Posts by auntiem

31

If You Weren't A Witness, What Would You Be Today?

by minimus in

jw
friends

many of us are or were witnesses because we were born into the religion.

others became witnesses because they really thought it was the truth.

so many wish that they never had a jehovah's witness come to their door or their parents' door.

Female Subjugation

by out4good3 in

jw
friends

i'm aware of many couples where the man, usually the breadwinner, can no longer tolerate following the wt party line anymore.

i myself am the only breadwinner in my family and although my wife works hard to appear as the staunch jw, i never berate or hold it against her in any way as do most other men i know in similar situations.

she knows how i feel about the wt so she almost never asks my opinion on soceity related matters.. but, what of the couples where it is the woman whose fallen away but finds herself totally dependent upon her staunch jw husband for support?.

auntiem

Hi out4good,

As a female whose spouse is a JW, I found that when he became disabled and unable to work I became the breadwinner for our family of 3 children. At the KH we were a picture perfect family. At home life was hell. He tried to control me by controlling the money and by verbal and mental/emotional abuse. He often "preached" at me telling me how wicked and evil I was because I was too tired to go out in service, or to attend meetings. I was working 40+ hours per week and coming home to a filthy house, cooking and then cleaning and laundry until the wee hours of the morning. Oh by the way I also have lupus all the while. He constantly rode me about the virtues of the capable wife and told me that I was not one. He was at home on the computer all day, or watching TV and doing his studies for the meetings. Leaving my then 13 year old daughter in charge of the little ones as soon as she came home from school, until I came home. I never with held the goods from him because then I would not be upholding bible principle to render his due.

He left us 2 years ago and went to live with his mother. The elders said that there was nothing they could do to help the situation while he was there but to allow him to be the head of the house and gave me a long counseling on being submissive. I quit going to the KH after he left and have not been back. He is still in good standing and a member of the super fine apostle club.

37

How long were you baptized until you left?

by YellowLab in

i'm interested to find out how long each of you were baptized until you decided to leave?.

i was baptized december, 1989 and left six years later.. if only i didn't get baptized in the first place, then i could tell my family how wonderful the holidays were!

yellowlab.

auntiem

Started to study in 1979

Started going to meetings 1981

Baptized 1987 (had a great deal to overcome!LOL)

Began fading in 2001 but was long dead to the message before that

I guess I am still fading as I am not DA, or DF'd I just walked away.

10

What kind of Jew was Jesus?

by auntiem in

has anyone ever done any research as to what sect of judaism jesus was born into?

and if so, do you think it was reflected in his teachings?

the society always goes into the descriptions and belifs of the sadduces (spelling?

auntiem

Did further research and found out that historians seem to think that he was an Essene. When I looked that up it said that the Jewish Essenes believed in reincarnation, they were vegatarians and kept seperate from the world. Boy that sounds familiar! They also did not seem to think marriage was necessary but was better to remain single. (How did they get more Essenes? LOL!)

Hugs To All!

aUnTiE M

6

benefits vs. cost of truth

by peacefulpete in

e-mail message .

i have long pondered what to do with my new understanding of the world.

i want to know the truth of the way things work.

auntiem

Great topic! It is good to read what others are thinking, whether they are believers or non. I think people practice certain religons, or not, because they have a need, or a want to follow. I have met a lot of people who don't agree with what their religon teaches, but they continue out of a need for human reasons. How many people have you met who continue to go to meetings or services because their friends all do? Or because their family is there? A person can spend a lifetime trying to convince others to stay in their religon, or to leave what they believe, or to simply get out of the comfort zone. One who is zealous to tear down something is just as zealous as those who build. Both can be seen as opposites, yet both can have either a negative or positive effect.

I like what Shawn K. Heflik said,

" My behaviors are now my own. They are not the product of religious guilt or indoctrination, but of my own mind and my own appreciation of that which makes life (all life) great! I am free to appreciate a Muslim, a Buddhist, or a "sinner" for whom they are, not what they are."

It would be nice to think that what ever religon or belief that I would choose for myself, that others would have the mindset to appreciate, or at least tolerate what I have chosen for myself. I try to have this mindset towards others.

I spent 20 years in an organization that took away a lot of freedoms all the while convincing me of all the freedoms they were giving me. When I joined this organization I did so because I needed it. It helped me to get my life on track, to be clean and sober and practice being a lawful citizen. It helped me to parent my children, and to teach them the morals that I did not grow up with. It gave me connection with other human beings who accepted me. My family, parents and such had given up on me, they were convinced I would be a drug addict forever. I walked away from this organization when I no longer needed it and no longer believed it. I don't feel lost like some told me they felt. I did however feel some anger for a while, until it dawned on me that I made the decision to join up in the first place, no one forced me. No one held a gun to my head. Its kind of like buying a car that you really like, but once its paid off you realize what a lemon you have. You could have said no to the car salesman, but you didn't. You bought it lock, stock and barrel. You can be angrey at the car salesman, but ultimatley the choice was yours to make in the first place.

The question of thinking human kind from the dawn of our birth has been "Who is our creator, or do we even have one?" The answer is different for each one of us. As intelligent and enlightned human beings I think we should live and let live and let every person have their own belifs. People change when they want to. We can not control others, but we can control ourselves.

Enough Rambling!

Hugs from aUnTiE M

33

Who Is Jehovah?

by reporter in

christians should all honestly and thoroughly investigate the contradictions between the old and new testaments in terms of the descriptions of god.. .

the god of the new testament is described as a god of love, mercy and peace.. .

the god of the old testament is described as jealous, vengeful god, a war-monger.

auntiem

Reporter...as to your first post...very interesting indeed. I have read some of Zechariah Stichin and I know where you are coming from. Have you ever read about the Sumarian text they found on stone that predates the Hebrew Torah? It is all very good. I think when we look at the Bible as we know it today we have to also take into account other ancient writings that the whole thing was taken from. According to ancient Hebrew myths (which is all written down) Adam had a first wife by the name of Lilith who would not do it with Adam missionary style. She did not want to take the submissive postion but wanted the superior one because she was Adams equal. When he denied her the top position she whispered gods name and disappeared, went to the Red Sea, set up her own colony and became a demon. Allegedly god sent three angels to speak with her and to tell her to stay away from Adam because he was in the process of making Eve who would be submissive to him. Well, later god allowed Lilith to take the lives of the first born of all of Adams decendants unless they did a nice little ritual during the first eight days of life where they drew a circle around the child and wrote the name of the three angels within the circle. I site this "myth" because I wonder what ever became of ALL the books writen by the ancient peoples, and who was it that picked the books that modern Jews and Christians read? I think all of this needs to be taken into account as well. I also thought it was very interesting that when Jesus was born that other enlighted beings came into this world either shortly before or after. Also the Masons have some pretty interesting stuff too, Charles Taze Russell got a lot of his stuff from the Masons and was rumored to be a 32 degree Mason. Maybe that is the reason for the pyramidology he was into? He has a pyramid at his grave site...very interesting and also look at the WT old buildings with the Egyptian ornamental stuff on it and Charles even put the Egyptian symbols on the outside of his Dawn books. All very interesting and a worth while research project as well. After all folks weren't we taught to ,,,"Make sure of all things",,,?

Hugs From

aUnTiE M

10

What kind of Jew was Jesus?

by auntiem in

has anyone ever done any research as to what sect of judaism jesus was born into?

and if so, do you think it was reflected in his teachings?

the society always goes into the descriptions and belifs of the sadduces (spelling?

auntiem

Thanks Wasasister....I am on my way to Barnes and Noble!

aUnTiE M

14

Too close to home

by JH in

jw
friends

when you were going from door to door, did you hate knocking at doors in your neighbourhood?

i wonder if the elders did on purpose to distribute territories so that you would have to be working in your neighbourhood.. often i noticed that elders gave me a territory in my neighbourhood, just to see if i would be ill at ease.

maybe they wanted to know if i had worldly friends in my neighbourhood.

auntiem

When I got tired of knocking on doors and ringing doorbells I would put my finger very close to the doorbell but not push it. Especially when I was working house over house with another pioneer.....whew we had a lot of rural territory and I think in the past 20 years I have walked every acre of it!!! At first I would dread finding someone at home who knew me because my profession pre WTBTS was a bartender and the towns in our territory are small where everyone knows everyone else. Then I kinda got used to it, or became numb.

20

The Great Pumpkin, er, Memorial Caper

by LDH in

jw
friends

well kids, it is about that time.

i just saw my first post for this year's memorial.. so i thought i would let you all know my plans and see if anyone else is interested.. last year, just to be hypocritical, i partook of emblems at home.

this year, i plan to be front and center at my local kingdumb hall partaking.. i do plan to polish off all the wine in the glass, and perhaps munch a few crackers.. anybody else up for memorial misadventures?

auntiem

Ok everyone. This is really funny! I am with TR, I say we bring our own bottles and ritz crackers! LOL! omg! I love this site! Anyway the memorial has always been very memorable to me because last year I was on the rag..err...sorry...having a visit from Aunt Rose and I had to into the restroom to take care of things. No one told me I was walking around with an Always wrapper hanging from the hem of my new dress! The year before that I was the sister with the TP trailing behind me! It never fails.....something always goes awry at memorial.

10

What kind of Jew was Jesus?

by auntiem in

has anyone ever done any research as to what sect of judaism jesus was born into?

and if so, do you think it was reflected in his teachings?

the society always goes into the descriptions and belifs of the sadduces (spelling?

auntiem

Thanks Shera,

I am going to look at the site, I bookmarked it for easy reference.

Still Lovin' that Bunny!

aUnTiE M