Posts by Freesoul

43

Advice Needed - JW Grandparents

by What Now? in

my family has been out (inactive no meeting attendance or field service) for just over two years..

weve made many changes in our lives, including with our personal appearances (tattoos, piercings etc) that are a pretty obvious sign that we arent going back any time soon.

our families went through a period of time about a year ago when they made a lot of threats that if we left the truth, they wouldnt even be able to share a meal with us, they would stay loyal to jehovah etc.

Freesoul

JW's can't help but talk about their religion and if they think they can save their grandchildren, they have to try.

I left when my kids were 5 and 8 years old, when they looked after my children I would make sure that after the visit with my parents, I will explain to my children how the JW's are wrong and to have compassion for my family as they are under mind control. and I explained to them how free we are now that we don't have to follow any man made rules.

We still need our family and I have now learnt how to have a relationship with my parents, If my dad tried to preach to me I decided to research and give him bible answers that would disprove his way of thinking, religion does not come into our discussions anymore, I think they have decided not to bring it up anymore and that I am a lost cause but I know they still love me and my family, And that all that matters.

22

"Jehovah clearly answered my prayer!"

by stuckinarut2 in

so the fade is progressing well.... however, it has been noticed by the 'hounders', who i know will be "following up" with us soon i'm sure.. so i have thought of a way of shutting down the questions etc.... if they ask about things like meeting attendance and field activity, i am going to say something like:.

"oh, thanks for your interest and concern brothers.

this means a lot.

Freesoul

I was asked by a witness why I don't go to meetings anymore and my reply was: I can't really speak to you about it because I value the relationship I have with my parents (who are still JW's) to much, and don't want to be labeled. That stopped the conversation.

64

The poor and deprived life of JW children.

by Esse quam videri in

i find it hard to believe that adults on this forum make such a big deal about not celebrating birthdays, x-mas, easter, halloween, etc, etc, etc.

i grew up as a jw kid and it actually made me feel good, being different from the other kids in school.

we went to meetings.

Freesoul

Oh, I grew up and got over it, I don't sit here and think about the time I didn't have a birthday party, I have got on with my life.

But I did visit my JW dad the other day, he had just turned 80 year old, a couple of days earlier, the only way I knew this happened is not because my JW family had told me, the only what I knew this is because I have my parents birthdays written down.

So when I visited my dad, who is the best dad in the world, all I said was"Oh you turned 80 a couple of days ago what a huge mile stone and it is so go that you a so healthy well done," I could tell that he was proud but he was not allowed to react.

No family get together, no family dinner, no celebration, nothing,

9

" Worse things happen at sea " My wife`s recent experience.

by smiddy in

my wife just recently got back from the "cruise ship" from dave`y jones locker ,( hell) i`m not sure if it made news anywhere else in the world but it sure did here in australia.wife and her sister were on the" carnival spirit" 12 night cruise to the south pacific islands .2nd day out they had to try to skirt a cyclone , yet were still buffeted by strong winds and heavy seas .my wife suffers from parkinsons and takes medication for it , and has always been a bit of a panic merchant ,that`s just her nature coming home ,they encountered a catergory 2 cyclone that prevented them entering sydney harbour due to the rough seas .

7 to 9 metre waves were the norm , with a few 15 metre waves thrown in.this lasted more than 48 hours , causing them to stay another night out at sea ,and missing their flight back to melbourne.my wife did not cope very well at all with this experience probably due to her anxiety fear of water medication and some alcohol , plus the strong sedatives she was given { which she needed to cope } took a toll on her mentally .i was worried sick about her.

initially their were some issues with her sister that did not help matters either , though she did come good in the end.. thankfully , since the medications she was given has worn off , she is slowly coming back to normal , however i think it`s going to take a few weeks .. not being a medic , i think she had the closest thing to a nervous breakdown .. and to put things in perspective , she was not the only one who thought they were going to die.many people on board were scared out of their wits.. i just thought i would share what we went through this past week as a family .. smiddy.

Freesoul

Hey I saw it on the news, (Melbourne News) the waves were huge, I could't believe these waves were so big so close to the Sydney harbour.

Hope your wife is OK. Give her my love.

32

Seeking support during confusing and stressful 'cognitive dissonance'

by LHS123 in

jw
friends

sorry for the long post but i need help.

ive been a jw for 20 years - still active and attending meetings, baptised at 18, i have recently become very dissillusioned.

a few reasons: ill treatment of my kids by a prominent 'assembly speaker' elder, then my son left the truth at 15 (not baptised) and was 'dropped' instantly, despite this community having been his whole life for 15 years.

Freesoul

All ex jws go through a range of emotions you are describing, so we all feel your pain.

You do not have to make any decisions right away, but I figured out that we were in a cult after I read "Crisis of Conscience" my husband stopped going to meeting immediately, but I felt that I would keep going to meetings and see how things went. I still have family in the JW's and did not want to get DF'd. When I was at the meetings, I would look up the scriptures that were quoted and read them in context, it got to the stage that I would get so angry because I could see they were twisting scriptures to suit whatever they wanted to teach.

My advice is to give yourself some time and research, research research, you will get to the truth. The JW's teaching will fall like a pack of cards once it has been put to the test.

You will go through a lot of emotions just like all of us here have, I left 25 years ago and still feel that I will never be normal. Because we were in a cult, there are a lot of hooks that are in our mind and we have to set free, e.g.; I still can't put a xmas tree in my house, although I know there is nothing wrong with it. I believe all ex jw's should have some type of therapy, although not all counsellors know how to help us.

But be very careful about your daughter because if she gets baptised she will feel that she will have to shun her own mother, I have a friend who were DF'd and she decided to get reinstated to that her children would talk to her again.

Everyone has to decide which is the best way they want to leave for themselves, but if you faded slowly you will have time to make friends with people that are not JW's. So the transitions won't be so traumatic.

Welcome to the rest of your life, "The truth will set your Free"!!!!!!

16

They're spying me on facebook

by cookiemaster in

most of you have probably seen the apostasy trial video posted on youtube (and all over social media) recently.

well, there's a "wordly" woman from another country that i had worked with some time ago and she's posted it, tagged me, and asked "wtf?

", knowing i'm a still a jw just for family reasons.

Freesoul

If your asked about the comment, just say your Facebook again was hacked

45

Hold Me, Thrill Me

by Hold Me-Thrill Me in

jw
friends

i'm going to be honest and from the heart when i say that for 40 years in the jw religion i was very happy in my ignorance!

man, what a trip it was.

i loved every minute of it but then i was absent the bad in my religion.

Freesoul

ust so you all know I still attend meetings. I recognize the problems but I also see that there are few options outside of the Society for a Christian who does not believe in the Trinity.

I faded 25 years ago and thought I could never step into a christian because they all believed in the trinity and that the trinity has a pagan origin.

It has taken me 25 years to actually study the trinity and work out what trinity means.

The trinity that the JW's explain is not trinity, it is modalism (the father and son being the same person). The question we have to ask ourselves is when the bible says that Jesus is the "son of god" is his nature the nature of a god or the nature of an angel?

When Jesus called himself "son of man" we know he meant he was human, but when he calls himself "son of god, does that mean his nature is that of an angel (Michael the archangel) or the nature of god?

We may not be able to explain the trinity but I know the JW's are wrong with their reasoning.

It wasn't until I could grasp this that I could step into another church.

I still call myself christian, so now I will go to a local church once in a while. But I don't think I could be part of church community like I was with the JW's.

The first time I got enough courage to go to one I decided that if I was going to feel guilty about anything the said I would run out as fast as I can, I was quite surprised, the singing was so touching it made me so emotional. You'll never feel like this at a kingdom hall.

205

Hi Everyone. Answer to prayer countdown...

by Stumpy in

jw
friends

i've been lurking for about 3 months now and thought i'd better finally sign up.

you have all been an immense help to me as i have come to realize that this isn't the truth so i want to say a great big thank you!

what a crazy, emotional ride it is to finally face the truth about the doubts that i have carried for many years.

Freesoul

Hi Stumpy

Welcome to you and your wife from another fellow Aussie,

I faded successful 25 years ago, there is life after the watchtower, a really good one.

Take care

42

she passed faithful to the end to them!

by jookbeard in

just found out (second hand of course) and by someone on here that my faithful jw mum passed away within the last couple of days, dont know the exact day, and what cause, she spent the last few years living with my fanatical sister, she was 65 and survived my father by 10 years, bitter, angry and hateful till the end and never as so much enquired or asked how her 2 grandchildren ever were , they are 5 and 7!

feeling a mixture of emotions right now, they were lousy parents in all honesty, she suffered health wise so maybe its for the best, dont even know when the funeral is!

Freesoul

Jookbeard

I don't believe the elders would know what your mum's wishes were, as they are only there to protect their religion. If they really cared about your family and your mum's wishes they would not be breaking families up. I don't won't to tell you what to do, but there is nothing wrong with a DF'd person attending a JW funeral.

I am not Df'd but have faded but when my sister in law passed away about a year ago, there were a lot of people that were DF'ed that attended her funeral, they were not sure if they should go but felt better after they did, they did this because they wanted to pay their respect to her has a beautiful human being.

Take care in whatever decision you make xx

42

she passed faithful to the end to them!

by jookbeard in

just found out (second hand of course) and by someone on here that my faithful jw mum passed away within the last couple of days, dont know the exact day, and what cause, she spent the last few years living with my fanatical sister, she was 65 and survived my father by 10 years, bitter, angry and hateful till the end and never as so much enquired or asked how her 2 grandchildren ever were , they are 5 and 7!

feeling a mixture of emotions right now, they were lousy parents in all honesty, she suffered health wise so maybe its for the best, dont even know when the funeral is!

Freesoul

Sorry to hear about your mum, it must really hurt.

Make sure that they do not stop you going to her funeral, it is part of the grieving process, don't worry about anybody else's feelings, you need to do this for yourself.

Do you have anyone close to you that can support you when you go?

Take care

Freesoul xx