ex-elder is interviewed about his past experiences as a jw.
well worth the listen
Brad
even though i knew some of the doctrines were so convoluted they couldnt be genuine, every prophecy mentioned in the bible was simplistic and direct i still felt it was the best place to raise a family.
i felt like i could ignore the hypocrisy, manipulative and fake personalities and still have true friends and unbreakable family bonds.
even though my concience would bother me i would always try to forgive.
the ever increasing control just fueled the doubts
Brad
in the previous thread of this series, i called lurkers attention to the need of being discreet when contemplating an exit from the jw religion.
i mentioned that the thread was borne as a result of the general observations i made reading old posts here and discussing with many ex-jws and their lives have gradually turned out.
that thread alone was visited more than 2,980 times and graced with 204 contributions.
my pure motive is to keep lurkers away from information intended to undermine the credibility of the borg.
and just what credibility is that ?
Brad