by AllTimeJeff 82 Replies latest jw friends
The internet serves a purpose. When I left I thought I was alone in how I felt about the bOrg. This site and many others proves that I'm not alone. Whether I choose to stay here or leave is my choice and should not be judged. I'm free from the bOrg and it's dictates and if I want to spend a little time here, reading and responding to topics I can do that. People latch on to things that give comfort. This is one of mine.
Josie
alltimejeff: i will echo your point about being
selective about which waters one
will cast their bread upon....
uncertain of my status since a front page
article in the local daily had a photo of me
and my transgender son and our story of
political activism in support of LGBTQ issues
(and well beyond care as to "status"), i still
go out of my way to discretely avoid, not shun,
people i recognize from the KH i attended....
i started that behaviour well before ever knowing
of JWD because i was emotionally exhausted by
there superficial inquiries about "why haven't we
seen you at meetings?" kinda hard to walk away
after saying "i am dead inside" ya know....
for the record, there was also one crazy a$$
vietnam veteran i had worked for that caused
me to spin on my heels if i saw him before he
saw me
i changed my mind! i realized the b0rg was
not what it says it is, nor was it what i needed
in order to support my child through what has
to be a most difficult reality... and for this i am
no longer worthy of a kind greeting from people
whom i supported with uncompensated
labour, groceries, housing, transportation?
yeah, i choose to avoid where possible,
but in any face to face that might occur,
i do offer a hurried non-commital greeting
"looking good, mate.... gotta fly"....
i told the fly-off-the -handle couple
at the PFLAG meeting i suspected i
was a persona non gratis aka apostate
according to the JWs and they wouldnt
spit on me if my hair was on fire...
hyperbole? of course.....
but an appropriate caricature
of the reality of their practice
Reniaa, why are you bothered if Jeff doesn't recognize you? Are you hurt by this? If you are, then think of all the people JWs shun. Not very Christlike, huh? If you aren't hurt by the shunning, then your're just a sh*t stirrer.
hi minmus
To be honest it doesn't bother me at all, I just wanted to point out the hypocracy! Apparently it's only shunning when Jws do it, when ex-Jw's do it, it is just avoiding or choosing your associations carefully so as not to be contaminated by my pro-witness ways. Well you addressed me so I answered
Reniaa
Chickpea
I remember now! I vividly recall your experience. What a challenge as a (checked out mentally?) JW you have with a GLTG child and dealing with those issues? I LOVE you. Hope all is going well.
Minimus, all people shun. There are good reasons to shun based on personal decisions. (for example, leaving bad people in a bad neighborhood, or refusing association with old friends who did drugs or drink a lot for your benefit) JW reasons ARE NOT good reasons to shun.
One can espouse JW views as their own, under threat of shunning of course. But the bible does not promote shunning, and esp for the offenses JW's come up with.
The downfall of JW's will probably occur organically, as they DF everyone left. Maybe they will even catch up with certain troll JW posters here who are doing so against the decrees of the GB.
This isn't the hall. Just because someone make a post to a topic doesn't mean the thread maker has to respond to it.
Josie
Several points:
I don't care what happens to the WTBS, I'm not trying to bring it down. I do like talking to people about shared experience and interests (I spend a lot of time on a political board too). I also want to use that experience to help answer questions from those that have them.
Reniaa: If some one chooses not to speak to you that is a personal decision. What is wrong with shunning at the hall is that everyone is FORCED to participate.
Bravo and well said, AllTimeJeff. I am still wondering if I will ever be an "EX-ex-JW".
I firmly believe that anger is one of the stages of recovery, but if that stage lingers too long, it will destroy you.
Thank you.
Love,
Baba.
So, Re, what exactly is your purpose in being here?
Somewhat interesting for me to read this, and realize that I am still here, posting after being out for a few years now.
Sometimes, I confuse myself. Does being an ex JW mean that I am "doomed" to post on JW forums forever? Does being a former JW mean that I can serve as a commentator between the official Governing Body BS they spew as dogma forever?
At some point, will I no longer personally get anything out of the internet community of former JW's and say hasta la vista?
I don't know. I think the whole thing is evolving. Like I alluded to in the first post, what we write about tells a lot about us, and I include myself in this. I write about this topic in some form frequently, because its always top of my mind, and I am still working it out for me. Talking about it helps me, just like other posts (I hope) help others in their own journeys....
