the shunning .
he places the smiles .
wherever politeness asks, .
Your poem really touched me. I’d like to read more of your poems and find out more of your story.
I hope you find freedom as I know having family ties makes it harder to completely break free mentally. Glad to hear that your siblings also managed to leave - must be good to have people that understand your experience. Happy for you all and wishing you all the best J.
i have had greatly varied experiences with hlc members over the years.
i was never one myself, but i knew several of them personally.
most struck me as being generally decent human beings.
OC, I’ve always enjoyed your posts and research and now understand why it is so important to you. I’ve learned so much from your posts and wanted to say thanks! Hope your baby was ok and survived their awful experimentations. I’m so angry that as the Mother, your voice was not heard.
it's the forum's 16th birthday today!.
amazing that not only have we lasted so long but we're still thriving and growing.. thanks to all the people and often colorful characters who've contributed to the site over the years.
some are still here with us, some have since moved on, but all have touched each others lives in some way along our different journeys.. .
what is it about making friends in the organisation am i the only one who had found it tough?
don't get me wrong there was some good people but unfortunately there was also a lot of egotism, back stabbing, jealousy and gossiping.
i could never really fit in any group, everytime i thought i had found a group it was as if i would be sidelined or ditched.
My time spent as a JW was the loneliest, most depressing episode of my life. I gave up my worldly, true friends to associate with these people. I do regret all the excuses I made and generally being too busy in "the truth" to spend time with people who genuinely cared, accepted and loved me.
I always felt an outsider looking in on the KH cliques wondering why I couldn't share this great friendship that everyone appeared to have. People seemed slightly suspicious of a single-in-the-truth sister (even though I was married) and didn't want their kids associating with my kids. My son commented the other day that the kids at school were nicer, kinder, friendlier than the kids from the Hall, but he knew he shouldn't really be friends with kids from school:-(.
My son took the news that I was no longer going to meetings with relief and anger. He feels that he was made to be different because of my beliefs that he could see were wrong the whole time. I've got major amends to make.
the arc are indeed a patient lot who don't pressure.
they make sure a person feels safe.
they don't hold back with legal information either.
the gb has recently said that the brothers are generously contributing lots of money (at gunpoint it seems!
) so why with a billion dollar annual income do they demand more cash?
they have staunched the outward flow of money on paid preachers, zone overseers and bethel expenses and stalled the promised worldwide luxury buildings projects..
Sorry Lisa-Rose,
My fat-fingers pressed dislike. It was meant to be a "like".
Your observations are spot-on.
i'm quite new to this site, & have realised some members have a union jack symbol under their avatar.
i don't.. could we have a "show of hands" from any uk members?
i've already found several by reading older posts..
my first post here and unfortunately it is asking for help.. i was a born in jehovah's witness and from my earliest memories, i know i hated being one.
i hated the embarrassment of being the "outsider" at school and i hated not being allowed to have any friends.
of course i had the obligatory friends in the kingdom hall - none of whom were my age exactly and none of whom i would have personally chosen to be friends with if i had been left to pick them myself in a natural setting.
I get it. I think we all feel the same to varying degrees. There's such a stigma to being a witness added to the fact that we have been taught to feel guilty for not remaining in.
The book Combatting Cult Mind Control by Stephen Hassan might be helpful as it gives info on how to deprogram/reprogram to a healthier state of mind. I downloaded a free copy of this recently and it has helped.
Hope you are feeling better soon. Anxiety is awful and seems to be a big part of life for those that have had associations with the org no matter how long ago.
january 2016 watchtower (study edition).
be determined to “let your brotherly love continue”!.
this article was easy to read.
Quite often, there would be studies and articles about "respecting those taking the lead" which I never felt applied to me. By their own standards, these Elders were meant to be loving and interested. Never did I receive a "Shepherding Visit" (thankfully) and more often than not, not even a "hello" at the KH or in field service.
I'm not sure if they felt I was doing ok as I never missed meetings and did around 35 hours ministry every month. Now that I haven't been to meetings or service in nearly 4 months, I'm slightly offended that I was indeed truly invisible. No-one has even chased up a report from me, which makes me wonder if any of the slips I previously posted in the service box were actually counted or looked at. The last few months I was in, I was always sitting at back of hall and first to leave after the prayer so maybe they realised I wasn't worth their efforts.
