how many on this board are: a) christains--not a jw b) jehovah's witnesses c) do not believe in god d) have a belief in god but just not active in anything right now.
i'm new to the board and was curious as to everyone's standing.
i'm 30, a christain, i left the jws 3 years ago (after being in it for 21 years) to follow jesus and heard of, among other good things, this great thing called: grace!
Hi Vienna,
Welcome to the group. I guess I'm classified Inactive-ex. I'm techinically inactive, but I consider myself an ex-JW as I would never return. I'm not even sure I believe in God's existence any more. I know I certainly wouldn't follow the God of the Bible, as he's a sadistic creature if ever I've seen one. I don't believe in organized religion of any sort. It's usually just a tool to control the masses.
RCat
i was just looking out the window, as it would happen a middle aged woman, or perhaps a young woman worn out with her life walked past.
she stopped on the edge of the mall where my wifes office is, and sat on a bench outside the window.
on close look, she couldnt have been more than late 30's, but probably only 35.. she sat for a while just looking at the ground in front of her, her face just exhibiting that blank look of the world weary.
HI Comf,
Nice to meet ya. As you can tell by the date I joined, I'm not new, however, I'm absent alot from class.
Handshake,
RCat
for me it was when i was about twelve years old and my best friends dad was disfellowshipped from the congregation.. i could not understand how a god of love would treat someone so coldly.. i used to think what if that was the way my parents would treat me if i had done something wrong, that would be so hard and cruel.. as i got older another thing that bothered me was the beard issue.
it may sound pretty trivial however the society has always refused to make a good arguement as to why they would give you the old cold shoulder if you were to grow one.. two more items; first i could not understand why all the congregations and all the assemblys would give income reports.
and the society never did.
Patio34, I bet the day you left was a huge day of celebration for Waiting!
RCat
for me it was when i was about twelve years old and my best friends dad was disfellowshipped from the congregation.. i could not understand how a god of love would treat someone so coldly.. i used to think what if that was the way my parents would treat me if i had done something wrong, that would be so hard and cruel.. as i got older another thing that bothered me was the beard issue.
it may sound pretty trivial however the society has always refused to make a good arguement as to why they would give you the old cold shoulder if you were to grow one.. two more items; first i could not understand why all the congregations and all the assemblys would give income reports.
and the society never did.
For me, it took years of watching alot of unjust BS that happened in our KH, and then came the "Donation" change. I follow the news and knew that it had to do with avoiding paying taxes, not a bolt of "new light" from God. Then came the "generation" change, and I really got suspicious. I quit attending meetings at that time. Walked out right in the middle of a talk, just shaking my head.
Three months later, I got on the internet and immediately found H20 and the Blood issue site. I printed the entire set of information and took it home to read. After that, I obtained Crisis of Conscience, and that was the end of believing in the ORg, or even believing in a kind God, for me.
RCat
in every news group, discussion board and chat room there seems to be a few individuals that never seem to completely grasp the art of thinking.
their need to disrupt and irritate reach superstar status in the realm of stupidity.
the desire for attention and recognition though sophomoric post's and chat room spamming becomes as much a part of the entire internet experience as the valuable and useful contributions of others.
JanG gets my vote
I suppose that's for the habit she has of keeping you on her mailing list after you've asked her fifty times to take you off of it?
RCat
i was just looking out the window, as it would happen a middle aged woman, or perhaps a young woman worn out with her life walked past.
she stopped on the edge of the mall where my wifes office is, and sat on a bench outside the window.
on close look, she couldnt have been more than late 30's, but probably only 35.. she sat for a while just looking at the ground in front of her, her face just exhibiting that blank look of the world weary.
To Deacon:
Big hugs to you. I see your pain, and I know from where it comes. Many of us have been there, and we know how it felt to be in that position. Time, Deacon, will help you to heal.
To Comf:
Sir, you have voiced EXACTLY how I felt when I left, and what it felt like to lose "paradise" and finally accept the adult life that I should have been heading toward in my teens when I went into that stinking religion. I thank you for putting a voice to the feelings and emotions that go with the ride.
To all: We all go through a grief process when leaving the Organization. It's posts like the one by Deacon which serve to remind us that we're all human, we have feelings, and some are on different spots in the road than others, and sometimes need a helping hand, or encouragement to put one foot in front of the other and go on. This is a wonderful thread for reminding us of why we're on these boards, to go further in our healing and to help others to get to where we are now and beyond.
Thanks everyone,
RCat
i wonder, when some of the books that are not in print anymore .
--- because the light is getting brighter and all that, and the .
old truth does not need to be known by the newer jws --- .
I wouldn't put it past them. There's some pretty high prices paid for that old stuff!
RCat
well, folks.
i just had a minor epiphany.
its a wonder it never dawned on me before, because it should have been so obvious.. we can forget about doing any more research or any more exegesis.
Excellent post, Farkel, as usual! It will go in my "keeper" file.
I remember the PO at our congregation couldn't hit a tune in a bucket. The times he was standing behind us at the meetings, my daughter's and I would have the hardest time keeping a straight face when the music started! It would just make my backbone curl listening to him sing!
RCat
Hey OTHG, glad to see you back here! Hope you won't disappear again for awhile, but if you do, I know where to find ya.
Hugs,
RCat
no conclusions, just thoughts.. should we disfellowship all of our friends and family who are jehovah's witnesses in order to protect ourselves and in order to wake them up to see how dangerous a path they are on?.
would like to see a discussion of this.. thanks.
joel
Joel, I agree with RHW on this one. Don't LET them shun you. Love bomb 'em!
I know it doesn't always work. I have a family who have never been JW's, yet they have the shunning down pat, I tell ya! I know what it feels like to have your family and jw"friends" reject you, when you truly care.
However, I make my friends my family now, and they treat me better than my family ever did. There's no substitute for the real thing.. but I had to face the fact that just maybe the "real thing" wasn't real in the first place.
Big hugs and friendship,
RCat
