Posts by Julia Orwell

21

"Thanks for showing an interest" - why I'd rather be completely shunned.

by Julia Orwell in

jw
friends

an old jw friend of mine died on saturday, and i used to be best friends with her jw husband.

we were close friends for 14 years.

i was like his daughter.

Julia Orwell

I forgive him and pity him but was just plain shocked yesterday...even though he made the first call to me. This shows he still has a spot, a tiny, tiny spot, in his heart for me. He's been a jw for 40 years and is totally under their thumb. He knows there are things wrong with the org but to him it's about Jehovah and he puts up with the org crap out of the sense of superiority serving "Jehovah" and knowing the "true" interpretation of the bible gives him. If fronted with evidence of the org's corruption or proof the bible is not true he'll just ride roughshod over it and drown out the dissenting voice.

I feel for him because at heart he is a decent guy and when I've seen his authentic self break through it is compassionate and caring. I've also seen the jw cult persona too, the callous, cold, superior personality, which is the part that shuns me. Funny, when his authentic compassionate self has come through to other jws over the years I was in, they didn't know how to handle it and were rude to him, which pushed his authentic self further under. A less desirable part of his authentic self, the inferiority complex he grew up with, played into the jw persona which gives him superiority over every non jw in the world. I think it was the kind, compassionate authentiiic self who called me yesterday, but the jw self that ended the conversation.

13

101 ways Jehovah's Witnesses are the embodiment of George Orwell's 1984

by rory-ks in

jw
friends

victory mansions/cigarettes/gin/square.

anything jehovah's witnesses get to name is either "watchtower," "kingdom," or "new world," be it road, house, farm, forest, hall, or bible.. .

he took down from the shelf a bottle of colourless liquid with a plain label marked victory gin.

Julia Orwell

Hm I've been rereading 1984, and I think there's more than 101... good number though ;)

21

"Thanks for showing an interest" - why I'd rather be completely shunned.

by Julia Orwell in

jw
friends

an old jw friend of mine died on saturday, and i used to be best friends with her jw husband.

we were close friends for 14 years.

i was like his daughter.

Julia Orwell

Yes!! Hit people in the wallet and they start to take notice.

21

"Thanks for showing an interest" - why I'd rather be completely shunned.

by Julia Orwell in

jw
friends

an old jw friend of mine died on saturday, and i used to be best friends with her jw husband.

we were close friends for 14 years.

i was like his daughter.

Julia Orwell

An old JW friend of mine died on Saturday, and I used to be best friends with her JW husband. We were close friends for 14 years. I was like his daughter. I was family to them. That is, until I left JWs last year. He then cut me away as a friend. However, I stayed friends with the non-JW actual daughter via Facebook, although I never really knew her that well.

Facebook is how I found out about Lucy's death. I tried to call the survivors but I didn't have their numbers. No call from my ex best friend, nothing. Until today. He must have called me in a fit of emotion and got my voicemail, so I called him back after work. I was apprehensive about having to call him - after all, if I'm completely shunned, I know exactly where I stand, and that's a loose end tied up. It weighed on my mind as I drove home, and I was awash with wondering where I actually do stand. I'm not dfd or da, but shunned as an 'apostate'.

So I call the grieving widower back, and offer my assistance and condolences, which he accepted with a stilted grace. But then he asks, "How did YOU find out about Lucy's death?" I told him his daughter told me. Wasn't going to say she posted it on Facebook and I found out that way. Then he wraps up the conversation because he 1) is genuinely emotionally exhausted; and 2) where I stand must still be as worse than a pedophile. Bear in mind we were close as father and daughter for 14 years. We always went witnessing, to conventions, and to coffee shops together, for 14 years. So I was as close as family and not some well wisher on the street.

In view of this close relationship for over a decade, I could not have possibly expected him to end the conversation like this (after begging off for being tired, which I understand): "Thanks for showing an interest."

Like I'd called to enquire about the soup of the day.

I'd rather he'd never called me.

43

Pets aren't people, says speaker at Regional Convention. Fido and Mimi better watch out! And instead of drinking wine or beer go do some gardening or play golf.

by oppostate in

a big discussion driving back from the regional convention about what exactly was meant about pets.. the warning was obvious to me.

don't get pets, they cost time and money and you would do better to spend your time and money supporting the organization and going in field service.. as to the wine and beer, because the bro during his soliloquy admitted that the first thing he would like to do is relax after a hectic day at work with a glass of wine or beer, his conscience was traumatized.

however he came up with a perfect idea, he'd go tend the garden (obviously a solution for a married bro) or hit some golfballs at the driving range (maybe he's not married).. maybe jesus should have told the wine guzzlers at cana to sober up and go till the fields.. .

Julia Orwell

Better that than your pet die of neglect like those chickens. Unless you're the gb. Then let the pet die and get your butt to the meeting!

41

favourite words...in any language

by new hope and happiness in

jw
friends

i mean " courting" certainley sounds more dignified than " hanging out with a new squeeze".

" comely" is a word i think should be used more often".

i am going to try and use " jabberwockey" in a sentece today.. anyway do you have any favourite words, in any language?.

Julia Orwell

Jabooba. It means crazy and nonsensical in a deformed, f-d up, mentally ill, whacky way. For instance, the gb's new light on overlapping generations is totally jabooba. 'The Jabooba Home' means the nut house. For example, "if I hadn't have left that cult, I'd be in the Jabooba Home by now".

43

Pets aren't people, says speaker at Regional Convention. Fido and Mimi better watch out! And instead of drinking wine or beer go do some gardening or play golf.

by oppostate in

a big discussion driving back from the regional convention about what exactly was meant about pets.. the warning was obvious to me.

don't get pets, they cost time and money and you would do better to spend your time and money supporting the organization and going in field service.. as to the wine and beer, because the bro during his soliloquy admitted that the first thing he would like to do is relax after a hectic day at work with a glass of wine or beer, his conscience was traumatized.

however he came up with a perfect idea, he'd go tend the garden (obviously a solution for a married bro) or hit some golfballs at the driving range (maybe he's not married).. maybe jesus should have told the wine guzzlers at cana to sober up and go till the fields.. .

Julia Orwell

Or the pets will die of neglect like those chickens in Burma when the owners left them alone to go with the convention. Remember how the gb lauded those faithful jws for leaving their chickens to die and Jehovah blessed them by making their remaining chickens have sex to make chicks to replace the ones who died of neglect?

21

ENCOURAGING VISIT!?!?

by DATA-DOG in

about a week ago, i had my "encouraging visit!

" it was real last minute, and i said , "yes!

" they were not expecting that, and they missed their dinner.

Julia Orwell

The end is nigh, data dog. They will ask you, "Do you believe the governing body is being used by Jehovah/directed by Jesus?" And if you say "no", you're dfd. If you refuse to answer like I did, you then have to avoid them by stopping meetings. If you say yes, you are lying but you will be ok.

43

Pets aren't people, says speaker at Regional Convention. Fido and Mimi better watch out! And instead of drinking wine or beer go do some gardening or play golf.

by oppostate in

a big discussion driving back from the regional convention about what exactly was meant about pets.. the warning was obvious to me.

don't get pets, they cost time and money and you would do better to spend your time and money supporting the organization and going in field service.. as to the wine and beer, because the bro during his soliloquy admitted that the first thing he would like to do is relax after a hectic day at work with a glass of wine or beer, his conscience was traumatized.

however he came up with a perfect idea, he'd go tend the garden (obviously a solution for a married bro) or hit some golfballs at the driving range (maybe he's not married).. maybe jesus should have told the wine guzzlers at cana to sober up and go till the fields.. .

Julia Orwell

For some jws who've put off kids in 'this system' to 'do more for Jehovah' and for whom the end hasn't come, their pets are all they've got. And the org wants to take that from them.

Whoever thinks pets have no value has obviously had no experience with them. They provide companionship, love, affection, entertainment, interest, calming and so much more, and all they ask back is your love and attention. To deprive people of the joys animals can bring is heartless and ignorant.

Case in point: I used to breed quails. Tending my flock and raising beautiful birds from eggs to little fluffy chicks to watching as new plumage patterns emerged gave me intense satisfaction. Even watching them dust bathing like mad in a new tray of beach sand was delighting. I was understandably proud of my quails and jws at the hall often asked me how they were or wanted to see them. So of course I'm telling the co about the joys of my quails and he said, "wow, one day I'm going to hear that you've given up your quails for Jehovah and joined the full time work!" Like I was somehow less spiritual because I loved birds. I also told some elders about how much joy the birds brought me that Jehovah wouldn't want to take away something that made me so happy. I'd been suffering from depression and anxiety cuz of being a jw and breeding quails was my only outlet. Point is, I was not a good association because I took time to care for 50 birds.

That seems to be the jw way, unless it's an elder's wife. She can worship her cat but no one else can spend time with a cat, a dog or a bird.

38

jw.org getting out of hand

by Gorbatchov in

jw
friends

it seems the watchtower staff have made a runaway train with the introduction of the mark jw.org.. the combination of using a gadget driven platform and the fact that the common jw is low educated and easely influenced.

by new occurrings in their religion makes the situation getting out of hand.. proof: gb members wearing jw.org buttons during their speech, gifts with jw.org are given away, umbrellas with the jw.org are available.

jw.org is more important then god, his son and the gospel.. it's the gadget and the jw.org mark that counts.. i am so happy my grandparents are not confronted with these idiots.. it's a runaway train heading to the end of the track.. gorby .

Julia Orwell

A focus of devotion to an organization...oh wait, that's an idol!!