Posts by bittersweet

27

growing up scared of Armageddon

by bittersweet in

i was just curious if any of you growing up in the truth were overly scared of armageddon?.

when my mom came into the org.

in the 70's,the only so called kids book was the paradise lost book.the pictures in that book scared the pants off me!at night when i was lying in bed,if i would hear a loud plane go over head,or there was a thunder storm,i was sure it was the start of armageddon and i would be sooooo scared.i was wondering if i was the only one overly scared,or if their were others.. also,was anyone out there extremely frightened of the demons?i would hear all these crazy experiences of people having problems with demons,and i was sooo frightened they would come bother me.maybe i was just a big old scaredycat,but if any one else has any experiences,please post them!

bittersweet

I'm glad so many people responded to this topic..

Leolaia,we must be around the same age,I started high school in Sept.83.I certainly never thought I would graduate...I was sure Armageddon would be here by then.I used to spend hours studying those pictures in the Paradise book,wondering why Jehovah would allow kids to die(and later when the Bible Stories book came out,I always felt bad for the baby with it's mother in the flood picture).

Scarlet,I also felt so bad for the people,I never wanted Armageddon to come because I didn't want anyone to die.My grandparents,who were he most important people in my life,weren't witnesses,so I didn't want Armageddon to come and desroy them.

Goatlike,you said something about getting second hand stuff that could be demonised.That reminded me of a funny story...When I was about 11 or 12,I was walking with my friend Naomi,and we found a really cool toy boat on the side of the road.I really wanted to keep it.I didn't because my friend rpped it out of my hands,threw it as far away as she could,and said "Don't touch it!It might be demonised!!"okaaaaaaaaaaay....

and finally,to Josh...your mom sounds a lot like mine..lol

27

growing up scared of Armageddon

by bittersweet in

i was just curious if any of you growing up in the truth were overly scared of armageddon?.

when my mom came into the org.

in the 70's,the only so called kids book was the paradise lost book.the pictures in that book scared the pants off me!at night when i was lying in bed,if i would hear a loud plane go over head,or there was a thunder storm,i was sure it was the start of armageddon and i would be sooooo scared.i was wondering if i was the only one overly scared,or if their were others.. also,was anyone out there extremely frightened of the demons?i would hear all these crazy experiences of people having problems with demons,and i was sooo frightened they would come bother me.maybe i was just a big old scaredycat,but if any one else has any experiences,please post them!

bittersweet

I was just curious if any of you growing up in the truth were overly scared of Armageddon?

When my mom came into the org. in the 70's,the only so called kids book was the paradise lost book.The pictures in that book scared the pants off me!At night when I was lying in bed,if I would hear a loud plane go over head,or there was a thunder storm,I was sure it was the start of Armageddon and I would be sooooo scared.I was wondering if I was the only one overly scared,or if their were others.

Also,was anyone out there extremely frightened of the demons?I would hear all these crazy experiences of people having problems with demons,and I was sooo frightened they would come bother me.Maybe I was just a big old scaredycat,but if any one else has any experiences,please post them!

24

LOCAL NEEDS TALKS, ANY YOU REMEMBER?

by minimus in

jw
friends

one of the best tools the elders have to counsel the congregation is the local needs part.

how does one usually get picked for this talk?

generally, during an elder's meeting, one elder will have his pet peeve.he convinces the body that this issue has to be handled by the body.

bittersweet

Ah yes....those good ol' local needs talks.I guess in our congregation we must have had a problem with gossip,because we had quite a few on that subject.My favorite was when I was in juinor high and a lot of kids were leading "double" lives,(ok,myself included : ) ),we had a talk on how we should be more worried about our friendship with jehovah than with our friends,so if we saw them doing anything wrong we should tell on them,they would thank us later.I don't recall being thankful to a boy who told on me because I had a worldly boyfriend!lol

25

I'm new!

by Tzu in

jw
friends

hey everyone, great site!

at last ex jw's can express themselves and be heard!

i came out of the watch tower about four years ago, best thing i ever did.

bittersweet

hi!

I'm new here myself.same thing happened to me..I posted my story but it didn't work for some reason.Awesome you got your whole family out.I left about 3 years ago,but unfortunately my husband is still in and he makes my boys go.Not an easy thing to deal with!How did you manage to do it?

35

Why are sisters not allowed to wear trousers???

by Tish in

jw
friends

after posting a reply to another thread i wondered if anyone can answer these questions??.

1. why are sisters not allowed to wear trousers?.

2. when sisters where a skirt why have they got to be below the knee?.

bittersweet

the reason mums have their little ones wear bowties is to keep people from giving them dirty looks!

I have 3 boys and when they were small,I started thinking how silly and uncomfortable it was for them to dress up(also inconvenient and expensive).So I started letting them wear a decent shirt(like a polo shirt or turtleneck)and nice pants(not suit pants).People would give me such judgemental looks(including my own mom),like I brought my kids in pj's(which I personally also think is fine considering the meeting times on 2 nights were past their bedtime)or something.Like god would really care what a 2 year old was wearing!

The reason women have to wear skirts is to be reminded that they ARE women and need to be in submission to the man.the feminen one....the weaker vessel...blahblahblah.

Any way,that's my take on all the silly rules.just a funny thing to add about people being judgemental about what you wear....when I was 15 I went to a meeting with an ankle bracelet on and I was told by a sister that where she came from only prostitutes wore anklets.WHAT?!!!!..I'll leave you all to ponder that one

5

discrimination if your fathers not an elder

by smiler in

its sad to think that if you are in the 'truth' that discrimination is so blatant, this works in your favour if you happen to be male and have the 'privalage' of being an elder.

as this will mean that as an elder he will probably be aware of any persons attending the kh who have had allegations made against them or convicted of child abuse.

if the 'privalaged' elder has children of his own then he is in a better position to protect his children from abuse or contact with the abuser.

bittersweet

just because someones an elder doesn't mean they have all the info.A former elder in our hall sexually abused a young girl in our cong.,yet my husband (who was an elder,though not at the time this happened)never knew...let me tell you he was shocked when I told him.Now he knew why that man was no longer an elder.It truly amazes me how naive some witness parents are...I've known of people in the org. who know brothers who have done such things,yet they still allow their children to associate with them because they are supposedly repentant.How messed up is that?who's to say kids would be protected even if they had such information?I used to be allowed to sleep over my friends house even though her father had been disfellowshipped (but of course got reinstated)for molesting his oldest daughter on many occasions.....I look back and think what was my mother thinking?!!(and yes,people knew about this).Not only do people need to be given info on who in the cong. has been accused of such things,the parents need to be informed that pediophiles do not change!!!even in "jehovah's organization"

22

Do you think that some Ex-Jw's

by kenpodragon in

jw
friends

do you think that some ex-jw's still hold to the type of thinking of active jw's.

in that they like to argue every single point out to the point that the other side does not even care anymore, and wonders why anyone even took it that far.

i am not quoting any exact example, but i have been on enough sites to know that there always seems to be a few who like to do this on all sites.

bittersweet

I'm new to this posting stuff,but I just had to say I loved xena's response!

51

M.E illness amongst jehovahs witnesses?

by haujobbz in

jw
friends

.

i have always wondered why so many jws i knew suffered from the illness "m.e" previous to being a jw i never heard of this illness but when joining the borg i noticed noticed so many jws saying all of a sudden they had m.e maybe its a jw disease trend.

anyhow what does m.e stand for.. haujobbz

bittersweet

just a little addition to my post...I believe this is a real condition,as I know a few who have it.I also know a few who say they have it,but I have my doubts...in my cong.it seemed that once the Awake had an article on it,then all the sudden new cases came up....at one time I also thought I had it...I was always tired,but yet I couldn't sleep at night,always had low grade fevers,sore throat,terrible muscle aches(my legs would ache so bad,I could barely walk),swollen glands,chest pains,etc.I also became depressed,so depressed I wanted to die.I eventually started taking anti-depressents,and after trying a few different ones,I found one that seemed to work for me.I started to feel better.Not 100% better,but a lot better.No doctor that I ever went to ever mentioned anything about cfs,but they did say I was probably depressed,so I guess in my case that was it.I also was diagnosed with hypothyroidism,which was also a reason for my being tired.I now take medicine for that and it helps.Any way,I wasn't judging anyone who really has it,I know it's a terrible condition to deal with,and dealing with peoples ignorance just adds insult to injury.I wish you all peace and happiness.

51

M.E illness amongst jehovahs witnesses?

by haujobbz in

jw
friends

.

i have always wondered why so many jws i knew suffered from the illness "m.e" previous to being a jw i never heard of this illness but when joining the borg i noticed noticed so many jws saying all of a sudden they had m.e maybe its a jw disease trend.

anyhow what does m.e stand for.. haujobbz

bittersweet

I read in a medical journal that a lot of people with cfs are helped by anti-depressants.I also think that in some of the cases of so-called cfs,the individual(unless she/he has been clinically diagnosed,which there actually is no conclusive medical test...although some people do have traces of the epstein-barr virus in their blood)is clinically depressed...they share many of the same syptoms..also when you are depressed your immune system has to work harder when you do get sick.Any way,I think my point is that being a witness,with all that is required of you,and always being made to feel you will never measure up to their impossible standards,can play a role in depression...and I think that in most cases of witnesses who say they have cfs are really just depressed.I know I was!!!!!!!

9

MARTHA'S VINEYARD ANYONE???????

by sisteract in

anyone from martha's vineyard congregation?

that's pretty much where it all began with me and the "truth" , would love to chat regarding people, places and things from times past.

i walked out back in 1997 (i was not living on the island at that time), and would love to hear from only those that have also left the jw"s from the island.

bittersweet

hi,

I'm not from the island,but I'm from the cape if that counts.some of the names sound familiar.lori flnders as in lorianne?if it's the same I know her,my sister is still friends with her.I was in the Falmouth cong.,but the only time I ever went to MV was for a beach party(back when I was a teen in the80's)....course we would've gone to the same assemblies in Natick.e-mail me if you want...it's in my profile.