Posts by jwundubbed

22

New to JWD, Hello!

by jwundubbed in

jw
friends

my story in a nutshell... .

scientist for a father; extremely mentally ill, 'annointed' mother.

was privy to and also suffered a lot of abuse.

New to JWD, Hello!

by jwundubbed in

jw
friends

my story in a nutshell... .

scientist for a father; extremely mentally ill, 'annointed' mother.

was privy to and also suffered a lot of abuse.

Born-in. Scientist for a father; extremely mentally ill, 'annointed' mother. Was privy to and also suffered a lot of abuse. Attempted suicide at 15 (TMI for some but it was a crucial point in my life.... and it was the catalyst for great changes). Got baptized without permission at 17-18ish. Began suffering the affects of severe PTSD. Shunned by all the JW family based on a rumor my little sister started. Left the cult at about age 20ish. My dad and my elder sister left about the same time. My little brother left a couple years later. Spent many years recovering from the damage done by the cult and an abusive parent. My sister, my mother, and my entire maternal extended family are all still in and still shunning me. That's okay, I shun them right back. Got my bachelor's degree in 2014. I don't suffer from PTSD anymore, but do have a lingering panic disorder that I will always suffer from due to the severity of the PTSD that I suffered. Life is hard but good.

I'm not normally the kind of person who advocates shunning but I find it necessary and the healthiest choice in my personal circumstances. I tried forgiving and forgetting and it didn't work out so well for me. I tend to be passionate and intellectual. I am very opinionated and some of my opinions are way out there. I love a good debate, but I won't press my point unless the circumstances are right for it. I'm a bit of a nerd/geek but not at all tech savvy. Numbers and I do not work well together. So, any time I relate a date, time, time-frame, or any other kind of number take it with a large dose of salt. I have a serious personality and my sense of humor is dry, sarcastic, and not very good actually. I do like a good sense of humor in others, but I don't always get a joke and am often a good target for jokes. Se la vi. I am working on finding my career. My hobbies are usually about writing, creating art, and watching TV/movies. I am trying to get myself into being more physically active for entertainment, but it's hard. Who wants to go for a run when you can watch someone else do it with far more hilarity and in the comfort of your nice comfy sofa? So, that just about sums me up. I can't wait to get to know this forum, and its members, better.

jwundubbed

P.S. people often call me 'jwun' or 'undub' for short. I like both just the same.

240

Introduction - Any Believers?

by Believer in

i’ve been reading it for a few of years off and on, but have been a little too ... maybe ... timid to join.

i left the watchtower organization almost 20 years ago but never abandoned my faith and belief in god.

i knew the gb/organization didn’t represent god, so when i lost my faith in them, i managed to keep my faith in an all wise benevolent creator.

jwundubbed

So, my dad is a scientist. And I was born into the JW cult. My mom was one of the annointed. As you might imagine, those two mindsets are very different and I found myself in need of a little of both in my life. I need evidence just as much as I need to believe in something greater than myself that I don't understand. I fall much further into the believers than the non-believers. But I'm not religious. I am very spiritual in my own way. I rarely tell others what I believe because it is personal to me and I do NOT believe in trying to convert others to my way of believing.

What I believe in more than anything else is possibility. I believe that everything is possible. It is just as possible that there is no God, as it is possible that there is only one God, as it is possible that there are millions of Gods, and even that it is possible that all the other possibilities are possible to exist simultaneously. That is my belief. It isn't evidence based. It doesn't seem to align with any specific religion out there. And I am okay with that.

I came to my belief when I left the cult and found that I had no foundation to start with. It all crumbled away and left me feeling bereft. I lost the foundation because I couldn't find anyone who could give me evidence that the Bible was real and not just a made-up story. But I found my belief by learning about religion, science, and listening to myself when my instincts said, 'Whoa... that is it!"

123

Message from Designer Stubble to the former JWR members

by Designer Stubble in

jw
friends

message from designer stubble to the former jwr members.

first of all i am glad to see that many of you have found your way to this great forum, facilitated by simon.

i am sure that after the dust of the jwr shutdown has settled, you will find this to be a good new home.. i would like to apologize for the sudden closure of jwr.

jwundubbed

If anyone were to start a forum with a focus on support and recovery, I would be interested in helping moderate. That is all I can offer but I have plenty of time and energy for something I feel passionate about. I would have eventually offered to mod or help out at JWR.

For now, I think my feelings on the matter of the other group are getting closer and closer to closure. One positive point to a sudden and definite ending is that all you can do is learn to accept it. It takes time, but it can happen... sometimes in a shorter amount of time than with a longer shut down process.

For now, I begin the process of getting to know JWD and figure out what I can offer here. I am very glad to see many of the posters from that other site as it is the community which I feel the greatest loss of. I really fell in love with that community. I'm sure, especially after seeing so much support from Simon and the members here, that I will shortly find that I fit in here just as well.

26

Do you still believe in the concept of absolute truth?

by JW_Rogue in

jws very much believe that there is an absolute truth and of course, they are the only ones who have it lol.

how about now though do you still believe that absolute truths exist?

or is everything subjective?

jwundubbed

I believe that 'truth' is subjective. There are facts but how we view facts can take them from accurate to subjective very quickly. I like this actually, it means that we can constantly see the world, analyze the past, and envision the future, and figure in our part in all of that from different perspectives. It helps us grow as people.

39

"how awful it must be to be dying as an apostate!"

by purrpurr in

jw
friends

i heard today about a former jw/now apostate who is dying in hospital.

this information was accompanied by the comment of "wouldn't be awful to be lying there in hospital,dying as an apostate!

knowing that you have no hope!?

jwundubbed

How awful it must be to be dying.... I know that in some sense we all are heading that way, but to know it is coming and have little to do but wait for it. I don't think it really matters what you are or what you believe at that point, in terms of how sad and difficult it is to face your own death.

17

Father's Day is tomorrow (in the US). Why is it wrong?

by leaving_quietly in

i did an examination of the one single article ever to address father's day since it's tomorrow here in the us.

the article covers both mother's day and father's day.

hope it's informative.. examination of “mother and father worship unscriptural”, the only article ever to address father’s day in any publication printed by the watchtower bible and tract society.

jwundubbed

I looked up the definition of 'honour'. Most dictionaries relate the word to mean 'respect, hold in great esteem'. There was one tiny little reference to it being used to mean 'to worship'. My guess would be that possibly in the 50's more people were familiar with the term as a definition synonymous with 'worship' or that regardless of the era the GB chose to define 'hounour' as 'worship'.

That is one of their tricks in writing these articles. They take words that have many meanings (or even just a single meaning) and define those words in very specific ways to suit their own purposes. It is actually often very subtle when they do it so that you would be hard pressed to point out the moment at which they have altered the English language (or any other language for that matter) to suit their desires.

52

JWR usernames list

by StarryNight9 in

jw
friends

i created this thread so that jwr members can list their old jwr username with their username for whatever site they've moved to.

i apologize if this has already been created somewhere else.. jwr = starrynight.

jwd = starrynight9.

jwundubbed

jwundubbed (JWR)

12

WT on Discipline

by ttdtt in

the watchtower has always been deceptive in that it kinda says what sounds right - but what it really means is obvious to the rank and file.like in the x-files when the gov keeping "plausible denial" at all times.. this month highlights an article to help parents - "teaching children to obey".. https://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/g201505/teach-children-obedience-bible/.

first off that phrase offends me - i know the wt feels children are "arrows" for fathers to aim, and not people who are to be nurtured to become their own unique person making choices that are right for them when they mature.

and - they love the word obey!

jwundubbed

Violence is never appropriate in any household.
Hitting kids is not discipline.

I don't mean to be annoying or offensive but your words are just as unclear as the ones you are pointing out from the Watchtower. You have effectively equated 'hitting' with violence. What do you mean by 'hitting'? Slapping a wrist, spanking a bottom, slapping with an open hand, slapping a face with an open hand, punching with a closed fist. These are all examples that can be considered 'hitting'. Each and every one of these things can be violent or non-violent. It all depends on the ability of the person doing the hitting, the emotion they are doing the hitting with, the purpose of hitting, how forceful they are at hitting, and the intention behind their hitting. Karate can be violent or it can be a disciplined activity. I once hauled back and hit my elder sister across her chin with my closed fist. I intended violence but my ability was laughable. And she did. She laughed right in my face at my pathetic attempt. It was so frustrating. Then there is my mother who was a firm believer in humiliation and pain through spankings, many of which were done in the back of a Kingdom Hall. She hit in anger, she hit to hurt, and she hit to humiliate.

But spanking is not always done violently nor out of anger. And in point of fact some hitting is discipline. If you smack a child's hand to keep them from touching the hot stove you have given them proof that pain is what they get for trying while at the same time you have kept them from being hurt and harmed even more by the hot stove. Not all hitting is bad. Sometimes it can be discipline but the intent has to be to teach and to guide so that children can then make wiser choices on their own.

Jehovah's witnesses are intent on mindless control, and most often hit out of anger... or that has been my experience of them. One cannot discipline others if one first does not know how to discipline themselves. JWs hit out of anger at the child and anger at their circumstance/situation and as a lack of control in themselves. They spank at the back of the hall, less often because the child isn't minding them and more often because they are getting peer pressure from the group to do so.

Spanking a child with a wooden spoon or a brush is distinctively different from giving a child a mild swap with an open hand... or even of striking them with a rod. Those are two ends of a very large spectrum; mild open hand vs rod. And children do die of being stricken with a rod, especially if the child is hit where internal damage can happen.

If you changed that title to 'teach children to conform' I think it would be much the same thing.

36

Warwick, Queensland, Australia: Elders covered up rape of young girl

by wifibandit in

http://www.warwickdailynews.com.au/news/church-elders-covered-rape-young-girl/3047470/.

and archived forever via the wayback machine.

.

jwundubbed

In sentencing Harvey, Mr Andrews told him he had taken into consideration the fact he had already been punished by the church and through the breakdown of his marriage.
"And I take in to account also your good prospects of good rehabilitation, which seem to be demonstrated by your willingness to admit these things, and your lack of offending in the long period since this offence."

After the ARC report it is amazing that a judge would consider church punishment through the JWs to be in any way valid. This is sick. I feel so bad for that poor girl. He got a two year reduced sentence for the rape of a child!!! Terrible!