Posts by NoviceLocs14

41

What woke you up?

by MrRoboto in

for me, i think it was just the right time as i was starting to wake up on other fronts as well (anyone who had went through these will know what i mean).

but it started when i was looking for what info goes on a publisher card, which led to me reading one person's story (ex bethelite) which was pretty crazy to an all-in jw but who trusts those apostates...?.

then i started watching videos on cults, as if my subconscious was trying to tell my concord mind something... when i saw a particular one about a young man in lds getting ready to start their 2 year preaching campaign, including a school, social activities etc, i realized that i couldn't tell the difference between the folks of this mormon cult and the jws (save for some religious differences) .

NoviceLocs14

@Wake me up before you Jo Ho First off awesome screen name lol. But yeah, google Johanes Greber (sp?) and NWT. (I know a lot of folks on this forum aren't religious or are into the Bible, and I respect that.)

One of the major scriptures that shows his "influence" is John 1:1 where it says in the NWT "The word is a god". Virtually all other Bible translations don't have the article a in that verse and capitalize the noun God, which would pretty much support the concept of the Trinity belief.

There are actually scans of letters from the WT Society to the Greber foundation asking for additional copies of his "Bible translation". I'll see if I can find the links and edit my post accordingly.

41

What woke you up?

by MrRoboto in

for me, i think it was just the right time as i was starting to wake up on other fronts as well (anyone who had went through these will know what i mean).

but it started when i was looking for what info goes on a publisher card, which led to me reading one person's story (ex bethelite) which was pretty crazy to an all-in jw but who trusts those apostates...?.

then i started watching videos on cults, as if my subconscious was trying to tell my concord mind something... when i saw a particular one about a young man in lds getting ready to start their 2 year preaching campaign, including a school, social activities etc, i realized that i couldn't tell the difference between the folks of this mormon cult and the jws (save for some religious differences) .

NoviceLocs14

I was a die hard staunch born in JW, regular pioneer, in the foreign language field, you name it. I was still believing when I actually started fading. The reason for my fade was the guilt I felt for living a "double life" by secretly dating my now husband who was not a JW.

Even when I literally ran away from home with the clothes on my back (yes, I was pushing 30 and still living with the parents) to elope with my husband, I still believed the BS and continued to be racked with guilt.

I was immediately bombarded with emails full of guilt trips by my family and elders (I had changed my phone number). The elders, unsatisfied with me not returning their correspondence, looked up the number to my new job and proceeded to call my job several times a week. I finally contacted them back by email and told them I would prefer to meet the local elders in the area I had moved, so that I could have an objective viewpoint on my situation. They proceeded to tell me that I needed to follow "God's arrangement" and meet with them. I felt like a criminal fighting extradition lol...

For some reason, that was the straw that broke the camels back. I began to see the hypocrisy and lack of love. I then decided to research the religion I had spent my whole life in. All I did was google "Jehovah's Witnesses". I was able to weed out the logical arguments from the illogical ones. A major discovery was finding out that the translation of the Bible I had based my beliefs on, the NWT, was influenced by a spiritist. (That got to me personally, since I still identify as Christian.) I also discovered Crisis of Conscience, and reading that book pretty much sealed the deal for me. Literally less than 2 months transpired between my initial research and sending my DA letter. It was only then that the elders stopped harassing me.

25

I Give Up!

by pale.emperor in

im giving up guys.

i've reached the end of my patience and now i finally refuse to waste any more time on part-time witnesses.

i've text all of my active jw family members and told them to delete my number from their phone and never contact me again.

NoviceLocs14

Hmm sounds like my DFd sibling who chided me for choosing to live my life, and still continues to do so. I don't blame you at all for that. At least you let them know how you feel.

71

Wow i do not reconize this religion anymore...

by _Morpheus in

had the misfortune of stopping by the "regional" convention yesterday.

i promised my daughter i would come to sunday afternoon so she wouldnt have to ride home with her mother.... holy crap it was weird!

im sure all of this has been covered on the forum but to actually see it.... just wow.

NoviceLocs14

Wow! I've been out for less than 4 years, and this is what it's turned into? That's really insane!

34

7 day conventions?

by HereIgo in

did any of you attend the old school week long conventions?

i have heard stories and it seems like these were mostly in the 70's and 80's before my time.

i couldn't imagine.

NoviceLocs14

I vaguely remember the 3 1/2 day ones where they fed you sloppy joes and danish rolls. I think the last of those were in 1993 when I was around 8 (and they stopped feeding people lunch as well).

20

Dealing with Loneliness and Social Anxiety

by NoviceLocs14 in

hello, this is my 1st initiated post on this site, so i'm a bit nervous.

i did search for similar topics on this site, but a lot of them have been inactive for several years, so here goes.... a little background, i was pretty much born in "da twoof", baptized at 17, pioneered for about 6 years, was part of the rbc part time, and was even in the foreign language field for the last 3 years i was a jw.

so i pretty much had a pretty active social life within the organization due to being part of all of those things.

NoviceLocs14

Thanks for the advice so far. I do work and actually was able to go back to school and finish my Masters, but I almost feel like fear of rejection keeps me from getting closer or pursued those friendships of the people I come across there. I think my social awkwardness is obvious at my job too. While I try my best to be friendly, it seems like I still struggle to fit in.

I've tried looking up exjw groups in my area (I've relocated since my disassociation). So far I haven't found an active one, but I won't give up on the search.

20

Dealing with Loneliness and Social Anxiety

by NoviceLocs14 in

hello, this is my 1st initiated post on this site, so i'm a bit nervous.

i did search for similar topics on this site, but a lot of them have been inactive for several years, so here goes.... a little background, i was pretty much born in "da twoof", baptized at 17, pioneered for about 6 years, was part of the rbc part time, and was even in the foreign language field for the last 3 years i was a jw.

so i pretty much had a pretty active social life within the organization due to being part of all of those things.

NoviceLocs14

Hello, this is my 1st initiated post on this site, so I'm a bit nervous. I did search for similar topics on this site, but a lot of them have been inactive for several years, so here goes...

A little background, I was pretty much born in "da twoof", baptized at 17, pioneered for about 6 years, was part of the RBC part time, and was even in the foreign language field for the last 3 years I was a JW. So I pretty much had a pretty active social life within the organization due to being part of all of those things.

I disassociated about 3 years ago, and literally lost all of my JW family and friends overnight. Although I'm happily married and have a beautiful daughter, and have been pretty much adopted by my hubby's family, I still can't quite shake the feelings of loneliness from losing all of my family and social circle. My husband doesn't always understand how that feels (since he never was a JW), and although he's kind of a loner himself, he still has a close circle of friends that he can still turn to (which I honestly envy at times).

I honestly feel like I struggle to fit in virtually everywhere (work, etc), and I haven't made any decent social connections since I've left the JWs. My husband has encouraged me to just ago out there, find out what I enjoy and meet like minded people who do those things. However, my social anxiety has caused me to make excuses for not doing so. At times, I'm literally terrified of meeting new people. (I also honestly struggle with figuring out what I really do like, since my life has revolved around JW activities for so many years.)

I just wanted to post this to see if any one of you have experienced something similar since leaving the JWs. If so, how did you cope with it?

180

What is the most bizarre counsel you received as a JW, from a JW?

by Funchback in

there were many addressed to me.

for example, i once had a sister tell me i was gambling because i liked playing skill crane (the machine where you have to try to pick up prizes like stuffed animals) at the arcade.

i then fired back a her: "you saw the r-rated movie 'backdraft.

NoviceLocs14

Hmm...where do I start?

I was told by a sister that I needed to give up my full ride scholarship to waitress part time to devote more time in the ministry. (I was actually regular auxiliary pioneering at the time.)
An elder told my stepfather to counsel my mother, sister and I to not sit in the back of the hall. Why? Because he claimed he could see up our below knee dresses while he was on stage giving a talk. I ALWAYS carried a jacket with me to the meetings after that one.
My mother "counseled" me for having an innocent friendship with a guy in my hall with whom I texted. We kind of liked each other, but we weren't dating or even hanging out. She told me that she would report me to the elders and kick me out the house if I continued to communicate with him. (I honestly should've used this as my cue to move the hell out lol.) For weeks my family spied on me to make sure I wasn't still in touch with him.

I have several more probably, but it would take all day to recount them.

52

What "Rules" Did The Elders In Your KH Make?

by minimus in

jw
friends

some congregations were known as liberal and others were considered very conservative.

back in the 1970s a nearby congregation made all speakers who gave public talks a white shirt to wear.

if a speaker came in wearing anything but white they were brought into the library and were given a white shirt!

NoviceLocs14

One of our lovely elders made a "guideline card" on how we should do street witnessing. One rule on there banned the brothers from approaching and offering literature to women. Some of the other elders openly took issue with this, but somehow these "rules" still went into effect. I'm mad I didn't keep a copy of the card for laughs.

36

What is the biggest sexual scandal to hit the top of JW tree ?

by Chook in

elders ,co ,do ,branch overseers ,gb ,missionaries has "sinful" lust got the better of them..

NoviceLocs14

Here's my boring local scandal.

In my teens we had a really charismatic elder in our hall. He was friendly, could give an A1 talk at short notice, etc. He had a wife and 2 lovely boys. But even as a teen I felt like something was "off" with him. I would notice him leering at me during the song and prayer. While going over my baptismal questions, he remarked on how pretty I was and how many guys are going to ask me out when I go to college. He even gave a comment about me during the Watchtower study that really had nothing to do with the question. I honestly never felt comfortable around him, and I was relieved when he brought another brother with him to go over my baptismal questions.

Fast forward a couple years later, his wife suddenly gets DFd, and they get divorced with him getting the kids. We were all shocked and immediately felt pity for the "poor single father" having to raise his kids alone.

Not too long after that, I see this brother talking to a mysterious woman. At the time I was thinking, "Man these sisters are desperate. This man only just got divorced." Two weeks later, this man is married to yet another sister that went to our hall. We were shocked!

Several weeks after that, my stepdad calls me and tells me that this brother was DFd. He claimed that it was because his divorce from his other wife wasn't finalized.

It wasn't until later that I found out the real story of this man. It turns out that he had been married before, and left his first wife for his second one. He then started cheating on his second wife. He was also physically abusive to both her and their children. (I had once seen the youngest son come to a meeting with a black eye, and now I knew why.) There were domestic violence complaints against this man, yet he was still somehow allowed to remain an elder.

Finally, the wife had met someone at her job and got involved with him. The elder found out, ran to the elders, and she was DFd. In the meantime, this elder's mistress thought she was going to be the next wife. It turns out that the mistress was the mysterious woman I saw him talking to one meeting. When he up and married another sister, she ran to the elders and spilled the beans. They were both promptly DFd. (He's since been reinstated and lives with his new wife and kids.)