i have been out of the religion since 1996. i used to come to former witness boards a lot in the distant past, and then i lost interest in the subject.
however, with a couple relatives still in and passing the 1914 one hundred year mark, i find myself looking to see what a modern jehovah's witness is believing.
could i get kind of an update on some things.
Free, I came here for the exact same reason, wondered what the new stance was on 1914 and if the disfellowshipping policy was changing! And then I got addicted....
Im faded so I'm hoping there's not much truth in the 'treat faded as df'd' thing...but come to think of it, my family doesn't see me or talk to me unless something big happens...so maybe it's already happened and they just didn't tell me!
i am seriously considering disassociating myself.
i want to do this because i no longer consider myself one of jehovah's witnesses.
i no longer consider jehovah as my god and i am in a new religion now.
A DA letter can not be undone. It is unlikely you will ever have a relationship with your family again, and you will be considered a hateful apostate.
If you fade, they still won't talk to you much, and there will be things you can never tell them, but at least you can see them sometimes.
and like freeemind said, you can be a secret Wiccan! Wiccans were always good at being secret anyway ;).
whatever the reasons, whatever the excuses, whatever the denials - its still a tragedy:.
100 years ago, 1.5 million christian armenians were systematically killed.
today, it's still not a 'genocide'.
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.
40-50 years after saying "armegeddon is right around the corner" we are now making progress!!!.
gotta have a sense of humor to deal with this stuff..
Sports Illustrated....'the World (has ended) Series'
Good Paradisekeeping
Time....'Elder of the Year'
National Geographic....the Legacies of Armageddon
i had a horrible conversation with my 14 year old last night which i regret.
im still in but doubting more and more every day.. she is recently baptized.
she is outgoing and gorgeous and make friends easily, although not so much with the sisters in our hall, who pick her up and drop her again regularly , leaving her out of parties etc but then bringing her back into the circle, dropping her again...and so on.
You need to be there for your daughter. Don't increase her anxiety. Show her that it is her choice and you will be on her side no matter what. Just as you are also on your sons' side! I hope you are encouraging him to do his best at school and head to college after...despite him 'going off the rails.' Show him that he can be whatever he wants to be, but it will take effort.
LHS I did not abandon faith and you don't have to either. But do more research on witness doctrine using outside info. The doubts you are having are showing you that they're wrong. It's not the way it should be.
Start letting go of this hanging on to appearances and witness social circles. It's all superficial. Start building other friendships.
hey guys n gals, sorry its been such a long time since i've posted.
lately i've been very busy balancing between my school work and cult activities.
since i've been doing pretty well "spiritually"(enough field-circus hours, attending meetings, underlining my literatrash, reading, praying and serving as the mic-master) my coordinator grabbed me to the side after a meeting and talked to me for twenty minutes straight congratulating me about how good i am doing.. then he paused for a good five seconds and got all serious.. then he proceeded to tell me that the young ones in the hall aren't doing too well.
Yep my friends brother got thrown out of the house at 16 by his presiding overseer father.
Yondaime, bide your time. Work your ass off and save money for college and independence.
And good luck.
the "boasting session" last night included forcing the congregation to watch that stupid witnessing cart video.
then the brother handling the part discusses what a "powerful witness" is being given each time those carts roll out into public view.. experiences: had a nice conversation with a young man.
a woman took a tract.
any ideas what this is about?
- apparently a three hour public address through each kingdumb hell from the gb.
anyone heard anything about this?.
as i write this,im aware of my heart hammering in my chest.ok where shall i start,ill try to keep this as short as possible.ive never been religious before in my life,the occasional wedding or funeral was the only time ive been in a church or viewed a bibles cover.in 2013 my step-dad was diagnosed with cancer and had to go for an operation to remove the tumor.i became close to his nephew and we communicated a lot and had a few strong feelings for each other,but neither of us told anyone,it was just harmless flirting and a few hugs that lasted a bit longer than normal.two days after my dads operation,he died through complications,and my path of self destruct was set.my boss had also been sexually harassing me at work and i was unfairly dismissed and was told by my landlord that i was to pay the rent or be evicted.then out of the blue my cousin tells me he was an unbaptised publisher (he was baptised at the aug convention last year)and to start having faith in god,that it would all work out.so i went to a kh and took up a study.that was a year ago and they now feel im ready to become a publisher.the thing is..i was made homless and am living with a jw of 50 years,a real spiritual person.these last two months ive been researching and i simply like you all disagree with so much of it.for the past twi weeks ive avoided meetings because of work,or pretended im at work and stayed away from the home i have with this witness.i cant afford to leave but at same time im being pushed to go into ministry and meetings.guys what the hell am i going to do?im so trapped scared and i cant believe i wanted to get baptised!
!my son lives with his dad and there trying to get a hold on him when he visits me!
!
Oh my god, I hear your anxiety!
Did you find a new job, I hope? Save every single penny you make so you can stand on your own two feet. Move out, that is priority. If they are pressuring you to get baptized this summer, just tell them you aren't ready. How old is your son? He should be safe as long as he lives with his dad and is with them most of the time. Tell him to be polite but not pay too much attention when they start talking about religion to him. When you move out, be honest with this flirty step cousin of yours about how you feel about the religion. I know you feel trapped, but as soon as you move out, you won't be. And they can't make you get baptized. I know you feel guilty because you have to live off them now and they helped you a lot. But that isn't worth them sucking the life out of you. Stay in control.
Much love.
