Ooooh, I LIKE THAT! for NON-PROFIT organizations...
speaking of Non-Profit, I "heard" that the GB members live in quite nice accomodations- is this true?
currently from houston, tx, but spent most of my life in chicago.
i've never had an opportunity to just get this out... so i apologize for the long-windedness in advance... .
i spent the first 17 years of my life in a jw home, then the real world caught up to me.
Ooooh, I LIKE THAT! for NON-PROFIT organizations...
speaking of Non-Profit, I "heard" that the GB members live in quite nice accomodations- is this true?
currently from houston, tx, but spent most of my life in chicago.
i've never had an opportunity to just get this out... so i apologize for the long-windedness in advance... .
i spent the first 17 years of my life in a jw home, then the real world caught up to me.
thanks for the welcome- I have been just plastered to this page for the last 24 hours. It's amazing to see the experiences and emotions that are experienced by so many people at the hands of this one thing. I can't think of any other religion (outside of the Amish) that has this painful of a track record. Some of this stuff is difficult to READ, let alone if someone had to listen to it.
Which reminds me: One of my friends had an idea- and i'd love to hear your feedback- considering some of our experiences.
A mammoth class action civil suit agains the WTS for a bevy of psychological afflictions that affect many EX JWs that have an effect on us YEARS after we leave the organization.
i don't really know if it would even be possible or successful- but what if ... a suit big enough to shut the whole thing down.
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0802629.htm.
if you google 'vatican and aliens', you will find a number of references to vatican officials making positive remarks about extraterrestrials - including a few who outrightly assert that they exist.
in addition, the vatican is interested in observatory time used for locating earth-like planets.. in summary, it looks like they wish to be prepared, come what may.
I'm bout to use up my 10th post lol
Thanks for the welcome... I never knew boards like this existed! You know you hear "Apostates" as a kid and it's like something akin to the Chester the Molester/Kidnapper/Child Rapist/KKK member/Acid Rock Devil Worshipping/Drug Dealing Gangsta Rap - person. When I found out that it really was Ex-JW.. I was like wow... I been apostate since I was a teenager LMAO!!!
It's nice to be somewhere that people really can just ventilate about what is ailing them, to people that can understand what you're talkin about... almost like a counselling group lol
Be Back soon :D
so we know all the things the wts prevents us from doing, but that's much, much different than the stuff we've grown accustomed to.. for those who have been out for a number of years, what kind of things would end up being abandoned if you suddenly started going back to the kingdom hall?
you know, stuff that you now do on the nights you used to attend meetings, the things you own, the things you wear, etc..
My wife would divorce me if I went back- I know for a FACT that she would cut anchor and haul a-ess-ess because she knows what I went thru with that. Self respect also, because I can't imagine the equivalent of smooching the rectal orifice that issued me a brown sludge pie... that's what it would feel like. I LOVE , and I mean lovvvvvve porn....oh my god- love it... so no more of that- and i do smoke cigars and the occasional wrapped greenery...so that's gone...hmmmm
Music- unless it's a 'Kingdom Melody' it's out the window- so that's all of my rap music, new and old skool..all my Michael Jackson discography and such. Movie collection- mostly R-rated so gone, no more of my favorite comedians - and all that ^*%*%*&^(*&(& profanity.
I do go to church from time to time, because I LIKE IT! And it's engaging, and I get to actually sing - like really sing.. I was president of my choir for 4 years! Just moved and the church I attend here in TX is awesome, but I don't feel like Satan has impregnated me with his children when I don't go...
Nah... never happening- because I would never want my kids to think that should they opt-out of the JW life, that they would cease to be my kids... I'd sooner commit a felony.
currently from houston, tx, but spent most of my life in chicago.
i've never had an opportunity to just get this out... so i apologize for the long-windedness in advance... .
i spent the first 17 years of my life in a jw home, then the real world caught up to me.
Thanks for the encouragement ... I had never gone onto a site like this one before..but had countless never-ending conversations about why I chose to leave the KH. I never knew that I was considered an apostate for having a difference of opinion, having a faith of my OWN, and having a personal relationship, non-interrupted by the Elders with God... Speaking of which- guess what I did? I went to CHURCH- and loved it!!!!
"I can't believe you did it- I am too scared to lose my family?" My question- why is that even an option for this 'organization'?
Fear Tactics? Threat of disowning? Who does that????
I was disfellowshipped because - a young lady that I knew (also a former Witness) was thrown out on the street for being pregnant- didn't have anywhere to go... and I told her she could live with me until her boyfriend, my friend- (also a former witness) got their apartment 3 weeks later. The elders told me that she was not my problem and that I had to put her out - if I wanted to stay in Jehovah's organization.... I looked at them and said...where is she supposed to go? They answered are you having sex with her? I said no...but she's living with you? Yes- she sleeps in my 2nd room. So where is she supposed to go? That's not your concern... So I'm supposed to put a pregnant teenager out on the street where ANYTHING could happen to her vs let her stay in the safety of my home until she can have a secure place to live- ... Wow. Do what you want- and I left.
THIS is what people don't know about! This is the kind of thing that happens in those backrooms- folks get DF'd for having scratchoff lottery tickets... but somebody is in the hall messing with kids, they don't get the proper authority involved... come on man....
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0802629.htm.
if you google 'vatican and aliens', you will find a number of references to vatican officials making positive remarks about extraterrestrials - including a few who outrightly assert that they exist.
in addition, the vatican is interested in observatory time used for locating earth-like planets.. in summary, it looks like they wish to be prepared, come what may.
i LOVE this topic...
Ok, I don't believe everything I see on TV or read on the internet- BUT- it seems like all these Ancient Alien theorists are giddy as all you know what to be able to dialogue about what they've found, researched, uncovered, etc. Would it stand to reason that an all-powerful God would not just stop at humankind and it's imperfection to be making stuff? The technological improvements of human kind in the last 50-60 years has been GIGANTIC compared to prior to that... Why? Could it be that the "thoughts of God are above our thoughts" aka that God or whoever made us is just plain smarter than us?
I mean seriously- if an earlier century of man had seen an airplane in the sky- they would have called it a chariot of fire- why...because they didn't know what an airplane was. With that being said... there are countless artifacts and archaelogical finds that would support some sort of alien/extraterrestrial activity on this planet. If in fact, we were generated by a more advanced lifeform, the Annunaki or whatever... and they returned to "visit" - it would shake modern religion to its very core...
If in fact the Angels were lower level aliens who went up the chain to a higher level alien or a Chief Alien... what happens to the fundamental structure of all religion, when God is in effect, Superman?
currently from houston, tx, but spent most of my life in chicago.
i've never had an opportunity to just get this out... so i apologize for the long-windedness in advance... .
i spent the first 17 years of my life in a jw home, then the real world caught up to me.
But they don't see it as a religion...they think that they are SO far removed from the RELIGION aspect..but if you do a side by side of many "Christendom" religions- it's ALL THE SAME!!! except they focus on following the teachings now of the "organization" which I find to be a little bit strange... just me- i'm nobody. Growing up, there was NEVER "organization" it was the "Faithful and discreet slave class" - - Now it's the "organization" aka "corporation" aka "business" aka "structured entity"... aka "CHURCH"
i thought i would share this fb message from someone who considers himself to be a "true" friend of mine.
after learning from my former husband tha i am disfellowshipped, he writes the following: .
fb true friend: "xxxxx with tears in my eyes i will be deleting you but i want you as my sister again.
Dang, I'm sorry your friend turned out not to be a true friend. Have you lost many friends since being DF'd? When the DFing is new... I've seen folks really go thru it...especially when their holier than thou friends issue you the "you're going to hell in a handbasket" notice... Hang in there...if you go back- do it for the right reasons.
do you remember anything from your baptism talk or the brother who gave it?.
Oh man! This took me back!!
Yes! I remember him- and that his son almost drowned in that pool right next to me. There were a group of about 13-15 of us, and we all got baptized together. We Made sure we were in line to get dunked together.. I just keep remembering him say "Today, July 9th 1988, is the most important day of your life" and I was thinking... I'm 10 years old...I"M SURE, I will have more important days than this LOL... Funny, NONE of us are still associated with the JW...as a matter of fact his son who almost drowned next to me (because he slipped out from the guy's grasp and was panicking), is now Kanye West's road manager LOL Go figure... Now that I think of it... out of the six congregations that attended our KH... and the kids 5 years older than me and 3 years younger... none of us go to the KH anymore except for like 4 of us...and they only go to keep in touch with their families. I remember I got a watch for a gift and a fresh pair of Stacy Adams dress shoes. Wow... memories - and the smell of horse manure.
currently from houston, tx, but spent most of my life in chicago.
i've never had an opportunity to just get this out... so i apologize for the long-windedness in advance... .
i spent the first 17 years of my life in a jw home, then the real world caught up to me.
Hello everyone,
I'm B.L. currently from Houston, TX, but spent most of my life in Chicago. Thanks for having me. I've never had an opportunity to just get this OUT... so I apologize for the long-windedness in advance...
I spent the first 17 years of my life in a JW home, then the real world caught up to me. I got baptized when I was 10, and wish I had never did it because puberty was an experience. Had my first run in with girls when I was 13- totally unprepared for that. It was all downhill from there. Seems like in the lower income areas of this country, JWs tend to thrive- where people are less educated- and their hopes are just for some happiness, let alone some quality of median incomism. Thus I lived in a district where my family was of a group of reknowned Witnesses, my uncle, dad all their friends were "big-tymers" always on the Circuit, District level activity- giving big talks, directing dramas, all that... Double Life had a real meaning for me- because all I could imagine was getting kicked out of my house for not following suit. My mother was the real harbinger of JW-life...she tried to push into my head that I wanted to go to Bethel and Pioneer and marry one of my grandmothers friends granddaugthers and go serve where the need was greater. I wanted to go to Michigan State University, pledge Omega Psi Phi (fraternity), study Physical Therapy and work for a Professional sports team. So, guess who's dreams got pooped on... yeah. So much changed so fast as I was a teenager. Seemed all my friends were non-existent except for when I was at school. I wasn't allowed to associate with kids at the hall because they weren't good enough associations because their parents watched HBO comedy shows or they got 'in-style' hair cuts... And at a point- I just got sick of it- so I let the other side of my life out- and yup- got kicked out of the house at 17 (I told them that I felt that this was all BS and that I didn't want to do it anymore- and went to stay with my then 23 year old girlfriend), then again at 18... (second time wasn't nothing to do with me at all- my best friend's little brother and my sister started a physical relationship- which I found out about when I was told to pack my stuff and get out of their house--- furious doesn't even scrape the surface).
So instead of trying to figure out college, I was figuring out where I would live, between my car (at 18 yrs old), some random chick's place and spending the random night at my best friend's parents house. My best friend used to always tell me that God doesn't do this...and I would tell him Miguel, this is the truth.. and you know what happens if we say it ain't. He also used to tell me you KNOW that's not your real daddy, and it's time for him to get you out of his house... a conversation that would almost surely lead to a fight. So when he told his parents I was living out of my car and what had transpired (the whole story), they took me in and there was some normalcy. Then my mother tried to condemn his parents for taking me in...and his mother LEAPED to my defense. She said "God gave me 3 sons, and gave you 1- I've always prayed for 1 more- so thank you and get off my porch..." Miguel was DF'd a short time after that- but his parent's never condemned him as a person...only his behavior- smoking of a certain green plant and his continued sexual episodes with his Girlfriend who refused to marry him when the time came for him to ask her. Miguel and I eventually got own place, and two young guys with decent 9-5 jobs in a nice apartment...well, it was a riot. One day, as our custom Miguel told me he'd call me when he got to work, as he was always oversleeping. This was a no big deal- except that he never made it to work. He died of injuries sustained from a fall down 35 steel steps after having a major heart attack- at 23 yrs old. Heartbroken, consoling his mother was the only thing I could think about... while my mother was heard at his funeral saying "Well, he was disfellowshipped, so I guess you know what that means..." Problem was the person that heard her, was Miguel's mother... I know that as a Christian...I'm taught to forgive- but I still struggle with forgiving her for that night. Thing is, she didn't know that Miguel was actuall going to the KH and making efforts to be an active JW again. I vowed that I would NEVER do the same.
I was never allowed foster a relationship with my grandfather because he was such a bad evil man who had rejected Jehovah and had an affair on my grandmother. When I was 28 he and I reconnected and spent 3 wonderful years learning each other and talking and having that grandfather/grandson relationship that never was... Found out that he was disfellowshipped because he was smoking cigars on his patio and the elders told him that if he didn't stop, he didn't love jehovah and that he was going to be disfellowshipped. This was also when the congregation owed his business several hundred dollars for repairs he had made to the KH- and he had already slashed the price for most labor and parts. His "affair" on my grandmother was during a time when they were separated for 4 and 1/2 years... and after trying to work it out they divorced 3 yeas later. Go figure, that while they were separated, one of the elders was trying to get with my grandmother- and during that time, my grandfather was denied efforts to get reinstated. He died but the night before he died, he told me that he wished we had more time... my mother called me that next morning to tell me he had died. I told her I was at the hospital when he died- and hung up the phone. I hugged my mother for the first time in 10 years at my grandfather's funeral. Felt like hugging air... pointless.
I found out when I was 8 that my dad was actually my step-dad and that my biological father didn't want to have anything to do with me or my mother. All I ever knew about him was his name and that he sucked. So, to my surprise, my mother called me just prior to my 32nd birthday to tell me that my father had sent a letter to her- for me. I responded- "This is a new low, even for OUR relationship." *Mind you my dad had been disfellowshipped for his adulterous behavior (but I'm the spawn of Satan) fairly recently at this point.* "You didn't even have the decency to tell me y'all got a divorce- wow." Not from him, from YOUR father, Michael (a name I hadn't heard since I was 8)... So I asked her to scan and email the letter to me, for which I am eternally grateful. I was able to call my father the same day and had a conversation with him. Wee-irrrd... but comfortable. I found out that he had been looking for me and my mother for quite some time...under the wrong last name. A last name given to him and his family in a letter from my mother stating that since he didn't want to become a JW and marry her that they would never see me again. That my last name would be Williams (which it isn't) and to not bother trying to find us as she was marrying someone in 14 days... I never knew that I had been AROUND my paternal family, let alone that a childhood nickname that I was called was given to me by my uncle. So- I found out that I have 3 other sisters and 2 brothers - all younger than I, and that my youngest brother- was born on the same day as me- 23 yrs later. My step-mother is the best thing to happen to me EVER... and she's known about me since the day she met my father, and has championed his search for me and my whereabouts- and encouraged him to keep looking despite his fears about what I would feel about him. That relationship is growing its own legs and my siblings couldn't be happier. I recently was able to watch my baby sister graduate from College with a BS in Nursing and my younger brother to graduate High school with a scholarship to University of Delaware. After much conversation, my siblings have convinced me to enroll at a local state university to begin to acquire my business degree... and to pledge grad chapter of the Fraternity of my dreams.
Why am I telling you this? No idea. I don't know you people, you don't know me. I couldn't make this stuff up if I wanted to- there are some people out there that thnk that being a JW is the best thing since sliced bread. To those people... I say don't question anything, except your own faith. If you feel like your faith is wavering- you're not crazy- ask the question why... I was baptized at 10 yrs old- if I could do it all over- I never would have. I did it to be able to handle the microphones at the KH.. Not to have my life ripped apart for 15+ years because I didn't believe the same things that my parents believed, and that I was ill prepared for life as a human. I don't feel that any religion that promotes the categorial dismantling of a family in favor of a man-made ideal is from God. If so, may as well break out the stones and get at it. No single organization has a lease on the love of God- period. "Judge not, lest you be judged first" , "Neither are you the Lord over the faith of another". I can't believe that a religion that has such a dramatic disconnect with its young people and those that it retains, it does so based upon FEAR of reprisal from family... can be the truth...I just can't believe it. I believe that the Bible in and of itself represents the word of a divine being- God or Other (totally another topic) and that noone is able to tell me what he thinks of me except him, when I meet him.
Good luck to those of you still struggling with a decision...and God Bless you to those of you who've already made it and are paying a price for it.
BL