berylblue

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Posts by berylblue

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  17

  Time To Make The JC's Accountable?

  by Englishman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  reading jst2laws account of his and joy's execrable treatment by his one-time friends, has really brought it home to me that the disfellowshippers need their knuckles rapped - and hard, too.. when someone becomes disillusioned with their religion, they are in a very vulnerable and emotional state for quite a while.

  for that same religion then to, not only cast them out, but insist that their friends and families should do the same, is criminal to say the least.. yet, what accountability do these disfellowshippers have to face?

  i'll tell you - absolutely none!

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  berylblue

  I'm having a difficult time following this. To whom do we write? Count me in.

  Beryl
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  26

  Lent

  by Robdar in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  christians are preparing to enter lent.

  and of course, with lent comes fasting.

  orthodox christians recognize five levels of fasting:abstaining from meat (starting tomorrow at sun down) abstaining from meat, eggs, milk, butter, and cheese abstaining from meat, eggs, milk, butter, cheese, and fish abstaining from meat, eggs, milk, butter, cheese, fish, oil, and wine abstaining from all foods and beverages except bread, water, juices, honey, and nuts.

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  berylblue

  I gave up Lent for Lent.

  Beryl
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  28

  Are Jehovah's Witnesses A Force For Good In The Community?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the march km has 7 reasons why jehovah's witnesses are "a force for good in the community".

  can you guess any of them??

  ?

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  berylblue

  Well, I can't speak for every Witness, although I certainly will speak about them....

  I do not myself know what individual Witnesses did when the elders weren't watching, as far as the community goes. For myself, I vehemently opposed the Society's views that good Witnesses did not give to charity, for that would be showing lack of faith in God's ability to solve the situation,and turning to man instead. Now tell me, how does giving $100 to an abused women's shelter show a lack of faith in God? Why are we not to do everything in our power to help people in distressing situations now? The future may or may not be paradise on earth, but the fact is that we are living NOW. People need help NOW. Dreaming of eternal picnics in paradisaic conditions in the future does not ward off hunger pangs today. I knew WItnesses who were in actual turmoil because they were told by the WTS that they could not contribute to the United Way yet were being harrassed by employers to do so. I was asked my advice on this more than a few times. Now, what -rational- person needs to worry about how the WTS feels about giving $20 to the Humane Society???? Or even gives a damn?

  I'm digressing. If there were Witnesses who contributed to the community in a genuine way (as opposed to telling persons about Jehovah, which I DO think is positive IF combined with loving, self-sacrifing assistance in other matters, like giving food to a hungry family), I never heard about them. Why would I? It had to be kept a secret for fear of being reproved or worse.

  I did my best at the time. True, most of my meager gifts of food and money were contributed to those in the KH, but that's because that -was- my community. My only one. I allowed the WTS to convince me to adopt a very narrow social circle. My fault. But I most certainly tried to help anyone I knew who was in need, on a personal level. I never felt I had the skills or talents to contribute on a larger level

  Beryl
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  29

  Perhaps it is time.......

  by sf in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ...that i return home to my mother.

  i can't keep fighting this fight anymore.

  i'm torn daily with ambivelance re: the wtbts.

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  berylblue

  Who is Ted Jaracz?

  Beryl
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  5

  Ludicrous JW "Logic"

  by berylblue in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hardly the topic of the week, but i just remembered this one.. a new sister was complaining to another about the heat, crowd and discomfort of the district assemblies held at the ballpark.

  the older sister stated that it was a sign of jehovah's love for his people; he was getting us ready for the horrific trials of armegeddon.. when the young sister mentioned this to me, i said, "well i guess jehovah doesn't think much of the ones in __________, us.

  they are sitting in an air conditioned theatre right now.".

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  berylblue

  Hardly the topic of the week, but I just remembered this one.

  A new sister was complaining to another about the heat, crowd and discomfort of the district assemblies held at the ballpark. The older sister stated that it was a sign of Jehovah's love for his people; he was getting us ready for the horrific trials of Armegeddon.

  When the young sister mentioned this to me, I said, "Well I guess Jehovah doesn't think much of the ones in __________, US. They are sitting in an air conditioned theatre right now."

  She remained silent until I further stated, "And do you really think that -anything- is going to get us ready for Armegeddon?"

  She thought for a moment and said, "I'm going to _________ next year instead".

  Any others?

  Beryl

  Oh, and am I the only one who cringed in despair when it was announced that Jehovah was blessing us with a four day convention next year in stead of a three day one? (To wild applause, I might add.)
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  25

  My first post....

  by Urpi in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hello, after one year of lurking i finally decided to write, introduce myself and tell my short story .

  after being jw for more than 20 years, one year and 4 months ago, my husband read some news in internet.

  it was the un affair.. i cant use any more words that have been already used to express what it ment to us to discover what we did.

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  berylblue

  Welcome. I feel as you do. Love Jehovah, love Jesus, try to love others. I don't always succeed. But I will keep trying.

  Beryl
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  11

  Comments at the hall

  by JH in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  .

  when you were an active dub, did you comment at the hall because you believed what you were saying, or because you wanted to repeat what was said in the article and look spiritual?.

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  berylblue

  I hated commenting, and my answers were never the contrived garbage that was expected. I suspect that I was frequenlty not called on due to the uncertainty on the part of the conductor as to what I would say.

  That did not stop me from turning my "talks" (such as they were for us mere women) into full blown theatrical productions, with usually two "householders", in one case having one woman storm off the stage in disgust at what I was saying. Hey, I believed in reality "talks" long before "reality TV". Nothing the elders could do about it once it was over, and no one asked to approve my talks before I got on. I suspect most everyone got a kick out of them. .

  My concept of theocratic drama did not play well at my second hall; I was told in no uncertain terms that there was no need for creativity in my talks. Consequently, being the mature person I am, I stopped giving them.

  Beryl
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  56

  Is everyone on this Web Board a Jehovah's Witness Basher?

  by sandy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i grew up in the religion and was baptized at.............supposedly the most important day in our lives and i cannot remember how old i actually was, anyways...... i believe it was 13 or 14. i was never disfellowshipped.

  i have a "worldly" boyfriend whom i love dearly, and i no longer attend the "meetings".

  i do not disagree with the organization entirely; in fact i am not even sure if i disagree with it at all.

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  berylblue

  Not at all. I'm glad you're here. Of course you're a bit nervous; the fear of "apostates" has been drilled into you, as it was most of us. Feel free to email me; I am pretty harmless.

  Beryl

  [email protected]
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  13

  At what price conception?

  by wasasister in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a young woman i work with, and her husband, have been trying unsucessfully for three years to conceive a child.

  she first took fertility drugs and then went for artificial insemination.

  those methods have failed and now they are proceeding with in-vitro.

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  berylblue

  I really can't answer that, for I did not have a problem conceiving or carrying a child full term. I do not know the anguish of remaining childless, or repeated miscarriages or stillborns.

  My sister and her husband did have that problem; eventually they went through the in-vitro process. They now have a beautiful daughter. I am so glad she is alive and blessing our lives.

  It's so difficult to say what is "right" or "wrong". At least, for me.
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  18

  Another Busted Family

  by 95stormfront in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it seems the wt god has successfully busted up another family.. my wife informed me that one of her friends husband gave her an ultimatum; it's goona be either the jw religion or him and she chose to follow wt doctrine rather than keep her family together.

  another who's so-called taken stand for the trooth.

  my wife is just berating the guy for leaving his family, but in my opinion it was not he who left, but his wife.

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  berylblue

  As a former Witness who got baptized while married to a nominal Catholic, I have to say that I felt terribly guilty over introducing my new beliefs to my husband and daughters, and went out of my way to make sure he was at least only minimally impacted. Now, in retrospect, I see that this was not in any way, shape or form the actuality. I feel for him now. True, in everything that did not go against what I perceived at the time to be God's will, I bent over backward for the man. I went out of my way to make up for the things I had given up. I bought him gifts all the time; did whatever he wanted, stayed home from meetings if he expressed loneliness...He was a lazy dope smoking abuser, quite frankly, and I had to take it all in the name of wifely submission. With a smile, I might add. He never spent one minute of time with the kids while I, as a result, became hopelessly enmeshed, to say the least.

  Still, I feel bad now. Our marriage was terrible, to put it mildly, a hotbed of abuse and neglect. But I can see now where this only made things worse. He said we had nothing in common once I stopped smoking dope and voting. So that tells you a little about what kind of "union" this marriage was. But I need to see it from his viewpoint: I was the one who left first. So he felt justified in leaving me for real after a few years of JW nonsense.

  I was doing what I really believed to be right at the time. I hope he has forgiven me. I hope my children have forgiven me.

  Beryl