Posts by Sunspot

26

It's not the same to make NEW FRIENDS, I want to keep my OLD FRIENDS - Am I right?

by BonaFide in

jw
friends

i appreciate all the advice on here about making friends outside the organization.. i am making new friends, both at work and at school.. but it's not the same as old friends.. my old friends i grew up with.

i sometimes go to the movies with them, dumb movies.

like that night at the museum, smithsonian one.

Sunspot

I SO understand the part of your heart that longs for the years of freindships that you thought were your spiritual brothers and sisters....bonded forever from this life and into another one in a paradise on earth.

I developed many friendships like this living in three states and having been an active member in four different Kingdom Halls. I had also been the devoted, loyal and obedient WTS follower that had discarded all the friends I had from High School and ignored all the relatives that were not "following Jehovah" as I was directed to do.....so I had pretty much isolated myself to ONLY other WTS devotees by the time I decided the organization was a complete fraud.

Living in a very small town, and being disabled...."making friends" in the usual way presented many problems for me....and being 58 years of age when I walked away from the WTS, made it very difficult to not feel quite lonely. I was so blessed to have the internet not only to help me become aware that I had been sucked in by a cult, but also to find some of the greatest and most terrific former JW friends I could ever hope to meet...if only by email, mailing lists and EXJW forums.

As with anything else in life, you have to weigh the odds, see what works the best for you, and go for it. Volunteering for a worthy cause and doing for others....joining clubs that are hobby and interest-oriented, or visiting different churches that interest you will also help to find folks of like mind that you can feel comfortable being around. The rest should fall into place.

We have the freedom to choose what we want to do and the freedom to choose who we want to spend our time with....no longer bound to the ever-growing list of the cannots and the do nots that the GB keep thinking up every year to keep their cult followers busy in servitude to THEM and delivering THEIR literature.

We have been FREED from an evil and dangerous cult.....and with common sense and a feeling of anticipation....our lives and our choices are OURS!

hugs,

Annie

12

I Was Warmly Invited...

by Nosferatu in

jw
friends

....to get in my car, drive the one hour to selkirk, and attend the three day convention.

and what warmer way to be invited than to find a cheap piece of paper in my mailbox.

christ, when did they start printing stuff like this on bible paper?

Sunspot

For those people still left on the planet that have not heard of the WTS following nutcases that do not celebrate Christmas, Easter, birthdays and show their disdain of all governments by staying seated during the playing of national anthems of any country......it is ludicrous to imagine that these people have three entire days that they look forward to devoting to sitting in an auditorium, listening to boring speeches and symposiums on the benefits of becoming fellow WTS following nutcase.

24

How long will the WTBTS survive?

by Megachusen in

jw
friends

give it your best educated guess.

how long do you guys think it has left?.

personally, i think it has about 10 years before the org's leadership disolves and the religion splinters into hundreds of adorable little jw-like cults..

Sunspot

Sadly, I give it about 20 "good" years barring any major upheavals in the current (cough) form of today's leadership. Too many are wising up and walking away and the esteemed spiritual leaders will have to conjure something up to keep drawing new ones into the lair of deception.

12

Time to tell my whole story.

by LouBelle in

jw
friends

i've decided that i'm going to write about my life as a jw and how i broke free of the organisation.

i've approached a magazine with regards to doing a monthly story on my walk to freedom.

this is in no way meant as payback, but rather as a means to educate people about this faith and what it does to those trapped in.. i may be calling on some of you (if you don't mind) for clarification on doctrine as i have become a bit fuzzy as to what is what.

Sunspot

YOU GO GIRL!

hugs,

Annie

10

Sisters with unbelieving or DF'd mates

by lalaa in

jw
friends

my mother had left the truth for 4 years in the early 90's.

when she came back she was already remarried.

he started to study and got baptized.

Sunspot

In July 1972 I was baptized. My husband walked out during the Oct assembly because he felt I had wrapped my entiire life around the WTS pursuits and JW friends...which I indeed had done. He came back two weeks later and agreed to "study".

Things were looking up for us all...."the friends" were at our coming and going from our home all the time, and inviting us to all the get-togethers, etc. Everything was coming together nicely. Our five kids had many new friends and invites to overnights, roller-skating parties and so forth.

Comes the day to hubby to be baptized at the convention in Pittsburgh PA....he got as far as the door and balked. He just could not go through with it and be able to live with himself. He did not like the WTS lifestyle, all the meetings and being expected to deliver WTS literature for the rest of his life.

I was devastated, hurt and disappointed. When we got back home to New England, "the friends" were told about hubby's decision and the BIG hurt began.These "friends" stopped visiting ME and the friend's children all dropped my kids as if they had the plague. Support and caring are not words that float through the WTS-trained heart on a regular basis. The one good JW friend that did stick by me.....moved with her family to Tenn.....and then WE moved here to upstate NY.

I will never understand the WTS mindset and how these lemmings all decided that me and the kids were somehow remiss because their Dad did not go through with his baptism. I should have known that this organization was a cult when that happened but I chose to go along with the "do not take it out on Jehovah because a few jerks acted badly" idea.....but then I ignored three more decades of stupidity while still believing this was "the truth".

Finally the scales fell off my eyes and I walked away in 1999.....but the total surprise of a whole congregation, after 16 months of lovebombing before I was baptized....and then treating us ALL as if we had done something despicable.....this never fully went away in my heart. All this talk about how "loving" this organization is....is just that.....talk.

hugs,

Annie

17

The View talks about JWs and Armageddon

by Lady Lee in

jw
friends

whoopie specifically asked sherry about jws and their prediction of the end of the world.

she said that the jws were having public meetings to tell people how to survive the end.. sherry answered that the predictions came from the bible and that the jws predicted the end in 1975 and they were still waiting.. the others chimed in with a lot of jokes so not much more was said but i was glad sherry got to say something and that the end was predicted in 1975..

Sunspot

I watch the View every day I am home and don't have company.....I so enjoy everything that Sheri has said concerning the WTS because she does not pull any punches on their peculiar beliefs. WTS defenders will tell everyone they do not shun.....She has related how when her Father was DFed and moved out of the home....that the elders came by to explain to her that she and her siblings would no longer be allowed to associate with him. She was devastated becauuse she still admits that she adored her Dad.

She often mentions the WTS stipulations about having no birthdays, no Christmas, no Easter, etc and how she works twice as hard to see that her son Jeffrey gets the full treatment on ALL holidays. Since she missed out on so many typical and normal celebrations, she really goes out of her way to see that Jeffrey gets to enjoy it ALL.

She has talked about not being permitted to attend her Prom because of WTS regulations....and has told the viewers the fact that she recently went to one with the gown the corsage, the limo and all....and how she loved every moment of the evening.

I have heard her speak of the idea that only 144,000 think they will get into heaven and ONLY the faithful JWs will remain on the earth to be blessed by God. All others (she said) will be destroyed.....Whoopie (I think it was) questioned her on this as if she had not heard this right.....and Sheri verified yes, this IS how the JWs feel.

I can only imagine how many householders are watching these conversations (YAY!) and have already formed a few things in their heads to tell the next JW that knocks on their doors to spread the wacko WTS version of the Good News. The more "pure hogwash" these householders hear.....the better informed they will be! Sheri is performing a terrific public service and I , for one, applaud her for doing so!

hugs,

Annie

8

Mouthy, My Darling, I'd like you to meet my doggie, Sheeba!

by ziddina in

jw
friends

[uhhh, couldn't figure out which category to put this under so figured 'mouthy' would find it most quickly here... please, simon, leave this one up if it's in the wrong category 'till mouthy sees it!

] i mean, mouthy's my friend, right?

so "friends" is hopefully the right category....??.

Sunspot

When our kids were little we had a collie named Sheba. The name really fit her. I am glad to see you are feeling better Grace.

hugs,

Annie

33

So, it happened. Packed my things and left

by aligot ripounsous in

jw
friends

some may remember, i wrote on an other thread that elders forbade me to give comments at the wt meeting, as i weaken the brothers' faith.

i wasn't satisfied with this outcome and, 10 days ago i sat with my wife on the front part of the kh (like in many khs, attendants pack on the back seats), in the middle of the row, right in front of the wt elder, and raised my hand insistently.

i was of course openly ignored but i didn't care, all that i wanted was verybody to see how they deal with independent members.

Sunspot

I have not read what led up to all this....but your post gave me a big smile and a huge nod of approval, LOL! I absolutely LOVED it!

Whatta buncha putzes they were!

hugs,

Annie

29

In the News: Jehovah's Witnesses: 'End is near'

by Elsewhere in

jw
friends

http://www.wptv.com/news/local/story/jehovahs-witnesses-prepare-believers-for-the-end/ho63h5z-q0akzmfqhmrwvw.cspx.

jehovah's witnesses: 'end is near'reported by: eric glasser .

email: [email protected] .

Sunspot

By the way things are going with the economy, and with all the terrible and frightening events that make us uneasy concerning just about everything we can think of...."the end" may very well BE quite near. The big difference is....that being out of the WTS cult....we no longer live in fear of "not doing enough" for a book publishing company to survive "the end", and we are not required to put everything in our lives on hold in order to deliver WTS literature until "the end" does arrive.

42

Friday DC Releases

by Billy the Ex-Bethelite in

end of morning program, dvd video released: "the wonders of creation reveal god's glory".

end of afternoon program, announced upcoming release of a new songbook: "sing to jehovah".

excuse me while i go barf now.. b the x.

Sunspot

"The Wonders of Creation Reveal God's Glory"

If I did not know any better....this title might be of interest........

but since I do know better....

and I do know what major deceitful frauds the WTS are in everything they print and teach.....

I have no desire to ever lay MY eyes on this piece of trash.