Posts by 3rdgen

22

Shift in beliefs?

by blankspace in

i was wondering whether anyone observed this point in the previous week's wt study, in paragraph 17: "jehovah’s spirit moves “the faithful steward” to keep giving his servants their food supply.".

i see this as a subtle move away from earlier claims to be channel for spiritual food.

the gb earlier said that they weren't inspired or infallible.

Do You Think Disfellowshipping Is The Worst Thing About Jehovah’s Witnesses?

by minimus in

jw
friends

the longer i’m out the more i feel that disfellowshipping is cruel.

i understand the organization tells parents to not even accept emails or texts from their disfellowshipped children.

while i was a witness they tried to discourage families from association but there was some leeway if it was considered necessary business to interact.

3rdgen

I have personally experienced the Agony of JW shunning from both sides: the shunner and the one shunned.

The worst situation I had as a true believer was when my cousin (who was closer than a brother) was DFed on a flimsy charge by a committee who was taking the hate they had for his ass#ole father out on him. He immediately sought reinstatement and attended the meetings. It was a horrible "test" on both of us to stop all communication especially since we both were going through bitter divorces at the time.

We would break the rules by an occasional phone call or letter all the while feeling guilty as sin. He was in anguish as he was a "People Person" and our entire family including his children completely cut him off.

He wrote letters for over a year seeking RI but the answer was always NO. At this point, he sort of gave up on life. He came down with what he thought was the flu but didn't go away. It turned out to be stage 4 Pancreatic cancer. Suddenly, he was dying. His grown children refused to speak to him much less help with his care. To their credit, his sister and BIL who was a MS took him in their home and told the bros if they didn't like it to remove him. They DID!!!

Now, as soon as I knew he was terminal thankfully, I too threw the shunning out the window and traveled to see and care for him. At this point, I didn't care what the consequences would be for me.

Meanwhile, this visibly dying young man once again asked to be reinstated. This time after years of begging the verbal answer was YES!!! He called me to let me know that it would be announced at the KH next Thurs. I was overjoyed for him yet he was still hopelessly ill.

A couple of days later he calls me in tears saying that his reinstatement had been RECINDED!? I had never heard of such a thing. What happened??? It seems the Ex-wife made a call to the committee stating he had not come clean with some detail of his wrongdoing and they took her word for it.

At this, he lost all will to keep living and died 5 days later still shunned by is children and the Dubs. No KH memorial.

Twenty-one years have passed and I still grieve.

1

US Treasury Dept to accuse Vietnam of manipulating its Dong.

by JeffT in

yes, that is what it says.

.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-05-09/us-treasury-expands-currency-probe-may-name-vietnam-dong-manipulator.

3rdgen

LOL!

13

Especially elders...

by stillin in

i was wondering how many of you that are ex-elders have actually read any da letters.

or did you just accept the synopsis given by the secretary or whoever opens the mail?

as an ms the closest i ever got was "he's an apostate.

3rdgen

@LongHairGal, I totally agree that it takes time to deprogram- sometimes years but the JWs we run into don't need to know that. "Fake it 'til you make it" is the way to go.

Hubby is agnostic and I am pretty much atheist so neither of us believes in so-called "Blessings". However, it blows the circuits of a mentally in JW to think people who leave are being blessed so that's why we say it every chance we get!

13

Especially elders...

by stillin in

i was wondering how many of you that are ex-elders have actually read any da letters.

or did you just accept the synopsis given by the secretary or whoever opens the mail?

as an ms the closest i ever got was "he's an apostate.

3rdgen

Both of my husbands and my father were Overseers much of my life. The three of them combined never received a dissociation letter. Writing such a letter may be cathartic to the author but probably won't have any positive effect on the elders who read it.

I just asked hubby whose job was the secretary, how he would have reacted to a DA letter. He said it just would have caused a lot of problems for the person who wrote it. He said what REALLY gets to them is those who successfully fade and are obviously happier than when they were active.

When we run into Jws we know we are always asked in that condescending tone, "How ARE you??" With the toothiest smile, we answer, "We have NEVER been so happy. We really are blessed! Blah blah blah. Like a giant weight has been lifted off our shoulders. Hahaha." Then we ask them about their family member who is the biggest screw-up. (there is always at least one) They absolutely can't handle it when you THRIVE after leaving.

62

2019 BOE Elders letter May 13 England - Ireland Data Protection

by Not_Culty in

https://tinyurl.com/y2bzncu9.

3rdgen

Illegal aliens who risk being deported do not want their Names and language recorded by strangers selling religion.

8

interesting interview with Barbra Anderson

by joe134cd in

interesting interview with barbra anderson.

of special note is a comment at the 1:11 - 1:13 regarding ted jaracz.

https://youtu.be/q0rmrh3pupy.

3rdgen

I found this interview fascinating as well. I too am one of the youngest (67 years old) who is old enough to be around in the "Old Days" but still alive and kicking. In the 1950s my parents lived in various towns around the Monterey Ca peninsula. At that time there was only one congregation in the whole area and my father was the Congregation Servant. (as they were called then. He donated the land and funds to build the KH on Romona Street, the first one in the area. My father was a well known, well connected bro.and had personally known Rutherford and served as a Company servant in the 1930s and 40s.

From as early as I can remember my Dad was friends with T. Jaracz. Whenever he was serving our cong. I was a small child when my parents either took them out to dinner or entertained them in our home. Many LARGE green handshakes too. (as I learned years later). I think we must have been the first or one of the first circuits Jaracz served when he was "Reassigned" from the Australia Branch to be a CO in California. I am sure my father had NO IDEA about his sordid past.

11

Music. YANNI

by zeb in

has anyone been to a concert by yanni?.

3rdgen

Yep, was invited by a friend who was a concert pianist at the time. The event was in Sacramento, Ca. over 25 years ago.

77

Advice on Disassociating

by HiddenPimo in

hello my exjw/pimo/pomo friends,.

i am working on penning my da letter and wondered if i should use it as a tool to maybe wake up individuals as the boe will have to read it.. anyone have any advice on what i should say versus what i should leave out?

i am not going to fade as my family can either be loyal to blood or loyal to a man made religion.

3rdgen

About seven years ago Hubby and I woke up to TTATT. We both are 3rd gen born ins with our entire families being as dysfunctional as you would expect for those with parents/relatives who are /were Bethelites, Pioneers, Missionaries, CO, and yes, even a Branch Overseer.

I wanted to DA from the get-go. I was DONE with the drama, hypocrisy, Lies, F.O.G. etc. My only child was already out. However, hubby wanted to fade.

Hubby encouraged me to wait a while before I "pulled the trigger" as I might want freedom of speech with a few POMIs we know. I am very glad I listened because over time we have helped two of our friends to become mentally out.

In our case, our entire JW families shun us anyway, we absolutely no longer look over our shoulder, and we are able to anti-witness a lot! Win, win.

OTOH, we completely support those who DA. The important thing is to SLOWLY and CAREFULLY consider the benefits and drawbacks of each. DA is permanent. Fading gives you time to think and make plans without letting emotions get in the way.

34

Do You See JWs Going From House to House Anymore?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i used to see them in my neighborhood or while driving.

there is a hispanic congregation nearby.

i used to see witnesses out all the time, some even doing the slow pioneer shuffle.

3rdgen

We live a few blocks from the nicest Starbucks in town in a safe walkable territory. We were faded when we moved here 5 years ago. so although our street was worked at least once a month, we never answered the door.

"Evidently" the same pioneer sister held on to our territory for several years as it was always the same frumpy 60-somthing yo sister with a pinched expression on her face. who knocked on our door. As time went on, she started knocking .more and more often, sometimes twice a week, then when we didn't answer, she would get in her car and drive off. She seemed hell-bent to "Get that Not-at-home" that was us. As a last resort, she wrote a letter and mailed it to us.

Just as I was about to "break" and answer the door in order to tell her to get the hint and STOP CALLING already, she "evidently" was asked/forced to give up this cherry territory when the CO came to town because we hadn't seen her or any other JW for a couple of years......until this year a different sister left a memorial invitation in our door.

My observation is that all the JWs I look at on FB are now posting JWdot borg videos and Memes. "Apparently", FB is their new territory and they can count time and RVs while at home. I would too If I were still in. Why put up with the nuts in your car group if you can count time at home in your sweats.?