Posts by craigulous

13

Need some advice

by craigulous in

to all my new friends, i need some advice.

as i posted in my original post i am not disfellowshipped, i just did a fade as i believe everyone here calls it.

i have great parents who are still part of the organization, and do not pressure me, but at the same time i must live a lie, and they have no problem with me living a lie, as long as they are comfortable.

craigulous

To all my new friends, I need some advice. As I posted in my original post I am not disfellowshipped, I just did a fade as I believe everyone here calls it. I have great parents who are still part of the organization, and do not pressure me, but at the same time I must live a lie, and they have no problem with me living a lie, as long as they are comfortable. They can talk about their beliefs, but I must keep mine secret.

I believe that living this lie is causing me great internal conflict and on some level keeps me from achieving my dreams, or for that matter even creating success in my life. My wife (who was never a JW) believes that if I was disfellowshipped or disassociated it would liberate me, and resolve my internal conflict. I actually agree with her, but I am not sure that I can go through with it and lose my parents.

Your thoughts and experiences are appreciated ahead of time.

25

Thanks to all

by Socrateswannabe in

i am by nature a reticent soul.

i am perfectly happy to watch from the sidelines as others debate and contest, poke, prod, and cajole one another.

as an observer, i still gain.

craigulous

Socrates, thanks for the post, I am a relative newbie myself. I also love the Peter Sellers reference, good flick. I can relate to your position, I am still not DF'ed and have disengaged, but try to stay under cover to maintain my relationship with my parents. I cannot imagine still going to meetings without clawing my eyes out during the opening prayer. You quiet nature probably serves you very well in this situation, keeps you from self incriminating.

45

Can I bring my own stuff to the memorial?

by outofthebox in

jw
friends

let's say i am an anointed one, but i don't like the taste of the crackers and wine the congregation got the last time.

can i bring my own wine and crackers to partake tonight?

yes or no?

craigulous

Ziddina, I have fulfilled the purpose of every class clown, to make someone shoot something out of there nose. Better milk than a pork chop, right!

45

Can I bring my own stuff to the memorial?

by outofthebox in

jw
friends

let's say i am an anointed one, but i don't like the taste of the crackers and wine the congregation got the last time.

can i bring my own wine and crackers to partake tonight?

yes or no?

craigulous

As far as proper dress for the Memorial, I like Nomad Souls choice. I am thinking that I would go with backless chaps myself... it makes a statement, and I have the ass for it.

32

opinion needed quick!

by independenthinker in

hey guys, .

bringing my gf along tonight after been forced to invite her(shes worldly).

how will people treat her?

craigulous

What if they suck your girlfriend in....... that will make it much harder for you to get out unscathed. She will be baptized and regular pioneering in 5 months, then what, lol. She must be Assimilated, resistance is futile! I honestly would not take her, I do not see what you have to gain, and lots to lose.

48

Matrix moment - what was it and when did you share it?

by MMXIV in

for those of you who had a moment like that from the matrix when you realised what you'd believed was fundamentally flawed or a lie - what caused that defining moment and how long was it before you could share your thoughts?.

mmxiv.

craigulous

Botzwana, that is very funny! I am not a wrestling fan myself, but I can easily relate being attracted to something more entertaining than the mind numbing meetings. The only thing that kept it tolerable for me was that I did the mic's and timed the talks, so that kept entertained. Ringing that bell if your talk was overtime gave me tremendous POWER. I could get self important pompous asses who always went overtime to shut up!

35

"Do you still feel Jehovah is directing the Organization?"

by outsmartthesystem in

jw
friends

for those of you with experience being asked this question.....or those of you that are/were elders........ what would happen if you responded to that question by saying "i don't know"?.

what would happen if you responded with "i choose not to answer that question."?

and then when they ask why, you say "because i wish to invoke my 5th amendment rights".

craigulous

I like the suggestion of feigning indignation, go on the offense and put them on their heels, classic strategy. And although I know the question was rhetorical I cannot resist sharing my opinion, that is just who I am, lol.

Jehovah=Satan. If Satan is the great deceiver, what greater deception than to convince a large majority of the world that he is the only true God. Read the Old Testament with this thought in mind, and see if that does not begin to ring true.

10

What should I do?

by Kool Jo in

jw
friends

it was announced a few days ago that a good friend of mine from another congregation was disfellowshiped...we knew each other for a few years, really appreciated her company, had a great sense of humor...someone you could talk to and confide in.. i'm still shocked to hear that she was df, she was a pioneer up to january...i'm very familiar with her congregation as i've visited there...we often text and exchange emails quite often.. .

she's not aware that i know of her being d/f...i don't know if she still goes to her to khall and feel really bad for her because after reading some of the stories online of what being d/f can do, i wouldn't want her to go thru that?.

i'd love to contact her and tell her not to worry and perhaps relate some of the experiences from this site along with some of the info i'm finding out...but i don't know if she's going to give in to the fear of being shunned and then tell the elders that i'm an apostate?.

craigulous

Another thought is if you have her email address you can open a new email address for yourself that she will not connect to you and email her articles and links of information that you would not overtly share with her for fear of being outed yourself. That way you can be more neutral in your regular communication with her.

48

Matrix moment - what was it and when did you share it?

by MMXIV in

for those of you who had a moment like that from the matrix when you realised what you'd believed was fundamentally flawed or a lie - what caused that defining moment and how long was it before you could share your thoughts?.

mmxiv.

craigulous

I realized how much good TV I was missing while I was at meeting, lol. Actually my previous post on the subject is the real reason, but in reality when I started stay home from meeting I really did realize how much normal life I was missing.

48

Matrix moment - what was it and when did you share it?

by MMXIV in

for those of you who had a moment like that from the matrix when you realised what you'd believed was fundamentally flawed or a lie - what caused that defining moment and how long was it before you could share your thoughts?.

mmxiv.

craigulous

Mine started a little bit at a time. When I was a "youth" (as the society refers to children and adolescents) I was starting to become discontented with loosing friends and family members to being df'ed. Especially when I moved to a new congregation and my new best friends was df'ed for smoking weed. That really disheartened me, normal teen behavior, and instead of helping him kick him out??? Then I got married at 19, and all of my in-laws got df'ed in a period of about 3 years. My wife at the time developed a drinking problem, a very serious one, as we went to the elders for help. What a joke that was! One of the elders kept calling her a drug addict, and being so rude and disrespectful to her. She was practicaly crying out for help, and that was the reaction. I eventually told him to shut up, I had no fear of any consequences, and told him look at what you are doing to one of the congregation who is asking for help, and you are being hateful. Eventually my father in-law gave me "Crisis of conscience" and that was very eye opening. The other thing is that I have always been a reader, and did not limit it to the societies publications, so that helped me develop critical thinking skills. Another thing that helped me, but this was after I had already faded, was to read "Conversations with God" by Neale Donald Walsh. That helped me to reconcile with God, and realize that God does not have to be the bastard that is presented in the Bible, in particular the OT.

Peace