Posts by Swan

12

An old friend came by last night.....

by Vitameatavegamin in

jw
friends

hello friends!

my husband and i have this friend we have known for probably 17 years or more.

he was an elder for many years but stepped down .

Swan

Dear Vita,

I'm only a couple hours north of you in Salem. I know of three cases of pedophiles in the congregations in this area. One of them used to be an elder. The other two were MS at the time, if I recollect properly. Being people of good standing in the congregation does not mean they are in the eyes of the law or society by any means. On the other hand, other people of good standing, like your friend, are getting fed up by the corruption going on. So I am not surprised by what your friend discovered.

Actually, I am quite glad he is having big problems with his faith, because some of our best apostates are former elders. I know it sure knocked my socks off to find out that Venice and her parents were apostates. I never would have ever imagined that having known them from before and the "theocratic example" they set. The contrast just goes to show you that there is something drastically wrong with the WTBTS. Their best and brightest are slipping through their fingers due to their horrible policies.

Tammy

31

Let's welcome my new friend---anyavnclv

by Jesika in

jw
friends

.

i met her on another site, i won't say where but i just wanted everyone to say hi.. welcome anyavnclv.

Swan

t

WELCOME Anyavnclv! t

4

The Twilight Zone

by Swan in

jw
friends

tonight on the new and updated twilight zone on upn they had an episode that reminded me of what it was like to be in a cult.

it was about a teenage girl whose parents moved her and her sister into a gated community separated from the outside world.

everyone was forced to dress the same.

Swan

Tonight on the new and updated Twilight Zone on UPN they had an episode that reminded me of what it was like to be in a cult. Did anyone see it? It was about a teenage girl whose parents moved her and her sister into a gated community separated from the outside world. Everyone was forced to dress the same. All tattoo's, piercings, etc. were removed. There also was no escape except for permanent expulsion (I don't want to give away the ending in case you haven't seen it and want to catch the repeat).

If you did see it, didn't it make you think of the JWs? It sure made me think about them. The parallels were uncanny and kind of spooky.

Tammy

21

I'm Upset and Annoyed

by Scully in

jw
friends

my brother (raised a jw, never baptized, not a jw at all) and i were talking this morning, and he informed me that our grandmother - our last living grandparent - is very ill. it sounds as though she will die soon, because she stopped taking her insulin and all other medications.

my mother informed my brother after receiving a phone call from her brother/my uncle.. i'm the only one of my siblings who was not informed directly by our mother.

out of all my siblings, i'm the only one who was baptized as a jw and then left, so i'm thinking this is par for the course with being shunned, although my grandmother was never a jw herself.

Swan

Scully,

I'm sorry about your granny's illness. You might want to try what I did recently. It seemed to work in that I was recently contacted to inform me of my niece's death and my mother's illness.

First, the background. They told me my grandfather died back in 1996, but no contact since. Then found out I had about 10 aunts and uncles that died that they never told me about. I was pissed! I found this out through the Internet doing a search on Social Security records.

Since they are so good at following JW rules, I thought I would use this to my advantage. I wrote the following in my letter to them.

At one time my mother left me a message when my grandfather died, but I have had no news since then. This past week I have learned about some things that I feel I should have been told of, but I was not. According to your latest rules in this regard (Kingdom Ministry insert, August 2002) family business is an appropriate circumstance for communication.

So I basically chastised them for not following all of the JW rules. They were picking and choosing which rules to follow, so I called them on it. It worked, apparently. We'll see if it continues.

You may want to try this, Scully. I present it to you for what it's worth.

Kind regards,

Tammy

26

Reflections...musings......thank you

by VeniceIT in

jw
friends

after dinner with trotafox tonight i drove home through ft lauderdale on a1a.

i had forgotten how much i love this stretch of road.

just driving it with all the people out and the clubs on your left, live music, people dancing and having fun, and then 30 ft or so to your right is the great atlantic ocean.

Swan

Dear Venice,

You wrote:

When I was a JW I'd been hurt very deeply when I was 14. This pain was very intense emotionally and I didn't know how to deal with it. I'd always been the strong one, my nickname as a little kid had been Rocky. And suddenly I was in desperate need of help and didn't have anyone I could turn to, so I turn inside. I put up a protective wall around me that I wouldn't let anyone in, I wasn't gonna get hurt again. I lived like this for several years, being numb not wanting to feel anything. I had just started to come out of this and know what it was like to love and trust people again with my feelings, and emotions.

(((((Rochelle)))))

You have been through so much and are an encouragement to us all. I sensed your pain when I knew you way back then. I have also read the pain in your posts, the heartbreak, the hurt. I don't know the details of your hurt, but I have seen the effects of it. You have often masked it in the form of humor, but it is there for those perceptive enough to see it. I'm so sorry for the pain and the hurt they have caused you. They stripped your whole life from you by telling you it was real and then you found out it wasn't. It hurts terribly to know that your whole world view for your whole life was a facade.

But you have come a long way baby! You are getting clear of all of the entanglements. They have tied us up all of our lives not with one strong rope, but with countless little strings which we must untangle, unknot, and break. Many of these are strings that our own friends and relatives have bound us with, and those are often the most difficult to break free of. You are doing it though. You can see it in your posts. You are making it girl! You are an inspiration to me and many others on this board!

THANK YOU!

Tammy

5

"Alternative Military Service" Change???

by poohbear1962 in

jw
friends

can anyone tell me when and where the society changed their position on "alternative military service" (i.e.

service as an alternative to military service related to the draft)??

was it snuck into a watchtower magazine??

Swan

I think Mexico had this policy 20 or 30 years prior to this. Elsewhere they call it bribery.

Tammy

13

Just a thought, would like input on it please

by Jesika in

jw
friends

i was cleaning the house and since our roommate works 3rd shift i have to do this quietly since he sleeps during the day.

i can't have the radio blasting or the tv on really loud so i clean in silence, which tends to make the mind wonder.. here was my thought, might be dumb but here goes------------.

the "great tribulation".

Swan

I remember something about "touching the apple of his eye." The prophecies said that when they attacked other religions (the Catholic priests?) it would be a signal of the time of the end. Then, when they turned and attacked the JWs and began persecuting them (by asking them questions they can't answer on the evening news), then the end would come. It would be like someone touching God's eye and he would consider it a personal attack and begin Armageddon.

If this is the persecution they spoke about, it is interesting that God would destroy the whole world because they were attacking his people for protecting pedophiles! Yeah, right, gimme a break!

Tammy

38

THE SOPRANOS-----THE BEST SHOW ON TV

by minimus in

jw
friends

.

tonight starts the 1st episode of the new season!

you betta watch it, or else!.....if any of you enjoy this show, please express your thoughts about this great series.

Swan

I loved the part about the World Trade Center being predicted by Quasimodo! That guy is such a dumb f#&k! How he ever got promoted...

Notre Dame, Nostradamus!

Hunchback, fullback, quarterback!

Sure it's easy to get confused! LOL!

Tammy

28

Serious Pet Peeves

by patio34 in

don't mean to be gripey, but would like to vent about two observations i've made lately:.

1) a mother whose child wouldn't follow her soon enough at the grocery store.

she said "okay, goodbye!

Swan

Pat, you wrote:

A mother whose child wouldn't follow her soon enough at the grocery store. She said "Okay, goodbye!" My point is what is she thinking? Children are helpless individuals who feel insecure enough. How can any parent threaten a child with abandonment??!!?

Did you ever stop and think she might be a JW? Just kidding. Seriously, I agree. It is a form of verbal abuse to threaten children with abandonment. I have had abondonment issues all my life growing up a Dub. I just didn't recognize them until I got into therapy. As far as the store incident, I think this is a very cruel way of punishing a child with much shorter legs than the parent. Parents are supposed to be the patient ones. Their love is supposed to be unconditional. It's very sad.

Tammy

41

A complex question who of you knows the answer?

by MARTINLEYSHON in

jw
friends

if baptism washes away your sins, as taught by jws, what prevents a disfellowshiped person who has moved to a new area and is not known in that area in attending meetings as an interested person and getting baptised within 6 months.. has anyone ever done that?

if so can the person be disfellowshipped a second time?

what would be his status.

Swan

When I was very young I was taught that baptism was the washing away of sins. Then about 1967 I was told that it was about dedicating your life to Jehovah, not washing away your sins. I don't know when exactly this changed, but I think the washing away of sins must have been old light. Like I said, I was rather young at the time this happened and didn't really understand. This is also about the time that the book "Your Word is a Lamp to my Foot" came out for "dedicated" people.

I was a bit too young to understand all of it at that time. Some of their concepts were so complicated for young children to understand, and then once you figured it out, new light that was equally complex came out. Growing up, I never could understand why "The Truth" was so complicated. Shouldn't it be simple, like light? If you are in a dark cave and someone comes along and offers you a lamp, what difference does it make if the lamp is old or new? Light is light. There is no new light or old light. Just another inconsistancy I had problems understanding.

Does anyone else remember this?

Tammy