Number one, my children!
Number two, my dancing! Dance and teaching dance is ME!
YUP! So glad to be out of the org, and discover this about me, would have never known that I had a talent for it otherwise.
i was just thinking about how so many were so caught up in the dubs for so many years, and at the time we probably would have all felt that the truth and spreading the good news was our passion.
so what is your passion now?
what makes you tick and excites your senses and captivates you?
Number one, my children!
Number two, my dancing! Dance and teaching dance is ME!
YUP! So glad to be out of the org, and discover this about me, would have never known that I had a talent for it otherwise.
i watched two movies (they're only on dvd--i finally broke down and got one) that were the best i've seen in a while:
house of sand and fog
(ben kingsley & jennifer connelly about an iranian general lives in america)
I just saw the movie "Hero" today with Jet Lee. Wow, what a fantastic movie. I thoroughly did not expect much from it at all. Hubby chose it, I just went to be with him. THought it would be all karate action. But it surprised me. Yes, just enough action (the kind where they fly like in crouching tiger hidden dragon) but for us ladies, a love story to keep us interested. But a great plot, and a real "moral" to the story. To top it off, I guess, it was based on a true story, history in China. I highly recommend it.
today, i was on the scene of the local congregation of jw's where my ex-wife and her husband attend.
physical, emotional and mental abuse has been purpetrated upon my kids for eight years now.
they have been victims of alcoholism, verbal bashings and they have been made to watch their stepfather beat the hell out of their mother and then be halled off to jail without saying a word to anyone for fear fo reprisal from him and their mother.
What an incredible job you did. You are tenacious, and that will turn out to be a great thing for your kids in the end. Sounds like maybe they are in their teens, so hopefully not to long before they are 18, and they can make their own choice not to have to go around their moms house at all. Good luck to you in getting the visitation changed until then. I know this cant be easy on you, you are a great father to keep fighting so hard for your kids. I hope everything goes well for you and your children.
just a new face in the crowd.
my uncle encouraged me to join as he has been a member for a couple of years.
i left fold after a year after reading an article in a local weekly magazine (it was actually front page story).
Welcome, hope to hear more from you.
Netty
my parents were both very strict, and i wasn't allowed any toys at the hall.
my rations included a copy of my book of bible stories, and a pen and note pad.
my parents were strict to the point of not allowing me to draw pictures, i had to "take notes".
I was so envious of kids with cool toys that were allowed to crawl under the chairs and play with them
I remember this, but, their parents were looked down upon, and gossipsed about as being spiritually weak.
I was raised strict like you, someone already mentioned my FUN GAME! We got to mark down a mark each time Jehovah, Jesus, whatever was said. What made it even WAAAAY more fun was it didnt just have to be by the speaker from the platform (to be read with ENTHUSIASM) it could also be if someone said it when they answered. Fascinating Stuff.
a few years ago,my father and my wife were talking religion at our house after we had invited him for dinner.. naturally .
however...they started to talk about my chances of making it in since i had rejected jehovah jesus wtbts.. in front of me...they came to the conclusion that i would likely be killed at "a" (soon).
i had to say ...hello... here i am...they were so engrossed in their little imaginary thoughts that they had forgotten i was there.. anyone else had something so sick happen to them????.
Hello I'm not dead yet, My name is "You and your CHILDREN are going to die at Armegeddon, because you are not serving Jehovah" yup, as told to me by my very own mother.
this happened a few times, back in the 70's, in the congregation that i went to.
there were a few families who were jw's, divorced and remarried, had (physical anyway) custody of their children, but the divorced spouse was non-believing and wanted their rights to the children.. one family, when the father of the children went to court to get custody of the kids, picked up and fled the country.
we later learned they were in costa rica.
I'm actually grateful to have been raised by my "parents".
Hi Brenda, I am glad that you feel like you were raised in a better place, good for you. So, you eventually met your birth mother?
and even took my four year-old daughter to the doctor and told her to tell the doctor ,"Daddy pushed my peepee in
Oh my God, Brad, that is just such a sick thing to do, I am sorry she is doing this to you, must be very difficult.
my daughter also told me that her nanny (my ex mother-in-law) hurt her in the genital area with her knee
What in the world? That is just disturbing. They will just stop at nothing.
"good" people do fair better in the long run than "bad" people do
I am with you there Brad, good thing to keep telling yourself, I believe that do be true.
Thanks for listening......You got it! Anytime, thats what we are here for Good Luck, I really wish you all the best with your situation, and I hope too, that in the end the truth will come out, and you will be reunited with your precious baby girl.
for the past few hours i have been reading through this forum and an overwhelming sadness came over me.
for a long time i thought just getting out and not being part of the organization would be the "escape" that being happy in a normal life provided.
born and raised (well 17 was it for me) under the tight grips of this organization has made my life a constant battle over right and wrong.
stinkin thinkin!
OH NO! Please dont take me back there. If that is not one of the most over used JW "talk" phrase, I dont know what is. I remember when each elder, one by one, used this phrase in talks. They thought the were so cool, ugh! Thanks for the memories.
i have a new babysitter, and she asked my permission to teach my daughter to pray before she eats.
i said absolutley go for it, i would like that.
fast forward a couple of weeks, sitting by my (jw) mom on the couch, she is appalled "did you know the babysitter taught (daughter) to say thank you for the food jesus"????
I don't say that my mother made it through me! I made it myself, goddamn it!
Thats too funny!
a long story condensed in order to keep private things private, but first of all, how many active members are on here now?
second of all, were the pre-1975 jws less hard core, would you say?
is that around the time they "stepped it up"?
Dont know about pre - 75, I was in, but too little. But for sure, after 75, say late 70's to early 80's, things were hard core STRICT! Thats why I left, I couldnt breathe. Disfellowhipping was an epidemic! Judicial Committees for everyone! I never knew how to make a decision, so much definition during those times on what was a disfellowhipping offense, and what was a conscience matter. I think it became more lax in the 90's.