What has the WT$ TAKEN from you?

VampireDCLXV

If you've been around here long enough, you will have seen people saying how they "gave up" or "sacrificed" certain things so that they could be good little JWs. What about those of us who were growing up in it and we didn't even have a choice in the matter? What about those of us from whom some things in life were forcibly ripped away, things that 'normal' people take for granted in their life?

Parties and celebrations were TAKEN from me because I was isolated from 'normal' children and I was excluded and ignored by other JW children and their parents because I was seen as "odd" and/or "different". I feel damaged because, even though I've left, I still see no joy in many things that others take for granted as normal: parties, dancing, celebrating holidays, birthdays, etc: I just don't feel it. Go ahead and call me "a stick in the mud" if you must but I just don't see much fun in what I feel are manic excesses surrounding many of holidays/celebrations. I don't dance because I don't enjoy it at all: I feel far too self-conscious. I'm a wallflower and a loner, still.

Because of my severe and diagnosed ADHD, post-secondary school wasn't even an option for me and I can't blame that on the JWs. I barely graduated high-school so uni wasn't ever in the cards. I've found diagnosis and treatment for my affliction only in the past year and it will be a long and drawn out fight. The JWs made my ADHD related social awkwardness much worse, however. I'd say that opportunities to develop socially were TAKEN from me.

I'd also say that opportunities to express and satisfy myself sexually were TAKEN from me. Of course fears of out-of-wedlock pregnancy and other emotional damage kept me scared straight BUT the WTS's opinions on "courtship with a view to marriage" ended up being overly confining. The very limited "selection" of eligible ladies makes for a very limited dating pool. I'm now middle aged and I've been alone all my life: no love life to speak of, ever.

But never mind me... What have the WTS and their minions taken away from YOU?

V665 V665

punkofnice

I wanted to be a semi pro/pro musician but couldn't because I wanted to play 'worldly' music with 'worldly' people.

I wonder if I'd have learned an instrument or 3 if I hadn't been a lonely JW teen with nothing else to do but learn music?

Nah. It's one of what the washtowel called my 'latent talents'!

At least I stayed alive in '75.

No Room For George

The love of a woman since I'm relegated to JW women, although I'm not really into their version of the Stepford Wives.

Organized Sports when I was younger, and even nowadays I can't hit the gym as often as I'd like because of the JW hamster wheel.

The WT took a little over $300 from me, and a few days of my life this past weekend due to the district convention.

Sleep, they've taken plenty of sleep away from me.

Happiness.

cult classic

WT$ has taken buttloads of my time and peace of mind.

clarity

Dear Vampire,

The watchtower takes and doesn't give much in return. Promises maybe, but they are not kept!

There are huge gaps within born-in kids, as there are with my own 4.

I cry when I think of it................I can still recall feelings about how xmas feels. The excitement and smell of pine trees. In our neck of the woods, there usually is snow and that get's mixed into the picture and the stillness out walking in it and humming Silent Night to yourself.

I wish my kids could have that in their heads too.

But what they and you can have and appreciate, is not all the superficial stuff surrounding xmas, but the real things. The things that stick with you ...and that is rarely the shopping and presents and drunken parties, but the smells and sounds and the generall good mood of most people you meet. Cook that turkey and invite anyone & everyone over to help .... that's the fun of it. No rules.

More damaging perhaps, than what the borg took from you..... is what they have imposed on you. That's what keeps ringing in our ears. Everytime we take a step.... we hear NO NO NO! That's what needs to be fixed!

It is like an ICEBURG. 2/3 of it is submerged! So are those commands!

That iceburg needs to get melted....that takes time. As it melts, those places that are empty/taken from you .... will fill up.

Isn't there a scientific thing about 'nothing can exist in a vacumn' hhmmm.

Vamp I wish you all the best .... always.

clarity

Alfred

Hmmm... I never really thought about that... let's see, at about $20 a week for about 20 years... holy sh*t!!! ... they stiffed me for $21,000 !!! That's easily a $3,000 tailored suit for each GB member... damn!

sabastious

The love of a woman since I'm relegated to JW women, although I'm not really into their version of the Stepford Wives.

This is how I got myself a wife:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftY2p0L8F-Q

-Sab

WTWizard

I can remember Christmas--and it never was stressful. When I was growing up (in the world), Christmas meant doing things I couldn't do at other times of the year. The Sears Wish Book gave me ample opportunity to look at toys, which I might (or might not) get for Christmas. The shopping was another good experience--getting to see the place decorated, the Christmas music going, and all the toys on display. And yes, I remember the thrill of getting that Christmas tree up and decorated, and trips to relatives for more Christmas. And after, trips to others' to see what they got for Christmas--for me, it didn't all start and end on December 25. Often, it would start in October and not come to a full stop until the middle of February.

Then I became a witless. They took all that away--it was supposed to be Bah! Humbug! I was supposed to be sick when I saw decorations I was once excited to put up. And that's not all they took. They dissected my music collection, taking away many key songs from various periods. Including songs that had meaning that had nothing to do with getting drunk and fighting. I think I lost at least 300 songs for this religion, out of a collection including something like 600 records--and that was just the ones I had active.

Not to mention, the time. I lost countless hours of time in field circus. Not just the hours actually wasted in field circus--time wasted preparing for it, too. And those boasting sessions--the money I wasted on Worldwide Pedophile Defense Fund donations, had I bought silver at then-prevailing prices, could have paid for something like 10 or 12 tubs of silver (20 ounces to a tub), which today would be worth something like 4,000 or 5,000 toilet papers. (And the funds wasted preparing for those wastefests could have got me another 15 or so tubs of silver at then-prevailing prices). A whole monster box--500 ounces--of silver, plus countless hours of time, wasted on the Washtowel Slaveholdery.

Dudu

Lets see ... Parties and celebrations, specially as a child. I did finish college but took me 7 years instead of 4 as i didnt take clases in meetings days and my classes were mostly at night (at that time were 3 days). Now I have a half scholarship for a Master and I am taking it!!, few months ago i wouldnt even think about it as it was a worldly goal ..... :) Is something I would have miss if i wouldnt visit this site ...

leavingwt

Given the option, I wouldn't go back and alter history. However, I did throw away an academic scholarship to serve at Bethel at age 19. It seems like a huge waste, on some levels.

What has the WT$ TAKEN from you?

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