To undercover: My family felt the same way about "worldly" games. The faces and suits of cards was even considered bad(I can't remember why). Your Idea about a game
about the old Testament is hilarious.
you can find it at theocraticgames.com http://www.theocraticgames.com/.
it sounds totally bizarre.. it even has a facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/house-2-house-theocratic-board-game/120807941289256.
.
To undercover: My family felt the same way about "worldly" games. The faces and suits of cards was even considered bad(I can't remember why). Your Idea about a game
about the old Testament is hilarious.
i was last affiliated with a minneapolis area congregation a few years back.
we saw prince and the larry graham entourage at a sunday meeting once and at many assemblies and conventions.
i know he was affiliated with a congregation in a city named chanhassen at one time.
About 4 or 5 yrs ago my my newly baptized daughter living alone in LA in her early 20's went solo to the memorial. It was held in a rented building with about 800 in attendance. She arrived only about 5 min.
before it was to start so she quickly grabbed the first vacant seat she could find on the end of the row toward the back. She was juggling her bookbag, purse, jacket, trying to settle in
and didn't notice she had sat down right next to Prince. The meeting was starting before she looked around and realized who he was. He had 4 Anglo girls with him. He sat in the middle .
She was introduced to him afterward. He was very polite, the girls notsomuch. She wondered if they were even JW's. She observed elders and others (including the sister who studied with her)
fawning all over him. She thought it was over-the-top. It turned out to be one of her LAST meetings. :)
when i was still a jw i remember my feelings of confusion caused by the co visit.
i just found them so discourging.
i knew what he was going to say.
I have a sidepoint I can't resist sharing. #1 To No regrets and Clarity: I was at a Calif. convention about 1973 or 74 a couple I was studing with was getting baptized so of course
I went to the pool to watch. Things proceded as usual UNTIL Larry Graham, his beautiful wife, her sister AND her mother entered the pool at the same time, stood in a circle, joined hands,
raised their arms strait up above their heads , then lowered them slowly in unison, and finally formed a group hug then lowered themselves under the water. It was a specticle to be sure.
to all the posters on this board, your thoughts, experiences, and research have helped me more than you can imagine!
until recently i was a true believer of more than 50 yrs.
as my name implies, i am third generation from both parents going back to the turn of the previous century.
To Stillstuck, Quandry, and Karter :Thanks for the welcome! I'm going to start writing my story very soon. I'm very glad to say hubby is mentally out too. In fact, he's the one who first got me to do
some critical thinking. Being a former Bethelite, he had seen a glimpse of the ugly underbelly of Watchtower. He has no children(something he regrets). I have a beautiful healthy single daughter who
left completely about 5 yrs ago.
he was walking with such a slump, dragging his feet, carrying a jacket, magazines barely visible just hanging from his fingertips.
if body language has any validity to it, this man was deeply discouraged and depressed.
i remember that slump too.
To Serenity Now and Unshakled: My husband and I are roughly the same age of your parents. We were both 3rd generation and true believers. We have been phsycally out a couple of yrs beginning
with illness and depression. However, we have been mentally out only a couple of weeks. This site did the trick because of threads and posters like this . NOTHING like the evil apostates portrayed by t
the WTS. Stay kind and loving you Never know what doubts or discouragement may be hiding under the surface. We NEVER shared ours with anyone-especially our child. (didn't want todiscourage)
if not, were they incouraged to "forgive" the loan?.
Thanks Interested and da cheech for the info. Do you think people and congs would loan large sums to the Watchtower if they knew they likely wouldn't get it back even if they desperately needed it?
my dad (49) (who was an elder for 10 year and hasnt been to the meetings now since april when i stopped going) sent a message to a younger unbaptised brother (19) in my congregation to see if they would like to get together and jam on their guitars.
the younger brother responded that he would like to but since my dad hasnt been to the meetings in a long time he feels its innapropriate.. needless to say my dad was a little pi**ed but at the same time he cant understand how he is also now being shunned despite the fact that he isnt even disfellowshipped.
why do these people show such conditional love when jesus taught the absolute opposite?.
Like so many, hubby and I are inactive(about 3 yrs) about half the witnesses shun us. Some ask us what hall we attend now. (assuming we must have changed congs) Not wanting to lie, I simply say
we haven't been attending. Then they ask what's wrong? I truthfully say " things have been rough . We're sick and tired. :) I try to turn the conversation quickly back to them. The more embarrasing
the better like ,How is your daughter doing?(the one who is an unwed mother) Or how is your son? (the one disfellowshipped for the 3rd time) You get it- pretty soon I'm not the only one who feels
awkward.
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.
To PaintedToeNail: Hahaha! I agreeeee.
to all the posters on this board, your thoughts, experiences, and research have helped me more than you can imagine!
until recently i was a true believer of more than 50 yrs.
as my name implies, i am third generation from both parents going back to the turn of the previous century.
To Wobble: Thank you for your kind words. Yes, I have a very long story that will probably take multiple posts. To Broken and SandG: Hi, good to be here! To Punk: I have lurked and read some of your hilarious posts. Yes, of course I've been diagnosed with P.T.S.D. but if laughter is the best medicine, then all of the clowns here are helping us heal. Thanks! To Heaven: Don't worry! To Found Sheep, Cantleave, and Cofty: Hi To Micky: You never know. 6 mos ago I would have thought god would strike me dead for being on this site! The Watchtower Society is doing half the work for those who want others out. Only about 6 weeks ago hubby got a phone call from a friend who asked if we had heard about the WTS taking over the Menlo Park KH. That inocent question caused me to go to the internet to see if he had his facts straight. So I Googled it. Guess where it took me? Hahahah! Turns out we know the bros. involved. The elders who filed suit are true believers who have always been kind, caring, honest without hidden agendas. On the other hand, we knew the CO, DO and the rest were shady, mean, SR jerks. This inside knowlege was all it took to make me mad enough to read COC.
i can't say my life was ruined because i was a witness.
still, i wish that my upbringing was different.
there's a lot i don't like at all about the witnesses but by the same token, there are some very good people who happen to be jws.. i'm sure some of you hated your life as a witness and i'm sure you have valid reasons..
To Zid: Thanks for your welcome-I'm new here. Feels good to get things off my chest that have been festering since birth!