I recently made the decision to stop studying with my Study Conductor, due to a situation I found myself in that led to a high possibility of my Unbaptized Publisher "rights" being taken away from me. I have since told my Study Conductor I have joined a new Church (to which she dropped me like a hot rock, of course).... Last time I posted on here, I was progressing nicely towards Baptism, and was well into it.
Anyhoo, I like my new Church, very Hillsong-esqe. So just wondering if anyone else has stayed the course of Christianity after leaving the JWs, and if so - where did you go?
rulehayl
JoinedPosts by rulehayl
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After leaving the JWs - Has anyone stayed with Christianity?
by rulehayl ini recently made the decision to stop studying with my study conductor, due to a situation i found myself in that led to a high possibility of my unbaptized publisher "rights" being taken away from me.
i have since told my study conductor i have joined a new church (to which she dropped me like a hot rock, of course).... last time i posted on here, i was progressing nicely towards baptism, and was well into it.anyhoo, i like my new church, very hillsong-esqe.
so just wondering if anyone else has stayed the course of christianity after leaving the jws, and if so - where did you go?
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rulehayl
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First Christmas without the guilt
by Apostate Anonymous ini have lurked around the site for about 3 months and finally decided to join.
this will be my first time creating a topic here.
a little backstory for me.
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rulehayl
This my first year to NOT celebrate Christmas - no awkward family gatherings, no buying useless presents which aren't appreciated. It was weird at first because I always have been a part of Christmas in some way... but iI guess t'll get easier over time. Good riddance Christmas. -
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What Makes Someone Become a JW?
by minimus inmy excuse is that i was born in the religion.
but if someone wasn’t, why would they become one?.
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rulehayl
I'm a convert and I love it
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Work Christmas functions: Being a Bible Student (unbaptized)
by rulehayl inhi all,i have been studying with the witnesses for more than 6 months and regularly attend both midweek & weekend meetings, and i am nearly at the end of the "bible teach" book.
my boss is adamant i attend team christmas functions.
she knows about my studying and potential baptism next year, and has suggested that i attend and just not participate in activities like kris kringle.
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rulehayl
finally its really sad you decided to be excluded from your works Xmas celebrations and your brothers birthday
It was my brother's birthday today. I went late - after all the festivities were over. I didn't say happy birthday to him. He didn't care just as long as I was there. My conscience is clear. Missing buying crappy gifts for colleagues for Kris Kringle? Wow. Missing that obligation so much. One time a year for letting hair down with collegues? Um no. Wrong. We have many team functions throughout the year - not just for birthdays & Christmas. Christmas is not the be-all & end-all you know. There are 364 other days in the year to celebrate & socialize. -
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Work Christmas functions: Being a Bible Student (unbaptized)
by rulehayl inhi all,i have been studying with the witnesses for more than 6 months and regularly attend both midweek & weekend meetings, and i am nearly at the end of the "bible teach" book.
my boss is adamant i attend team christmas functions.
she knows about my studying and potential baptism next year, and has suggested that i attend and just not participate in activities like kris kringle.
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rulehayl
I always ask my Study Conductor EVERYTHING. There is no question I haven't brought to her, and she's always happy to explain. Of course her explaination will relate back to Watchtower Doctrine or Scripture. She is a representative and spokesperson for the organisation - Why should I expect her to say anything different? I have read JWFacts and whatever other websites - I will admit I have been shaken a tad by it, but then realise, at the end of the day - most people who are Disfellowshipped have themselves to blame. I worked with a guy who got baptized just because he wanted to date a girl within the congregation. He knew it wasn't the right thing to do, felt guilty about it, then disassociated himself. This was 20 years ago and he hasn't been back since. On the other hand he doesn't try to stop me from joining either. He does stress that it will be a hard slog, so I had better be ready for it. Of course. I'm not stupid - but many of you ex-JWs seem to think that us newbies are.
You say JWs fall within the "BITE" model of cults. So organisations/institutions who job it is to mould people into good citizens/people should just let people do whatever the hell they want? School, home, work would all fit that model, as they impose rules that benefit both the person and the people around them within that organisation. If you break a rule at school - where do you go? Of course detention, at the very most - expulsion. And who does the student blame? Of course the school for being "too strict" - give me a break. Just follow the rules - it is that difficult?
Basically, in my opinion, all you apostates are just jaded you couldn't do whatever the hell you wanted - so you wanted out. Honestly, good riddance - and good riddance to this website too. -
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Work Christmas functions: Being a Bible Student (unbaptized)
by rulehayl inhi all,i have been studying with the witnesses for more than 6 months and regularly attend both midweek & weekend meetings, and i am nearly at the end of the "bible teach" book.
my boss is adamant i attend team christmas functions.
she knows about my studying and potential baptism next year, and has suggested that i attend and just not participate in activities like kris kringle.
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rulehayl
Just curious, what about the JWs attracted you to them?
I like the structure of their meetings. I liked that for me personally, they had an answer for nearly everything - and they are not like Catholicism which I was brought up in.
I came here for advice because I thought there would be active JWs - guess I was wrong.
I don't hope to "achieve" anything by being a JW. Didn't know you need a goal to be a part of a religion. I have actually religion-shopped through other forms of Christianity, but they don't do it for me. The only other people to come close are the Mormons.
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Work Christmas functions: Being a Bible Student (unbaptized)
by rulehayl inhi all,i have been studying with the witnesses for more than 6 months and regularly attend both midweek & weekend meetings, and i am nearly at the end of the "bible teach" book.
my boss is adamant i attend team christmas functions.
she knows about my studying and potential baptism next year, and has suggested that i attend and just not participate in activities like kris kringle.
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rulehayl
Update: Boss and I had a big discussion the other day. She accepts my religious beliefs - even though she may not agree with them - but is willing to back me 100% if that is what I want. So going forward she will not include me in any planning for team birthdays / christmas / easter functions.
In response to my family life - or what some have hinted as a "lack of" - that is none of your business and I will not disclose what led me to finding the JWs and studying with them. Just because most people on this site have had crap experiences, doesn't mean mine will be too. It may - it may not.
Anyways that's all I have to say on the matter. -
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Work Christmas functions: Being a Bible Student (unbaptized)
by rulehayl inhi all,i have been studying with the witnesses for more than 6 months and regularly attend both midweek & weekend meetings, and i am nearly at the end of the "bible teach" book.
my boss is adamant i attend team christmas functions.
she knows about my studying and potential baptism next year, and has suggested that i attend and just not participate in activities like kris kringle.
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rulehayl
I personally felt that birthdays are basically just an ego-boost for people. When people would forget my own birthday, it would make me angry and resentful. Especially with the introduction of Facebook, people would wish me Happy Birthday just because it was in their News Feed. I tested that theory when I cancelled my Facebook and then found the wishes stopped.
Birthdays, rather you are following the ideas of 7 men in New York who are imposing their conscience on yours
And what makes those 7 men different from other heads of organised religion? All organisations have a head who dictates terms to some degree. It's my brother's birthday this weekend, he knows I won't be going. He is disappointed, but I might pop in to say hello after the festivities have died down.
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Work Christmas functions: Being a Bible Student (unbaptized)
by rulehayl inhi all,i have been studying with the witnesses for more than 6 months and regularly attend both midweek & weekend meetings, and i am nearly at the end of the "bible teach" book.
my boss is adamant i attend team christmas functions.
she knows about my studying and potential baptism next year, and has suggested that i attend and just not participate in activities like kris kringle.
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rulehayl
Boss & I had a big discussion this afternoon. She will not include me in any planning of any Birthday or Christmas celebrations for the team. I have discussed my situation with some colleagues privately, nobody really cares to be honest. But yes, Boss wants to include me to encourage team-building, which I said I have no problems with - just not on those holidays. I do my job properly so she can't say I'm not a team player when I often stay back overtime to help others among other things.
To other commenters - no my Study Conductor has not tried to separate me from any non-JW family members - and I don't really have any JW friends either. I only talk to my congregation buddies at meetings, I don't hang out with them outside of meetings as most are older and have families. -
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Work Christmas functions: Being a Bible Student (unbaptized)
by rulehayl inhi all,i have been studying with the witnesses for more than 6 months and regularly attend both midweek & weekend meetings, and i am nearly at the end of the "bible teach" book.
my boss is adamant i attend team christmas functions.
she knows about my studying and potential baptism next year, and has suggested that i attend and just not participate in activities like kris kringle.
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rulehayl
Hi All,
I have been studying with the Witnesses for more than 6 months and regularly attend both Midweek & Weekend meetings, and I am nearly at the end of the "Bible Teach" book.
My boss is adamant I attend team Christmas functions. She knows about my studying and potential baptism next year, and has suggested that I attend and just not participate in activities like Kris Kringle. My Study Conductor feels this could be the start of a slippery slope, and could potentially harm my progression because I may make excuses for participation in Worldly events.
I try my best to follow all of Jehovah's rules, but sometimes I just want to quit now because it becomes too overwhelming and difficult.
What can I do?