Posts by ragnarok75

75

Hubby and Wifey saying Hi

by free and happy in

jw
friends

so where do you start?.

i've been reading peoples experiences for several months now trying to figure out what i want to say but how do you put your whole life into a few words?.

i was a born in but have been happy and free for 5 years and luckily for me my husband felt the same way and we have freed our children from being brainwashed.

ragnarok75

Interesting stories,thanks for sharing.Loved the "briefcase-gate"!!

Congrats on choosing life and daughter.

10

Jeremiah book this week - cult control at it's finest

by 88JM in

jw
friends

having to sit through this at the meeting just now.. blatantly saying to obey without question: "will you be as determined to comply with god's guidance as jeremiah was?

", "...accepting the guidance given through the faithful slave class is for your lasting good.".

this is so painful to sit through :(.

ragnarok75

What pompous pricks!!

Sorry you have to endure this..

24

JW preached to me not knowing I'm still in...

by OneDayillBeFree in

so i was working at my 2nd job today in a store and i was the cashier for most of the day.

it's been about 2 weeks since i've been to a meeting & i hadn't shaved so i had a somewhat hipster-ish stubbly beard going on.

also my hair has gotten slightly longer, nothing noticeable to the world but something that would turn a few heads at the kingdom hall.

ragnarok75

LOL

Great story..funny but sad.Or sad but funny,I don't know which way..

31

hi guys & girls.. though you can sit back down in your seats now, sorry but not a jw, never have been & never will be, am a totally happy with athiest life, lol.. started lurking here about a year ago, started dating a jw woman didn't i, i here the face palms, lol.

lucky for me i found this site while trying to find out more about the jw's very early on & knew exactly how this was prob going to end.

but i thought what the hell lets see where it goes.

ragnarok75

Welcome!

This makes very sad..she had a chance to wake up but now it's unlikely that she ever will.Only pain for all involved.As others have said,she has been given an ultimatum in the JC;cut off all commmunication with you or be d'fed.This way she can prove that her remorse is "genuine" and she can be forgiven by her interrogaters.(I don't know where god fits in all of this even if I believed in one)

34

yet another newbie..

by ragnarok75 in

jw
friends

i've been lurking here for some time and now that i've registered here's a little bit about myself... i'm in northern europe (so english is not my own language,but i have indeed studied it for more than 18 months) and i was born into this hateful cult in the "momentuous" year of -75.good that my parents stayed alive till then!.

as far back as i can remember i had doubts both about the doctrines and the whole existence of god.however,i instinctively knew that these doubts are not to be mentioned.so i learned to be a fake at an early age.though having read many other stories here i realise how easy i got it.i now understand that we lived in a rather liberal area and also my family was quite liberal eventhough my dad was an elder since mid -80 and mom was really "strong in the truth".i never brought up the religion at school or with friends and was never bullied or anything.it helped that i was good at sports,especially football (soccer for americans) and football is also the source of my biggest hurt in childhood.i know it may sound very trivial,but the fact that i wasn't allowed to join a football team felt just so unjust and painfull and it lasted all through my childhood.whenever we had a new gym teacher,the first thing he asked me was which team do i play for.i was too embarrased to tell the truth and i just gave the impression that i only wanted to play for fun and not join any team.oh,how badly i wanted to!.

somehow i managed to silence all those doubts and got babtised as a young man.very soon after the babtism i knew that it didn't have the hoped for effect of making me more spiritual and meetings and field service still felt an absolute bore.now began the long years of just "going through the motions".all my family (parents,many brothers and sisters,uncles and aunts,nieces and nephews) and most of my friends were in.i never reached out and attended only one or two meetings a week and penned my hours.i kind of liked my congregation (also,the seats at our kh were really comfy,so i often slept through the meetings) and made some very good friends.friends that - as you all can guess- didn't turn out to be so good in the end,but with whom i nonetheless had some good times and felt a strong connection to.. for a long time nothing happened that would've disrupted my rather non-eventfull life as a lacklustre jdub with at least another foot in the "world".i'd done many things that would've gotten me d'fed,but i never had any intentions of going to the elders about it and i had no pangs of conscience about it either.it was just a matter of convenience..i liked my witness friends,wanted to hold on to them and not to lose my family.. however..there was this girl... a (worldly,of course) girl that i had absolutely fell for and had a brief romance with many years ago.now she was back in my life.i must omit the proceeding turns of events for the sake of anonymity,but the end result is that i'm a proud father of a lovely baby girl.well,not so much baby anymore as she starts school soon.i love her so much and it gives me great satisfaction that she is growing free from any influence of vicious cults or of any gods for that matter.we live now in different countries but i see her often and there's always skype.. her birth also acted as a catalyst for the change in relationship between me and the society.i decided that i wanted to share the joy of her birth and existence with my family,eventhough i also knew that that would mean i'd have to go the elders too.if i didn't,they would,and that would result in automatic disfellowshippping.. a jc was duly formed and i had decided that i'm not going to go there and tell them that i regret her,as having her is the best thing that's ever happeded to me.

ragnarok75

Thank you all again for the warm welcome and also Robert for that link.

Hello Found Sheep..are we getting old?? I was talking to my girl on the skype a while ago and she said:" I can't wait for my birthday.Mommy doesn't like her birthday...because she's old."

37

Visited Beth Sarim today

by exwhyzee in

my sister in law has been shunned by the family since she da'd herself at the age of 18 and moved out of the house.

i always insisted that my wife keep in contact with her and made sure she knew she had a soft place to land,with us, should she need it.

even at the risk of it getting us in hot water with the pioneer,elder,bethelite family members there was no way we were going to let her disappear into the wild blue yonder on her own.

ragnarok75

Good that you and your wife stood by her.

I once talked to my uncle about the riches of the society.He promptly replied that no individual has ever finacially benefitted of the wealth.Then I showed him Beth Sarim and I could see he was upset..

34

yet another newbie..

by ragnarok75 in

jw
friends

i've been lurking here for some time and now that i've registered here's a little bit about myself... i'm in northern europe (so english is not my own language,but i have indeed studied it for more than 18 months) and i was born into this hateful cult in the "momentuous" year of -75.good that my parents stayed alive till then!.

as far back as i can remember i had doubts both about the doctrines and the whole existence of god.however,i instinctively knew that these doubts are not to be mentioned.so i learned to be a fake at an early age.though having read many other stories here i realise how easy i got it.i now understand that we lived in a rather liberal area and also my family was quite liberal eventhough my dad was an elder since mid -80 and mom was really "strong in the truth".i never brought up the religion at school or with friends and was never bullied or anything.it helped that i was good at sports,especially football (soccer for americans) and football is also the source of my biggest hurt in childhood.i know it may sound very trivial,but the fact that i wasn't allowed to join a football team felt just so unjust and painfull and it lasted all through my childhood.whenever we had a new gym teacher,the first thing he asked me was which team do i play for.i was too embarrased to tell the truth and i just gave the impression that i only wanted to play for fun and not join any team.oh,how badly i wanted to!.

somehow i managed to silence all those doubts and got babtised as a young man.very soon after the babtism i knew that it didn't have the hoped for effect of making me more spiritual and meetings and field service still felt an absolute bore.now began the long years of just "going through the motions".all my family (parents,many brothers and sisters,uncles and aunts,nieces and nephews) and most of my friends were in.i never reached out and attended only one or two meetings a week and penned my hours.i kind of liked my congregation (also,the seats at our kh were really comfy,so i often slept through the meetings) and made some very good friends.friends that - as you all can guess- didn't turn out to be so good in the end,but with whom i nonetheless had some good times and felt a strong connection to.. for a long time nothing happened that would've disrupted my rather non-eventfull life as a lacklustre jdub with at least another foot in the "world".i'd done many things that would've gotten me d'fed,but i never had any intentions of going to the elders about it and i had no pangs of conscience about it either.it was just a matter of convenience..i liked my witness friends,wanted to hold on to them and not to lose my family.. however..there was this girl... a (worldly,of course) girl that i had absolutely fell for and had a brief romance with many years ago.now she was back in my life.i must omit the proceeding turns of events for the sake of anonymity,but the end result is that i'm a proud father of a lovely baby girl.well,not so much baby anymore as she starts school soon.i love her so much and it gives me great satisfaction that she is growing free from any influence of vicious cults or of any gods for that matter.we live now in different countries but i see her often and there's always skype.. her birth also acted as a catalyst for the change in relationship between me and the society.i decided that i wanted to share the joy of her birth and existence with my family,eventhough i also knew that that would mean i'd have to go the elders too.if i didn't,they would,and that would result in automatic disfellowshippping.. a jc was duly formed and i had decided that i'm not going to go there and tell them that i regret her,as having her is the best thing that's ever happeded to me.

ragnarok75

I wish I had gotten familiar with Steven Hassan earlier.I haven't yet read his books but have seen his u tube vids.Now it may be too late to try and use his techniques with my mom as she flat out refuses to talk to me about any religious or spiritual matter.

She even once grabbed a wt magazine out of my hands as I was reading it.I was just silently reading it and didn't say a word,but she said she can't have me reading it "because I have a wrong attitude".

34

yet another newbie..

by ragnarok75 in

jw
friends

i've been lurking here for some time and now that i've registered here's a little bit about myself... i'm in northern europe (so english is not my own language,but i have indeed studied it for more than 18 months) and i was born into this hateful cult in the "momentuous" year of -75.good that my parents stayed alive till then!.

as far back as i can remember i had doubts both about the doctrines and the whole existence of god.however,i instinctively knew that these doubts are not to be mentioned.so i learned to be a fake at an early age.though having read many other stories here i realise how easy i got it.i now understand that we lived in a rather liberal area and also my family was quite liberal eventhough my dad was an elder since mid -80 and mom was really "strong in the truth".i never brought up the religion at school or with friends and was never bullied or anything.it helped that i was good at sports,especially football (soccer for americans) and football is also the source of my biggest hurt in childhood.i know it may sound very trivial,but the fact that i wasn't allowed to join a football team felt just so unjust and painfull and it lasted all through my childhood.whenever we had a new gym teacher,the first thing he asked me was which team do i play for.i was too embarrased to tell the truth and i just gave the impression that i only wanted to play for fun and not join any team.oh,how badly i wanted to!.

somehow i managed to silence all those doubts and got babtised as a young man.very soon after the babtism i knew that it didn't have the hoped for effect of making me more spiritual and meetings and field service still felt an absolute bore.now began the long years of just "going through the motions".all my family (parents,many brothers and sisters,uncles and aunts,nieces and nephews) and most of my friends were in.i never reached out and attended only one or two meetings a week and penned my hours.i kind of liked my congregation (also,the seats at our kh were really comfy,so i often slept through the meetings) and made some very good friends.friends that - as you all can guess- didn't turn out to be so good in the end,but with whom i nonetheless had some good times and felt a strong connection to.. for a long time nothing happened that would've disrupted my rather non-eventfull life as a lacklustre jdub with at least another foot in the "world".i'd done many things that would've gotten me d'fed,but i never had any intentions of going to the elders about it and i had no pangs of conscience about it either.it was just a matter of convenience..i liked my witness friends,wanted to hold on to them and not to lose my family.. however..there was this girl... a (worldly,of course) girl that i had absolutely fell for and had a brief romance with many years ago.now she was back in my life.i must omit the proceeding turns of events for the sake of anonymity,but the end result is that i'm a proud father of a lovely baby girl.well,not so much baby anymore as she starts school soon.i love her so much and it gives me great satisfaction that she is growing free from any influence of vicious cults or of any gods for that matter.we live now in different countries but i see her often and there's always skype.. her birth also acted as a catalyst for the change in relationship between me and the society.i decided that i wanted to share the joy of her birth and existence with my family,eventhough i also knew that that would mean i'd have to go the elders too.if i didn't,they would,and that would result in automatic disfellowshippping.. a jc was duly formed and i had decided that i'm not going to go there and tell them that i regret her,as having her is the best thing that's ever happeded to me.

ragnarok75

My mom and the rest of the family have indeed met my girl and will meet again in a couple of months.They have taken it quite well,even if there was some pleading in the beginning for me to go back to the meetings "so she could be saved on my account as she's too young to be judged on her own".That's how delusional my family is.Despite all the failed predictions and super-ridiculous generation definitions they still believed that Armageddon is coming so soon that my girl is not gonna be old enough to make up her own mind by then.

I made it clear to them that if jehova sees fit to slaughter my girl then I see no reason to worship him as he ain't that loving then and surely he can read that from my heart and give me the same ticket as he's gonna give my girl,where ever that may be.

34

yet another newbie..

by ragnarok75 in

jw
friends

i've been lurking here for some time and now that i've registered here's a little bit about myself... i'm in northern europe (so english is not my own language,but i have indeed studied it for more than 18 months) and i was born into this hateful cult in the "momentuous" year of -75.good that my parents stayed alive till then!.

as far back as i can remember i had doubts both about the doctrines and the whole existence of god.however,i instinctively knew that these doubts are not to be mentioned.so i learned to be a fake at an early age.though having read many other stories here i realise how easy i got it.i now understand that we lived in a rather liberal area and also my family was quite liberal eventhough my dad was an elder since mid -80 and mom was really "strong in the truth".i never brought up the religion at school or with friends and was never bullied or anything.it helped that i was good at sports,especially football (soccer for americans) and football is also the source of my biggest hurt in childhood.i know it may sound very trivial,but the fact that i wasn't allowed to join a football team felt just so unjust and painfull and it lasted all through my childhood.whenever we had a new gym teacher,the first thing he asked me was which team do i play for.i was too embarrased to tell the truth and i just gave the impression that i only wanted to play for fun and not join any team.oh,how badly i wanted to!.

somehow i managed to silence all those doubts and got babtised as a young man.very soon after the babtism i knew that it didn't have the hoped for effect of making me more spiritual and meetings and field service still felt an absolute bore.now began the long years of just "going through the motions".all my family (parents,many brothers and sisters,uncles and aunts,nieces and nephews) and most of my friends were in.i never reached out and attended only one or two meetings a week and penned my hours.i kind of liked my congregation (also,the seats at our kh were really comfy,so i often slept through the meetings) and made some very good friends.friends that - as you all can guess- didn't turn out to be so good in the end,but with whom i nonetheless had some good times and felt a strong connection to.. for a long time nothing happened that would've disrupted my rather non-eventfull life as a lacklustre jdub with at least another foot in the "world".i'd done many things that would've gotten me d'fed,but i never had any intentions of going to the elders about it and i had no pangs of conscience about it either.it was just a matter of convenience..i liked my witness friends,wanted to hold on to them and not to lose my family.. however..there was this girl... a (worldly,of course) girl that i had absolutely fell for and had a brief romance with many years ago.now she was back in my life.i must omit the proceeding turns of events for the sake of anonymity,but the end result is that i'm a proud father of a lovely baby girl.well,not so much baby anymore as she starts school soon.i love her so much and it gives me great satisfaction that she is growing free from any influence of vicious cults or of any gods for that matter.we live now in different countries but i see her often and there's always skype.. her birth also acted as a catalyst for the change in relationship between me and the society.i decided that i wanted to share the joy of her birth and existence with my family,eventhough i also knew that that would mean i'd have to go the elders too.if i didn't,they would,and that would result in automatic disfellowshippping.. a jc was duly formed and i had decided that i'm not going to go there and tell them that i regret her,as having her is the best thing that's ever happeded to me.

ragnarok75

Thanks for the warm welcome,

I should perhaps clarify that my daughter is living with her mom,but we're good friends and I'm very much involved (and intend to be) in my daughter's life.

@jgnat That's agood advice,I could try something like that.

@cantleave If i remember correctly,you're a Southampton lad,so here's hoping the Saints avoid relegation

34

yet another newbie..

by ragnarok75 in

jw
friends

i've been lurking here for some time and now that i've registered here's a little bit about myself... i'm in northern europe (so english is not my own language,but i have indeed studied it for more than 18 months) and i was born into this hateful cult in the "momentuous" year of -75.good that my parents stayed alive till then!.

as far back as i can remember i had doubts both about the doctrines and the whole existence of god.however,i instinctively knew that these doubts are not to be mentioned.so i learned to be a fake at an early age.though having read many other stories here i realise how easy i got it.i now understand that we lived in a rather liberal area and also my family was quite liberal eventhough my dad was an elder since mid -80 and mom was really "strong in the truth".i never brought up the religion at school or with friends and was never bullied or anything.it helped that i was good at sports,especially football (soccer for americans) and football is also the source of my biggest hurt in childhood.i know it may sound very trivial,but the fact that i wasn't allowed to join a football team felt just so unjust and painfull and it lasted all through my childhood.whenever we had a new gym teacher,the first thing he asked me was which team do i play for.i was too embarrased to tell the truth and i just gave the impression that i only wanted to play for fun and not join any team.oh,how badly i wanted to!.

somehow i managed to silence all those doubts and got babtised as a young man.very soon after the babtism i knew that it didn't have the hoped for effect of making me more spiritual and meetings and field service still felt an absolute bore.now began the long years of just "going through the motions".all my family (parents,many brothers and sisters,uncles and aunts,nieces and nephews) and most of my friends were in.i never reached out and attended only one or two meetings a week and penned my hours.i kind of liked my congregation (also,the seats at our kh were really comfy,so i often slept through the meetings) and made some very good friends.friends that - as you all can guess- didn't turn out to be so good in the end,but with whom i nonetheless had some good times and felt a strong connection to.. for a long time nothing happened that would've disrupted my rather non-eventfull life as a lacklustre jdub with at least another foot in the "world".i'd done many things that would've gotten me d'fed,but i never had any intentions of going to the elders about it and i had no pangs of conscience about it either.it was just a matter of convenience..i liked my witness friends,wanted to hold on to them and not to lose my family.. however..there was this girl... a (worldly,of course) girl that i had absolutely fell for and had a brief romance with many years ago.now she was back in my life.i must omit the proceeding turns of events for the sake of anonymity,but the end result is that i'm a proud father of a lovely baby girl.well,not so much baby anymore as she starts school soon.i love her so much and it gives me great satisfaction that she is growing free from any influence of vicious cults or of any gods for that matter.we live now in different countries but i see her often and there's always skype.. her birth also acted as a catalyst for the change in relationship between me and the society.i decided that i wanted to share the joy of her birth and existence with my family,eventhough i also knew that that would mean i'd have to go the elders too.if i didn't,they would,and that would result in automatic disfellowshippping.. a jc was duly formed and i had decided that i'm not going to go there and tell them that i regret her,as having her is the best thing that's ever happeded to me.

ragnarok75

Hello all,

I've been lurking here for some time and now that I've registered here's a little bit about myself..

I'm in Northern Europe (so english is not my own language,but I have indeed studied it for more than 18 months) and I was born into this hateful cult in the "momentuous" year of -75.Good that my parents stayed alive till then!

As far back as I can remember I had doubts both about the doctrines and the whole existence of god.However,I instinctively knew that these doubts are not to be mentioned.So I learned to be a fake at an early age.Though having read many other stories here I realise how easy I got it.I now understand that we lived in a rather liberal area and also my family was quite liberal eventhough my dad was an elder since mid -80 and mom was really "strong in the truth".I never brought up the religion at school or with friends and was never bullied or anything.It helped that I was good at sports,especially football (soccer for americans) and football is also the source of my biggest hurt in childhood.I know it may sound very trivial,but the fact that I wasn't allowed to join a football team felt just so unjust and painfull and it lasted all through my childhood.Whenever we had a new gym teacher,the first thing he asked me was which team do I play for.I was too embarrased to tell the truth and I just gave the impression that I only wanted to play for fun and not join any team.Oh,how badly I wanted to!

Somehow I managed to silence all those doubts and got babtised as a young man.Very soon after the babtism I knew that it didn't have the hoped for effect of making me more spiritual and meetings and field service still felt an absolute bore.Now began the long years of just "going through the motions".All my family (parents,many brothers and sisters,uncles and aunts,nieces and nephews) and most of my friends were in.I never reached out and attended only one or two meetings a week and penned my hours.I kind of liked my congregation (also,the seats at our kh were really comfy,so i often slept through the meetings) and made some very good friends.Friends that - as you all can guess- didn't turn out to be so good in the end,but with whom I nonetheless had some good times and felt a strong connection to.

For a long time nothing happened that would've disrupted my rather non-eventfull life as a lacklustre jdub with at least another foot in the "world".I'd done many things that would've gotten me d'fed,but I never had any intentions of going to the elders about it and I had no pangs of conscience about it either.It was just a matter of convenience..I liked my witness friends,wanted to hold on to them and not to lose my family.

However..there was this girl..

A (worldly,of course) girl that I had absolutely fell for and had a brief romance with many years ago.Now she was back in my life.I must omit the proceeding turns of events for the sake of anonymity,but the end result is that I'm a proud father of a lovely baby girl.Well,not so much baby anymore as she starts school soon.I love her so much and it gives me great satisfaction that she is growing free from any influence of vicious cults or of any gods for that matter.We live now in different countries but I see her often and there's always skype.

Her birth also acted as a catalyst for the change in relationship between me and the society.I decided that I wanted to share the joy of her birth and existence with my family,eventhough I also knew that that would mean I'd have to go the elders too.If I didn't,they would,and that would result in automatic disfellowshippping.

A JC was duly formed and I had decided that I'm not going to go there and tell them that I regret her,as having her is the best thing that's ever happeded to me.(I wasn't living together with her mom).For whatever reason,i was still in the good books of these elders.They never actually asked anything like "do you regret.." but one of them said that my telling shows that I'm willing to make things straight with J and now is a good time to start getting stonger in the truth.

I got off the hook and wasn't d'fed but the absurdity and sickness of the situation (sicknes that I might lose my whole family if they so choose to decide) made me wanna look more closely into the religion of my birth.Boy,did the flood gates open! Soon I had read the Ray Franz books and Jonsson's Gentile Times Reconsidered,jw.facts.com and the wealth of information found on this forum.Things I was completely unaware of before,UN and all.. I cannot express in words how important that's been and I'm in great gratitude for so many on this forum.Too many to name any.

I never set my foot in the kh again and never will unless it's a funeral of a family member.I can't even read a wt without getting physically ill.I've managed to keep my family relationships but not completely without repercussions.I used to be very close with my mom,but now she mourning bacause "she always thought we'd be together in paradise" and it's a bit more strained now that I've abandoned jehovah.Who wouldn't abandon that psycho! With him I've also abandoned all other supernatural creatures (maybe with the except of sparlock) not that i've ever really embraced them.Should've listened to my gut feeling as a child.

The only regret is having realised all this so late,already in my thirties.The freedom of thought and the general (elders aren''t hounding me,i was never useful to the congregation anyway so they don't miss me) freedom is priceless and I wouldn't give that back for anyhting.