SophieG

SophieG

Joined

Posts by SophieG

  • SophieG
    29

    This is harder than I thought...

    by SophieG in
    1. jw
    2. friends

    ok....i am trying to go inactive to fade.

    however all my family is in, except for one relative.

    i cannot move away.

    1. moshe
    2. moshe
    3. Billy the Ex-Bethelite
  • SophieG
    SophieG

    tresdecu: AHHH YEAH!!! Crazy pills...in theTwilight Zone!

    I just wanna go...the big A ain't coming!! Go live your life!!!

  • SophieG
    29

    This is harder than I thought...

    by SophieG in
    1. jw
    2. friends

    ok....i am trying to go inactive to fade.

    however all my family is in, except for one relative.

    i cannot move away.

    1. moshe
    2. moshe
    3. Billy the Ex-Bethelite
  • SophieG
    SophieG

    Awww...Oracle! Thank you! I will put that offer in my back pocket.

    I already know that when I start to do certain things, they are going to go: "HUH???”. I have one family member whose fade helped ME fade…and when I speak to others it’s more about how HAPPY I am that they notice. The further away I get the more red flags will go up…but they will listen. They listened to the other family member who has left. But I am the oldest one in my set of relatives and I think it will floor them...I left before AND I am leaving AGAIN!!!???! YUP! For good!

    It’s just the blasted rhetoric…I just sit there, trying not to roll the eyes…

    Tooz: There is nothing wrong with a bunch of parrots getting together and mimiking each other and their ancestors. .... That is if you are a parrot yourself.

    HILARIOUS!!! I am over the crackers!!!

  • cog_survivor
    14

    Cult Life - Disposable Relationships

    by cog_survivor in
    1. jw
    2. friends

    i've been reading a lot of the posts and agonizing with/for folks who are trying to fade or come out of the wtbs.

    there seems to be this recurring theme of family still in, trying to keep from losing them.. this seems almost universal no matter the group.

    there is no middle ground whatsoever.

    1. rip van winkle
    2. Broken Promises
    3. rip van winkle
  • SophieG
    SophieG

    “Either you are one of us, or you are not. You are either in or out. You are with us or against us. There is no middle ground whatsoever. Bonds are formed in the context of the group first. They may go deeper depending on the nature and personalities of the participants.”

    That should be the FIRST sign to anyone that something is WRONG with JWs! I never noticed it until I decided to leave. It is IRRATIONAL!

    I come from a large loving acceptable family. I would not be the first to fade, I have seen my family tolerate, still love and include the first fader, it’s family. I have also see them tolerate a DF family member by keeping some form in contact with them.

    I think it will be very noticeable when I start to really live differently..but then again I have always been different! LOL! I do know when I start to make some specific choices/changes to my life it’s going to set off alarms. Maybe then I can *tearfully* explain my choice, to live life my way.

    I can let go of my JWs friends, but you know what, I have a funny feeling they won’t let go of me…the ones who really know and care about me. I have been hanging with them and I been inactive/fading purposefully for about 2 years now, and none the wiser.

    I am beginning to realize that fading more of a protection to THEIR FRAGILITY!!!

  • SophieG
    29

    This is harder than I thought...

    by SophieG in
    1. jw
    2. friends

    ok....i am trying to go inactive to fade.

    however all my family is in, except for one relative.

    i cannot move away.

    1. moshe
    2. moshe
    3. Billy the Ex-Bethelite
  • SophieG
    SophieG

    You are in a bad predicament but if you really wish to bring this up to your family, perhaps you can show them an article that appeared in the July 2009 Awake article "Is It Wrong To Change Your Religion?".

    OOOOH GARY!!! YES! Thank you!

  • SophieG
    29

    This is harder than I thought...

    by SophieG in
    1. jw
    2. friends

    ok....i am trying to go inactive to fade.

    however all my family is in, except for one relative.

    i cannot move away.

    1. moshe
    2. moshe
    3. Billy the Ex-Bethelite
  • SophieG
    SophieG

    Hey Deist, the making friends outside of JWs has actually never been a problem for me LOL!!!...your can check out my first post as a newbie:
    http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/229523/1/Newbie

    I just have an AWESOME family. We are a pretty balanced group for JWs. I mean some of us speak occasionally to a DFd family member. I think I am going to have to follow the lead of a relative that left...while they moved away, I can't, but I think maybe over time as I speak about my life minus the usual JW speak they may get it. I know I will be OUT OF TOWN for the next set of assemblies....HA!

    It's just when I hang around them and the start that JW talk, I want to SCREAM!!!!!LOL

    I come here to vent...bear with me!

  • SophieG
    29

    This is harder than I thought...

    by SophieG in
    1. jw
    2. friends

    ok....i am trying to go inactive to fade.

    however all my family is in, except for one relative.

    i cannot move away.

    1. moshe
    2. moshe
    3. Billy the Ex-Bethelite
  • SophieG
    SophieG

    Thanks Gladiator.

    It seems so logical, that if the situation is no longer working for you, you should be able walk away. AND your choice, whether or not understood should be respected.

    I see the control and the peer pressure...I just want to live my life, whether or not the agree with it!

  • SophieG
    29

    This is harder than I thought...

    by SophieG in
    1. jw
    2. friends

    ok....i am trying to go inactive to fade.

    however all my family is in, except for one relative.

    i cannot move away.

    1. moshe
    2. moshe
    3. Billy the Ex-Bethelite
  • SophieG
    SophieG

    Ok....I am trying to go inactive to fade. However all my family is in, except for one relative. I cannot move away. I see them all the time... love them lots. But now that I am awake and I know TTAT, the lingo is driving me nuts.

    Imagine me in a room with a hardcore JW family and this is what I hear:

    "The slave says...blah-bla-blah..."
    (In my head: You mean the 7 old men that create policies that control your life...they are not getting messages from Jah.If they are they have been getting them wrong wrong wrong)

    "The end is right around the corner"
    (In my head (screaming): REALLY!!!! It's been "around the corner" for 100 years!!!!)

    "Jehovah provides!"
    (In my head: No! You needed something...you asked for it...you put things in motion and you got it. I stopped asking Jehovah for stuff a long time ago. I just decided what I wanted and went after it. I can show you how it works. SIGH! )

    "You know, it's just Satan...)
    (In my head: No. Bad things happen to all people. You are NOT SPECIAL!!!)

    ....on and on and on.

    I honestly feel like calling a family meeting, and explaining to them, just like how JWs get folks to walk away from their form of worship to come to the WTBS...so I am walking away from this. People walk away from their religions all the time. It's a personal choice. It should not be a big deal.

    Of course I know this meeting will wreck havoc, blow up in my face and a bunch of people will be yelling at me and my mom will faint.

    I love them all so MUCH!!! It's just so hard when you don't believe anymore to sit and listen to the madness.

  • Unlearn
    36

    The Jackson Family Circus -or- WE know whats really going on with Katherine Jackson vs her kids...

    by Unlearn in
    1. jw
    2. friends

    so, i dont know if this has been posted/addressed here...but watching this whole jackson family thing play out in the public eye is surreal.. the press assume that the only reason mj's brothers and janet are contesting his will and want control of the kids, is money.. seriously...mj's bros and sisters dont need his money: his bros get paid everytime you hear a jackson 5 song.

    they're all millionaires.. janet is loaded.

    but, the media doesnt know what we know...so they assume that the only reason they'd want mj's kids is for the $$$$ that come along with them as part of the deal.. we know better.. i believe a big amount of respect is due to janet and jermaine and the rest of the gang...theyre trying to rescue those kids from a jw brainwashing fate.. i'd bet money on it.. they say janet was trying to convince paris to willingly leave her grandmothers home and come with them.. im telling you...they're trying to save those kids.. and as any of you who have close family still in the cult can attest to, we apostates are some of the most loving, long-suffering people on the planet...as many of us publicly hold our tongues repeatedly when it comes to that cult, because we dont want to hurt mom, or dad, or kids, or siblings.

    1. wasblind
    2. Greybeard
    3. rebel8
  • SophieG
    SophieG

    When it comes to those 3 kids......It's all about CONTROL! Whoever has control of the kids has control of their lives AND $$$$


    OT...wait Janet is DF????

  • Gnosis
    70

    Why did you become a Jehovah's Witness ?

    by Gnosis in
    1. jw
    2. experiences

    why did you become a jehovah's witness ?.

    initially upon entering the religion what were the positive things you experienced ?.

    how did that particular way of thinking both benefit and harm you ?.

    1. LongHairGal
    2. Ucantnome
    3. runesandmen
  • SophieG
    SophieG

    Why did you become a Jehovah's Witness ? Born in

    Initially upon entering the religion what were the positive things you experienced ?I left in my late teens and came back in my twenties. I have been sheltered all my life as JW and leaving was a culture shock. I did not lead a really insane, immoral life but the realities of life slapped me pretty hard. So when I came back, I was grateful for a “sense of security.” and “acceptance”.

    How did that particular way of thinking both benefit and harm you ? Being a JW did teach me a measure of self-control. And that’s it in a nutshell. I function better under well thought out decisions AND behavior patterns, but NOT UNDER the control of the org. It literally makes me feel crazy, not to be able to think for myself.

    And what was it that lead you to leave the religion ? First the routine: Studying, service, meeting, association…rinse and repeat. It became too much. I honestly felt oppressed and angry about all the things we have to do. It was not enjoyable.

    Second, my personality: I am way too free-spirited to be controlled and I fought myself constantly… my mind was not accepting status quo. I always would ask: WHO SAYS? I like to think and I have come to appreciate that it is critical thinking that has been my saving grace. I never knew that was how my brain was working the whole time. I am also a very expansive person and I don’t like to alienate people just because they believe differently than I do. I am a lover…

    If you didn't convert and were raised in the religion what was it like being raised as a Jehovah's Witness ? My mom even though she is a die-hard JW was always very aware that we should not feel as if we were missing out. We traveled a lot internationally, we were able to interact with JWs and non-JWs alike, I did extra-curricular activities, and had lots of toys. I don’t feel I missed out on birthdays/Christmas because I knew multiple times a year, mom would take us shopping for fun stuff. We were on assembly parts as kids. But we KNEW we were different but balanced.

    I don’t look back on my childhood with regret, it was good.
    It’s my adult waking life that I want to redirect now….