I willl not be here in 2030

by Phaedra 24 Replies latest members private

• 

  Landy

  Thank you Landy. You don't need to have been in the organization to herald such a black and white declaration of intolerance of human suffering. But it probably helps.

  Living in war torn Syria is human suffering. Livng in a country ravaged by famine where you can't feed your family is human suffering.

  Going to a meeting twice a week and singing a song is not what I would call human suffering. If you don't want to go, then don't go. It's called being an adult.

  If you just stop going and keep your mouth shut about doctrine you're in no danger of being disfellowshipped. There's loads of people I know who've just stopped going over the years and none of them have ever being DF'd for apostacy. The only DFing I've seen is for putting something where it doesn't belong.

  I've still got some close family in there. They don't talk about it to me now and I reciprocate that respect by not discussing or pulling apart their faith. To do so would just put me on the opposite side of their same coin.

  The only sticky one I can see is where it's a husband/wife situation where one is still active and one doesn't want to be. I can see how it would need care but it's not insurmountable. If I've got any advice it would be not to mention doctrinal matters. In my experience the elders were quick to jump if they sensed any wrongdoing while much less quick to help the 'spiritually weak'.

  I may seem judgmental to some but I really don't mean to. Yes I'm blunt and always have been but it really does leave me bemused as to the difficulty some people have leaving. Like I've said before, when I stopped going I simply stopped going. Other people of my peer group also stopped going. Yes family members questioned me but rather than give long doctrinal reasons about 1914 or blood or whatever I just didn't talk about it (it was science and the generation that did it for me but I never made that known at all). Maybe it was different then - not sure. The internet didn't really exist in the form it does now.

  I still do get memorial invites from multiple family members but just politely refuse. No need to go further with them.

  I don't do bleeding hearts, or a shoulder to cry on but can do positive advice. Take it or leave it.

  edit - bugger me - i've almost written an essay myself. This place is a bad influence :(
  
• 

  Phaedra

  Just came back to this thread and gotta say that really appreciate your comments and reflections.

  We all have our own unique perspectives and histories in this JW thing... what we do have in common is understanding and empathy (most anyway).

  Thanks for climbing in my boat and floating with me for at least a few minutes.

  phae
  
• 

  Iown Mylife

  2030 is in FOURTEEN years???!!!! I can't take it, somebody put on the brakes

  Marina
• 

  steve2

  Landy your response adds support to the adage, "There will always be someone else on earth who will be worse off than you". That does not mean that, unless people suffer in the most graphic sense of the word, they do not have legitimate needs.

  So you cannot understand why some people don't just leave.

  This simply means that, to date, you are unmoved by the reasons some have provided for not being able to leave. On the other hand, good for you being able to make a complete break from the organization!
• 

  RichardHaley

  For me it has been a planned fade, and to be honest, it has been sorta fun in a way. I work around dubs, my wife is still in (barely) and all relatives are in. I make a meeting now about once per month and don't do anything else. I don't talk about jw things with anyone, just change the subject. If you don't promote it (your real feelings) you don't have to defend it. Everyone thinks I am just a slacker except my wife (and one close friend who has also left) who knows the jig and even agrees with me in most areas. Still have contact with family members, the rest I could care less if they shun me or not. Also rebuilding a relationship with one of my dfed children.