i have been lurking for months now and want to say hello.
i was raised a jw and am now 46yrs old.
i stopped attending meetings at the beginning of this year for various reasons and only then gained the courage to check the net and see if anyone else like me was out there.
Hi Cassandra,
It is good to see you posting here.
You are not alone. I am in a situation that is very similiar to yours.
I quit attending meeting several months ago because I decided to check things out on the net.
I am not DF or DA but no one has called me either.
I can not reason with my wife who also refuses to see the truth about "the Troof". It may take something like what happened to Patriot for her to come around.
i have been searching the net for some excellent sites on the masons.
this past weekend we went down to nc for a wedding and my wife and i broke the news to our nonjw family that we were no longer involved with jw.
i could not believe the open arm welcome my uncle and aunt were almost in tears- they told us we have seen you come home each yr from the main office in ny and then you got married and you would come home and we wanted to say something about the jw but you seemed to be so well respected by the local jw - whenever we would tell folks that our newphew was up in ny- the jw would get all excited- they told us they thought it was so sad for i only made $90 a month.
JT,
Interesting story about your weekend!
I have to agree....The Masons sound like too much of a controlling organization to get involved with after being a dyed in the wool JW!
Have a great day!
Chester
http://www.wwwddd.com/bible/secrets/home.shtml .
why is it that the wt society not the done above?????????.
now think about it esp when you consider the role that the net has played in getting info to millions with the click of a mouse.
JT,
I was just talking about this very subject with my wife this morning.
Chester
i'm new to this discussion board, so this may have been covered before.
i was raised in a jw family,(although i have been out for over 20 years) my mom and step-father are staunch believers.
being good jw's, they are against all "pagan" holidays, yet my mom took advantage of the boxing day sales, and my step-father accepted his christmas bonuses.
Boxing Day
The day after Christmas, the Feast of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, is better known as Boxing Day. The term may come from the opening of church poor boxes that day; maybe from the earthenware boxes with which boy apprentices collected money at the doors of their masters' clients.
Nowadays, we often see, in certain families, gifts (boxes) given to those who provide services throughout the year.
"Boxing Day" is listed in the Canada Labour Code as a holiday.
an elder from my congregation visits my wife and i whenever he is in the area.
it has been a while since his last visit.
he used to come in uninvited and unexpected.
Defender,
Thanks for your very thought provoking post. The information is very much appreciated.
I too came from a Catholic background.
Chester
i have nothing to share that already hasn't been posted by other good people who take notes.
i slept as much as possible.
one thing that i can say.... if i hear any of these expressions over the next week, i'll hurl on whoever says them.. gods earthly organization {substitute jehovah for god for any of these}.
Zev,
Thanks for the rundown on the DC.
Glad you were able to survive it.
Chester
i gather that most on this forum would agree that jehovah's witneeses do not have the truth they cliam to have.. but to what degree do we inform friends and relatives who are still belivers of this.. for many (assuming they come to the same conclution) it would come as a relief , but for others could it do more harm than good?.
for instance an elder in my hall recently died from cancer which he had suffered from for about a year.. what kept him going and happy through pain and suffering was the belief that he was in the true religion favored by god and would recieve a resurection.. imagine the heart break he would had suffered if people had convinced him that the society was a sham.. imagine others say like my parents who are in their 50's and have no pension who look forward to the future paradise.. would it be right for me to covince them that thier dreams for for future are all flawed.. i am still in my 20's and i'm not the type to get depreesed and all that, but i have to admit to being gutted when the truth dawned on me that all my hopeds and beliefs were likely wrong.. but can we be certain to such an absolute degree that all that witnesses belive is false?.
do we really have the right to preach with coviction to others that they are wrong, just like we preached when we belived?.
Sleepy,
If I had acess to the information that is available to me now I would never have come into this organization.
Back when I came in, Ray Franz's book C of C was already written but I just found out about it within the past year. (my stupidity) I should have done my research. But back then access to this information was not available like it is today. (no internet)
This information was kept from me along with a lot of other things. Was it right for all of the facts to have been kept from me?
so I ask you, "Is it right to get people out of the organization?"
I agree that for some it would be too tramatic but I feel that we should try to make the information that we have available to them and let them do their own research and make their own decision.
I know I am glad that I was able to find out "the truth about the truth."
I totally agree with what DannyBear said
But when the WTBS enforces their draconian 'cultish' policies, that tear families apart, push individuals to thoughts of suicide, instill fear of men, the way this org. does, they deserve no quarter. Only derision, just like any other cult, that sujects its members to abuse."
Our goal should be to inform them. Let them make their own decision as to whether or not they want to leave.
When it comes to ones we know who are interested in coming in we should be especially diligent in making information available to them
so that they have the facts "just the facts, Mam", as Joe Friday would have said.
Chester
since i found sites like this on the internet i have been constantly amazed at the great number of people who post here and yet do this in secret.. so many people seem to be trapped in a situation where they desperately want to leave the jw religion behind.
so many people seem to be unable to do so for fear of losing their families, fearing that a da'ing or df'ing decree will separate them from the people that they love.
some posters are even elders and ministerial servants.. so, can you guys tell me how you manage to lead a life that is so complex?
Zev,
My e-mail is open.
I need all the help I can get.
Chester
the question, "why are you here?
" is simple enough, and your answer may be straightforward.
however, when i asked that of myself, i find that my answer is pretty complicated.
larc,
I have to say that zev expressed my feelings almost exactly of why I come to this forum.
I post here and read here, because i find other peoples experiences facinating, and helpfull to me. I need the support of this forum. Of the people in it and who want to help me and others like me. The facts and stories related here are of a help that one could only imagine for me.
I find that I have a lot in common with a lot of people here on this board. I am a grandpa too. A great grandpa in fact.
A lot of the things that redhorsewoman says here are my exact sentiments most of the time.
I can identify with jurs in that she has said that she can't understand how she could have gotten caught up in a cult such as this.
The way she dealt with the elders was a big inspiration to me because I know that I will be dealing with them one day in the some kind of way. I wish I had the courage to do it the way she did. I can't at the present time because my wife is still entrenched in this organization.
I would like to be of help to people who want to know the truth about the so called "troof".
I see so many young people who are caught up in this cult. They are unhappy but they don't even know why they are unhappy. Brainwashed from birth. It is so sad to see that.
Chester
thought it would be rude to post without at least saying hello, and i look forward to hearing from you all.. .
i think yerusalyim is the best poster on the board.. urkel
Urkel,
Welcome to the board.
The people here are great. Being here has helped me greatly. I hope it does the same for you.
Regards,
Chester
