Posts by rubadubdub

5

Am I now an apostate ?

by smiddy in

my wife and i never received an invitation to the memorial ,last year we did ,but not this year.i am the only one where we live in this small town who has challenged the witnesses on the couple of times they have called on our home these past 5 years .

my wife has never been confronted with them.my son and his wife both ex jw`s have not had what used to be called shepherding calls in the 5 years they have been here.none of them have ever been disfellowshipped or disassociated themselves from the organization ,whereas i did a couple of years ago.da`d that is.a couple of months ago they by-passed our house in the d2d ministry that i witnessed.so my wife is not worthy of a call?

she has never said a bad word about them .and they have never spoken to her in the 5 years we have been here .

rubadubdub

Smiddy, I strongly believe, because this was my experience, that brothers and sisters within the congregation who have "unbelieving mates" (whatever category they may fall within, DF'd, DA'd, faded, marked, Apostate, etc.) fall on the second lowest rung and priority within the congregation. Single sisters with children stand on the lowest rung and must bear their own "load". Brothers who are single by divorce or have unbelieving mates, and still bring their children to meetings get cooed over and coddled.

Sisters with unbelieving mates have to fight for their rights within the congregation. I will give you a prime expample. My former DIL was DF'd. She was hospitalized for treatment for stage 4 cancer. We believed she was dying. I felt so alone. My son, an active and in good standing dub was losing his beloved wife; her mother a flightly, '60s hippy dub was a semi-active and in fairly good standing dub. I was an uber-dub in fine standing. I called and asked for a shepherding call at the hospital. The elder said he would get back to me, but he didn't think it was possible, because my DIL was DF'd. I told him I wasn't asking for her, I was asking for my my son, her mother and myself.

I received a return call with two elders on the line. I stood in the bathroom of the hospital room having this conference call. I fought them tooth and nail, pleading, "Where is the mercy?" I was told Jehovah was showing his mercy by disciplining my DIL. I said, I was talking about mercy toward those of us who where still Jehovah's sheep and were in a helpless situation. I explained that I didn't know how to comfort my son or his then MIL. I begged them and they finally conceded to come to visit us in the family room. Their suggestion was that I read comforting scriptures to my son's MIL in front of my son and my DF'd DIL. My hubby had faded decades earlier and was marked. I was the spiritual head of the household in this situation, according to them. They would not enter my DIL's hospital room. This infuriated her studying on again and off again, never-a-dub father. He later commented that he could see how furious I was that they would not come in the hospital room.

If one has fallen, the rest are suspect. End of rant.

41

Shocking Email from a Dear Friend who is No Longer a JW

by rubadubdub in

i received this email tonight from a dear, dear friend who i believed had died.

she was in very bad shape when i last spoke with her over a year ago.. "i'll make this short in case it is not functioning.

besides i'm not sure whether it is alright for you to read it or not.

rubadubdub

Aunt Connie: Don't ever change! If you are what you say you are, then it is very telling that the only ones you can be yourself with is apostates! You're rude, opinionated and outspoken... And we love you for it!

I second the motion, Captain Obvious! Aunt Connie you are a scream! I would love to meet you in person! Your thread 'Memorial Invitations Revoked' has given me so many laughs! Laughter is healing. Keep being you! Is And Don't Call Me Shirley your brother? LOL. And yes, doctrine is applied arbitrarily depending on the BOE. No doubts there.

Captain Obvious also wrote:

Rub: I think most of us have regular daydreams about some of our friends doing exactly what your friend has! That's so exciting! Help her along, then introduce her to us! She'll make a nice addition to the JWN family. Although once she reads Steve Hassan's books and JWfacts, she'll be good and ready to join the forum.

You are right, THIS IS SO EXCITING! I have my friend back!

4

Finally Received my Memorial Invitation Today by Snail Mail! Slackers!

by rubadubdub in

it was a form letter from the congregation secretary!

feeling the love!

and for added entertainment for this year's special talk, there will be "a very moving talk about the resurrection hope", entitled, "does death end it all?

rubadubdub

It was a form letter from the congregation secretary! Feeling the love! Basically, it's commanded, same time, same place, come early for "encouragement" and "association", attendence shows our "obedience to Jehovah". Blah, blah, blah.

And for added entertainment for this year's Special Talk, there will be "a very moving talk about the resurrection hope", entitled, "Does Death End it All?" for all the friends who have given up any hope of seeing the end of this'overlapping generation'.

"The friends would be thrilled to see you again. Hope to see you there."

"Come and worship Jehovah with us." followed by guilt scripture: Malachi 3:7

41

Shocking Email from a Dear Friend who is No Longer a JW

by rubadubdub in

i received this email tonight from a dear, dear friend who i believed had died.

she was in very bad shape when i last spoke with her over a year ago.. "i'll make this short in case it is not functioning.

besides i'm not sure whether it is alright for you to read it or not.

rubadubdub

In his March Armageddon Okie journal Randy Watters said:

“JWs still die in emergency situations even though "blood transfusions" will no longer get you disfellowshipped (did you know that?). They haven't DF'ed anyone we've found in about two years just for taking a transfusion, but they sure make you think they will!).”

Maybe you should contact him and share the experience of your friend.

Marvin Shilmer

Marvin Shilmer, I posted a comment on Randy's blog with a link to this thread. Thanks.

41

Shocking Email from a Dear Friend who is No Longer a JW

by rubadubdub in

i received this email tonight from a dear, dear friend who i believed had died.

she was in very bad shape when i last spoke with her over a year ago.. "i'll make this short in case it is not functioning.

besides i'm not sure whether it is alright for you to read it or not.

rubadubdub

I just got off the phone with P. We talked for hours. I told her from the outset, that I could be DF'd for even talking to her, and she said she knew that. She also knew that her dear conditional dub friend would have reported her blood transfusions to the elders had P not come forward herself. She used the CULT word first! She also said, "I don't believe they are the sole channel of communication from God." P wrote her elders a letter stating that she couldn't promise that she would not take blood again, if she was put in the same circumstance, and that she could not lie about that to remain in good standing. I told her that letter was likely seen as a letter of disassociation.

We both openly shared our very real pain, and it is very clear that neither one of us is ever going back. P shared with me something I didn't know. The "anointed'' elder that she studied with confided that he had his own doubts about the blood doctrine and deeply regretted having withheld what may have been a life-saving blood transfusion from his dear wife. He felt responsible for her death. This was not public knowledge in the congregation. It was not spoken about, and I had no idea!

I shared some resources with her and expressed concern that she needed to fully deprogram herself, as she was using words such as "apostate" in the dub manner. She agrees we were brainwashed and can see it in the dear friend she lost. She misses her friend's little girl so much, because she felt like she was her little grand-daughter, but there is nothing either of them could say that would ever make her want to go back. P agreed to look at jwfacts.com and read one of Steven Hassan's books. P says her husband has said the JWs were a cult from day one.

One side story of note. P is now living in a, shall we say, redneck part of the US. She says there are so few elders that they had to recombine a congregation that had split. Also, there is an elder who is what they call a "prepper". His property is a gated compound, surrounded by fencing with barbed wire at the top. He is storing goods and has guns in preparation for The End! The BOE turns a blind eye, 'cuz they need him. All right then!

4

My Inbox Runneth Over: Is this My Memorial Invite from a Former Pioneer? LOL!

by rubadubdub in

jw
friends

i am just laughing hysterically.

when i saw i had an email from an active jw this morning, my first thought was, "oh, no here it comes!

" i was expecting a memorial pitch.

rubadubdub

Sorry! I just thought it was funny. Won't do that again! Promise.

41

Shocking Email from a Dear Friend who is No Longer a JW

by rubadubdub in

i received this email tonight from a dear, dear friend who i believed had died.

she was in very bad shape when i last spoke with her over a year ago.. "i'll make this short in case it is not functioning.

besides i'm not sure whether it is alright for you to read it or not.

rubadubdub

"The same as with any communication that can be proven to have originated from you, caution is needed. Maybe you could ask how they feel about how they've been treated etc via email/text, but keep expressing doubts/how you feel (and so on) to phone conversations."

Thanks for that advice, thequietone!

"She needs you! You could be outed yes, but a friendship, a real human relationship is more important than a cult. What's the worst thing that can happen if she outs you. You go before a committee you fight your corner."

can'tleave, the worse that would happen is that I would lose my best still-a-dub friend, and I would be shunned locally for the next few years until we retire overseas. Other than that my hubby, BethelYellowDollarBag, would lose all contact with his 89-year-old uber dub parents. They are shunning him and our children, but he wants me to fog them until they die, in order to keep communication open. I have agreed to fogging by monthly snail mail, but not lying.

I would not dignify the WTB$ with a response should I receive an invitaion to a JC. My el-dubs are very clear on where I am coming from.

97

First mention of "new light" may appear in July 15, 2013 Watchtower

by cedars in

a trusted source informs me that the "new light" about the faithful slave is to make its first printed appearance in the july 15th watchtower, which should be available for download online three weeks from now, on around april 15th.. i'm led to believe that the references to the new understanding are made in such a manner as to suggest the "new light" isn't that new at all, which suggests to me that little or no effort is being made to explain the doctrinal connotations.

my source and i are hoping to get a key paragraph posted at the earliest opportunity.

watch this space!.

rubadubdub

From jwfacts.org:

1900's

"The 1290 days now have been given a rather unusual 20th century application. This time period is now said to refer to days and not years, and be related to the period of time between the set up of the League of Nations in January 8th 1918 to the Cedar Point convention on September 3rd 1922.

Strangely enough there are not 1290 days, but 1334 days between these two conventions, so the prophecy is around two months out. To make it fit the Watchtower makes the claim that Daniel was referring to 30 day months and hence 43 months. From January 1918 to September 1922 is 43 months if you do not count the first and last month. In other words solar days are converted to lunar months and then applied to solar months to make this prophecy fit, quite a stretch of the imagination.

"The 1,290 days are therefore reckoned from the date of the setting up of the abomination, which was in the latter part of January, 1919. This period of 3 years and 7 months ends at September, 1922-the very time of the Cedar Point Convention mentioned above." Watchtower 1951 Jul 15 p.43"

Phizzy, "Evidently", "Indeed"!

Whereas, I now have taken a vow of silence regarding dub interpretation of prophycy, (It's all crap, so no point in wasting precious time debating or discussing it!), my point in posting the above is that I figured this out on my own. I asked my el-dubs about it. They were clueless and told me to write to Bethel (Oh, for the days when one could actually do that!) I received a 6-page response. My el-dubs asked me if I understood it. I said, "Yes". They didn't ask me if I agreed with the explanation. (Too bad the letter went in the circular file.) I knew it was crap, but I still stayed in. I really just thought, "Whatever, so they're off by a couple of months."

Doctrinal flip-flops and morphing don't matter to an all-in uber-dub. I absorbed over four decades of this and only had my moment of clarity when the cognitive dissonance nearly pushed me to insanity. Then and only then, when I had to make the decision to shun or not to shun my own son, did I walk away. After I walked away I learned TTATT! Just sayin'.

Rubbity

PS It seems more of my true personality is showing through this morning!

41

Shocking Email from a Dear Friend who is No Longer a JW

by rubadubdub in

i received this email tonight from a dear, dear friend who i believed had died.

she was in very bad shape when i last spoke with her over a year ago.. "i'll make this short in case it is not functioning.

besides i'm not sure whether it is alright for you to read it or not.

rubadubdub

"We both ranted and raved about "men in suits" (elders)"

Cobaltcupcake! My favorite TV show is Suits! In fact, the show's theme song, The Green Back Boogie, by Ima Robot is the ringtone on my iPhone!

So glad you have your ex-jw BFF in your life!

PS Is editing frowned upon? We only get 30 minutes to edit. I notice that some write, "Edited to add. . ." I mostly edit because I have dyslexia, and what looks fine to me at first, second or even third glance, can just be sooo wrong! Close call on a recent post!

4

My Inbox Runneth Over: Is this My Memorial Invite from a Former Pioneer? LOL!

by rubadubdub in

jw
friends

i am just laughing hysterically.

when i saw i had an email from an active jw this morning, my first thought was, "oh, no here it comes!

" i was expecting a memorial pitch.

rubadubdub

I am just laughing hysterically. When I saw I had an email from an active JW this morning, my first thought was, "Oh, no here it comes!" I was expecting a Memorial pitch. Then I saw there was only a link and no message, so I thought, "Hmmm. . . maybe she's sending a link to the invitation from JW.org., isn't that a lazy way of going about it." Then I read the link. It is probably spam, but this is a sister who I have recently heard is still really upset that she wasn't allowed to attend her own (DF'd) daughter's wedding. I think I have enough to deal with with my email from P (Shocking Email Thread)! I think I'll leave this alone and see if she sends anything more. Still laughing!

http://www.alacahan.org/includes/lifeupdate.php?zmfgksonnv711xulo