Posts by Julia Orwell

28

For those still "in"... is it just me?

by leaving_quietly in

jw
friends

i'm still "in" and i've noticed an odd trend recently.

conversations with jws seem to be more jw-ish than ever!

in normal conversation, i'll hear: "these watchtowers are just wonderful!

Julia Orwell

As long as I can remember, which is back to about 2000 when I came in, they've been saying, "That was the best assembly ever! They keep getting better and better!"

19

For anyone unsure as to whether JW's are a cult..please read...

by lostinnj83 in

if the informaiton i am posting is redundant or has been posted, please forgive me.. i know we are all at different stages of this journey.

for me i am still "in" but working towards being out and leaving.

any one in this position or who has been here knows how diffucult of a time this can be.

Julia Orwell

Hey bro,

I mapped the JW experience to Steve Hassan's BITE model. Very revealing! I'll post it up soon. How do I 'tag' it to you?

66

Hello. I am new here :)

by StevenJB in

jw
friends

hello all.. my name is dteve and i live in the uk.

i hope i can make genuine friends here and not pretend friends.....like that among jw's.. i left, went back, and have left again, but this time it is for good.

so i tried to work things out, but she carried on.

Julia Orwell

Hi Steve!

I'm from Australia and I will be your friend! I just joined too, and am doing the 'fade'.

What a shame your 'friends' in the congregation cannot tolerate any diversity of opinions. It's better to keep opinions to yourself or risk the 'apostate' label and get the boot. At least with being inactive as you are, you can talk to JWs again if you want to catch up with someone down the track.

As for me, I've never had a really bad experience in the WT, but I've learned by degrees how much they crush the individual, suppress Christian freedom, and claim to be something they're not. The answers I believe, are in the Bible and it alone, so you and your new sweetheart can read it together free of any dogma.

37

Health - has anyone else suffered long lasting health effects from years with the Borg?

by Chariklo in

does anyone else feel or know that jehovah's witnesses damaged their health?.

i know many have emerged with depression, and i'm very relieved that i am not one of them.. but, being the age i am, (a large tribe of grandchildren) i was nonetheless pressured to go out door to door in steep countryside often in bad weather, and because i was doing my best to keep up that ended in an injury which has proved to be long lasting.. and that's not counting the stress-induced consequences...i won't cite them all here, but physical.

a few days in hospital and a summer spent on compulsory almost complete rest can all be laid at the watchtower's door.the trauma of actually extricating oneself from the borg is not stopped when one has finally written that letter that disassociates oneself from them.

Julia Orwell

Yep. Depression, anxiety, chronic fatigue syndrome - I'm not sure the WT caused them but it certainly prolonged and exaggerated the effects of them. I'm on half the medication now I'm mentally free!! I'll be on none the last time I walk out of that Kingdom Hall...whenever that may be.

JWs are the physically sickest people I know. You're not a true JW 'til you've got some chronic condition or food intolerance I reckon.

55

The CO asked for money tonight at the meeting.

by life is to short in

i was shocked i do not know why as i have read that the co's were doing this but to hear it with my own ears was unbelievable.

i do not go to the meetings but my husband still does and this week is the co's visit.

i decided that i would listen in to his talk; i swear i have lost some brain cells by doing it but anywho.. he started out by talking about the old story that has been in the wt many times about a little boy who was seven and raised a chicken and gave the money to the society.

Julia Orwell

I've heard that talk, I'm sure, and I live in Australia where we haven't had pennies since 1966.

I'm sick of their guilt tripping. At every assembly when they stand you up in the arvo for the announcments I think, "Here comes the money-grubbing line again." And guess what friends, it's gonna get worse because an elder told me just this week that the donations aren't coming in anymore!

Sit tight and watch.

20

Great idea from Whathappened? package for those facing a JC.

by hamsterbait in

he suggests that just as elders are given a package for fighting court custody cases (what to say do bring etc).

those facing a jc should have a package for dealing with a situation where the elduhs want to "talk with you.".

hows about we start to make one?.

Julia Orwell

I figured I'd cry and cry, which would get my husband so riled up against them he'd leave with me. That and, do like Jesus and answer them nothing.

I know a bro who was JC'd for 'apostasy' and he only quoted scripture and said not another word. They had to let him go free! The first thing he said to them in the JC was "May Jehovah rebuke you..." All they could do to him was forbid him to answer at the WT. And since he refuses to wear a tie or put in a field service report, they don't let him go witnessing.

29

Anti-JW Cult: Why did you enslave yourself to new doctrines without fully investigating their validity first?

by Change Name in

i saw this on yahoo answers and wondered about your reaction to it.. http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=asztevcfhe4rumq8w.94glxq1kix;_ylv=3?qid=20130226115907aalqjsp.

here are some of your deceptive doctrines:.

russell was a freemason & pyramidologist.

Julia Orwell

When we become a JW we're told that anything contrary is lies and Satan will use our family and friends to try to get us to stop studying. I was in my teens and I really believed that. They use fear.

That was in the late 90's before the internet was very prevalent. Now, I suppose people would do research. A lot of people who've become witnesses though are not academically inclined and wouldn't even think to do research. Couple that with being told that anything outside the WT is Satan trying to steal your shot at Paradise, and you get paranoia squashing the tiniest inclination to look more deeply into it.

That and, if you respond to the JW message, you're usually excited about it and wouldn't dream of destroying that infatuation: new friends, not having to spend money on Xmas etc: I've heard the new convert likened to a busted fire hydrant in its intensity. Some people also feel a need to follow someone, or hit a rough patch in their life, and the JWs came at the right time.

These are the reasons why we never did independent research.

7

HOW TO STOP MY GRANDMA FROM GOING OUT IN FIELD SERVICE TOMORROW? ANY IDEAS?

by OneStepOut93 in

jw
friends

okay so i have plans tomorrow and i need to be somewhere by 11:30 (meeting someone ;) ) and my grandma said she would take me but field service starts at 9 and we all know that no one gets home from field service until like 12 or 1 in the afternoon.

any suggestions on how to stop her?

is there anything i could hide from her that no witness would go out in service without?

Julia Orwell

LOL what congregation are you in if " and we ALL know that no one gets home from field service until like 12 or 1 in the afternoon. " !!?? Never happened in any of the ones I've been in, except for the pioneers.

Play the "what would Jesus do?" and tell her what is the point of converting the whole world but losing her grand child?

44

When some of the old time JW's time is up i wonder what they think in their private moments.

by karter in

we had an old time jw pass away recently he lived his entire life lie the new system was going to be here tomorrow.. he was a gillard grad and went on to be missionry in west africa.. came back home when wife got pregent(they eventuly had 3 children) ,sold everything pre 75 to see the system out and pioneer then had to work his butt off to rebuild his finances and put a roof over his familys head.. he retired and became a co till his wifes health could no longer alow it.. he got a treminal illness and i wonder in his quiter moments did he think ....".ive lived my entire life for a dream that never came true".

he's only one of many i see,their lives comming to an end and the new system is no closer than it was when they started.. .

karter..

Julia Orwell

I'm only a relatively recent convert, baptised in 2000 and I never thought I'd finish university. I did in 2004. Even this time last year I'd been waiting for the big A and had pretty much sunk into an endless present, quashing all my talents and desires. Been trapped in the 'present' for years now. That's what the WT has you do: put everything on hold. You live totally in the present, or next 6 months at most. You get nothing accomplished except keeping a roof over your head at some dreary job which causes depression, and even more tired out by the 'theocratic treadmill.'

No wonder the oldies are getting tired, and the baby boomers are panicking, the young ones are buying houses, and my age group is...waking up. Along with others.

Now my health is stuffed at 32, and I'm finding it difficult to find part time work. Been offered full-time, but as I said, my health is stuffed and I can't physically or mentally do it.

I'm thinking of writing my biography. Cult survivor stories are very interesting.

75

Anyone here been Dfd for 'apostacy'?

by Julia Orwell in

just wanna know.

i'm doing the fade but i reckon my big mouth could get me dfd.

i know plenty who've been dfd for fornication/adultery, but never met one dfd for speaking the truth.

Julia Orwell

"I can get outof anything by "turning on the waterworks? Its news to me, I never got out of anything by crying. When I had to go before a JC, I cried up a storm, and it was not fake, I actually was truly repentant, they disfellowshipped me anyway. I am racking my brain trying to think up even one occasion where crying got me anything, I can't think of one time. In my experience it just makes people either uncomfortable or mad. I must be doing it wrong."

Nope, you probably weren't doing it wrong. You probably just had uncompassionate jerks as an audience. I cried my heart out once at work over something and my HR boss was unbelievably compassionate and worked with me for a year to help me. But that's 'worldly' people. They have hearts.