sure we got to know a lot of people, we knew a lot more people then the average person, but how many real friends did we ever have?
a friend that we could trust, that we could confine in.
i can say i had just one, bro x and even then i still had to be careful, bro x is an elder now and he tells me that im the only real friend hes ever had, he cant freely talk to anyone.
"had I been a dub I know for a fact my decisions wouldve been judged and my actions condemned."
I completely understand and confess that my friends reactions to some recent events in my life couldn't be further from those of the dubs. But they reflect their environment, as did the JW friendships. I don't think any of my friends would stand by me if I turned out to be a paedophile. (but some JWs might!)
sure we got to know a lot of people, we knew a lot more people then the average person, but how many real friends did we ever have?
a friend that we could trust, that we could confine in.
i can say i had just one, bro x and even then i still had to be careful, bro x is an elder now and he tells me that im the only real friend hes ever had, he cant freely talk to anyone.
I had quite a lot and even though they now shun me I still view the friendship we had at the time as real. Friendships can wax and wane, even close ones, and even the closest of non JW friendships can breakdown or drift apart. It's the sudden stopping that marks these losses as different and painful. I've regained friendship with those that left ahead of me, and picked up with those that left after me and feel sorry for those half a dozen or so really decent eggs that I met who are still trapped in a high control group.
But I'll freely admit that I'm in a fairly forgiving stage in my life. It might pass!
oh, so in the midst of everything else, college is goin well.. about 30 % of my high school graduating class came here, so its really just like high school part2.
i have 2 morning classes, and 2 night classes, so that way the majority of my schooling gets done on 2 days of the week instead of 4. last night was my first night in my english 111 class.
i already knew thaqt there was one witness in there, but its someone who i've kept up with, and someone who is cool with me, as i am.
Richie, you need no advice from this forum as you are one operator par excellence. Just being you will make her squirm!
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
just looked up my old high school in classmates.com, i saw this dude who was a couple years older than me, didn't really know him but i knew his brother (who left the org the same time i did), his dad kicked him out of the house and he lived in his car, they are sons of one of the elders (assholes) who df'd my dad.
the good son was a good little jw that did everything a jw father (elder) would want his son to do, on his bio on classmates.com he says that he is gay, ha ha ha ha.
Is a PO having a gay son any more ironic than having an apostate son?
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
just looked up my old high school in classmates.com, i saw this dude who was a couple years older than me, didn't really know him but i knew his brother (who left the org the same time i did), his dad kicked him out of the house and he lived in his car, they are sons of one of the elders (assholes) who df'd my dad.
the good son was a good little jw that did everything a jw father (elder) would want his son to do, on his bio on classmates.com he says that he is gay, ha ha ha ha.
As the gay son of a PO and the gay brother of a PO I don't necessarily agree that it's a cause to laugh at my father and brother. It's incredibly sad that they are trapped by their beliefs and, against their natural inclination, reject me.
the reason i ask is that my best friend all the time i was growing up was a boy about 5 years older than i was.
his parents were at lot less strict than mine and as he was super brainy after he finished public school and sixth form he went off to one of the country's finest universities.
the only thing that bugs me now about this is that i know he was incredibly clever - how could he go to uni and still be a dub?
I didn't attend uni until I was already an elder and although it was 8 months into the course that I dropped out of being a dub, it wasn't because of anything I was learning at uni. Lots of people go through uni without being required to think, dubs included.
I regret that my leaving the witnesses having started uni may have made it hard for any witnesses that wanted to follow me there. A friend from my congregation went to uni 2 years after me, with much disapproval and hey presto, she left the Witnesses too. I doubt anyone from the Muirhouse congregation will be allowed to go to uni now.
i see that quite a few are following the dreadful attacks in lebanon.
today i went swimming to cool off with mr c and we were discussing what ways we could make our disapproval and anger at israels actions felt, besides being human shields.
(mr c reckons i'm big enough to stop one missile, but would be pretty useless after that.
Don't you "shop local" anyway? The Israeli's may be killing the Lebanese but those airmiles will kill us all! (Tongue firmly in cheek).
I went on the anti-war march here on Saturday and it's not an easy choice as I didn't agree with the banners that were pro Hizbollah nor the homophobia of most Arab States, but my disgust at the IDF trumps both of these.
David Carter has stopped making congregations and assemblies laugh, not because he was asked to stop, but because he died over a year ago. After his wife died he remarried a divorcee 30 years his junior and she seems to have worn him out pretty quickly.
what's with the recent spate of folks saying goodbye, or giving swansongs?.
this is a webboard.
people come and people go.
Ooh Ross, I do like it when you talk tough! (btw call me sooner next time)
wow.. so, you know i'm an active witness, very active.
hah.
and i'm not laughing at y'all, but wow, i can't believe how extensive this is.
Hello Darcy,
You sound like a thoroughly post modern JW. Good for you!
Everyone else,
I know some other JWs like Darcy and would suggest this as evidence of a post Generation change in attitude (kids getting on with fairly normal lives) and the mainstreaming of the Witness faith. We should welcome it as it's a far more realistic outcome than the collapse of the WTBTS. There's more than one elder I know that admits there are "anomalies" within WTBTS teaching, which strikes me as similar to Catholic friends who sit comfortably with Catholicisim while disagreeing with the Vatican's stance on abortion, contraception etc. Darcy appears to take a similar attitude to her religion.
