I always tried to hide I was a jw at school, I was always embarrassed by it all. I hated how i was always the odd ine out & was teased for it. The Borg called it fear of man, I called it just wanting to be like all the other kids. To this day, none of the places I worked at knew I was a jw. I joined in the birthdays & Christmas celebrations at work, including Secret Santa. The last 2 years I even put up our work Christmas tree & decorated the office. I would always feel guilty after, but not anymore...
Jaidubdub
JoinedPosts by Jaidubdub
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47
Growing up as a JW was a form of mental abuse for me
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26
Did you feel pushed into pioneering?
by Xanthippe inso i have been replying to letters from a jw friend who suddenly started writing to me after i've been out for nearly 25 years.. i have mentioned things like the poverty that pioneering causes from my own experience, worrying about having enough money to buy food.. i also said that the scrimping would have been worth it if we had been saving to buy a home or go on lovely holidays.. instead we ended up with nothing materially and we were living in a tiny rented flat when we left.. when i think of all the places i wanted to visit with my husband but couldn't because we were pioneering and had no money and now it is too late because my husband has died at the age of 54. we did get to visit some beautiful places but we ran out of time.. what i was trying to say to her was - life's too short.
stop waiting for the new system, get on with your life.
stop exhausting yourself in that religion.
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Jaidubdub
When I left my full time job, the sister who studied me asked what my plans were. I had recently moved to a new city so told her I had planned to go back & visit my friends for a few weeks then come back & look for another full time job. She suggested I pioneered, I told her that pioneering wasn't for me. She asked me how can I really say that since I never pioneered before & gave me a long lecture about the purposes of my baptism & dedicating my life to Jehovah etc. Out of guilt I started pioneering. After a few months I stopped as I couldn't survive on a part time wage & my savings had dried up & I refused to go on welfare as was suggested by other pioneers. I had always wanted to return to pioneering if my circumstances ever allowed me. But after learning TTATT, I flat out refuse to be controlled by them ever again.
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34
Who Taught You The Truth(tm) OR Who Counted Time, On You?
by LoisLane looking for Superman inmy mom's lover would bring his handsome youngest son, to our house, and along with my dad, would study with my brother, sister and i. wed 7 pm.. next an elder's wife, who was a regular pioneer and worked part-time, who had a daughter my age, came to our house, after school wed. ruth was the head of the house and wore the pants.
her husband was part of the 3 men who sat on all judicial committees in our congo and would tell ruth everything, which in turn ruth would tell the sister's.
ruth was very pious but at the age of 15 gave birth to her only child, and beat on her daughter all the time, never letting her forget what "trouble" her only daughter caused her.
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Jaidubdub
I was a born in & started studying with 2 special pioneers so I could get dunked at age 14 - we studied the Live Forever Book. They told me by the time we finished the book, I should know if I want to get baptised or not. Thru our studies they would always make a point of telling me how getting baptised would be the most important decision I would ever make. When we finished the book, they asked me about getting baptised. I told them that since getting baptised is such am important decision, I didn't feel I was old enough, as a teenager, to make such an important, life changing 'adult' decision that would affect my whole life. They stopped studying with me coz they felt they couldn't do anymore to help me which was upsetting for me.
A few years later, our book study conductor approached me to start a study so I can get dunked, so a study was arranged with a close family friend. I told this family friend I didn't want to study the Live Forever book, coz it was too basic & boring for me & I knew it inside out. So we studied the Revelation book. When we approached the elders for me to get dunked they asked me why we were studying the Revelation book. I told them the Live Forever book was too basic for me and that i knew it inside out & I preferred something with more substance. Also too, I had a fascination with Revelation book as its the only part of the bible that will happen in my time (if only I knew 'the troof' back then). They told me I had to study another book (I think it was the United book) which we did. I think we only had done 3 chapters when the elders approached me to get baptised & our nxt assembly in 2 weeks time. I was the last of my friends to be baptised at age 20 & the oldest one on that day. Now that I know TTATT, I regret getting baptised.
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87
Do you think "Blondie" is addicted to reading Watchtowers and Awakes?
by booker-t ini remember when i was a "devout" jws i could not wait to get the new watchtowers and awakes from the wednesday nite theocratic ministry school.
i would actually salivate thinking of the new information jehovah had in the magazines for us.
i was "franatical" and i would go home still in my three piece suit and devour the magazines that very nite.
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Jaidubdub
I just recent learnt TTATT & I'm still trying to get my head around what the Borg has done to me, my family & my life. Blondie's posts have helped me immensely. Thank you Blondie, I think your awesome
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17
A scary day in FS today
by InChristAlone intoday, the jw who normally comes and his son visited my house.
we were talking on the doorstep for about ten or fifteen minutes when the son began to to faint.
i saw it coming, but i couldn't reach him before he fell backwards, hitting his head on the brick landscaping border.
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Jaidubdub
That happened to me once. the householder was nice enough to give me a cool drink while I sat in the shade for a minute. While I was recovering, the jw continued to try & shove the magazines at the householder & had no concern for my well being. After we left the house, this jw just continued on as if nothing happened. When I saw mum (who was working with someone else), I told her what happened & the jw I was working with told mum I was young and strong, if she could do it, so could I & that I should be fine to carry on preaching - I was about 12 at the time. Luckily my mum took me straight home...
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81
Friend gets "scriptural divorce" over wifes transgressions before they got married...
by sosoconfused inso i have a friend in a congregation in new jersey who recently called me to tell me that he got a divorce.
nothing surprising there at first but it is the fact of when it happened.
his wife began pioneering april 1, and after about three weeks she came to him and told him that about 4 years she had engaged in loose conduct (fondling the penis and the guy kissing her breasts) during a time that she was inactive.
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Jaidubdub
If this s a new rule, I can see a lot of married jw's being allowed to get a scriptural divorce... That will solve the huge problem amoung many of my jw friends who are stuck in unhappy marriages coz they married too young for all the wrong reasons...
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34
Former COs that Become Inactive
by Bob_NC insome long years ago a circuit overseer told me that the area he was from had several former cos that had "left the road" as they call it and were just sitting on their laurels.
he said that they don't pioneer and some were irregular publishers.
a different co made a remark to the effect of "you think that servants or pioneers live a restricted life, cos are under the supervision of the service dept.
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Jaidubdub
Thanks Max... Joe was still a JW when he left WA. I know he was in Bethel for a very short time as we caught up with him when we visited Bethel for lunch in Sydney. My friend I was holidaying with know both Joe & Jean really well. Was the first time I met him.
I also remember Carl as a substitute CO in WA. He served at our Congo once... My relatives knew him really well. I kept clear of him...
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34
Former COs that Become Inactive
by Bob_NC insome long years ago a circuit overseer told me that the area he was from had several former cos that had "left the road" as they call it and were just sitting on their laurels.
he said that they don't pioneer and some were irregular publishers.
a different co made a remark to the effect of "you think that servants or pioneers live a restricted life, cos are under the supervision of the service dept.
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Jaidubdub
I remember Joe Sleighman... I think his wife's name was Jean... Is he inactive now?
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Invites, Parking and the DC - a true laughable story
by wizzstick ini'm in a major uk city, and we're assigned to an out of city location for our district convention.. to set the scene this site is off a busy motorway (freeway).
it's a football (soccer) stadium.
there is nothing around aside from one petrol (gas) station which also has a tiny supermarket in it.
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Jaidubdub
We've never had any issues with not being allowed in without a badge. I stopped wearing them about 8 years ago when one of those badge holders snagged my brand new expensive outfit...
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How much money did you give the Watchtower?
by Emery inwhen you were a believer did you give large donations to the society?
if so how much did you give?
i know an elder who's a chiropractor and he generously gives $400-800 a month to the society.
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Jaidubdub
Nothing... I preferred to put that money towards a pair of new shoes...