over a 100 years ago there lived a poor mexican pedro.
one day his son left the the barn door open, his only horse {his chief sourse of income} got out.
everyone said "poor pedro you are in big trouble now!
I remember being held under water in a renovated movie theatre in front of a crowd of people- Simon
Ah Simon,
"could be good, could be bad"---if it wasn't for that day of dunking, you probably wouldn't be here today helping so many people.
Wick
Always Good Class lol
"God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh." ~Voltaire
hi simon, firstly i would like to say thank you for allowing us to post on here, its been a real eye opener for me to see that there are other people out in the world like me, that we are not the freaks after all, when i first got disfellowshipped i thought it was a terrible thing, that i was leaving the truth, now, after spending around a month on here i can see i never was in the truth, so thank you for letting me see that.. also can i say its refreshing to see someone admit when they make a mistake, like you did in the thread by sf, thank you for not being too proud to listen.
Thanks!!!!!
"God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh." ~Voltaire
it's been just over a year and almost four hundred posts ago that i first hooked up with this board.
i have enjoyed reading posts from nearly all of you, but in particular: maximus, amazing, tr, and jt.
the time has come for me to take a break and devote time to other things.
Skimmer
Head into the light!
LOVE U
Wick
"God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh." ~Voltaire
http://oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/front_page/101671540232151251.xml.
shunning in spotlight .
wendy y. lawton .
SW, Girl, I am sitting here in tears right now. After all these years knowing you, I still feel the pain you have inside.
I truely wish I were right there beside you to give you the biggest hug you ever had. I know you need one from someone who loves you for the person you are, and I do, I really do.Shari
Shari, Thank You! I love you too! If only every JW who has been Disfellowshipped, Shunned, thrown away by people they thought "loved" them could feel that hug too....maybe life wouldn't feel so dark.
We as EX-Witnesses need to start practicing unconditional love....even if it was never shown to us.
...maybe we can have some small part in saving a life from suicide.
only you fried-day, (that's "yad-deirf" in your bass-ackwards prose).
would try to mess up someone's birthday with a rotten post.. i speak of yesterday - gwen's (somebody) birthday.. you're about as much fun as a rained-on potato chip!.
party poop!.
I'm glad you guys made a seperate thread to duke it out with Yardif. He obviously has only one intent on this board and that is to step in front of the light we are shining on the WTB&TS. I really hope that whenever he hijacks another thread you resurrect this one and "give it to him" here. Responding to Yardif on threads that have real meaning...threads that other JWs and the world are watching, only put you in his same category.
my 2 cents
i was talking to one of my brother-in-laws about his time in bethel.
he put in about 5 years.. anyway, i mentioned the post about lyman calling the new black brother "nigger", and he also said that it did not surprise him.. but what i found even funnier was the experience he had with dan.
dan sydlik had been staying at the bossert hotel while his apartment was getting renovated.
How to Take a Punch
Take a Blow to the Body
1. Tighten your stomach muscles.
A body blow to the gut (solar plexus) can damage organs and kill. This sort of punch is one of the best and easiest ways to knock someone out. (Harry Houdini was killed by an unexpected blow to the abdomen.)
2. Do not suck in your stomach if you expect that a punch is imminent.
3. If possible, shift slightly so that the blow hits your side, but do not flinch or move away from the punch.
Try to absorb the blow with your obliques this is the set of muscles on your side that wraps around your ribs. While a blow to this area may crack a rib, it is less likely to do damage to internal organs.
"God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh." ~Voltaire
http://oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/front_page/101671540232151251.xml.
shunning in spotlight .
wendy y. lawton .
I was moved to write a letter of thanks to Ms. Lawton for publishing this article. I hope that more newspapers across the Country will pick it up. Shunning is a devastating practice. I wish people could understand how much this high control JW religion effects people's lives. I only wish it didn't have to take such horrific tragedies as the Bryant family's to make them aware enough to publish something on the subject.
Subj: THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!!!
Date: 3/21/2002 2:23:07 PM Central Standard Time
From: Smoldering Wick
To: [email protected]
Dear Wendy:I sit here with tears streaming down my face. I am completely overcome by your words that I have just read on my monitor.
I truly hope your article "Shunning in spotlight" will touch & change many, many lives.
I am a 3rd generation Jehovah's Witness. I was baptized at age 9. For 33 years, I lived the life of a good JW...until one day when I doubted their beliefs. I am not disfellowshipped nor have I officially disassociated myself from the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society, but, I am shunned nonetheless. I am, according to the JWs, "Not an Approved Associate." The rumors that spread in my community as to why I stopped being a Jehovah's Witness ranged anywhere from me being Demon Possessed, Mentally Insane or just plain Wicked. (Capitals mine, as they are titles given me to wear by my former friends)
The reason I am not officially Disfellowshipped is that when I was asked by the Congregation Elders the dreaded "Apostate" question: "Do you feel that The Watchtower Bible & Tract Society otherwise known as Jehovah's Witnesses are God's chosen mouthpiece/channel to dispense spiritual food to the world?" This is a tricky question, if you answer "NO" to it, you are immediately Disfellowshipped & shunned. If you answer "YES" to it (and it's a lie) you are forced into hiding. You will never be free from their watchful eye. They will continue to "monitor" you through Shepherding Visits and expect your return. If you remain in your hometown but do not return to their fold, other witnesses will watch you and report to the elders if they ever see an infraction on your part (i.e. if you hang up Christmas lights, donate blood, talk to former JWs) and then you will be immediately Disfellowshipped.
Although, I was able to get away with not giving them a Yes or No answer...I have remained in hiding for the past Four years. When I am not in hiding, I am usually forgotten, or shunned. All of my life-long friends have since forgotten me, as if I never existed. If I occasionally see a former friend at the mall or grocery store...some will pretend they didn't see me, others will give me a half smile and walk on. If they do stop to talk to me, it is merely a necessary evil...to try and "encourage" me to return to the JWs. And to think we were always taught to not give in to peer pressure!
The story you wrote about Robert Bryant is indeed tragic, however I do not think it is isolated. I myself know of three suicides in my area by JWs who were being shunned at the time.
One story which took place in 1991 is about a well respected man I knew quite well, his wife and three children. This man, a JW apparently had an affair and was about to be Disfellowshipped by our JW congregation. The idea of his affair being made public to the congregation and being Disfellowshipped threw the man into a deep depression. His guilt was too much to take. He told his wife he was so sorry and wanted to die. He told the elders he was so sorry wanted to die. The elders made a few visits to 'check' on him...but, a few days later he sat on the floor of his Music Store and blew his brains out.
Another young man (17 years old) in our congregation who's mother had started studying with Jehovah's Witnesses and attending our Kingdom Hall could not conform to his mother's new religion. He tried. He gave up all his friends, smoking cigarettes & pot, alcohol only for a short time. He went back to his friends. His mother was very disappointed in him, so was the congregation. As I sat at his funeral, staring at the picture of a young man on top of a closed casket...I tried to force myself not to think of the damage the rifle had done to his head.
The very sad thing about all of this for me...is that as a JW...I too have shunned. My best friend and sister-in-law called to tell me that the elders had found out about her affair, and she was going to be Disfellowshipped that evening at the meeting. This was her last phone call to me, her final good-bye. I did not cry. I told her matter-of-factly that I imagined her on the other side of my phone...hanging off of a cliff by her fingernails. I told her...when I hang up this phone, in my mind you will have fallen. You are dead.
My sister-in-law and best friend was dead for seven years. Even after she "returned to the fold" I considered her dead. It wasn't until a few years of me not being an active JW that I "resurrected" her in my life.
I'm not sure if you will even read my letter, and I am not expecting an answer. Just please know...it is people like you who will stop these needless suicides and the cruel acts of shunning. The more the world sees the horrible reality of shunning...the closer we are to doing away with it.
For me, I want the world to know that I am not demon possessed, I am not insane, I am not wicked, I don't deserved to be shunned...I am only guilty of one thing...I no longer think like a Jehovah's Witness.
With Heartfelt Thanks!
Smoldering Wick
See what other former JWs have said about your article so far:
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/forum/thread.asp?id=24048&site=3
To Blue:
I understand your anger. Yes, I did agree that the article did not paint an accurate picture. In regards to the following:
To get kicked out, baptized members must display a pattern of "serious un-Christian conduct," such as molestation, adultery, drinking or lying. Promoting teachings that conflict with the Bible also qualifies.There have been cases where people have been Disfellowshipped without the pattern of "serious un-Christian conduct," perhaps they weren't judged repentent enough by the elders. It was disturbing to me however, that Ms. Lawton mentioned "molestation" first in describing "serious un-Christian conduct"...when that has never been the Number One cause for Disfellowshipping. As far as drinking and lying goes...I will say that I knew many baptized members who displayed a pattern of "serious un-Christian conduct" of lying and drinking and were NEVER Disfellowshipped...perhaps it was because many of those were elders. I'd be curious to see the stats regarding Reasons for Disfellowshipping. My guess would be the two A's made the top 5...(Adultary & Apostasy)
hey all.
i just got home from the hospital earlier this evening, but i wanted to post a few pics of my lil man for you.
i can't believe he is finally here!
Henry Robin said:
Every baby needs a lap.
He should have finished it by saying:
Every Mommy needs a nap. lol
Your baby is adorable Wendy. So Sweet!
Congratulations,
Wick
"God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh." ~Voltaire
when i first came to this discussion board, i posted a thread called "brother where art thou?
" http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/forum/thread.asp?id=21053&site=3 in which i wrote a personal letter to my brother.
although, i have been away from the jws for about 4 years...i had just discovered that my older brother had also left the jws and was posting on this forum.
Way to go Smoldering Wick!
I'm glad that you and your brother got together again.cellomould
Thanks!!! cellomould ...me too!
"God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh." ~Voltaire
when you left the borg.... what things did you find hardest to do again ( or for the first time?)?.
was it celebrating the holidays for the first time, or talking to a "worldly person"?.
how long till it began to feel normal?
Trust Religion
Trust People
Visit a Church
Make Friends in RL
Regain Confidence
Move On/Forget
Things don't feel normal yet. It feels like I'm somewhere in the middle of being "worldly" & being a JW.
"God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh." ~Voltaire
