Posts by LongHairGal

5

Reddit thread Warning young JWs that ‘Spiritual Goals’ are Not a Career!

by LongHairGal in

jw
friends

as somebody who worked full-time when i was in the witness religion, this topic naturally caught my eye.. many of the responses are heartfelt.

there are about 90 at this point.

from what i read so far.. many are people who woke up before they got old but even these are resentful over their life being derailed with wasted time pursuing spiritual goals and having to start over at a later age getting an education/job.. i imagine born-in young jws would be most susceptible to this.. in today’s world, a ‘career’ is something that earns you a living.. as many of the responses there will say: anybody who pursues ‘spiritual goals’ only will end up with wasted time in the end with no money and no retirement plan… i couldn’t agree more.. it would be a shame if this happens to yet more jws..

LongHairGal

BLONDIE:

It sounds like you were viewed more favorably for working than I was. I wonder if you being married was why?.. I also agree about women with cushy lives giving unwanted advice and I had No tolerance for them.

I think the religion hated single women. They imagined I was going to be groomed to do favors for all the Users there.. Boy, were they mistaken..🤣 I had a non-JW upbringing and it was drilled into my head that both men and women needed to get decent jobs/careers. I had some college and technical courses.

I am just grateful today that I resisted high pressure back then to quit my job and take up housecleaning/pioneering.. These people certainly were not looking out for MY welfare, that’s for sure.. I doubt they cornered some brother and asked him to do this!

But, I’m glad I ended up doing the smart thing.. I am sorry for young vulnerable Witnesses today who don’t have any non-JW background or at least one non-JW parent to help them resist unwise advice and keep them grounded in reality.

5

Reddit thread Warning young JWs that ‘Spiritual Goals’ are Not a Career!

by LongHairGal in

jw
friends

as somebody who worked full-time when i was in the witness religion, this topic naturally caught my eye.. many of the responses are heartfelt.

there are about 90 at this point.

from what i read so far.. many are people who woke up before they got old but even these are resentful over their life being derailed with wasted time pursuing spiritual goals and having to start over at a later age getting an education/job.. i imagine born-in young jws would be most susceptible to this.. in today’s world, a ‘career’ is something that earns you a living.. as many of the responses there will say: anybody who pursues ‘spiritual goals’ only will end up with wasted time in the end with no money and no retirement plan… i couldn’t agree more.. it would be a shame if this happens to yet more jws..

LongHairGal

As somebody who worked full-time when I was in the Witness religion, this topic naturally caught my eye.

Many of the responses are heartfelt. There are about 90 at this point. From what I read so far.. many are people who woke up before they got old but even these are resentful over their life being derailed with wasted time pursuing spiritual goals and having to start over at a later age getting an education/job.

I imagine born-in young JWs would be most susceptible to this.. In today’s world, a ‘career’ is something that earns you a living.. As many of the responses there will say: anybody who pursues ‘spiritual goals’ only will end up with wasted time in the end with no money and no retirement plan… I couldn’t agree more.

It would be a shame if this happens to yet more JWs.

40

The Governing Body is Restructuring the Org.and encouranging young ones to REACH OUT!

by liam in

the governing body just doesn't let up on encouraging the young children to reach out to do free labor for the organization.

so another generation of young people with ruined lives.

another generation of young people that will get old and wake up in their 50s to realize they were in a religious doomsday cult.. and they are getting rid of some old workers that ran the branches of the organization, and giving them different assignments or maybe they are just sending them home, who knows.

LongHairGal

HOSER:

I am sure it did piss off more than a few Boomers….The problem is that this advice is too late for millions of older Witnesses there. The religion is probably doing an about face to seem ‘normal’ to outsiders. Was I ‘ahead of my time’ to prepare for my retirement years ago - or was it my Catholic upbringing and wisdom instilled in me when I was younger?🤷🏻‍♀️

JOURNEYMAN:

You repeated the idea that never dies:: kicked out Bethelites (aged 70 or 80) who served for 40 years (in a cloistered environment) ..and the idea that their ‘families’ and ‘local congregations’ should ‘take care of them NOW’… First of all, anybody that age probably has no family left!! Everybody has passed away. Maybe there’s a niece or nephew(?) and when was the last time they saw them. So, the elderly bethelite is supposed to land on their doorstep? Right?? 😮

And as far as thinking the local congregations are going to take care of them, the religion must be joking. The congregations are already saddled with broke pioneers and so many others who never took secular work or careers seriously. Many are quietly ‘Fading’ or leaving.. NOW, broke and bewildered seniors are joining what’s left there.

SO, How’s this supposed to work? Besides the private shakedowns for money, is a bully elder going to pull some family aside and tell them they have to host this senior citizen at their dinner table? I can’t even laugh at these scenarios as it is so pathetic and I am sorry for anybody still left in the JW religion.

15

5 Shocking Reasons Why Elders Are Leaving The Jehovah’s Witnesses — The Hidden Truth!

by Golden4Altar in

5 shocking reasons why elders are leaving the jehovah’s witnesses — the hidden truth!

(kingdom wisdom).

thousands of jehovah’s witness elders around the world are stepping down… and no one is talking about it.

LongHairGal

GOLDEN4ALTAR:

This is an excellent video and all the points are 100% accurate and right on target!

There was another thing I thought of that was not mentioned but it would be an addional burden added to everything else an elder in a congregation nowadays would be faced with.

That thing would be all the people in the Witness congregations who are needy (many in old age) because of the culture of the JW religion. This no-career/no-saving ethic has proved to be a disaster in the end. (I realize they are coming out with ‘new light’ telling JWs they should plan and save. But, this is too late for millions of Witnesses today).. Many JWs are glad to have already exited the religion👍🏻 . What this means is there are fewer willing members of the R&F left to approach with an envelope…some elders who can ill afford it probably end up reaching into their own pockets to give charity to needy people crying to them! ..Who needs this?

The JW religion’s faulty man-made policies are the cause of all this. They should not be surprised that people are leaving.

30

Know it’s not true but stay anyway

by Elena in

how many of the millions of jws know it’s not true but stay anyway?.

my guess is most jws know it’s not true on a subconscious level to an extent but they don’t want to think about it too much and would never ever voice it out loud.. but this is probably true with all religions around the world?.

LongHairGal

DESIROUS OF CHANGE:

Regarding that often repeated phrase: “It is the Closest thing to the Truth”, JT and Lady Cee of Critical Thinkers put out a great video on this topic a few months ago. It’s a shorter video just under ten minutes.

Witnesses should really watch this because it points out how wrong this lame thought process really is.. He points out the obvious: “Closest to the Truth is still wrong”. They use snippets from a movie depicting John Glenn wanting ‘the smart girl who can run the numbers’ before he would entrust his life and get in that space capsule. He wanted certainty.

JT has some hard hitting things to say about how Witnesses made life altering decisions (about careers, finances, health) on the say-so of men who had no education and had NO certainty about any time frame (or anything else it would seem)... People who listened to their advice are paying the price today!

He also humorously pointed out that these men ain’t missing No meals.. Don’t we all know that! Too bad the same can’t be said for so many older Witnesses around the world today who believed they did not need to work to plan for their future.

27

How many times did they say armagedon was coming?

by Witness 007 in

1914 1918 1925 1940s 1975 1914 generation what did i miss?.

LongHairGal

WING COMMANDER:

I seem to recall the years between 1995 and 2000 in the JW religion. Many were hoping and praying the year 2000 would finally be the End.

When it didn’t happen and 9/11 occurred many Witnesses thought ‘this was it’.. I saw the inactives come back to the hall. Ironically, I was just starting my ‘Fade’ from the religion. I was not swayed by the hysteria.. I was just glad to finally be leaving.. Now it’s all these years later in 2025 and the End hasn’t arrived yet and a much changed JW religion still here although many have left.

34

Remember Hour Quotas?

by blondie in

jw
friends

hour quotas timeline.

back in the old days long before 1952.

“after staying in our ‘home’ for two days we decided that if we were going to meet our quota of 140 hours for the month.

LongHairGal

BIAHI:

I was a ‘low hour publisher’ in the JWs - but I had to work. Even though it wasn’t pleasant being ‘looked down on’ back then, it turned out okay in the end.

When the Witness religion did away with reporting hours on time slips for most of the R&F at their annual meeting in 2023, I thought to myself: “wow, I got judged over this and now they did away with it”... Words can’t describe the feeling - but I’m so thankful I followed my gut all those years ago when I was younger way back when.🙏🏻

6

New JW Video: Jehovah’s Witnesses Told Me Armageddon Was Coming in 1975… But It Destroyed My Family, Not The World!

by AbaddonProvesIt in

jehovah’s witnesses told me armageddon was coming in 1975… but it destroyed my family .

not the world!

(kingdom wisdom).

LongHairGal

DING:

And because of the JW religion’s silence on 1975, you have many younger Witnesses who don’t even know what it was all about.

In the ‘90s, it seems a new bumper crop of gullible people made similar mistakes as people before 1975.. A handful here and there left their jobs before actual retirement age to ‘go where the need was great’🙄. They assumed (wrongly) that Armageddon would be here before their monies ran out. These people obviously had to re-enter the workforce at an older age and in a worse economy.

14

Letter of Disassociation to Former Religions / Baptism Questions ?

by HereIam60 in

this was prompted by some comments in another thread, but since it was somewhat "off" the original topic, i'm posting/asking seperately.... i was born in 1960, and baptized as a infant in a catholic church.

obviously i have no personal memory of this, and only know, because i was told, and we had a family photo of my parents holding me before the baptismal font while the priest prepared to do the sprinkling.

i was taken probably no more than 3 times to the catholic church in my early childhood and had no clue as to what was going on.. from the ages of 10 to 12 i attended a methodist sunday school, rarely the actual church service, but sang with the class in an annual christmas presentation in the church.. in the 1980s, studying with jehovah's witnesses, and considering baptism, i was told i had to write a letter to any religious group i had previously been involved with, stating i no longer wished any contact, wanted to be removed from their membership lists and witnessing as to why...(separation from satan's world, false religion, babylon etc.).

LongHairGal

PEACEFUL PETE:

I get your sarcasm but I see somebody gave you a downvote (unless it was a fat fingered mistake).

When I was new in the Jehovah’s Witness religion and right before baptism - it was suggested that I write a letter to the Catholic Church telling them to remove me from their rolls because I was becoming a Jehovah’s Witnesses.. Well, I hope the Catholics didn’t really do that because I ended up getting out of the Witnesses!

To be honest, I really only viewed my infant baptism in Catholicism as ‘valid’. At least it came with a document that can be used for ID purposes!

27

How many times did they say armagedon was coming?

by Witness 007 in

1914 1918 1925 1940s 1975 1914 generation what did i miss?.

LongHairGal

BETH SARIM:

It’s true the 1995 ‘Generation’ doctrine should not be underestimated.

It may not be anywhere near as serious or attention grabbing as ‘1975’, but it was important nonetheless. The 1975 disaster caused massive upheavals in peoples’ lives. People who believed this prediction and centered their lives around it suffered immeasurably. It is not surprising the JW religion lost a million or more people.

The 1995 ‘Generation’ teaching was a change in understanding. But, it changed a linchpin teaching. There were Witnesses who felt this belief was carved in stone. When the religion pulled the rug out from under everybody - the religion was over for a lot of people.

This was why I left.. I just didn’t trust the JW religion anymore.👎 It also confirmed to me that I was wise to ignore them when they tried to interfere with my job! Many people may not have left right away - but they were headed for the door.. I don’t know how many left the Witness religion over 1995 but I am sure the amount was considerable.