Posts by Schnufti

22

has any one had this feeling

by Akid48 in

i remember having this feeling when i was younger that something was off when it came to meetings and the people there seemed just off.i had feelings like that when i was like 5 or 6 and i would say i was kinda dumb back then but still i had a feeling like that when i would not have that often.still to this day i dont know what got me to have that feeling i was just wanting to know if any had this feeling to and still cant remember what made your mind give you a red flag..

Schnufti

I had nightmares about being at meetings or conventions up to 6 years old.

In my early teenage years I was very concerned that people would call us a cult. I found a lot of things odd and cult-like, such as the fake smiles or that all women had to wear skirts. And there were so many religions on this earth. Could it really be that I was so lucky to be born into the one true religion?

I was on the right track, but I was under group pressure from JW friends and there wasn't really any alternative for me. It was never the question "if" I would get baptized, but "when".

And all those "interested" ones were so weird. Not once have I seen an adult that came into the "truth" that made an intelligent impression.

33

What Simple Pleasures Do You Enjoy Since Leaving Watchtower?

by pale.emperor in

what simple pleasures do you enjoy since leaving watchtower?

here's some of mine, in no particular order:.

a cigar: i dont smoke cigarettes at all, but i do enjoy a good cigar from time to time.

Schnufti

Our flat is clean and tidy because I have finally the time to do all the chores. More homecooking, less McDonalds after meetings. I can buy groceries and wash my hair any evening I want. I live healthier because I can go biking and work out more often.

No more panic when chatting with workmates.

I can accept life-saving medical treatments. In fact, yesterday I had a bike accident. But I wasn't scared at all because I knew that I can take blood if needed.

9

How much time have you ever spent on Jw.org ?

by Chook in

i'm proud to say no greater than ten minutes in my whole life.

and i'm not giving them any more.

i do look at the video posts on here with their latest bullshit but being entertained by these clowns longer than necessary is unproductive..

Schnufti

Actually I visit jw.org everyday. If there were no JWs in my family I would leave it completely behind, but I kind of want to be informed what is going on.

44

A WTF Moment While In the WTS

by Searching in

has anyone else had a moment, while still within the organization (and before learning ttatt) that caused them to stop and go, "this is kind of messed up.".

for instance, back i believe in the early 2000's, i was attending a dc with my family.

it was announced at the beginning of the convention that there was going to be a special announcement at the end, so for everyone to please try to remain until the very end of the meeting.

Schnufti

I think my first WTF moment was when I was a teenager. The leading elder of our congregation (how are they called?) disassociated himself and left his family. This bothered me a lot because he supposed to be spiritual, so why did he leave? Seems like he found out TTATT.

28

Dutch conventions organized like circuits

by Gorbatchov in

jw
friends

here in holland jw.org is organizing for the first time the yearly conventions like circuits.

the whole summer the new convention hall is used for small group conventions instead of 10.000 seat external halls.. it keeps the money in the organization.

not renting external buildings.. the 29.000 witnesses here are divided now into 2.000 seat audience.. g..

Schnufti

The big, exciting district conventions were one of the main things that kept me going through the drudgery of JWdom. I sort of lived for them and they gave me a boost to get through the next year. The smaller gatherings in smaller buildings just didn't have the same effect; they were boring, even sort of depressing at times.

Magnum, I felt exactly the same. I didn't feel encouraged because of the talks. What had a much stronger effect was sitting in the stadium, looking around at the big crowd and thinking that they all have my back. At least once a year I didn't feel like a minority. All of them believed the same as me, so it couldn't be wrong, could it?

I really think that many JWs will go home with a less "encouraged" feeling than the used to have.

By the way, I heard that they will do the same in Switzerland. They will build a convention hall in France and it will not hold space for all of them, so they will split up the conventions there as well. I don't know if it's true though.

45

What did NOT get you out?

by problemaddict 2 in

i realize this is odd, but a "how you woke up" thread and the personal stories that are told which i know we all enjoy, made me think of this.

in helping my wife and a couple others get the ball rolling, i realized the thing that resonated with me, didn't even move the needle with them.

i wanted to rail on and on about blood, because that was my conduit to waking up, but for my wife it was about shunning.

Schnufti

I was not triggered by:

607/1914
Shunning
That most of my cool friends who were on the same wavelength like me left the "truth"
That former zealous elders and COs left the "truth"
Bad behaviour by elders or others in the congregation
Overlapping generation
The 2013 WT study where it says we should follow the GB no matter what they say
That we had to report our ministry hours with our name
The stance against homosexuals

20

What Did You Imagine Jehovah To Look Like?

by pale.emperor in

what did you imagine jehovah to look like?

i always pictured him like this:.

.

Schnufti

I had no certain picture of Jehovah in my mind. It was more a feeling that resembled my father.

41

What woke you up?

by MrRoboto in

for me, i think it was just the right time as i was starting to wake up on other fronts as well (anyone who had went through these will know what i mean).

but it started when i was looking for what info goes on a publisher card, which led to me reading one person's story (ex bethelite) which was pretty crazy to an all-in jw but who trusts those apostates...?.

then i started watching videos on cults, as if my subconscious was trying to tell my concord mind something... when i saw a particular one about a young man in lds getting ready to start their 2 year preaching campaign, including a school, social activities etc, i realized that i couldn't tell the difference between the folks of this mormon cult and the jws (save for some religious differences) .

Schnufti

Since I underwent a surgery in 2009, certain questions popped up in my mind:

Why wouldn't Jehovah forgive me if I accepted blood because I was in mortal fear?
Why does Jehovah put himself in a bad light by the blood doctrine?

Then I took a further education course. For two years, week after week, I was panicking that I had to out myself as a JW. It became clear to me that I "didn't had enough faith". I knew I needed to research things like:

How can I be sure that humanity is only 6000 years old? And why hasn't there been anything in the publications about it since the 80's?
Who decided which books belong to the biblical canon?
Why is there so much cherry picking which scientific findings are true?
Why do we assume that the bible is true without really going into detail?
Why am I scared to research outside Watchtower publications?

I repressed all these questions that were bugging me. I was ready to wake up, but couldn't do it by myself. Then finally last year, my husband opened up to me that he researched and doesn't believe anymore that it is the truth. I broke down and cried and didn't know how we could go on with our marriage. But one week after, I woke up too.

234

Suicide - How many do you know within the JWs

by Lady Lee in

thw wts likes to play games with their statistics.

one interesting but truly tragic is the number of jwhovah's witnesses who commit suicie.. now i suspect that if a person commits suicide shortly before or after they are disfellowshipped then the elders would say that person wasn't a witness or that they had done something so terrible that they were too guilty to admit it and by their action of committing suicide they pretty much declared they were no longer a jw.. yup fancy talk to make sure any crap didn't fall on them.. so my question.. do you know of cases like this?

if so then can you answer a few more questions.. had this person been dfed or in real danger of being dfed or whatever the equivalent is if they were never baptized?.

Schnufti

Last Summer during convention lunch break I saw a sister walking around and smiling. The very next day she took her life. She had been mentally ill (shizophrenia, I'm not sure) and didn't want to go back to the clinic on Monday.

116

What is behind your choice of forum user name?

by stuckinarut2 in

jw
friends

just curious how we all think.. what prompted or influenced your choice of username for this forum?.

there are some really amazing names, and it would be great to hear the stories behind them.... mine was nothing fancy.

i just felt "stuck in a rut too" along with so many others.

Schnufti

Schnufti was the teddybear of the author of the book "Goodbye Jehovah".