sitting at computer and hear two males talking as they come up our path.
already suspicious, but when i peep out of my crack in the curtain, i see two blokes i don't recognise, wearing long-sleeved collared shirts and ties in what is strictly t-shirt weather.
suspicion confirmed.
Since JWs won the right for Girl Scouts to sell cookies in Stratton Ohio without the need to obtain a free permit, have JWs exercised their right to knock on doors?
I wonder how many people in Stratton Ohio have asked to be on the do-not-call list? And also, what reaction do JWs get in Stratton Ohio?
In Minnesota tele-marketers need to abide by the list of citizens who have registered not to be called via the telephone. Does this affect JWs who engage in telephone witnessesing?
Thirdson
my friend was counseled for having a bad attitude because he wore white socks w/ his suit.
Wearing a paisley paterned tie.
For allowing my wife to take her shoes off in the kingdom hall.
For thanking the congregation for their contributions (by Alan Stokes - British CO)
For sky-diving.
Because of attending college and missing meetings because of some evening classes.
For being liked by a worldy girl at work.
For describing God's "purpose" as a plan in a prayer at the book study.
For not bringing my 2 year old son to the meeting when his mother was at home.
For not wearing a tie at the book study at my parents house. (I was 13)
Lots more still.
Thirdson
i'm interested to find out how long each of you were baptized until you decided to leave?.
i was baptized december, 1989 and left six years later.. if only i didn't get baptized in the first place, then i could tell my family how wonderful the holidays were!
yellowlab.
Baptized in 1975, age 14. Left 22 years later.
shouldn't it have been the person who gave you your bible study, that should have baptized you?
in matthew 28:19,20 it says "go therefore and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit.. the way i see it, it should have been the one who gave you the biblical knowledge, that should have baptized you.
making disciples is phase one, and baptizing them is phase two.
I haven't a clue who baptized me. Although he was wearing trunks and requisite white shirt he looked like a CHEESE CRACKER MAN to me.
Thirdson
how many of you on this forum were born into the jw faith?
do you think this put you at a disadvantage when leaving the org.
do you think that someone who becomes a witness later in life would have an easier time adjusting back to a "normal" life?
I was born in. My parents became JWs three years before I was born (1960). I grew up in the model JW family. Dad was a servant in the olden days, we had parts on assemblies, older brothers pioneered for a while etc. All six of us kids were baptized and all later married JWs, and boy did my mother boast about it!
Of the six, four have left the religion and two of us have gotten divorced. My decline began before I was appointed as an elder when I began to doubt a lot of teachings. I quit being an elder at the end of 1994 when I could no longer work with the corrupt elder body in my congregation. At the time I had retrained as a programmer and was considering a year long assignment in an eastern European country but a job came up in Minnesota and that was an opportunity to fulfill an almost life-long dream to work in North America. I was offered the job so I sold up and moved to the US. I associated with JWs for a while but was technically inactive. I went out in FS twice after moving to the US. After two years, my green card application was in the works so I bought a house and moved. I had stopped attending meetings by that time and I wasn't in contact with any JWs. Shortly after that my marriage broke up when my wife left me.
It was a drastic method to leave the religion but the path I choose was really just to get away from the JW community I had grown up in. But it did help separate me from former friends and made leaving the religion a lot easier. I was also aided by finding my new congregation extremely unfriendly and the meetings utterly boring. My parents said little about my lack of activity when they visited in the summer of 1998. They already knew my feelings on the 'generation' change as well. What really upset them was my dating a 'worldy girl' a year later. That caused some rifts because I answered their question as to whether I had left 'the truth' with the answer that 'the truth' cannot be based on lies and since JW teachings were based on lies it couldn't possibly be termed 'the truth'.
My JW upbringing has a lasting impact. I found it necessary to suspend all belief and discount the knowledge of JW doctrines. It has meant reading a great deal about the history and composition of the Bible, the history of the Christian church and the real history of JWs. I have overcome my fear of entering a church and have learned how to celebrate holidays without guilt. I sent my non-JW aunts and uncles Christmas cards for the first time in my life.
That 'worldly girl' took me to church, introduced me to a number of people of faith, taught me how to celebrate holidays and has gotten me to read several good books. Along the way I have gotten to know several priests, a talk show host, and I have gotten involved in a lot more volunteer activities.
I still keep in regular contact with my JW parents, they don't shun me. My one older brother and JW elder hasn't been in touch in two years now despite my occasional letters to him.
As for the 'worldly girl' she became Mrs. Thirdson two years ago. Our wedding was officiated by a female priest in an Episcopal Cathedral. The music was arranged and played by a friend who is the music director at a Roman Catholic Church. My parents declined to attend and I guess my mother doesn't boast at the Watchtower Study about three siblings and me anymore.
Thirdson
what did you do with all those bound volumes, song books, bibles, study books and such?
mine are all packed away in the shed.
I was still in when I gave most of my stuff away. I had bound volumes and bindered magazines going back to the 1960s and all the study books for a similar period. I was shipping a lot of my belongings overseas but had to sell and give much of it away. I kept a lot of my library but the WTS books I thought I could get again on CD-ROM. I gave most of my books to an elder in a neighboring congregation.
Today I have a single 36 inch shelf of WTS books, and a fairly recent WTS CD-ROM. The CD-ROM is by far the best way to research old publications but it lacks the iluustrations and contains the "corrected" articles.
I regret giving or throwing away my old Paradise book, that was a real collector's item.
Thirdson
i was looking at the quotes web site and came across a jewel: *** awake!
because all the evidence in fulfillment of bible prophecy indicates that this corrupt system is due to end in a few years.
of the generation that observed the beginning of the 'last days' in 1914, jesus foretold: 'this generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur.
I have to reply to this thread since I lived through the 60s and 70's as a school kid.
It was articles like this that stopped my oldest brother going to college and pursuing a career as as a doctor. He graduated from High School in 1970. I was told I'd never leave school in this system. Of my family, I was the only one (of six) to elect to pursue further education after school finished, and I was looked down upon for doing that.
My oldest brother is now 50, he has been quite successful in his working career and is still a JW and an elder. His two sons have grown up and left the JWs. One is currently attending University.
In 1987 I sat at an assembly and heard a lecture on not having children so late in the time of the end. I sat there with my wife (now ex) who was pregnant with our son. My son will be 15 in March next year and is planning his options for college and/or a some time in the US armed services (likely the Navy). So much for the Awake's prophecy in 1969 now that the second generation is graduating from college.
Thirdson
i'm at work, which explains why i'm sitting at this ere pc doin nuthin!
how many exjws have you met since leaving the wt?.
i've met about 75-90 in england, and roughly 500 all together...and then there's a few i've corresponded with who i havent met.
Brummie,
We have some catching up to do. E-mail me when you can I am not sure if the address I have is still current for you. I'm glad you are working. Somerset is nice, a lot better than Walsall, heh?
Thirdson
i'm at work, which explains why i'm sitting at this ere pc doin nuthin!
how many exjws have you met since leaving the wt?.
i've met about 75-90 in england, and roughly 500 all together...and then there's a few i've corresponded with who i havent met.
Thanks, Brummie,
I'll tell more privately. I quit being an elder 8 years ago, stopped going out in field service 7 years ago and stopped attending meetings 5 1/2 years ago. A few months after quitting as an elder I relocated via my job to the US and live in Minnesota. (I used to live in Worcestershire)
I met a guy named Pete from Walsall who was running a support and information group for JWs seeking to leave. I met a number of others in that area in 1999 including the daughter of a PO who had DA'd herself.
BTW, I reported my worst car accident earlier. It happened on the M6 between Spaghetti junction and the Walsall exit.
Thirdson
i'm at work, which explains why i'm sitting at this ere pc doin nuthin!
how many exjws have you met since leaving the wt?.
i've met about 75-90 in england, and roughly 500 all together...and then there's a few i've corresponded with who i havent met.
Brummie,
I have met about half as many as you. I did get a phone call a couple of weeks ago from someone new looking to leave.
On a different topic, would you e-mail me. I wonder if we have any connections in JWland. As a kid I used to attend the old Highgate cong, the one in Priestly Road before it split into to Moseley and Small Heath. I guess you used to attend the Dudley Assembly Hall as well and likely DCs at Coventry, Wolverhampton or even Villa Park.
Thirdson
