I myself am new here and have not run into mymailmum too much. But I have come across a few posts. To say that a person should "wait on Jehovah" to fix the problem is wrong IMO. What about those who are sexually abused by elders and MS, etc and told not to go to the authorities because Jah will take care of it in His own time? What about those who are abused by ones in "power" in the organization? Do we wait untill we are next to dead before we do anything about it? Do those of us who are forced on the sidelines, wait untill ppl start dying from such treatment? How many do we have to watch suffer before we stop waiting for Jehovah to solve the problem?
sweetone2377
JoinedPosts by sweetone2377
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To mymailmum
by individuals wife inmymailmum.
yet again i am reading your stock answers to new posters... with all respect - cant you come up with anything new?
obviously you are working on repetition for emphasis this week in your ministry school - only it wont work here i'm afraid!
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Shepherding Visit - Update
by stevieb1 inyou may have read my thread from last week entitled "my personal turmoil" in which i discussed my congregation elders wanting to meet with me to "encourage" me to believe that jehovah is using the watchtower society as his organization.
i said in that thread that i had told them to leave me alone, well anyway on tuesday night the same elder phoned me to accept a "shephering visit" and again i refused.
not taking no for an answer he approached me again in the kingdom hall on thursday and told me that i must accept a shepherding visit out of necessity because i was in spiritual danger and the elders wanted to "help".
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sweetone2377
I do was wondering the same question, Where does loyalty to truth come into this? If you believe what you have found to be true, then don't allow them to back you down. You did dedicate yourself to serve Jehovah, not what "mere men" says Jehovah is or what He wants of you. I agree with think41sef here. And mymailmum is not encouraging you to think for yourself. If you have found proof in the scriptures to back you up then you are in the right here. Just because THEY feel you NEED a sheparding call, that you are turning your back on Jehovah, doesn't make it so. i personally have pretty much seperated myself from religion altogether in the past year and a half, so if anyone has turned their back on Jehovah, it would definately be me. Don't let anyone label you as an apostate, etc, just because you've discovered the truth about a paticular subject. And I encourage you to keep seeking truth through the scriptures and to not believe it just because the WTS says you should. That is why God gave us free will. If he didn't want us to use it, why would He give it to us?
SweetOne
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Hi, I'm new here
by sweetone2377 ini wanted to introduce myself real quick.
i was raised as a witness from the age of 10. i am now 23 yo.
i was disfellowshipped at the age of 19 for marrying a man who was studying.
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sweetone2377
Thank you so much everyone! Yes I love this place! It's nice to be able to talk openly about experiences in our lives with JW's , both good and bad. So many other ppl or places that you go to won't tolerate the negative, only the positive. And there are lots of both. I mean, I can remember being out in the ministry and having ppl give me fruit, one woman even gave me a kitten (and I loved that cat to pieces). Going out to eat as a group and laughing and talking. But they don't even come close to making up for the negative. I can feel that I'm slowly starting to heal already although I know the road ahead of me is going to be rough and long. Just being able to share a little of my story is a tremendous help. It's like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders and I feel I no longer have to carry this alone. Even going into chat with some of you and seeing that it is possible to make light of what we've been through helps to ease the pain.
airwalk149 ~ I look forward to getting your email. I felt a little strange at first when composing my email to you, as I did not know YOU, but I could sympathize with your experiences so that made it a little easier.
Precious ~ Welcome to the boards, from me, another newbie....:) Thank you for the invite to email you. Don't be surprised if you check your email on day and .... lo and behold...it's me, SweetOne!
think41self ~ I just adore your s/n. It carries so much meaning. Because as an ex-JW, that's something you have to learn. Just another part of the process. And being able to think for oneself is so important and so special. Those who have never been our situation can take that for granted but we know how special it is to be granted that gift, the gift of free will that we were all taught about, yet never given the oppurtunity to exercise.
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Hi, I'm new here
by sweetone2377 ini wanted to introduce myself real quick.
i was raised as a witness from the age of 10. i am now 23 yo.
i was disfellowshipped at the age of 19 for marrying a man who was studying.
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sweetone2377
Doug,
It's because it's familiar. If you've been a Witness for years or maybe for all your life, you are trained to overlook such abuse and keep on going. You are taught that you shouldn't let any man stop you from serving Jehovah and that he will handle things in His way in His own time, you are to wait on Him. If you've lived in the same house for years and have to move, why are you sad about it? Even if you are moving on to better things? Because you have memories in that place. Just the same, as a Witness, you have your "friends", etc. You are expected to automatically dismiss anything anyone says that is negative toward the "Organization" as a lie. And it is tough to break away from, esp if your family are still believers. It's a sad sad thing when ppl's minds, thoughts, and hearts are taken away and replaced with man made ones designed to have you be what they want you to be. And it takes a lot of strength and courage to break away from it. It means taking on a whole new life, one that you have no knowledge how to live. And you have to learn to get up in the morning and read the paper instead of the "daily text". You have to go to work and earn a living instead of going out in the door to door ministry. You suddenly find yourself having to decided what hobbies you like, what kinds of things you enjoy doing in your spare time, where, as a Witness, all these things are decided for you. It's scary to imagine ever leaving. And I applaud anyone and everyone who has the courage to stand up and say "This is wrong and I don't want to be a part of it any longer" And my heart goes out to those who are still suffering abuse, some much much worse than what I went through, and can't seem to find a light to lead the way out of the darkness. Keep searching and you will find it.
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Anyone ever wanna do this during a meeting?
by Stiffy injust jump up on stage, rip off your suit to reveal a punk rocker out fit.
pull out yer guitar... and play stairway to heaven?
durring the middle of an assembly, jump out of your seat, fly around the auditorium screaming , "satan is my king!
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sweetone2377
So funny....LOLOLOLOL
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Nov. 8 Awake - Wife Beaters-Sick
by MrMoe ini will let you all hang who ever the heck wrote this crap.
november 8, 2001 awake page 9: some battered women may need to seek assistance from the authorities.
at times, a point of crisis-such as intervention of the police-can cause an abusive man to see the seriousness of the action.. page 12: should the battered wife leave her husband?
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sweetone2377
I hate to read religious material anymore. It just gets me so ticked off. Especially the WTS's literature. Everything is for the protection of the man. To keep HIS pride in tact. To keep his reputation unspoiled. IMO, organized religion is a way for men to control other ppl, esp women. Call me a femenist (sp) and I won't mind at all.
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Questions for our brand 'Newbies'
by LDH incould you please tell us all how long you lurked before you decided to join us?.
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and if i missed anyone, i'm sorry.
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sweetone2377
I didn't lurk, I just jumped right in. Guess I do that with nearly everything.....including my marraige...lol!
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I MOVED OUT!
by airwlk149 inok, so i moved out on saturday.
i am not 18 for 17 more days but my mom asked me to leave early all the same.
on friday things got hairy, we had jw friends from out of town visiting, and i exploded.
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sweetone2377
Getting away from the religion was a great step to take. But IMO, you went about it the wrong way. You not only severed ties to the religion but also to your family. I DA'd myself over a year ago. I let my family cut off ties to me, instead of the other way around. It makes me even more firm in my resolve to not to get involved in the JW religion again. Watching Friends on Thursdays isn't really important. You now have to think about what you're going to do with your life. As a Witness, all that is decided for you. Now you have to decide for youself. It is a long process. A process of healing, forgetting to some extent, and moving on. I'm in the process of healing myself still. Now you have yourself to take care of, financially, emotionally, etc. And it's a tough road you're starting down. I wish you good luck and the maturity to handle what is about to happen in your life. My thoughts are with you.
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JW & NON-JW RELATIONSHIP
by TheRecordCollector inhello folk's;.
i am not a witness, but a very dear friend is.
a woman that i love very dearly.
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sweetone2377
Have you ever heard the saying " Let it go, if it is your's it will come back, if not, it was never meant to be"? Let her go for a while. It may be hard for you. It is especially hard for her also. She will miss the attention she gets from you. But you must understand also that she is under extreme pressure from her congregational elders to break off all ties to you because you are NOT a Witness.
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Hi, I'm new here
by sweetone2377 ini wanted to introduce myself real quick.
i was raised as a witness from the age of 10. i am now 23 yo.
i was disfellowshipped at the age of 19 for marrying a man who was studying.
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sweetone2377
I wanted to introduce myself real quick. I was raised as a witness from the age of 10. I am now 23 YO. I was disfellowshipped at the age of 19 for marrying a man who was studying. I had a very bad experience as a witness. I was beaten in the KH by an elder. I was verbally abused on every occasion. I was not allowed to associate with anyone around me because they were bad association and I was considered bad association because I attended a public school. Once I left school, at the bidding of my Witness mother, I was considered bad association because I was living alone and supporting myself. I had a "worldly" employer, which I was told was wrong. This is just a small amount of torture I endured as a Witness. When I met my DH, we were immediately told to have absolutely no contact. Not even to say hello or have our eyes meet at the KH or elsewhere. Yet we were able to contact each other by telephone. Odd I know...but these are odd ppl. Once reinstated (my mother begged me), I had my first child. 2 years ago we moved to another state and I send in my letter, disassociating myself. My mother is now not allowed to have anything to do with me. She does, however, have a relationship with my children. I feel that even though she allows other ppl to control her life, she still should be able to have a relationship with her grandchildren. I am still very much wounded and hurt by the treatment I recieved from my congregation and the elders and I'm still trying to get past it. I don't think I will ever forget or even forgive the things that I have endured at the hands of these ppl. But I would like to be able to eventually work through them and be able to put them in the past where they belong. I know have trouble with any kind of religion. I had taken a kind of religion test online a few months ago and it told me that I was 100% 2 different kinds of Buddhism. Go figure. And only about 16% JW. I try to steer as far away as possible from their beliefs unless something is true according to my own research using other publications than what is published by the WTBTS. I often sit and wonder if there is even really a god out there. I do not believe in evolution. Not because of my JW background but because of the holes in the theories. I feel that religion is just something that some guy thought of eons ago and uses as a means to control ppl, kinda like a man beating his wife, it's a controlling and scare tactic. I do celebrate holidays for family reasons. My children are made aware of the "real" meaning behind them. But they are only 3 and 2 YO.
I sincerely hope that no one here has ever had the experiences that I have had. And I hope that everyone has learned to put their past behind them to an extent. And I hope to do the same soon.