BU2B, my experience precisely. WT may crack down in their rhetoric, but I see a wide variance in how JW's carry this out. Many stay connected on Facebook. I know a couple parents shunning grown children AND not pursuing a relationship with toddler grandchildren! (Wow, really Christian, you don't even spend time with infants, toddlers and non-JW spouses of grown d'fd children - and you think this how you'll win them over) . Other families with a fader, d'fd and pioneer among them, don't shun at all. Perplexing when I was in, as I never knew what to expect with friends when family members on the outside were around.
Gypsy Sam
JoinedPosts by Gypsy Sam
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has shunning been downplayed?
by chickpea inseveral times over the course of a year or so, jws from the kh i attended have been downright chatty during happenstance crossing of paths... .
wth is up with that?
i have no grudges against any of them, but it is confusing as all get out to have left the cult as an ardent supporter of my out, open, front page headlining transgender son, becoming vocally and decidely apostate knowing i was dead to them... now after at least a half decade out, to have them chummy-ing up to me in a check-out line.... frankly, i would rather they look the other way, you know, if none of them would ever genuinely want to know how my son is doing.
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Gypsy Sam
Relieved. You have some work ahead of you, but happiness could be yours at the end of it. I hope you'll stick around to find that out.
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A Phone Call With Watchtower Headquarters on Baptism
by raymond frantz ina phone call with watchtower headquarters on baptism .
i would like to say i big well done to jwstruggle for his consistent battle against the wt .this video is worth watching ,as the baptism issue is i think one of the greatest issues today in the jw deceptions of their flock .it shows also that these guys are not interested in listening or changing one thing about their doctrines or policies .they are happy to carry on disfellowshiping people for as long as it takes to silence the opposition .thousand of families will in effect break down.
sadly this is a self serving machine that will not stop for no one .talking to them ,try to reason with them is a pure waste of time .. do you want results ?if you 're still in .
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Gypsy Sam
The day I read about the Candace Conti case, I decided to stop donating until I knew more details. Learning TTATT followed soon after. If we could just get more witnesses, including those out but still thinking it is "the truth", to google "Jehovah's Witnesses child abuse".
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Was Your Leaving The Witnesses A Very Gradual Process Or A Quick One?
by minimus infor me, it took many years.. even when i would read all the changes over the years from the "truth", i still would ignore it and "wait on jehovah" and try to be a positive force in the congregation.. eventually, i just couldn't take it anymore and resigned as an elder, and slowly but surely made my fade.. what about you?
were you out, in a short or longer time?
?.
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Gypsy Sam
Wow, same as Julia. Although, I was a born in and a lot of things always bothered me, I thought it was "the truth". Once I heard about the Whitney heinchel murder, that led to the Candace Conti case and googling away - JW's mental health, divorce rate, etc. once I learned TTATT, I was doing a fast fade!!
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Gypsy Sam
Just checking
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Gypsy Sam
I've just read through most of the topics you started. Looks like you had a birthday yesterday. Wishing I could do something to help. I live in Florida, too. PM me.
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I'm new here...
by Demokan ini'm 15, and i'm an unbaptized publisher... so i've been what you call "lurking" here for the past few weeks and i have some questions.
i hear you guys constantly mentioning ttatt so where can i go to learn more about this (links please)?
also i've already told my mom that i don't believe in the governing body and she is making me do even more!
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Gypsy Sam
Welcome. My daughter was 15 (just turned 16) when she expressed her dislike of attending meetings. She pointed out how redundant they were and that she was bored. I started having doubts late last year, after being a born-in. Although I was learning TTATT I wasn't sure I should stop going as I still thought it best to raise her with JW morals etc. of course, now I know better about religion not making anyone more moral etc.
She took a semester of Psychology last year and last spring asked me if I knew what cognitive dissonance meant. I was surprised, as I had recently learned about it. Needless to say, we made the Memorial our last involvement with JW's. I did let her cease going to meetings before that, but I went sporadically until I was sure I could no longer swallow the nonsense spooned out. Be respectful and ask questions. Make sure you are diligent in your school studies and start to plan for your future. Do you have friends outside of JW?
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A sad day for a JW- they lost a study 'cause of me.
by Gojira_101 ina few weeks ago i posted a topic about a deaf woman studying with the jw's.
the deaf preacher from the woman's parents church contacted me to know more about the jw's because the parents were allowing their daughter to study with the jw's because "they are such nice people.
" anyway the deaf preacher contacted me because he knows i just left the jw's last year and he wanted information.. i was more than happy to provide it.
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Gypsy Sam
Great job!
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Monica Jaramillo sex abuse case
by joe134cd inwhen i first became aware of the sex abuse cases about 12 months ago.
i thought they could perhaps be isolated cases.
now i'm just wondering how big this thing is going to get.
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Gypsy Sam
I feel the same way. Those I did speak about it to, don't want to accept it is a problem. They went straight to denial mode.
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Off to tell the family...
by Gypsy Sam inthe day i've been waiting for is here.
i'm flying home to see family and some old friends, most of whom are jw.
since learning ttatt a few months back, i came to the decision i would have to tell my parents that we are no longer active and don't have any plans to return.
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Gypsy Sam
Just a quick update. Vacation was awesome! Spent time all around New England and the weather was perfect.
Things did not go as planned with my family. No matter what I tried to bring up they would not respond to any JW comments. This was perplexing as I was expecting to be scolded and reprimanded for not setting a better example in "the truth", for my teenager. I live far away from my parents and only told two people about what I was finding out about TTATT last winter. One is my best friend, who is also now completely out of JW. The other is acquaintance of my parents, who was visiting where I live. I likely said a bit too much, as I didn't know about this site yet and hadn't read Steve Hassan's books or learned to ask more questions instead of telling. So, I'm guessing he said something to my parents as they acted odd and when I unexpectedly ran into this brother, while up visiting his hometown (near my family), he acted so guilty and uncomfortable to see me. Now, we've had long, serious talks over coffee and walking the beach. He feels "the truth" saved him 20+ years ago from a messed up childhood that led to drugs and anxiety issues. He would never have normally acted like that to me.
So, I'm guessing my parents are in denial and going to pretend my daughter and I are active or at least not doing anything that requires shunning. not quite what I'd like, as I want it to be clear why we left and not leave room for saying we were offended, stumbled, worldly etc. They sure made "to thyne own self be true" difficult. Thanks for the advice and input.