i was in for 30 years.....my ex was an elder...."holy spirit appointed" he tortured me....i was married 33+ years....you know,,,marriage is sacred...you can leave,,,i know,,,,if abuse is intolerable....but that starts a series of events...etc etc etc....i finally left everything...and moved far away.....people actually believe "holy spirit" appoints people,,,my ex would not pray unless there was an audience...you know,,,,people invited over for supper kind of thing,,,you get the point..... my best friend had a mental breakdown,,,,she basically became psychotic.....had to be hospitalized....she took up smoking,,,got disfellowshipped...and lost all emotional support....to this day,,,,as far as i know,,,she is still disfellowshipped...needs to be hospitialized every so often....she is on complete disability.....and still trying to get back into the org....her mother does support some what,,,,even though she is a witness herself,,,,,takes her to assemblies,,,,memorial,,,etc,,,,this has gone on for years.....she cannot mentally handle the organization,,,nor can she mentally handle not being a witness...lost everything....guilt....etc..... did not mean to ramble on so much......i have mental scars that will not go away....because i stayed in a "mess" for god,,,,i could write page after page of things like the above....as being my "last straw".......curious about you here on the board....any specific "breaking point" or a collection of many things..... thanks for your in put...peaches.
Me, too, Jeff. And then there were a few last straws for me. One was the super-pompous hall we'd begun attending; I'd never experienced anything like it in all my years in the borg. Then, I stopped believing that 99% of the world was bad enough to be slaughtered and that most of those in the org were not. When I cried tears of saddness when my oldest got baptized I knew I was seriously on the way out.
I was raised from almost a baby in the org, got baptized in 1966 (OK, giving away my age) and left in about 1993. I honestly can't remember the year but it was sort of gradual.
here's the scenario......... it's friday evening and you've arrived home from work, ready to enjoy the night at home watching a movie.
your home is averagely tidy and clean, your fridge and cupboards contain the food and drink they're normally stocked with, nothing special.. at 7pm the doorbell rings.
you open the door and two couples are standing there, friends of yours that two weeks ago you invited over for supper tonight.
Pasta with goat cheese and greens, freshly grated parmesan; salad or steamed veg's with lemon olive oil and pine nuts, a couple bottles of wine; good coffee and chocolate or cookies (or both) for dessert.
yes go to meetings and field service otherwise no "payday" for you!
witnesses spend many hours serving jehovah because they will live forever in paradise on earth.....yes, they won't die like the rest of mankind.....so is this really why people serve god...for a final payday in the future?.
during my time in jw, i always had a desire to attend the international conventions, but never had the opportunity to do so because it was always extended to the elite class 1st (pioneers, elders, etc.
) and peons second.
in my congregation, the same pioneer sisters always hogged the opportunity, leaving others to only hope in the day they can go.
I got to go to the "Peace on Earth" assemblies in Europe while pioneering. I was living at home and was able to save most of the money myself. My grandparents gave me some money, too. The activities were not controlled then, we got a terrific price on air fare and accomodations and attended a session or two in each assembly city. After that, we toured and saw the sights. I was there for a month and it was wonderful. I'd love to spend another month in Europe!
