Posts by moreconfusedthanever

52

New to the truth

by MatthewHewey in

jw
friends

i have been meeting with member's of the kingdom hall, and i have attended a few times now on sundays.

i'd like to discuss experiences with this group since i'm new.

so far, i love it.

moreconfusedthanever

Greetings Matthew. It's called "love bombing". All new comers are warmly welcomed and "accepted" as they are. Keep your eyes open and take note.

How many have you met with nose piercing? I would bet none. Those with tattoos will have received those prior to joining the religion.

If you love bible study make sure you research everything there is to know about the Jehovah's Witnesses and their doctrine from the very beginning.

Like with every "new" thing you may purchase, read the "user reviews" and not just the "manufacturer advertisement brochures".

Ephesians 5:10 says to keep making sure what is acceptable to the Lord.

This forum is a great place to gain insight into the life of a Jehovah's Witness and you will find we are predominantly ex members.

Good luck in your search for the truth.

57

What to Do....Please Help. Awakening JW for a very long time

by CovertsadJW in

good afternoon , .

i have been having doubts for many years and as most jw's i have certainly not done myself a favor by suppressing all of my critical thinking.

i am married with 3 kids and my wife and i are inactive, but my wife has made it very clear in speech and action that she wants to go to all meetings, field service, and indoctrinate our kids.

moreconfusedthanever

I don't have an issue with my husband but I do however have very pushy family who constantly request we return to meetings and badger my children.

It's no use sharing what you know and everyone needs to find out the truth for themselves.

What I do now is refer them to Romans 14:12 "each of us will render an account for himself to God". If we go because we are forced or to make others happy Jehovah who sees what the heart is (1 Sam 16:7) will not be fooled.

You could let your wife know that she can go to meetings and in service and that it is not your intention to force her to stop but you must also be allowed to make your choices based on your knowledge and mutual respect must prevail for the sake of a peaceful family arrangement for your children.

Your children may well need to go with your wife to the meetings. Make sure they can talk to you about things they are learning so that you can help them use their critical thinking skills.

The last thing I would make sure of is that the children are not forced into baptism. Remind your wife and extended family that Jesus himself did not get baptised until he was 30 so if they want the children to follow in his footsteps they too should wait until they are adults.

In my case, my children were not fooled and recognized early on that "the truth" is not the truth.

13

Non JW and JW friendships

by ricsa in

jw
friends

himy story is as follows.

i've been friends with a guy for round 1,5 years.

he told me once he had another guy friend who was gay.

moreconfusedthanever

Jrjw - exactly! Bit of manipulation to catch them unawares.

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.

moreconfusedthanever

Happy birthday!

13

Non JW and JW friendships

by ricsa in

jw
friends

himy story is as follows.

i've been friends with a guy for round 1,5 years.

he told me once he had another guy friend who was gay.

moreconfusedthanever

Some JWs will become your friend first. Make themselves seem just like everyone else but in the back of their mind is their intention of teaching you the "truth" and converting you.

14

Suing the Org

by dantoole87 in

i believe that i have a good cause to sue the organization.

but i know that they have crafted themselves a legal loophole infinite loop.

so i was thinking that i should just sue the congregation that i know fucked me over.

moreconfusedthanever

I don't know. Leaving the cult is a grieving process and anger is one of the stages.

If you want your card you could get legal help to get it without suing anyone. A law suit will not concern the 7 dwarves one iota but just cause you added anger and anxiety.

We are of no consequence to the JW.org machine. Better to make a speedy recovery and live a happy life and give no more of your precious time to them.

That's just my opinion.

33

Manmade rules

by Jrjw in

i was talking to someone a few years ago and he said in his congregation they have a rail of white shirts prepared in the cloakroom for if a speaker doesn't have a white shirt on.

it was a rule in their hall that all brothers in the platform must wear white shirts when going talks and if the speaker won't comply when asked to change into the shirt they provide an elder in the congregation will do the talk instead.

i have never known any other halls do it so it must be a rule the elders have made up without gb input.

moreconfusedthanever

In a congregation here one sister was told she could not be a householder for a talk one evening because she was wearing footless tights and even though she had a long skirt on, they looked too much like pants. They asked her to go home and change. She did because her dad was an elder and she didn't want to cause trouble.

It was a CO that informed me that young ones, having followed all the rules all their lives, being ridiculed at school for not eating birthday cake and refusing to colour in eggs at Easter etc etc. Having always identified themselves as one of the JWs were in fact actually unbelievers until such time as they get baptised. For this reason a baptised person should not consider such ones as potential marriage mates. What he actually said was "he should not have put his eyes on an unbaptized person. End of story."

This issue came up because In our congregation at the time, the elders reversed their decision to allow a young lady to get baptised, the night before it was due to happen because her parents feared she would run away and marry the young brother she had been seeing.

The young couple had not planned to marry so soon but on the back of this ridiculous situation they did just that. They got married (eloped) with much cloak and dagger as her family threatened to lock her up so she couldn't make her wedding, moved away and the CO of their new congregation allowed her to get baptised when he heard the story.

Thankfully they left the religion not long after.

33

Manmade rules

by Jrjw in

i was talking to someone a few years ago and he said in his congregation they have a rail of white shirts prepared in the cloakroom for if a speaker doesn't have a white shirt on.

it was a rule in their hall that all brothers in the platform must wear white shirts when going talks and if the speaker won't comply when asked to change into the shirt they provide an elder in the congregation will do the talk instead.

i have never known any other halls do it so it must be a rule the elders have made up without gb input.

moreconfusedthanever

Neat blue dog - at the time the national average was 10 hours a month. I have no idea what it is now. Less I would imagine.

33

Manmade rules

by Jrjw in

i was talking to someone a few years ago and he said in his congregation they have a rail of white shirts prepared in the cloakroom for if a speaker doesn't have a white shirt on.

it was a rule in their hall that all brothers in the platform must wear white shirts when going talks and if the speaker won't comply when asked to change into the shirt they provide an elder in the congregation will do the talk instead.

i have never known any other halls do it so it must be a rule the elders have made up without gb input.

moreconfusedthanever

Yes we had a CO who hated shirts of colour and white socks. Said it made the brothers look like the mafia so only white shirts and dark socks allowed on his watch.

No privileges for brothers unless doing the national average field service.

19

My fading suffered a miscarriage

by Ireneus in

i thought of successfully fading out, but suffered a miscarriage last week.

i gradually decreased the number of meetings i attended.

in the latter half of the year it became once a month, then once in two months, once in three months ….. last week, two elders who visited me, after their bla..bla..asked: “where will you go leaving the motherly organization—the only truth now available on earth?”.

moreconfusedthanever

Motherly organization! I would have asked them to show me where it says that in the bible. Also I would have mentioned that even Geoff Jackson doesn't believe they are the only truth holders on Earth as that would seem presumptuous. Then I would have directed them to Terry O'Brien's testimony to the ARC that one may stop having anything to do with the JWs without having to disassociate or be disfellowshiped.