Posts by Cimarrona

17

Good-bye Jehovah (poem)

by SunnyOne026 in

jw
friends

it has been several months now, since i learned ttat and the shock and grief is slowly lifting, although some days are harder than others.

after 40 years a devout believer i guess i should not be surprised that the transition has been challenging and the losses immense, and i am sure very many of you can relate to my struggles.

i frequently read the posts on here and my heart goes out to all of you, who grieve and struggle each in your own way, and i wish all of you continued courage and peace.

Are Jehovahs Witnesses headed towards becoming one of the most controversial and talked about religions on YouTube

by UnshackleTheChains in

given the numerous videos on youtube about all the scandals and controversies of the watchtower bible and tract society.

are they headed to becoming one of the most infamous religious groups in the world for all the wrong reasons?.

I think a lot of us carry the idea that Jehovah's witnesses are the center of the universe into our post-dub lives. They are, at most and only according to themselves, a few million people in the entire world. No one (relatively speaking) cares about them, some people have never heard of them and most of those who have aren't checking for them on the internet or anywhere else.

49

My 71st Birthday Confessional

by TerryWalstrom in

jw
friends

i was born january 15, 1947in mt.

carmel hospital, detroit, michigan.. within six months of my birth, my mother would bundle her baby boy into a blanket and board an american airlines propeller-driven plane--in effect, leaving my father behind--to return to her hometown, ft. worth, texas.. my dad had an excellent job working for cadillac as an inspector.

it was a union job.

Cimarrona

Happy belated, Terry ✨ thank you so much for sharing. This was such an engaging read, and I appreciate the baby boomer generational perspective.

86

Do You Know Any “Gay” Jehovah’s Witnesses?

by minimus in

jw
friends

of course the religion condemns homosexuality but did you know any gay witnesses?

i knew some bethelites that were very effeminate and i remember 4 women who were suspected of being lesbians by many in the congregation.

they eventually moved away and were very vocal against males, especially elders..

Cimarrona

I had a friend growing up who was DF'd at least three times, but for whatever reason, kept coming back to be abused and told he was disgusting and that all sex outside of vaginal intercourse in a heterosexual marriage was unacceptable to invisible sky daddy. Last I heard, he moved away cause he couldn't deal with everyone knowing that he "used to be" gay (and treating him according to the homophobia the religion encourages). But remains a dub

Also, there was an older pioneer brother who was very effeminate. Always out in service any time you see him. He was a friend of my parents. An elder. Married with a daughter. But after reading someone else's comments about coaching I just realized that I'd never seen him give a public talk or a talk at the convention oddly enough. When he died years ago, he had the most well-attended funeral I'd ever been to. And when my father (he conducted the funeral) asked that those whom he'd converted raise their hands, literally hundreds of people raised their hands. I wonder if his zealousness was a result of guilt/shame.

Also, I want to acknowledge that being effeminate is not actually evidence of one's sexuality. Which is both to say - just cause a man is effeminate doesn't mean he is sexually or romantically attracted to men and just cause a man is masculine doesn't mean he isn't sexually or romantically attracted to men

21

Family Insists on Having Relationship with My Child -_-

by Cimarrona in

hi gang, i'm a single mother of an 8 month old baby boy.

i've been df'd for over six years now.

my parents are super dubs and most of my siblings are dubs (on paper - a couple have been inactive my entire life but still claim to believe) with the exception of a brother who was never baptized.

Cimarrona

Thanks for the words of wisdom, everyone! Y'all are right. Sigh.

19

Women must not instruct men, even by singing a theocratic song.

by Ultimate Axiom in

i did a quick search and this doesn’t appear to have been commented on here, but if it has been, i apologise in advance for starting an unnecessary thread.. regarding a change to a song title, the study article on page 7 paragraph 17 of november 2017 watchtower explained, “the change of the title “guard your heart” to “we guard our hearts” was most considerate.

in the audience at our meetings, assemblies, and conventions are many new ones, interested ones, young ones, and sisters who by singing the words would be put in the awkward position of telling others what to do.

so the title and the lyrics were modified.”.

Cimarrona

Astute observation @Morpheus

21

Family Insists on Having Relationship with My Child -_-

by Cimarrona in

hi gang, i'm a single mother of an 8 month old baby boy.

i've been df'd for over six years now.

my parents are super dubs and most of my siblings are dubs (on paper - a couple have been inactive my entire life but still claim to believe) with the exception of a brother who was never baptized.

Cimarrona

Thank you for that thorough explanation @wake me up

21

Family Insists on Having Relationship with My Child -_-

by Cimarrona in

hi gang, i'm a single mother of an 8 month old baby boy.

i've been df'd for over six years now.

my parents are super dubs and most of my siblings are dubs (on paper - a couple have been inactive my entire life but still claim to believe) with the exception of a brother who was never baptized.

Cimarrona

@m3tadata similar situation happened with my other sister. She's an uber uber dub - doing her assignment in bumfuck nowhere post-SKE/mid-30s virgin/y'all know the type. She came into town and my mom brought the baby to see her and only told me very matter of fairly thereafter. I told my mom then that if anyone wants a relationship with Amistad they can ask me and they can come to my house if I see fit to facilitate it. She didn't talk to me for several weeks after that. Shrug.

21

Family Insists on Having Relationship with My Child -_-

by Cimarrona in

hi gang, i'm a single mother of an 8 month old baby boy.

i've been df'd for over six years now.

my parents are super dubs and most of my siblings are dubs (on paper - a couple have been inactive my entire life but still claim to believe) with the exception of a brother who was never baptized.

Cimarrona

Hi gang, I'm a single mother of an 8 month old baby boy. I've been df'd for over six years now. My parents are super dubs and most of my siblings are dubs (on paper - a couple have been inactive my entire life but still claim to believe) with the exception of a brother who was never baptized. For awhile, I had no choice but to rely on my parents for childcare support when I had to go into the office or had a pressing deadline or just wanted to clean my house. Regretfully, I would let them pick him up to go to their house, knowing that I was not allowed there. Now, granted, I wasn't trying to go over - I had my own shit to do. It was just a bad precedent to set. Anyway, I had to put my foot down a week or so ago when my sister (who had been df'd when I was a kid; her husband and kids aren't dubs) told me she'd be in town and asked if my baby could come over to my parents house (where i can't enter cause Jesus or paul or somebody said don't let them cross your threshold) to visit with them. I was just like, "As long as your desire to have a relationship with my child is contingent on my absence, you will not have a relationship with him. I'm not allowing him to be taught that I'm to be treated as less than for any reason, biblical or otherwise. I am open, as I always have been, to developing a loving, respectful, harmonious relationship so that you can show him by example that I am to be loved and respected. He will not be exposed to anything else." She responded saying that she wasn't ignoring me but was running late getting on the road and she'd reach out later. I haven't heard anything back yet. I'm glad to have ended 2017/started 2018 with some former boundaries. I've seen my dad a few times since her visit (my parents are my landlords) and none of those times has he asked if they could pick up the baby (a standard question for him) which leads me to believe that she conveyed my message to the rest of them. It definitely makes life harder. I'd like to clean my house and take a shower and get my work done and run errands without having to get a baby in and out of the car. But life could be much harder. I have no expectations of them and at this point can't even say I miss 'em. I do wish my sister would let her husband invite me to his family holidays though. He reached out via social media to apologize for not being prohibited from doing so by her. Eye roll.

20

what is the sales technique here?

by Kevin McFree in

jw's will never knock on your door and say, "hi, we are here to convert you".

speaking to a reporter recently a jw media rep at hq said " our main purpose going door to door is not to convert but to share bible truths with people".

does anyone know the sales techniques involved here?

Cimarrona

But to them, the fundamental "bible truth" is that they are the one true religion worshipping the only true god. So... the intention of sharing bible truths as they say would always be to make them believe that they need to join the one true religion.