Posts by Funchback

i was talking to my dad this weekend and he mentioned that the jws in his congregation and others were planning to rent out a park pavilion and throw a party for a guy to cheer him up because he's been pretty sad after his wife died a few months ago.. first thought was, after hearing all the stories about how cold and heartless the jws can be, here was one example of them seeming to show some genuine concern.. of course, not to let them off the hook entirely, this guy was pretty well known.

i've been away from it for a while and he wasn't part of our hall so i don't remember his resume all that well, but i'm certain he was an elder and i think has at least a couple of sons who are elders and i think he played a big role in helping run conventions.

your average non-ms, non-elder, isn't very likely to get a pavilion full of friends.. i give them credit for showing concern, but there are a lot of people who also need help and fall through the cracks.

Funchback

Wake me when they do this very same thing to a man in the same exact situation EXCEPT that he's disfellowshipped.

I suppose I might as well change my name to Rip Van Winkle.

19

The Teenage Years - Brian is Gettin' Out of Dubdom! Part FOUR

by Funchback in

part i:

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/7/58849/1.ashx .

part ii: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/7/58890/1.ashx.

Funchback

Part I: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/7/58849/1.ashx

Part II: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/7/58890/1.ashx

Part III: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/7/58975/1.ashx

Hi, all. Thanks for keeping up, and having patience with, my experience. This was originally posted on 3/27/2002.

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For my first 9 years of life, I never experienced the death of a loved one. I also never experienced the birth of a sibling. However, both would come within days of each other. (I must say that my mom's dad died during my very early years but I don't recall the details).

My grandfather (my dad's dad) was dying from Prostate cancer and my mother was about to give birth. My baby brother was born on January 26, 1980 and my grandfather died within a couple of days after Baby Bro's birth. As much as I adored my grandfather, I never shed a tear for him. I don't know why. That's just the way it is.

One year later, my aunt died of Ovarian cancer at the young age of 34. Her memorial was held in a 4-H Club building. An elder from my first Congregation gave the talk even though my aunt was not a JW and she wasn't even studying. My mom asked him to give the talk. I guess this shows how much my mom was progressing as a JW. I wish I could give you the details of his outline but I don't remember them.

Is That a Hair On My Chin?

Here is a summation of my life up until I hit puberty: I had...Big, curly hair. Wide open green eyes. Lots of schoolyard fights. Older sister, older brother, younger brother. Intimidating dad. Loving mom. JW friends. Non-JW friends. I never had a girlfriend. I never even kissed a girl. I got hit on by a JW boy named Chris. Go figure...

Then, the Summer of 1983 arrived. I graduated from the 8th grade. The Sixers won the NBA Championship. I grew a hair on my chin. And I had my first kiss. There was a girl who lived across the street from me. I had known her all my life. It was a beautiful Summer evening and the sun was setting. We were hiding behind a big tree in front of my house and we kissed. She was no prize in the 'looks' department, but neither was I. It felt like it lasted 5 minutes when it probably only lasted 10 seconds. I was becoming a man.

I'm a JW. No, I'm Not. Yes, I Am...

Here I am, a teenager. I will begin going to high school in the Fall of 1983. Girls are beginning to notice me. I have so many so-called worldly friends. Now isn't the time to get baptized. Or is it? See, the JW's used to preach that you must be baptized in order to survive Armageddon. This Great War was supposed to be coming any day now. Crap! I don't wanna die! I better think seriously about getting baptized.

In 1982, my sister (known on this board as 'Nikita') was baptized (I think that is the year she got baptized. Maybe it was 1983). In 1983, my mom was baptized (I clearly remember because she had a big towel that had the word 'DISCO' on it. Up close, the towel just looked like it had a design on it. However, from the stadium seats, that towel said, 'DISCO'!!! We were laughing at my mom as she was walking to the pool! LOL!)

Anyway, now my mom and sister are baptized and I've already studied My Book of Bible Stories and the Youth book. Should I also get baptized? My older brother was in college in another state. The 'truth' hadn't yet set in his heart. Then, I found out that badwillie and two other guys from my congregation were going to get baptized at the District Convention in 1984. That was what made up my mind. I got baptized, not because I felt like I wanted to dedicate my life to Jehovah, but rather because I didn't want to die at Armageddon AND my friends were getting baptized. Fear and pressure were the only factors involved in this major decision.

1984

I did it. I got baptized. It poured rain that day AND the convention was being held in an outdoor horse racetrack! Sigh...
Now, I could rest easy. Jehovah won't destroy me at Armageddon now...as long as I don't sin. Crap! I'm going through puberty and my hormones are raging. I'm becoming quite handsome (so I was told...hahahahaha!) and I loved girls. I am now in high school and I have a 'worldly' girlfriend and I'm baptized. Talk about dilema's! What's a boy to do?

No, I'm NOT a JW...

1984/1985, my mom and my sister drift away from being JW's. I reasoned, 'If they're not going to go, I'm not going to , either!'. By the time the Summer of 1985 comes, we had all stopped going. My pioneer sister is now an inactive JW young adult dating young, 'worldly' men. My mom is participating in holiday celebrations. All of these changes within three years of all of us getting baptized. How? Why? It's just the way it is.

Let The Partying Begin!

My teenage life revolved around girls, partying, hanging out, and having fun! I even hung out with Will Smith and Jazzy Jeff. They used to MC and DJ all the parties that were held at Central High School in Philly. I would meet a girl at a party and we would be kissing right there in the middle of the dance floor. Two strangers who were bold. This happened quite frequently. (Now, the women would probably run away!!!)

I would have a steady girlfriend usually all the time. Even though this was the case, I had a female friend who was one of my best friends. Strangely, even though this friend had a boyfriend and I had a girlfriend, we would get together nearly every weekend and 'make out'. No guilt was involved. We had that kind of relationship. I'm still in contact with her to this very day (although we have our emotions under control, now!). There is a reason why I'm sharing all of this with you. LURKERS, take note...

My Second Negative JW Experience...

Coming very SOON!

30

I'm leaving this forum

by proplog2 in

i've left before but this time i'm through.. i don't have anything against simon.

i think he runs one of the best boards of this sort.

i guess i'm just bored with talking about jw's.. i'm cured.. .

Funchback

Good bye, good luck! Don't be a stranger.

24

Which Rules? Your Head or Your Heart?

by Frannie Banannie in

jw
friends

.

bet yall don't know which of the body members rules the body....and why..... cheers!.

frannie b

Funchback

Actually, my stomach rules.

9

Brian is Finally Out - Part III - The Early Years Are Over

by Funchback in

part i:

http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/7/58849/1.ashx

part ii:

Funchback

Part I: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/7/58849/1.ashx

Part II: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/7/58890/1.ashx

Thanks to all who have shown an interest in my story. Again, I hope it helps all of you who are in a similar situation that I was in only a few weeks ago. It's been a long journey and my story is about half-way through. By the way, there was poster on here named DIAMOND who seemed to be in a parallel situation as me. Anyone know what happened to him?

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The reason why I wanted to be a protector for my little brother was because of what happened to me and my older brother when we were kids.
You see, we had a cousin (about 5 years older than me) who was abusive toward me and my older brother (4 years older than me). This cousin was not a JW, by the way. Fortunately, I was never sexually abused by him (or anyone else). However, there is a strong possibilty he may have sexually abused my older brother (he definitely was very physically abusive toward my older brother. Unfortunately, my older brother (now an Elder) refuses to give details about what happened to him.

Learning To Be a Witness

I actually got used to not celebrating birthdays and holidays. The only thing difficult was explaining to my peers why I didn't get any gifts. You know the standard JW response: "We give gifts all year round. We don't need a designated day to give gifts."

Remember that family that was mentioned in Part One? They moved to the Poconos, remember? Well, it turns out that they were JW's. So, whenever we'd visit them, we'd go to their Kingdom Hall for the meetings. Oddly, this family didn't really "act" like most JW's. The father cursed frequently. The oldest of the ten children (a female) married a hippie-type. The oldest boy (there were two boys and 8 girls) was in a rock band. They didn't go to the meetings regularly if I recall correctly. Still, I loved that family. I think they live in Arizona now.

My first congregation was two blocks away. For whatever reason, my mom decided to go to a suburban congregation (about a seven minute drive from the house) after being at the first congregation for only a few months. This is where I met badwillie. He and I became great friends really fast. He was my "good" association. We have a comical chemistry that is matched by very few.

One day, at the age of 10 or 11, my family visited my original congregation. It was there that I ran into a former schoolmate. His name was Chris. I was so happy to see that there were actually other kids that I knew growing up who were also JW's! Chris and his mom invited me to go to Great Adventure (Six Flags). Yipeee!!!

The First Negative JW Experience

I go to Chris' house and spend the night (because early the next morning we were to go to Great Adventure). That night, Chris asks me what I would like to do (keep in mind were both only 10 or 11). I said, "Whatever." He asks me if I want to wrestle. I wasn't a wrestling fan but I said, "Okay". He excuses himself before we begin to wrestle. About two minutes later he returns. He is buck-naked with the exception of a sheer silk curtain wrapped around his waist! I said, "I don't want to wrestle!" He got dressed and we both never uttered a word about what happened. I just found out at my last Circuit Assembly from the woman who studied with my mom that Chris is a practicing homosexual. I can vouch that he had those tendancies AT LEAST as early as the age of 10.

BRIBES

I hated field service (still do)! But, one especially nice elder took great interest in me. He was a very sincere and caring man. Almost every Saturday I asked to work with him. Why? Because he would always take me to Friendly's afterward (it's a restaurant that specializes in ice cream!). Yes, service equated to food and fun afterward. As an adult, I used this same tactic with young ones in my congregation. Not to bribe them to go out in service, rather so that they can have fun and so that they and I wouldn't have to go door-to-door for two hours. ("11 o'clock is here. Who wants to go to Friendly's???")

My First Bible Reading

Being a kid, I never studied for the meetings. I was never prepared. Yet, they encouraged me to join the school. The Friendly's elder wrote out my entire talk for me. I practiced it over and over again. When the time came to give the talk, I was confident yet nervous. I went up on stage and did a pretty good job. The brother ended up counseling me, though, because I was chewing gum the entire time. I didn't even realize it. So much for encouragement. I ended up getting teased by my friends and adults alike. Going forward, I never chewed gum and gave a talk at the same time again! However, Friendly's elder would write my talks for me for my next several talks. I think he did this because my mom wasn't inculcating good study habits in me. The elder must have realized that if he didn't write the talks out for me then I'd never give a talk. When I was a young adult, I asked him why he would write my talks out for me. He said he was only giving me an outline of what to say. I told him I read his talks verbatim when I delivered them. Eventually, I learned how to write my own talks! LOL!

Tomorrow, Deaths of Loved Ones

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9

Brian's Exodus from the JWs - Part TWO

by Funchback in

part i is here: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/7/58849/1.ashx

again, this is a re-post from march 2002. however, i have some exciting updates that will be revealed within a few days!

my mom was studying with a woman named cheryl who lived around the corner from us.

Funchback

Part I is here: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/7/58849/1.ashx

Again, this is a re-post from March 2002. However, I have some exciting updates that will be revealed within a few days!

My mom was studying with a woman named Cheryl who lived around the corner from us. Cheryl's daughter was the same age as me. Her name was Jennifer. Jennifer studied with me out of the 'My Book Of Bible Stories'. I didn't view it as a study, though. After each chapter we would act the parts out. It was kind of fun. Jennifer and I never became good friends but she was nice.

Dilema's

As my mom and sister started to really get into being JW's, my life slowly began to change. We now only semi-celebrated the holidays.

My last celebrated birthday has arrived. I was under the impression that I was no longer going to be celebrating my birthday. For an unknown reason, many kids from my neighborhood were hanging around with me outside of my house. My mom called me and my friends inside. To my total surprise (and my friends were all in on this!!!) my mother had a birthday party for me! I remember she had an ice cream cake (mint chocolate chip) and I also remember she handed out packs of Fruit Stripe gum. Amazingly, I can't remember what gifts I received.

The dilema's that I would face came from me wanting to celebrate holiday's and not being able to, having to make new friends and ending existing friendships, knocking on the doors of strangers with strangers and not wanting to, and, lastly, believing that I would never make it to the age of 16 because of this imminent Armageddon thing.

About My Dad...

My dad wasn't thrilled about us (me, mom, sister, and older brother) studying with JW's. However, he didn't strongly oppose. My dad used to smoke 2 to 3 packs of cigarettes a day. He was an intimidating man. He looked a little like a better looking Andre the Giant. He never beat us. He rarely spanked us. He could simply give us a look or a yell and we would behave like angels!

Ironically, my dad studied with the Witnesses when he was a teen. He gave talks and even helped build a Hall on Broad Street in North Philadelphia. He had some doubts about it being the 'truth' so he never got baptized. His best friend, a JW, cut his ties with my dad when my dad din't progress as a JW. This bothered my dad for many years to come. More irony, today (2002) this 'best friend' of my dad's has been DF'd for years.

Not Sticking To The Rules

Surprisingly, my mom didn't force me to end my associations with my non-JW friends. I was able to hang out with them, sleep over their house, play games, etc. Perhaps my dad had something to do with this, I really don't know. At the same time, I made new friends at the Hall. Happily, badwillie and I became great (best?) friends.

At the hall, I was Biggs the JW kid. At home with my non-JW friends I was just as 'worldly' as the next kid (minus the celebrating of holidays and birthdays). I even used profanity. I also used to sneak out on Halloween and go trick or treating! :o)

Fight The Power

Being extremely light-skinned, I was the target of a lot of bullying. Sometimes I had to fight 5 kids at once. Sometimes I'd win the fights, sometimes I'd lose. Either way, we always made up within minutes after the fight.

A few months after I turned 9, my mom and dad told us that they were expecting another child. I wanted a baby sister in the worst way but we had to settle for a boy.

I loved being a big brother. I changed diapers, gave baths, did some feeding (using a bottle!), and babysat. I vowed to never allow my baby bro to get picked on. I was going to be his protector!

Why the need for a protector?

Soon you will learn the answer to this question.

23

My Name is Brian and I'm OFFICIALLY an Ex-JW - Part I

by Funchback in

i have major updates on my progress of leaving the jw religion.

for those of you who are at a point in your life where i was a year and a half ago, i hope my story helps.

first, though, i have a request for simon: i have e-mailed this request two you at least twice in the past and i have asked you publicly on this forum this request: please, please, please merge my old posting names of 'mister biggs' and 'mister 8iggs' with 'funchback'.

Funchback

To all who have asked: As soon as I'm allowed to start a new thread I will give you Part 2.

DIM- You will just hafta wait and see what my status is.

23

My Name is Brian and I'm OFFICIALLY an Ex-JW - Part I

by Funchback in

i have major updates on my progress of leaving the jw religion.

for those of you who are at a point in your life where i was a year and a half ago, i hope my story helps.

first, though, i have a request for simon: i have e-mailed this request two you at least twice in the past and i have asked you publicly on this forum this request: please, please, please merge my old posting names of 'mister biggs' and 'mister 8iggs' with 'funchback'.

Funchback

Just an FYI...

I am NOT the one sitting on my sister's lap in that photo. I'm the one on the right!