Posts by Preston

19

Was leaving easy for you?

by Preston in

i was contemplating today on how easy it was for me to leave the congregation compared to what many people here had to deal with.

i mean, all the letters, judicial committees, family breakdowns were not really something i had to deal with.

the worst thing i had to deal with was when a couple of elders inquired if i ever "acted on" my being gay.

*HUGS*, you have no idea how angry I get when I hear about situations like yours. The elder body that you dealt with only wanted to exploit your honest view of your sexuality for their own advantage which is sickening. Forgive me for being blunt but, It takes balls to do what you did and please, do not regret your writing a candid article.

I did write a letter on Homosexuality to the local paper, which appeared in the editorials section. Apparently they never saw it since I never got any calls (who'd think the elder body would be concerned with reading about other people's opinions anyway). I also had comments in a front page article of the University newspaper (I guess the angels forgot to bring this to the elders attention as well).

I say bravo Morris for standing up to your beliefs, even when it meant the elders trying to make an example out of you in front of the whole congregation.

E-mail me, Preston.

19

Was leaving easy for you?

by Preston in

i was contemplating today on how easy it was for me to leave the congregation compared to what many people here had to deal with.

i mean, all the letters, judicial committees, family breakdowns were not really something i had to deal with.

the worst thing i had to deal with was when a couple of elders inquired if i ever "acted on" my being gay.

Preston

Good points Xanderm I liked your comments, and believe me I agree that it's great that I don't have the "watchful eye of God" scutinizing my every move, but then again, beyond this life I'm not looking forward to anything else which is kind of a downer.

17

anti-Borg bumperstickers

by target in

jw
friends

i saw a bumper sticker today that said " i was betrayed by the baptist foundation and aurthur anderson".

got me thinking.

a good bumper sticker gets read by a lot of people.

Preston

I think developing a bumpersticker that raises awareness of the blood issue, or disfellowshipping is a good idea. Something like "Jehovah's Witnesses are killing their children, make the madness stop" or something like that.

19

Was leaving easy for you?

by Preston in

i was contemplating today on how easy it was for me to leave the congregation compared to what many people here had to deal with.

i mean, all the letters, judicial committees, family breakdowns were not really something i had to deal with.

the worst thing i had to deal with was when a couple of elders inquired if i ever "acted on" my being gay.

Preston

cellomould, thank you replying to my post, and I understand where you're coming from. My brother was a witness at one time, and he "fell away" when he started college. I was THE model witness in my congregation for a long time so my Mom was absolutely crushed when I left.

Anywho, first of all I'm sorry that your friend is dealing with this. Please assure your friend that there are a variety of organizations that will be willing to support your friend and help him deal with his feelings. Since I don't know specifically how he feels about being gay, I'll say that the most difficult thing in dealing with "coming out" is really "coming out" to your self. He may be facing the difficulty that I had: Specifically, reconcilling your religious beliefs with your sexual orientation. There are a couple of books that have gone in-depth into the subject. The best one I have read is "The Good Book" by Peter Gomes.

If he has "come out" to himself and has accepted this part of himself then it will be easier for him to have some kind of support group outside of the congregation that will support him. If he's a pretty young there's a group called P-Flag that might help. Some counselors at school may be able to help.

I will not encourage your friend to leave the congregation since that is just one thing I never tell people to do. Leaving the organization is a huge, difficult decision that is left up to the person. Getting some outside support should help though. Tell me a little more and I might be able to hone in your question more.

Preston.

19

Was leaving easy for you?

by Preston in

i was contemplating today on how easy it was for me to leave the congregation compared to what many people here had to deal with.

i mean, all the letters, judicial committees, family breakdowns were not really something i had to deal with.

the worst thing i had to deal with was when a couple of elders inquired if i ever "acted on" my being gay.

Preston

siegswife: Yeah, I understand how when your belief system changes like that it's tough. Right now, I want to believe in God, and I try to imitate Christ but I cannot help but consider myself an agnositc, and unsure about a lot of things. You're a bad person, just dealing with the transition. Most of the people I knew win my congregation were what I would call acquaintances, rather than friends. BTW, I was merely stating how my experience leaving was not as bad as what other people here had to deal with.

Tammie: I'm sorry that you didn't receive support from your family, but I'm relieved to know that your guy was there to support you. I was fortunate that my family in the Congregation (just my mom and brother) didn't shun me because they take a more liberal view toward the society's teaching. Still, it's great to know that your life is more fulfilled.

25

Knock Knock...

by KistByQpid in

i'd be interested in hearing some of the exjw's door-to-door experiences.

i've probably had the saturday morning door knocking...maybe 6-8 times.

i've never been "rude" except for once...when i had a particularly aggressive pair who wouldn't take "no thank you" for an answer.

Preston

Well, I considered my experience to be pretty low-key. I preached in a pretty upper class area and the majority of people were polite and uninterested. I auxillary pionered twice (once I didn't make my hours, the elders didn't get angry). I also had a Bible study someone passed on to me and I also had a householder follow me to break just to cuss me out, but those were pretty much the highlights of my experience in the preaching work. I was pretty timid but good at talking to people. Not to sound like a narcissist, but, I was a nice person to talk to. I wouldn't argue points, and I respected your beliefs. Whenever I read posts from people who want to humiliate Witnesses at the door I get kinda sad because I knew how difficult it was being a Witnesses and I would never put you down. So (message to specific members of JW.com), if you ever meet someone at the door like me, please, try to be nice... Thank you.

19

Was leaving easy for you?

by Preston in

i was contemplating today on how easy it was for me to leave the congregation compared to what many people here had to deal with.

i mean, all the letters, judicial committees, family breakdowns were not really something i had to deal with.

the worst thing i had to deal with was when a couple of elders inquired if i ever "acted on" my being gay.

Preston

I was contemplating today on how easy it was for me to leave the congregation compared to what many people here had to deal with. I mean, all the letters, judicial committees, family breakdowns were not really something I had to deal with. The worst thing I had to deal with was when a couple of elders inquired if I ever "acted on" my being gay. I do not feel obligated to provide them information on matters when their only purpose is for them to gather up evidence for some judicial hearing, and that's when my relationship with the upper echelons of my former faith ended. Since then it's been a blast, it's almost like I never was a Jehovahs's Witness to begin with since as soon as I wasn't giving talks, turning in time, or confessing to "anything unscriptual" I was no use to 'em. I mean, sure, my belief in the future isn't as bright as it once was, but then again, I left on my own terms as peacefully as possible, with almost no protest from my family. Am I the only one here who had a relatively easy exit? Talk to me...

34

Last visit to KH today - DA letter - Official XJW

by alliwannadoislive in

jw
friends

well, i've been procrastinating this for some time now and taken my counsel from you fine people here but i finally made what will be my last journey ever to the kingdom hall today and posted my disassociation letter into the postbox.

with fine tuning over past weeks, this is what finally went into it:.

dear xxx.

Preston

Wow!

Jeez....

All I can say is that if you have the cajones to give the organization the finger like this than more power to you (I've never been one to want to leave the Borg on their own terms). I'm at a loss for words right now but I feel I can do this much:

*HUGS*

Bravo ali, for having the strength and fortitude to stand up to your convictions! I'll be drinking chamagne in your honor tonight!

11

What's Wrong With This Picture???

by Mister Biggs in

every memorial that i ever attended, all the attendees wore serious or solemn expressions.. for crying out loud, as quoted in the friggin' article, it's supposed to be the commemoration of the death of christ!.

from all the visible faces in the pictutre below, only three appear to not be grinning.

my favorite is the guy who appears to be sleeping (he is the one to the left shoulder of the closest attendant).. .

Preston

Actually, it seems like it's half and half (1/2 smiling, 1/2 aren't). I remember when I was an MS, totally miserable, contemplating leaving, I was told the solution to my depression was to smile. Personally, I think's it weird forcing a smile when you don't feel like it. My counselor at school had better advice: just leave! I ignored the former and chose the later! ;)

P.S. I think the guy who's sleeping spent too much time the night before on JW.com!

92

How many hours are falsely reported?

by badboy in

jw
friends

in the january 1 issue of each year, they harp on about how many hours the jws did last year etc etc.. how many hours are possibly falsely reported?.

discuss,please

Preston

I could be wrong about this but lately I've been thinking that the reason the WTBS is so insistent on every JW being involved in the preaching work is so that they can force a prophecy into fulfilment.

The society reasons that even if we didn't go from "house to house" the preaching will get done somehow, even to the extent that "the stones would cry out". In reality, they teach that our preaching work is done out of love. Don't get me wrong I'm sure the vast majority of Jehovah's Witness do it because they sincerely love God, although there is dificulty and danger attatched to it. Nevertheless, I'm willing to bet a lot do it out of fear and coersion that they would be bloodguilty for not distributing as many Watchtowers as possible. I mean, after all, it is a numbers game. I can assure you that if we all sent in our time at the end of the month without going to meetings about half of the elder bodies wouldn't care.