Posts by freshstart

18

What is the most embarassing moment you've had while still a JW?

by african GB Member in

jw
friends

i remember having to preach to my girlfriend/classmate while i was still at school.

i was with one of the elders and it was my 'house' to preach.. wished i could vanish from the surface of the earth..

freshstart

Glueman - OMG!! I couldn't help but laugh at that one!! I guess she was feeling guilty about feeling herself

11

Thoughts on my life now

by freshstart in

though there are still problems in my life, as with everyone's life, i see the world so much differently now.

i no longer feel threatened from "worldly" people, as though somehow they are out to destroy me or take advantage of me.

it's very mentally liberating to realize that those walls the organization so erroneously put up can be scaled and that there is true beauty waiting on the other side.

Though there are still problems in my life, as with everyone's life, I see the world so much differently now. I no longer feel threatened from "worldly" people, as though somehow they are out to destroy me or take advantage of me. It's very mentally liberating to realize that those walls the organization so erroneously put up can be scaled and that there is true beauty waiting on the other side. I often feel that the shades have been lifted and the sun is finally pouring in on my soul. It's amazing! I will never again subject myself to such control and fanaticism.

"Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.

Soren Kierkegaard "

36

Is anyone else getting ready for Christmas?

by juni in

jw
friends

i was in the mood today... got the tree cheap (came w/lights), decorations and ribbon for half price and made the bow myself to save money.

i was going to put it aside until after thanksgiving, but couldn't resist completing the project.

i just have to get some fiber fill for "snow" at the base.

freshstart

That's a pretty tree! I love the variety of colors. Hopefully we will celebrate our first Christmas this year :)

21

Hello From a Newbie

by AlphaQup2nite in

jw
friends

i found this site randomly the other day on an unrelated search, and its nice to find a place where people can discuss a relgion that in house cannot be discussed without either being quoted mantras or a very skewed view of the world.. ok about me.. im a 24 year old taiwanese-american, and i have been raised as a jw from the age of about three to the age of 17, when i unoffically left.

i started to have doubts around age 12, but did what i was supposed to to keep mommy and daddy happy.

my parents are jws, as well as my older 1/2 sister, and my younger sister.

freshstart

Welcome! The world can be a beautiful place, so enjoy the journey and embrace your freedom

44

JWs Depression and Suicide

by 00DAD in

since jehovah's witnesses supposedly have "the truth" and are part of god's visible organization living in a "spiritual paradise" you would naturally expect that they should be the happiest people on earth!

this clearly is not the case.

wha happened?

freshstart

A dear friend of mine, one whom I knew since we were 6 years old, shot himself in the head a few months after his baptism. He was only 24. When his sister found him, he was surrounded by Watchtowers and the NWT and there was a note saying something to the effect that he couldn't live up to Jehovah's standards. A few weeks back, a sister I know in a local congregation took an entire bottle of sleeping pills. My brother, a sheriff's deputy, received the call that she was missing and he found her face-down in the woods near her house, barely breathing. She left a note saying she would never be good enough for Jehovah. Thankfully she survived, but damn what a shame! My other brother attempted suicide a few years back and I was on the verge myself a few years ago (before leaving the Borg). An elder in my old congregation, his first wife threw herself off a building after many years of battling depression. There was a brother in a nearby congregation who used to be best friends with my oldest brother. His wife found him hanging in their boathouse. He had been there for a while

26

sorry...but how do they not notice???

by oompa in

jw
friends

that their bible is different from any bible anyone else reads in that it has added the name jehovah to the new testament greek scriptures??

when it is not there in any ancient manuscript????

i mean they put it there where it aint quoted at all....like all 12 times in revelation....i mean how can they not have a problem with that???

freshstart

Honey badger don't give a shit! haha....ok that has nothing to do with anything, I just wanted to throw it in there

26

My story in more detail

by freshstart in

so as i stated in my first post, i was born to witness parents.

from early on, my parents were both quite fanatical about the "truth.

" we couldn't even eat lucky charms cereal because they thought it had satanic connections.

freshstart

Exwhyzee: You are very right. I don't trust my parents for a second. I have no doubt that they are still capable of abuse and if they ever tried to lay a hand on my baby boy I would go completely ape-shit on their asses!! My mother is still verbally abusive to me on the rare occasions that we speak to each other. I have purposely been trying to keep our communication to a minimum because of the way she treats me even now. I will always be there if they need some kind of assistance, but I'm not their punching bag anymore, that's for damn sure.

3

Getting back little pieces of your life that they took from you.

by JonathanH in

jw
friends

i sometimes feel like i lost so much because the first two plus decades of my life were spent in that stupid cult.

but occasionally i find a little piece of something they took from me, and i get to keep it so it's like they never took it from me at all.. tonight i got out of class (i'm in college working towards a b.s.

in engineering and/or mathematics), and it was a chilly autumn night so i decided to go to a little coffee dive downtown i hadn't been to since i went out in service and would go there for coffee breaks.

freshstart

Congrats to you and the best of luck!! I also recently enrolled in college. I'm working toward my degree in Business Administration and I'm really loving what I'm learning. All the best!!!

26

My story in more detail

by freshstart in

so as i stated in my first post, i was born to witness parents.

from early on, my parents were both quite fanatical about the "truth.

" we couldn't even eat lucky charms cereal because they thought it had satanic connections.

freshstart

Bella15, I sent you a PM

26

My story in more detail

by freshstart in

so as i stated in my first post, i was born to witness parents.

from early on, my parents were both quite fanatical about the "truth.

" we couldn't even eat lucky charms cereal because they thought it had satanic connections.

freshstart

Bella15: You and I are kindred spirits. I've been in therapy for a little over 2 years now and it has definitely been a bumpy ride, having to let all the pain and hurt wash over me in order to move forward. When I started seeing my therapist (at my husband's insistance - he knew I needed some professional guidance) I was at the point of suicide. At our first appointment, my husband had to come with me and do the talking for me because I was so low at that point that I could barely say 2 words to anyone. I've definitely come a long way, but the scars remain and I'm sure they always will. I desperately hope to one day experience the love from God and for God that other people have felt. But my husband and son and I are very lucky in my opinion, because not all are able to make it out on time, if at all.