Hello from NW USA

by Haulin Oats 22 Replies latest jw friends

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  Haulin Oats

  Hey there, gang.

  I'm Haulin Oats. I came to full awareness recently after finding a work-mate who also had "seen the light" finally.

  I was born/raised a JW, having made some pretty big sacrifices in the name of the organization, even moving to where the need was greater before the start of high school. Needless to say, small mid-west farm towns don't look too highly on JW's. But it was here in the mid-west where my doubts were sown due to the vast amount of crazy shit I saw growing up there. My parents survived 1975 with their blinders fully intact. They skated right through that period drinking VAST amounts of Kool-aid. Both are pretty much inactive now, but I have suspicions that they stopped really caring about religion years ago.

  I have no interest in religion, period. I hated dressing up on Sundays, often missing ball-games or car races. I hated going to meetings because I had better things to do with my time after school/work.

  One of my blood-sisters was the first from our family to jump ship. I've taken alot of her example and its really helped me to get out of this nonsensical organization. I have made it very clear to my wife that i'm not going back ever again. The wife has since started to ask me to help her see the flaws in the cult. I showed her the child abuse information that Barb had on her site. This helped my wife to start questioning what else is screwed up in this cult. We now have "evening studies" of articles from websites like Barb's and others. We spend time together learning how to think for ourselves. I love it.

  I hope to establish some relationships as a member of this board. I plan to post about my teenaged daughter who is still hooked into "the machine". I've made some progress with her, but hope that I can get some good ideas to help her see the light. I'll make a separate post about her later.

  Anyhow, Im glad to be here.

  Oh, and my username stems from my days as a youth; being told that the pop band "hall & oates" were demonic/debasing because someone in the hall "just had a feeling they are". Riiiiiiiiight......
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  Lunatic Faith

  Welcome Haulin Oats! Way to make use of the family study night You're fortunate your wife was so willing to consider another path. AS to your daughter, the world holds much more appeal for teenagers. Start talking about college, dances, sports, drama, whatever you know she would like to be involved in. It won't take long, especially if grandma and grandpa aren't even doing anything.

  You mentioned you're in the NW, is that like Pacific NW or more midwest?
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  oompa

  i pretty much hate you oats...but welcome....not really hate you of course...i would just give anything if i had a wife like you that was willing to even discuss anything about jw's with me....i tried but only drove her more and more into the org......you are damm lucky friend....oompa
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  mouthy

  Welcome !!! So glad your able to talk to your wife & share....

  Keep up the good work...
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  jamiebowers

  Welcome!
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  Heaven

  Hey Haulin Oats, Welcome! Love the name you chose. So glad you saw through the BS and I'm glad your wife is seeing it too.

  Here's hoping the rest of the journey of your life is fun-filled and awesome!
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  White Dove

  I remember being a teenager and being idealistic.

  I needed to fit in and have something to do that I felt really contributed to society in some way.

  The only choice I had was being a JW and pioneering, so I got baptized and aux. pioneered.

  Charity work would have really appealed to me, as it is directly helping others in a much more practical way.

  Maybe besides all the activities LF mentioned that I would have given my right arm to have been able to do, you might mention volunteer work in soup kitchens and shelters.

  Teens love to be of good use to others and volunteering in such a way is also good for getting into a good college and scolarships.

  Oh, and WELCOME! I'm from the Pacific NW.
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  Low-Key Lysmith

  Hello and welcome.

  I live in Seattle. It doesn't get much more North and West than that.....Unless you live in Alaska, I guess.

  Or, I suppose you could be from Bellingham or live on the tip of the Olympic Peninsula?
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  saltyoldlady

  Welcome aboard - I'm from Seattle area. I see we have others from my neck of the woods. Hope to get to meet all of you in the flesh someday. I'm sure you'll get some good help from the others with persuading your daughter to "see the truth - the real truth that is" - and you'll find much of interest on this site also. Might I recommend the www.jwfiles.com site - by one of our contributors - Sab. Tons of items there to consider as a family - tastefully done and he's a brilliant thinker. I especially love Jonathan Dough's contributions too - and ever so many others. That's just for starters.

  Will be looking forward to hearing about your future discoveries as you pursue "Christian Freedom" - it's refreshing! Like the "salt" air - if you can forgive my local euphenism and pun on my name. Haulin Oats made me think of farm work - we used to have a farm on the Camas Prarie in Idaho.
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  tracylee

  LOL about Hall & Oates being "demonic". That reminds me of the time my mom and her friend decided to lisen to all my Mariah Carey CDs to make sure there weren't any swear words in her songs... My mom also did that with my Kenny G CD. OH, and anytime my mom had a nightmare, she started throwing away things from our house, anything from dressers, furniture, electronics, trading cards, even YARN... because clearly those things were demonized and that's why she had a nightmare. It's a shame she didn't use that demonized yarn to make a demonized throw blanket for the couch. That could have livened up our living room decor for sure.

  Anyway, welcome! I live in the PNW (a little north of Seattle).

  I remember when I was a teen, that was the time I was most involved in the organization. It had a lot to do with needing the socialization involved. I was very shy and awkward and an introvert, and the congregation gave me automatic friends with no real effort or social skills required. It was "safe" and easy, and I clung to that a lot during my awkward teen years, especially because i was made fun of at school (which was my main source of worldly contact). Once I got more comfortable in my own skin and confident in myself, I found I didn't really "need" the social safety net of the congregation. Your daughter probably really enjoys the social aspect and feeling of belonging that the JWs are giving her right now.