She was the first ex-JW I ever spoke to - I called the WHY-1914 helpline when I first decided that I had to leave the JWs. I was so scared, but Marilyn reassured me and sent me information to help us sort through our questions.
She will be missed.
Posts by Scully
-
26Marilyn Zweifel of the 800-why-1914 Helpline passed away yesterday
by coffee_black inmarilyn manned the helpline for many years, and touched the lives of so many effected by the wt.
she will be missed.. coffee .
-
-
-
89
An Elder Reads CoC !!
by TTATTelder ini have recently joined the site.
i was just appointed an elder this summer.
i started discovering the ttatt (the truth about the truth) last year after putting a few things together myself concerning the leadership and then doing some research online.. i really enjoyed jwfacts.com, jwsurvey, and others.
-
-
Scully
TTATTelder:
I was appointed as an elder right when I am starting to doubt things more than any time in my life, right when all this "new light" is coming out, and right before this historical Annual Meeting.
Isn't it interesting how the Holy Spirit™ still allowed you to be Appointed™ as an Elder™, despite having more doubts than you ever have had in your life?? What does that tell you??
When I was first thinking about leaving the JWs, almost 20 years ago, I had to send my oldest kid off to school in the morning and drop my husband off at his job, then drive to a public library across town (where nobody knew me) with the younger kids, and while they sat and listened to story time and looked at picture books, I read one or two chapters of Crisis of Conscience. Over the course of a few weeks, I was able to finish the book. I was terrified to bring it home. It felt very cloak and dagger at the time, but the tone of the book was just as you described - humble, sincere, with a wealth of knowledge, and a desire to share the simplicity of Christian worship without all the hoo-ha the WTS was piling on.
I know you'll find other things to read over the course of the next weeks, months and years, but congratulations on starting the process.
-
6
Diners Drive Ins and Dives challenge.
by Defianttruth ini'm a huge fan of this show.
i've decided the family and i are going to take road trips to visit different places highlighted in the show.
i've been to 3 so far.
-
-
Scully
One of my workmates did a roadtrip a few months ago and planned the trip around several Triple D sites. She had a blast.
Apparently there's an iPhone app to help you plan your own roadtrip.
-
63
I made a huge mistake
by KariOtt inits been a tough 6 months for my jw hubby and myself.
next saturday is our anniversary.
i wasn't sure we would make it with the turbulance of the last 6 months.
-
-
Scully
Well, a gift is supposed to be something the recipient will prize and cherish. It sounds like you did right by him. You were thoughtful, generous, organized and went above and beyond, imo.
The fact that he refuses to buy anything for you tells me that he does not appreciate you, doesn't care about what you like or cherish and is a selfish asshat on top of it. Frankly I think his behaviour is far more offensive than a gold cross ought to be to him. You are his WIFE. He promised to love, honour and cherish you, and he pulls a stupid stunt like this?? Tell me, do you feel loved, honoured and cherished??
No wonder you had doubts about making it to your anniversary. Your mistake wasn't buying yourself a gold cross. Your mistake was marrying a JW.
I'd tell him that a divorce is going to be far more expensive than a gold cross. I'd take the watch back too. He doesn't deserve it.
-
20
People have a right to preserve their culture race and identity!!!
by Joliette inone of the biggest things that bothered me as a jehovahs witness was the whole 'we are the world' bullcrap that they used to teach, and that culture, color, and race didnt matter.
as far as i'm concerned thats a bunch of bs.
people have a right to preserve who they, where they came from, and they have a right to be represented.
-
-
Scully
Multi-culturalism was fine when it meant that there were celebrations in each town and city that showed off the traditional dress, cuisine and arts of the various cultures. It's turned into a monster that has been used against our own culture - we dare not have any displays of Anglo pride or white pride, lest we be accused of racism, while everyone else is allowed to celebrate their culture and identity, and receives public money to help them do it.
What it's turned into is a society where "cultural identity" is used as a playing card to create an unfair advantage over other whose cultural background is considered 'the norm' (i.e., white anglo saxon), all other things being equal. I have a kid who will likely never be able to get a job where he wants to work, because he is white, anglo saxon and male. Preference is given to other candidates of other cultural backgrounds.
One of my parents is an immigrant, my other parent's grandparents were immigrants. Survival at that time required integration - learning the language, adopting the customs and language that were in use when they arrived. My grandmother once scolded my grandfather for speaking in their native language - telling him (in her thick accent) "We're in Canada now, speak English."
Integration helped people learn to get along, imo, and I don't see the same effort on the part of more recent immigrants to try to get along with the people whose country they wish to make their new home. I don't know how many Somali and Saudi women I've tried to help with their newborns, who cannot communicate in English or French. They keep to their own kind - they don't want to get along with us, yet we have to bend over backward to accommodate them.
That being said, I agree with you, Joliette, that the WTS made a mockery of acceptance of all races, languages and cultures. They International Conventions™ used to have a highlight ceremony where people that came from other countries would be paraded around in their national costume and we all clapped like trained seals, because we were told this was how it would be in the Paradise™. Yet, the next day, those costumes were put away and all those foreign delegates were dressed in suits and dresses like everyone else.
-
62
I'am in the Penalty Box! I asked the Circuit Overseer "Who Donates Blood For Jehovah's Witnesses Blood Fragments".
by AuntConnie intold my husband to put a muzzle on my mouth over the blood dogma.
we all were driving around in field service when the topic of "which fragments would you take if you were in a car accident or cut yourself badly".
said his choice is a personal one, another sister with chronic health problems said she had no problem with the governing body's new light on taking various fragments.
-
-
Scully
Taking but not giving blood? The WTS is exactly the same with money!!
Maybe the "blood from a stone" saying refers to their cynical stone hearts!
-
46
Faders shunned now?
by Sammy Jenkis inhi all so my family had their c.a.
last weekend and my mother dropped this one on me, she'll now be treating me as a df'd person per info she received from a talk at the assembly.
apparently a fader should be treated as "bad association" given the fact they up and left the holy "truth" to splash around in vomit.. .
-
-
-
46
Faders shunned now?
by Sammy Jenkis inhi all so my family had their c.a.
last weekend and my mother dropped this one on me, she'll now be treating me as a df'd person per info she received from a talk at the assembly.
apparently a fader should be treated as "bad association" given the fact they up and left the holy "truth" to splash around in vomit.. .
-
-
Scully
With the exception of family members, I'd be perfectly fine with JWs shunning me - except I prefer preventative shunning. It's a kind of do-unto-others-before-they-do-unto-you kind of thing.
What usually ticks them off more than anything is when you smack them with the reality of how "loving" shunning really is.
-
32
How Do I Explain To My TalkTherapist That JW's Believe They Will Never Die?
by LoisLane looking for Superman ini know for us exjw's that have awakened from this religion, it seems incredulous that we ever.
could have believed we were going to live forever and never die.. not just never die, but never die, like i was raised to believe with.
the millions now living will never die, garbage.. i said that to my highly educated professional therapist last week.. her eyes got big, and she said gently as to a child, "loislane, we are all going to die".. yes, i know that now, but that is not what my religion taught and i believed, for 60 years.. any thoughts on how i explain this lunacy to her?.
-
-
Scully
I think the Armageddon is Coming, Any Day Now, Really Really Soon message got hammered into our thoughts with such urgency, such tenacity, that we were probably powerless to stop it from taking hold. Then there were the ominous warnings of The Composite Sign in Matthew 24 - wars, famines, etc. that everything seemed to fit together. It was as if we'd been "privileged" to understand what others couldn't - that was all part of the scam. All we had to do was put our lives on hold, preach Door-to-Door, go to Meetings and Assemblies and Conventions where all of these thoughts are reinforced, avoid getting too close to outsiders and dissenters (who might undo the brainwashing) and give our money to the WTS. That seems like a small price to pay for such a huge payoff!!
I think the most difficult thing we have to do as we exit the cult is admit to ourselves that we bought into the lie, hook, line and sinker. It can mess with your head that we were so gullible, so DUMB, for so many years. How could I be so *stupid*???? We weren't stupid. We were vulnerable, for whatever reason, and JWs prey on that vulnerability. The WTS are predators. Remember how we were taught to seek out potential Bible Studies: someone who is new to the neighborhood, maybe newly married, newly divorced or separated, or maybe a new baby, or have children who have left home. They are looking for people who may be temporarily emotionally off-balance, in a state of transition, which makes them vulnerable to being ensnared.
Nobody wakes up one day and decides to join a cult. The cult *recruits* you. They have targeted you and played to your vulnerabilities - that's how they've been trained. Vulerable people, including children raised in that environment, have no training or experience in counter-intelligence to effectively do battle with cult mind control tactics. How do you suppose that educated people, doctors, lawyers, engineers, physicists, etc. end up being advertising material in the Awake! magazine??
-
32
How Do I Explain To My TalkTherapist That JW's Believe They Will Never Die?
by LoisLane looking for Superman ini know for us exjw's that have awakened from this religion, it seems incredulous that we ever.
could have believed we were going to live forever and never die.. not just never die, but never die, like i was raised to believe with.
the millions now living will never die, garbage.. i said that to my highly educated professional therapist last week.. her eyes got big, and she said gently as to a child, "loislane, we are all going to die".. yes, i know that now, but that is not what my religion taught and i believed, for 60 years.. any thoughts on how i explain this lunacy to her?.
-
-
Scully
Rev. I don't remember the chapter and verse. The one that says death will be no more neither mourning nor outcry nor pain; the former things have passed away.
