you start leaving meetings with very little interest in talking to anyone.... .
youre welcome to meetings, but jws wont be your friends!.
its hard feeling alone.... .
You start leaving meetings with very little interest in talking to anyone…
You’re welcome to meetings, but JW’s won’t be your friends!
It’s hard feeling alone…
Sometimes it just seems unbearable…
You start disliking the meetings more…
You want out, but it’s little hard separating yourself from the meetings…
You become less and less happy about things in the organization…
Nobody really notices until you leave….
... you feel invisible.... very few of your fellow brothers and sisters feel inclined to talk to you now.
youre viewed as dangerous...funny, youve never felt this way about yourself.. .
you start feeling like a scapegoat..... .
… you feel invisible…. Very few of your fellow brothers and sisters feel inclined to talk to you now. You’re viewed as dangerous…Funny, you’ve never felt this way about yourself.
You start feeling like a scapegoat….
You do some research about the beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses as well as their history…
… and when the elders tell you that you shouldn’t be aware of people’s criticisms of the society you…well…couldn’t care less…
You begin to enjoy reading posts like on JW.com like…
“Young People Ask: What’s so bad about boobs anyways?”
… and people embarrassing themselves during meetings
You realize there are a variety of opinions that people have about JW’s
Some biased…
Some unbiased…In any case…
It’s hard holding all of your disagreements in…
You do research on all of the Watchtower’s past presidents including… ahem….
Charles Taze Russell
F.W. Franz
Dr. Ev…er, uh….that Milton guy…
you feel stupid for believing what other people have told you for so long…
Some of the ideas you have about getting even are just too….well, you know…un-Christian
you become more paranoid about things.... .
you want to just do as much as you can for jehovahs approval but.... .
suddenly, your weekends are gone...got to go out and knock on peoples doors.... .
You become more paranoid about things…
You want to just do as much as you can for Jehovah’s approval but…
Suddenly, your weekends are gone…got to go out and knock on people’s doors…
… a lot of what you’re doing in the congregation seems monotonous and boring, no matter how many times you hear that “you’re making Jehovah happy”. You feel less and less crazy about going out in service, pioneering, doing quick builds. Doing all of this is way too much…
… and way too repetitive
Even the talks seem to get more and more repetitive
You find out there are more interesting things to do during meetings… There’s got to be more to life than this….
You feel sad….
Morale couldn’t be worse…
The organization seems more bureaucratic than based on love…
… and…you find out that there are others in the congregation who just like you do…
You begin to find out about things that test your loyalty to the organization….
Your opinion of the Elders decreases…
You feel confused…if this isn’t the truth, then what is?
You start getting in trouble for small things…
You’re viewed as spiritually sick…
You get this feeling that somebody’s watching you
Trouble ensues….
you become more disappointed in others...including your family... you become more condescending toward your fellow man.. .
putting up with the societys requirements is tough... but, you seem to get the handle of it.... .
...also putting up with your spiritual brothers and sisters is hard but..... .
You become more disappointed in others…including your family… you become more condescending toward your fellow man.
Putting up with the society’s requirements is tough… but, you seem to get the handle of it…
…also putting up with your spiritual brothers and sisters is hard but….
…you will also go as far as to accept bitter criticism from them just to keep peace within the organization. After all, they put up with you…
Living in an isolated environment has it’s ups and downs…
You become less inclined to listen to other people’s views, particularly those that contradict the society’s views.
You’re told to keep quiet about a lot of things that might embarrass the organization, which is okay …
… because you don’t need eyes to see.
You like the fact that other people know about JW’s… try to gain some reinforcement from the media in strange ways…
Your view of others becomes distorted
You start feeling ashamed about yourself, you never measure up, you’re bad…bad, bad, bad…
Your options as a JW seem limited….
the exotic becomes regulated .... .
... even seemingly harmless activities are looked down upon ..... .
even ... masturbation!.
The exotic becomes regulated …
… even seemingly harmless activities are looked down upon ….
Even … masturbation!
… but it doesn’t matter that so-called worldly practices are banned … besides, you’re a victim of the outside world, people out there must not appreciate you as much as those in the congregation, After all ….
You’re special!!!!
You should feel special…God really likes you!
You fell so special about the attention you have received; you want others to feel the same way. You begin to view everyone as a potential convert.
To bring them closer to God’s organization you learn that you don’t need to tell the truth to them all the time.
a little about me: i'm a 17 yr old femme-i'll be 18 the 30th of this month.
and yes, i'm going to celebrate it.
i haven't celebrated it since i was 6. i have 2 older sisters, an older brother, and a younger brother.
Hi babyboo, I know the purpose of your e-mail isn't to get some kind of cheap sympathy, but I can also side with Introspection when I say that I know exactly how you feel, Like Intro, I'm not disfellowshipped or disassociated, I just didn't feel happy going to meetings anymore. It took me a while to separate myself completely until I never wanted to go again. But it is true, it does take a while to get out of this whole routine of attending 5 meetings a week, and for a while, you may miss the whole continuity of holding onto something at the meetings. But, like you, I have not received the encouragement you so desperately need. Right now, you have been let down by a lot of people and you need to build a support group of friends that will love you no matter what. There are a lot of nice JW's, but, for me, that is what a congregation should do. In the meantime, that will serve as your own congregation. I honestly hope things will turn out well for you, despite what has happpened, and I will try to be a good listener (and friend) if you decide to keep in contact with us.
Many hugs,
Preston (inactive 8 months, and progressively getting less confused)
well, today is sunday which means it's the watchtower study.
yipee!.
seriously there, folks, i just bet that there are record attendances today as all the fringers and umperty-jumps scuttle back to their kh's in terror of having made a wrong decision.
My mom said at the meeting today there was a special announcement that many innactive, DA'd, and DF'd JW's are journeying back to the congregation in droves asking to study again. I just think it's sad that they haven't received any encouragament elsewhere, and now they have to go back to the elders.... *SHUDDER*.... During a tragedy like this, I get more encouragement from the people just wanting to do something, but can't becuase there has just been such an influx of volunteerism (albeit temporary). Personally, I wanted to give blood but I won't be able to. Now these ex-ex-JW's have to deal with disappointment all over again. Sad....
i just got this from a witness who i bumped into yesterday.
she is very disturbed by this announcement the congo.
got on friday at their service meeting:.
Patriot,
There was a common expression during WWII: "Those who sit and wait aldso serve". By volunteering your time at Ground ZERO you are going beyond what most people will ever be willing to do, by actively assisting and helping others. *MANY MANY PRAISES*
i have no way of knowing if this is true and i have my doubts, but my jw mother called a few minutes ago to inform me that at her meeting today they announced that there are about 100 jw's missing in the wtc destruction.
i guess that rules this out as having anything to do with armageddon or they wouldn't be missing.
or else their door to door activity didn't measure up.. she also told me that the nyc fire department was making use of an empty watchtower building during the cleanup.
Even though I have distanced myself from the congregation, I stil think it is shattering that anyone, no matter what their religious beliefs, died from the terrorist attacks. Since I was an active JW at one time, I do feel some connecion to those who perished. My mom and I (she still goes to meetings) have a friend in New York (she worked in WTC 6) who escaped the crash of the buildings just in time. She also said that they received an announcement about how the WTS is serving in the relief effort to an extent with food, water, heavy machinery, and other provisions. I think any help is great despite any disagreements I have with them.
for those who can,please do today!
tina.
carl sagan on balancing openness to new ideas with skeptical scrutiny..."if you are open to the point of gullibility and have not an ounce of skeptical sense-you cannot distinguish useful ideas from worthless ones.
Here in Arizona there is more of a demand for volunteers for the Red Cross than blood doners. There are so many people giving blood you have to call for an appointment (strange huh!). Since this may be my first time I'm planning on donating blood. It may take a while before I feel comfortable about volunteering. I'm just happy about the outpouring of the volunteer spirit here!
