Posts by lancelink

9

D-Day, not a single JW gave ultimate sacrifice while 9,000 Americans did just that

by FatFreek 2005 in

as the major news outlets today published tributes to the 9,000 americans who landed, and were killed, on the beaches of normandy in the largest seaborne invasion in history -- u.s. jws can sit back in their kingdom hall seats and home easy chairs, proud (and ignorant) of the facts that no jw ever killed a nazi in france's occupation.. today, most americans can proudly continue to speak english instead of german, or japanese -- partly because of those brave americans, not a single jw among them.. thank you to your grandfathers, great uncles, and other heroic men who never lived out the potential and promised of a fulfilling life..

lancelink

when I left the jw organization, that was one of the aspects that really rubbed me the wrong way. I got involved with a group called Honor Flight that flies WW2 vets out to Washington DC for a day to visit their memorial. The ways this experience has affected me is amazing. The things those soldiers had to do-deal with is so sobering and has helped me to see that [people outside the jw mindset have truckloads of humanity,,, here is some pictures of an experience I just had out in Washington : https://www.facebook.com/sschwertfeger1/media_set?set=a.10157218875184882&type=3

5

Ex jw memorial

by lancelink in

recently a young person who was df'd died.

as you can imagine, there will be no talk at the hall.. well, enter some very courageous other young ex jw's who had their own memorial.. these people got together , and had a bonfire in memory of our friend.

and since we have hardly seen each other in over ten years, the conversation and tears flowed all night.. it just amazes me how all the parents of these grown up, normal young people think that ignoring their children is something that god approves of.

lancelink

Recently a young person who was df'd died. As you can imagine, there will be no talk at the hall.

well, enter some very courageous other young ex jw's who had their own memorial.

these people got together , and had a bonfire in memory of our friend. And since we have hardly seen each other in over ten years, the conversation and tears flowed all night.

it just amazes me how all the parents of these grown up, normal young people think that ignoring their children is something that God approves of.

Several of them are married, have children, own houses, work a job, and still after several years, their parents have not even met the Grandchildren.😔 and that is ok with them.

another interesting thing I saw was that all the girls had married a guy who accepted them with someone who has no family because of the jw's. And they go so much out of their way to support their wives, what a wonderful thing to see and hear about.

we had a toast at the end, and most everyone told a story about the deceased, and there was a lot of laughing, and crying. But it was very therapeutic for everyone, because we all reconnected, and caught up on out lives.

much more so than the jw cut and dry memorial talk, it was a wonderful night .

13

Becoming a jw actually made me a much more worldly person.

by lancelink in

i was raised a catholic from birth to age 15, that's when my dad started to study with some jw's that came to our door.

i was too young/ naive to notice how my lifelong friends were slowly being replaced with so called " outstanding spiritual youths".. anyway, there was randy and kevin, the sons of the po from the hall, everyone thought that they were the most spiritual people i could hang out with.

these guys taught me the fine points of :.

lancelink

I was raised a Catholic from birth to age 15, that's when my Dad started to study with some jw's that came to our door. I was too young/ naive to notice how my lifelong friends were slowly being replaced with so called " outstanding spiritual youths".

anyway, there was Randy and Kevin, the sons of the PO from the hall, everyone thought that they were the most spiritual people I could hang out with. These guys taught me the fine points of :

1) dating worldly girls

2) how to drink beer and Jack Daniels heavily

3) how to smoke, starting out with cigarettes, then graduating over to the finer points of joints and pot pipes.

4) introduction to heavy duty porn magazines, and films.

5) how to nurse a Saturday night hangover and attend the Sunday morning meeting and make everyone believe that I was a spiritual person.

if their Dad ever caught them drinking, or smoking pot, ( which he did quite a few times) he would slam them into a door and tell them to straighten up or he would loose his position at the hall.

one time Kevin came home after drinking heavily, his Dad backhanded him and shut the door. During the night, Kevin vomited while laying down and almost passed out.

so in conclusion, this religion really showed me firsthand how much fun being a totally worldly person could be. Any other stories that show the shallowness of the religion ?

13

Tacoma Dome Conventions

by Lynnie in

so i went to visit my jw aging mother this week (i've been df'd for 40 years) and she told me she needs to give the people who are taking her to the convention $10 each day of the convention to cover gas?

my uber elder cousin told her she needs to do this!!!

wtf?

lancelink

That parking lot scandal comment brought back a few memories. We attended Hawthorne Racetrack in Chicago Illinois.

for weeks before the assembly, an announcement was made at the service meetin, book study, and after the wt study regarding how all attendees should get their money in to purchase parking passes before the assembly dates.

years later I heard that this was a big scam put on by the wt society.

quite sad that a religion that crows nonstop about how honest, and righteous they are resorts to being thieves.

28

Cart work - picture speaks for itself

by doubtfull1799 in

.

lancelink

When I was in, they constantly used the example of Noah regarding how hard we should be working.

Noah had to :

1) build the ark

2) preach nonstop to the people

3) put up with persecution for what he was doing

4) prepare the ark, and get all the animals in it.

wotnesses sitting and doing nothing while the general public walks around?

God must be just so proud of these so called witnesses 😦

14

Comparing 1987 to 2017 --- cart witnessing

by pleaseresearch in

take a ride with me back to 1987. picture yourself in your town, or city centre.

remember the clothes people wore, the hairstyles etc.... now imagine yourself doing your ministry out on the street, engaging with people, speaking with them, striking up conversations.

now, how would you feel, and what would you say, if you noticed two people appear nearby with a cart.

lancelink

pleaseresearch thank you for creating this scenario.

Yes it is true that they would have been ridiculed.

I remember being in Springfield Illinois during a district convention one year in the early 80's and this same situation happened.

It was a "bible group" and they were just sitting by a sidewalk giving away religious comic books that talked about the end of the world, and what we need to do in order to be saved by Jesus..

The witnesses I was with literally shredded them to pieces all weekend, making non stop fun of their method for sharing their beliefs.

And now look at the witnesses today.

24

How does one cope with the sudden and unexpected loss of a parent?

by My Name is of No Consequence in

my dad died of a blood clot as a result of surgery late last year.

to say that his death created a bottomless void in our family is an understatement.

i think about him every day, sometimes constantly.

lancelink

I'm sorry to hear of your loss.

when my Mother died eight years ago, I walked away from being a witness.

She was one for over 25 years, 15 years ago my parents moved out of state to retire.

When she died, despite her death being read at the meetings, and an obituary posted in three different newspapers, only 5 people sent a card. One stopped off to visit.

She was not an uber witness, but she did her duty, and spent much time taking care of physically sick ones. The neglect from witnesses that knew our family for several decades was the last straw for me, and because she was an animal loving person I trained my dog to be a therapy animal. For eight years we have visited hospitals, nursing homes, schools, and sickly neighbors.

And guess what ? Helping people in this way has been so therapeutic, and up building for me, much more than knocking on doors. I feel her presence whenever we do this type of work.

So find something that your parent liked, and use it as a springboard to do greater things.

😇😇

8

Can a jw past come back to haunt a person ?

by lancelink in

when a person joins the jw organization, do they make a statement claiming that they totally renounce any other religion ?.

i recently took a class titled " religions of the world" and for a final project students need to attend several religious services, and write a paper on the experience.. i find religions to be very interesting to study, but it has crossed my mind that i may have agreed to something when i became a witness back in 1977/ 15 years old at the time.

it is not a major concern, but i would just hate for some statement to appear, or be found by someone stating that i once completely disavowed any religion outside of the jw's.. not being neurotic here, just don't want that ridiculous part of my past jumping up and stabbing me in the back😜.

lancelink

LongHairGal,

thank you for your comment, it is embarrassing afterwards looking back.

I hope that your doing fine dealing with the " mental fallout" as my son so eloquently likes to tell me.

Sometimes when I bring this subject up he likes to tell me I'm getting caught in a downward spiral of stupidity, your completely right stating that it is an embarrassing part of life

8

Can a jw past come back to haunt a person ?

by lancelink in

when a person joins the jw organization, do they make a statement claiming that they totally renounce any other religion ?.

i recently took a class titled " religions of the world" and for a final project students need to attend several religious services, and write a paper on the experience.. i find religions to be very interesting to study, but it has crossed my mind that i may have agreed to something when i became a witness back in 1977/ 15 years old at the time.

it is not a major concern, but i would just hate for some statement to appear, or be found by someone stating that i once completely disavowed any religion outside of the jw's.. not being neurotic here, just don't want that ridiculous part of my past jumping up and stabbing me in the back😜.

lancelink

When a person joins the jw organization, do they make a statement claiming that they totally renounce any other religion ?

i recently took a class titled " Religions of the World" and for a final project students need to attend several religious services, and write a paper on the experience.

I find religions to be very interesting to study, but it has crossed my mind that I may have agreed to something when I became a witness back in 1977/ 15 years old at the time. It is not a major concern, but I would just hate for some statement to appear, or be found by someone stating that I once completely disavowed any religion outside of the jw's.

not being neurotic here, just don't want that ridiculous part of my past jumping up and stabbing me in the back😜

24

FFA - 4H - Conscious matter or not allowed?

by Jennifer Lehrer in

i was baptized 4 years ago, i have 2 little girls who love their bunnies, so this year we reached out to 4h and started our own 4h group - this was after asking the elders for counsel.

none provided.

now after doing this for 3 months i am being brought before a judicial committee for neutrality.

lancelink

When we were witnesses, the elders would council my wife and I regarding our ten year old son joining the track team at school.

their council basically told us to not let him join, and he should spend more time in service.

totally frosted my wife, and after discussing the subject together, we just ignored what they wanted us to do.

guess what ? Nothing more was said about the subject ever again. I learned that if you " push back" in a non confront all way, the elders realize that your not an easy pushover. Your opinion is important, don't let them steamroll over you 💪