Wasanelder Once

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Posts by Wasanelder Once

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  8

  My wife and I just had a wonderful experience today.

  by smiddy3 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  my wife was looking through some old diary`s that we have lying around and found a ph.# of an old friend (jw) that we knew over 15 years ago .we were always curious as to what has happened to her as she was a dear friend for many years when we were in the "truth".

  so she rings the number (,do you still have the same # that you had 15 yrs ago ?

  ) and this friend was a bit of a "gypsy" type so she wasn`t expecting much when she rang.. to cut a long story short we all had a good conversation we had been trying to find out about her all these years with no success and she was also trying to find out about us all these years with no success ,we had moved interstate.. nothing was said about religion though i suspect she is still associated with the borg.

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  Wasanelder Once

  Finding a person who is independent in the borg is a surprise. I wish you the best in regaining the friendship Smiddy3.
  
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  15

  "Reaching out" in the org and personal confessions...

  by Good JW in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  going to be completely honest here, no feelings spared for me.

  when i was a jw, one of my biggest motivations for "reaching out" was to become a "somebody".

  i loved the idea of being a leader, teaching/training others.

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  Wasanelder Once

  Nice introspection GJW. I too loved to teach. I would have probably had it for a profession if I didn't surrender to the faulty reasoning of "the Truth." I liked to lead also. I liked it because I was good at it and it brought me pleasure to serve others, to give to them. There is something selfish in all we do. I don't feel guilty for being competent. You examined yourself and found something else, I get that. I, on the other hand, accomplished a lot. When I came to realize how people simply took advantage of my kindness I wised up. Learning how bogus the whole organization was also motivated me to "resign" from all responsibilities. Free at last!
  
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  9

  How the Governing Body breaks people

  by krismalone in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  we all have likely heard the expression "to break a person" and usually it's in relation to kidnappers, bullies, pimps, human traffickers and cult leaders.. when a person is broken, their spirit, goals, aspirations, pursuits, self esteem, critical thinking and dreams are taken away.

  what fills that vacuum is despair, depression, low self esteem, lack of self confidence and individuality.

  the victim now believes that they are not worthy of enjoying life and following their dreams and personal satisfaction through personal achievements.

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  Wasanelder Once

  I can only speak from my experience. I was never told I was a sinner. I don't remember the magazines stressing I was a sinner. No one browbeat or made me feel inferior. Even baptism for "forgiveness of sins" was not that big a deal to me. Never did I feel "broken down" by the teachings. I just don't feel this. Yes there was indoctrination in the meetings, but it was indoctrination into a publishing company that repeatedly stressed how to sell magazines and doing more, but NOT because I was inferior. It was always stressed that Jehovah was seeking those "rightly disposed" to everlasting life. If anything, from an early age, it was emphasized that we were "special" people, a people for his name. Maybe others felt like they were under duress and programing, I was not. I loved excelling in speaking and teaching. I never completely submitted to most of their negativity about life.

  I'll agree that the congregation was made up of all kinds, but I think indoctrination came easier to certain guilt filled individuals. Remember, knowing the Governing body as rock star popes is only a recent invention. I couldn't name a Governing body member for many years up till the late 80's.
  
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  41

  Do you have JW-related dreams (nightmares)?

  by compound complex in

  1. social
  2. humour

  greetings, dreamers:.

  i guess it's never going away: daytime carryovers of jw-related stuff seeping into my dreams.. the majority of these dreams take place at conventions but with really weird trappings.

  last night i dreamed i arrived at the site with no books, no lunch, nothing but my car keys.

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  Wasanelder Once

  I do dream of Field Service, but each and every time I lead the group in a revolt so we don't go to any doors!

  I disagree with Orphancow, I think cars universally mean payments!
  
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  10

  On Grief and Loss

  by jp1692 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  on grief and loss.

  each and every tear is a memory.

  and when you feel so intensely all that you have lost, you are also remembering everything that you have had.

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  Wasanelder Once

  I think I got that card when my dad died last month. Its a nice sentiment, thanks.
  

  When you lose someone so close that they have been a part of you, there are more complicated issues than lovely aphorisms can address, though they have their part in retraining the brain and heart to desensitize.

  It isn't simply the memories that are involved, there is the ingrained expectation of interaction. The little things you think to share because your mind hasn't come to terms with the permanence of the loss. If one more person says "At least he isn't in any more pain" or "He's in a better place" I will probably barf on them.

  Its not the sadness or pain, its the hole blown in your life that must be filled. Only time will do that.
  
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  15

  Biting my tongue

  by Jrjw in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i'm really biting my tongue at the moment with a certain witness.

  he said he hates how the churches have lied to people, misled them, controlled them, got money out of them.

  gouge can he noht see the wts has done that, i really wanted to say something so badly.

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  Wasanelder Once

  Talk about your child. Drop the God talk.
  
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  20

  Whatever happened to the "written review"?

  by pale.emperor in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  does anyone know why the written review was stopped?

  i relished the half hour silence they'd give you to "write down your answers", time i spend doodling or thinking up cool song lyrics..

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  Wasanelder Once

  I remember it fostering competition among the congregation. So many used it for bragging rights. It was busy work. Me no like.
  
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  21

  Family Insists on Having Relationship with My Child -_-

  by Cimarrona in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  hi gang, i'm a single mother of an 8 month old baby boy.

  i've been df'd for over six years now.

  my parents are super dubs and most of my siblings are dubs (on paper - a couple have been inactive my entire life but still claim to believe) with the exception of a brother who was never baptized.

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  Wasanelder Once

  We make it harder on ourselves when we compromise as you have expressed. Once you "use" witnoid family to make parenting easier you have invited trouble. So now you are setting boundaries that will serve your child very well. If you stick with it, it will be a protection from a life squandered on fairy tales, conditional love and cult captivity. Stay strong. Just be the parent you signed up to be, throw the child on your hip and get busy!
  
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  28

  Why do ex-JW's talk so much about being ex-JW's?

  by Sour Grapes in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  is it because we were in the cult watchtower compound that we talk about being ex-jw's when we stop being active?

  i have never heard anyone say that i was an ex-catholic or an ex-lutheran or an ex-baptist.

  they just stop going to their church and don't talk about it.. years after not stepping inside a kingdom hell, many of us still have to talk about being ex-jw's.

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  Wasanelder Once

  It is a natural result of having been in a controlling cult which took our futures and turned them to shit for so many years. It is not simply stating a former affiliation, it is a confession of having been abused.

  Example: "I went to college in my forties because I am an xjw".

  Similar to: "I have trouble walking because I was held captive in a box for 40 years".

  You get the idea.
  
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  20

  "ah yes Dad, do you mean those times when Jehovah made those mistakes and errors?"

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so...while chatting with my ultra "spiritual elder" father on the phone this afternoon, i couldn't resist using that line!.

  i had sent him that video of the recent convention showing brothers and sisters dancing to the "kingdom song" and waving their illuminated phones and arms in the air like some sort of revival church concert.

  (perhaps someone can post that link to that thread again here?).

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  Wasanelder Once

  What if they put a hip-hop kingdom song on the broadcast? Would that be a Jehovah inspired improvement? How about some tight pants disco? Times change mister elder dad.