Posts by John Free

25

Inviting disfellowshipped to the memorial

by wannaexit in

jw
friends

i read in a european ex jw forum that this year they are making a special effort to invite not only the inactive but also a special effort is made to invite all disfellowshipped.

.

i don't know if this as always been a common practice, or something started anew so they can boast about the numbers of attendees..

John Free

They don't count everyone that partakes of the emblems anymore. Only the ones 'they' think are 'really' anointed.

36

Gay ex-Bethelite

by Chip Williamson in

just now finding this web site and have enjoyed reading the comments.

i've never written down my story and it could be a jerry springer episode but here goes.

i was raised as a jehovah's witness from as early as i can remember.

John Free

Welcome chip!!

Quite a twist at the end of the story!

And they all lived happily ever after... ...

Sorry to hear about your parents situation though but I'm glad you're living life your way.

9

What if your mother tried to cut her heart out?

by dubstepped in

jw
friends

this is the title of the latest episode of a podcast called "this is actually happening".

i love the podcast and imagine my surprise when this title came up.

imagine the surprise when i realized this was about jehovah's witnesses.

I think she said the father was 6 when his parents converted, and the mother was born in. The abuse would have been the catalyst for the depression followed by not seeking professional help due to the cults demonization of psychologists ect. I have 2 friends who were severely depressed when dubs to the point of attempting suicide, within a few years of leaving they have both fully recovered. Some personality types become depressed under the strains of a control group in my opinion. Thanks for sharing the story BTW.

9

What if your mother tried to cut her heart out?

by dubstepped in

jw
friends

this is the title of the latest episode of a podcast called "this is actually happening".

i love the podcast and imagine my surprise when this title came up.

imagine the surprise when i realized this was about jehovah's witnesses.

John Free

http://misfitrad.io/happening/71

It was a very sad story, I understand her feelings for her dad, he was the healthy one yet his spare time was devoted to elder duties instead of fixing his disfunctional home environment.

4

Intro 3

by hillfy333 in

intro 3.

before i continue chronologically i will need to back track a bit..

when people ask me what caused me to wake up, i find it hard to pinpoint the exact moment..

John Free

Thanks for sharing what is a powerful account. Looking forward to the next part.

36

Add your Stupid title of Winess books that did not come true

by Witness 007 in

"millions now living will never die.

" -1922. sorry rutherford but they did!.

"god's kingdom of 1000 years has aproached!

John Free

'The kingdom is at hand' - 1944

25

The JW Spin - why governments and opposers should let jws handle abusers themselves

by Robo Bobo in

i came across this blog - it is one of the evilest things i've ever read.. http://dismythed.blogspot.com/2016/02/flip-side-news-opposers-want-ex.html.

you might not want to click on it because a) you'll give it more traffic and b) it will make you mad.

in summary it states that since only 11-17% of molesters are repeat offenders, witnesses guilty of abuse should be dealt with inside the congregation as long as they confess.

John Free

God let's just abandon the criminal justice system altogether shall we? After all, think of the hardship it causes to the poor old criminals and their families. How does this victim know that this pedophille has not reoffended? It takes years/decades for other victims to come forward. Criminals must pay for their crimes however sorry they are anyway, the God this person worships would have once stoned these criminals to death.

19

My meeting yesterday

by stephanie61092 in

so i just wanted to jot down some thoughts and feelings about my meeting yesterday.... first, the wt, paragraph 16. i couldn't help but laugh to myself at the blatant hypocrisy.

god’s word admonishes us “to live with soundness of mind ... amid this present system of things.” (titus 2:12) having “soundness of mind,” or being sober-minded, should certainly come into play when the explanation of a diagnostic method or therapy seems strange or mysterious.

can the practitioner or the one promoting it explain satisfactorily how it works?

John Free

Great post-double standards, funny how we can see them so easily now isn't it. One of my last meetings there was an old-timer being interviewed, when she first found the troof her catholic parents threatened to disown her( bros in audience were visably disgusted in the Catholics, the interviewer said 'don't get me started on the Catholics') people were shaking there heads in shock- her parents didn't even follow through! They just can't see the hypocrisy.

Hope things work out for you, seems like you're playing a good game. Glad your family are relenting on their emotional blackmail. I'm guessing you're planning a fade after reinstatement?

10

A Teenager Ran Away From Home to Get Away From the Witnesses ... in 1909

by Wild_Thing in

jw
friends

okay .... i guess technically they weren't witnesses yet; they were just russellites.

but i still think it is funny that teenagers were heading for the hills to run away from their nonsense ... even back then!.

.

John Free

Wish I had his courage and non gullible personality type at that young age!

RUN FOR THE HILLS!!!

12

My crazy experience, from pioneer to jail bird

by Nodoubter in

first let me introduce my self, i am a 33yo male show spent much of his youth in the jw cult, i was not raised into the truth however thought i found it at the age of 11 when a well caring brother knocked my door, i had no father figure so this brother was everything to me, like a father, i quickly began attending meetings even when my mom used to oppose, i was taken like an example kid because i was an "orphan" in the spiritual sense, i got baptized when i was 12, and spent the rest of my teenage years being this good kid everyone thought i was, i hated that attention and pressure however it felt good to be doing good things, when i was about to finish high school i started to get into punk and ska music, i used to listen to it in secret, one time an elder found out and went to my house when i wasnt there, he went into my room and took all my cds, this was my first time i felt like i was being invaded of my privacy, i was made to feel guilty for liking this music and lost all my priviledges..theres a lot more i can say but i will stick to the main points, i became a reg pioneer, i became an ms, the whole thing, living in new york allowed me to visit bethel many times and had many many friends there, at the head quarters and walkill, in my cong we had bethelite elders etc, so yeah i was "in the club" , i always had a doubt in the back of my mind if what i was doing was the right thing, i used to rent the basement out of en elders house, he is what made me turn, he was the mos unloving person i ever met, for instance he would turn off the heat during snow storms, sometimes due to my pioneering i had no food and he knew this, well no food from him etc.

yet all this time i thought i was doing the right thing, eventually i feel in love and started dating this beautiful pioneer girl, daughter of pioneer parents as well, i never felt fully excepted because of my spiritual orphan status and no family in the truth, eventually got to a point where i could not communicate with her and her parents used to pick up the calls, they told me i could not continue to pursue a relationship with her, i was devastated!

long story short i wanted to see her etc, they put a restraining order and labeled me a stalker, made a mistake of sending her an e-mail and well, that got me arrested!!

John Free

A warm welcome to the forum. Interesting account you have. Glad you are on the road to recovery.