My Wife Got Baptized into the Organization Yesterday

by garyneal 67 Replies latest members private

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  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  Gary,

  If the matter of her quitting school should come up, warn her that if anything should happen to you, she would need to support the family. "Rely on Jehovah" to provide? Yeah, all those COs and DOs that preach that crap about "just rely on Jehovah and everything will be fine", get free healthcare, housing, leased cars, reimbursement from Watchtower Corp., reimbursement from congregations and circuits, and green handshakes from the "friends". They don't "rely on Jehovah", they steal the widow's mite to support their carefree lifestyle.
• 

  tec

  Just my two cents... but make sure your daughter sees the good and unselfish things that people do outside the organization... volunteering, food donations, shelters, etc. Not just the fun things, because its easier to attack those. But the good things...this way she should have a harder time believing that Satan runs everything outside of the WT. The fact that I had begun to be convinced that everything outside was evil, made it so much harder to see anything else but what the WT teaches.

  T
• 

  garyneal

  keyser: Yeah, I used to sit through the entire conventions back when I did not know any better. Now, if I can stay out of them completely, I will.

  leavingwt: Yeah, I was holding out the same hope. I know that once the love bombing drops, she will then realize how deep she really is in it.

  MMXIV: Yeah, I think back when I first stopped attending meetings with my wife, my daughter followed suit. As much as it pains me to see my wife go alone, I know that since I will never become a witness I see little point in attending regularly.

  willy: Yep, good thread to show where one spouse becomes a witness and the marriage falls apart. Hope this does not happen to my marriage.

  Mad Sweeney: And remember, it is never the witness's fault for the marriage ending badly.

  doublelife: thanks

  anewme: The WT way of life sounds very depressing indeed. I keep reminding her that I use to deal with depressing issues in an old fundy church that had depressing sermons all the time. Very legalistic and rigid, one can never do right in that church. I did not feel that again until I started attending KH meetings.

  sd-7: Yeah I am done arguing doctrine and facts with her. I am just going to live life to the fullest while being there for my family. Thanks for your advice.

  greenie: Yeah, this does seem like some sort of paradox doesn't it. She admits to the inability to find any support for 607 outside the WT but still embraces this religion as truth. That's why I believe she is doing it primarily for family reasons but also because of the frustrations we've both had in our marriage. And of course her belief that she will die at the big A if she doesn't.

  billy: Good point. I will certainly remind her that her best bet is to work hard and finish school by 2012 if possible. How are your classes going?

  tec: So true. It's been a long time since I've been involved in any charitable work. I wanted to involve my whole family in it but I am not so sure I can get my wife involved anymore. My church has a food drive I was considering getting involved in. I may do that a bit with my daughter on the nights my wife is in school.
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  smiddy

  Just my 2 cents worth gary....,Salvation Army....,St.Vincent de Paul....,Anglicare ....etc.etc...all do a charitable help for the poor and afflicted,without judging,the individual,what I think, is the spirit of being " christlike" ,on the other hand jehovah`s witnesses are very selective, as to who they offer help to,, those in need!! And what do they offer!!!! A bible study!!{big deal,when you need food on the table,a bed to sleep in ,shelter from the cold,etc .etc. } And they have the audacity to say the governments have programs to offer these services. (parasites on society is what I say )

  smiddy
• 

  Black Sheep

  I’ve already told her and her elder that the main reason why I would not consider becoming a witness is their blood doctrine.

  So, you don't have a problem with the teaching that Jesus selected them in 1919 to be god's sole channel of communication in our day?

  The teaching that you belong to a false religion and that you will soon be destroyed at Armageddon is only a minor issue and is of no real concern to you?

  Is that what your daughter is being taught, or will be taught, in the KH?
• 

  garyneal

  Black Sheep:

  One issue at a time with these people. The major one where I see impact on life is the blood one but you raise good points with the others as well.

  So, you don't have a problem with the teaching that Jesus selected them in 1919 to be god's sole channel of communication in our day?

  Yes I do and we've even discussed this issue a little bit prior to my discussing the blood issue. I was just treading lightly with the elder and his wife but before I steered the subject to the blood issue we did talk about 1914, 607, the gentile times, etc.. I explain all of the points and asked him if he could find sources outside the Watchtower to support 607. He could not. I know I probably should've been more sheepish on this but this was not my primary concern at the time.

  The teaching that you belong to a false religion and that you will soon be destroyed at Armageddon is only a minor issue and is of no real concern to you?

  While I did not bring this up to the elder, I did bring it up to my wife on multiple occasions. I also pointed out how they can say this while not making sure of their own religion. I try not to be too confrontational for the sake of everyone's sanity but I did raise this point on several occasions.

  Is that what your daughter is being taught, or will be taught, in the KH?

  Judging from my experiences within the KH, they are certainly going to teach that the churches of Christendom teach false teachings. While I don't hear too much of them preaching of the big A they are still teaching the whole 'keep on the watch' thing.
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  dgp

  Gary, in my humble opinion you're managing this admirably well. I know you're hoping against hope, but I do want you to succeed. I can but offer you a reflection from my own situation. My witness is where she is because she had the misfortune of being born into the WTS. I don't think she has any contact with any non-JW relatives, if she has any; and she doesn't allow herself to have non-JW friends. My success into getting her to use her mind and her heart would have been her success, too. So, if anything should keep you going for as long as you can, let it be the love that you feel for her. If you succeed, so will she. Who knows, she might even soar. Uncommon men do uncommon things, Gary. My hat is off to you.
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  Heaven

  Heaven: Thanks for the information. Definitely a scary thought. As over protective as I am over my child, if something like this happens, it will not be pretty. Calling the cops and if the elders stand in the way, calling an attorney.

  Hi Gary ... I'm glad you are willing to do what you have to to protect your daughter. This is very important.

  When I was 10 years old, my parents moved from the city to a farm. Back then, my Father wasn't a JW. He also worked second shift so we rarely saw him during the week. It was my Mom who was eager to get involved with this religion since her Dad had converted to JW from Catholicism. It always struck me odd that we never went to the Hall. I had only ever gone to 1 Memorial that I remember. Back then there was a Sunday Bible Book Study at our house conducted by an older JW couple.

  Once I became an adult, my Mom told me that my Dad had forbidden her to go to the Hall when I was a pre-teen child and prior to us moving to the farm. She said "Your Dad felt I was spending too much time at the Hall and he didn't like it. He said my place was here at home being a Mother." I think it was because as soon as he got home from work and dinner was done, she'd be gone to do the JW stuff. My Mom wasn't baptized at this time.

  It was about 2 years ago that my Dad told me that a certain person in the congregation of the farming community we moved to was a pedophile. I remember my parents talking about someone, a lawyer, getting disfellowshipped when I was a teen but no one ever said the reasons why. The lawyer wasn't the pedophile but a guy who wanted to take this to the authorities. So they got rid of this 'trouble-maker' ( ).

  My conclusion now is that the reasons we didn't go to the Hall were because my Dad wasn't into the religion while I was growing up, as we got older, neither were the kids, and there was the extra threat of a child predator amongst them. I guess my folks were pretty decent people after all. I'm just sorry my Dad got sucked in after retirement.