Posts by life is to short

107

I have a serious problem

by My Name is of No Consequence in

i have a serious problem that i cannot solve on my own.

i was born-in but am only in by a thread at this point.

i quit the tms a few weeks ago and wrote a post on it.

life is to short

I totally agree with millie210 and worf.

You need to jump on this fast. I was a lot like worf expect I am the wife and my husband was an elder. I let a lot of things go that were wrong because I was a women who was supposed to be in subjection, plus it's just not my nature to be in your face. I always thought being nice and kind would be the best. You know the old saying you catch more "fly's with honey than vinegar."

That is not how it works in this religion. The more time you let pass the more aggressive they become and then they throw it in you face of 'well why didn't you say something back then or step up and do something if it was so important to you' 'It;s all your fault because you allowed it by not saying anything or doing something.' I have truly and honestly been told that I allowed it all the garbage that happened to me to happen because I did not speak up loud enough.

I did and did and did say things and tried to talk to them but like you I was told I can't speak right now or I will call you next week. Next week never came. I even went over to one sister's home who used to like to go out in service alone with my husband while I was at work. It drive me crazy that they were going out by themselves while they were both married to other people but I was treated like a child for being upset over it. I talked to my husband till I was blue in the face and I tired and tried to talk to this sister but like with you she was always to busy or something so this one day I just went to her hone. While this sister was beyond mad at me for daring to even confront her. She shoved a foot stool at me while she sat in a tall chair looking down on me and treated me like I was a stupid child. I begged and begged and begged my husband not to go alone but this sister lived down the road and she wanted to pioneer and she did not have a car and we were her only ride and I was the crazy one for even thinking it was wrong, yada, yada, yada. That happened 20 years ago and it still hurts till this day. I had a right as the wife to say no, but my no was shot down. Now my husband tells me I was just to nice and I should have been more aggressive. Really I thought I was aggressive, I thought I was speaking out, no one listened or cared about my feelings. Even now I do not know what more I could have done to stop it expect for just leaving my marriage.

That was just on example of many, many, many things that happened to me and many were worse than that one I just wrote about. Way worse.

So you have got to jump on this and do it now or you will look back like I have and regret it. And I mean really regret it.

LITS

34

The "5 Pillars" of Witness life...

by stuckinarut2 in

oh, there is one brother that keeps prattling on about "the 5 pillars of faith and worship".

- prayer.

- personal study.

life is to short

I have heard it all my life, They used to liken the five meetings to our five fingers. The example I always heard was being at the meetings was like hanging on a cliff by one hand and waiting for help to come, our help was Jehovah of course. So if we were hanging on a cliff what finger would we stop using? None of course because having a strong grip was life saving. Thus the same with the five meetings. If we missed just one of them we would loose our grip on the "truth" and we could loose our life.

In your example I think it was prayer, personal study, meeting attendance, field service and spiritual association. The spiritual association always got me because I was never included in anything. In fact when we pioneered with ten other pioneers in the hall we were never once invited to do anything outside of service with any of them. I would have them to my home but NEVER would they allow my husband who was an elder by the way into their homes. This one pioneer who soon because a prominent elder told me we were just professionals just doing our job? What?

Anywho I always felt with the example I had only four fingers because even when I did associate with them it was never up building. Out it service it was just a big gossip fest with all the pioneers back stabbing everyone in the hall. I often wondered why they spent so much time trying to get new ones into the religion when when as soon as they got baptized they seem to turn on them and hate them. What was the point of any of it.

LITS

104

The Secret is out....but nobody cares

by MrTheocratic in

i've been looking on this site for some time but never posted.

i'll give a little about myself, but not too much.

i'm a ex-bethelite ( brooklyn )and currently serving as an elder (10 years) (thinking about stepping down) on the service committee.

life is to short

It seems to me the ones who get hurt from this movement the most are those who put all their savings into this insurance policy. Because when nothing happens they are left with nothing.

That about sums what I have been thinking. Most of the ones that were in the hall with my husband and I talked the talk but did not walk the walk and they seemed to get mad at those who did walk the walk and acted like we were stupid.

I totally bought into everything. I was raised around the religion and came from a abusive home and from parents who the elders truly wised would just disappear. Being I was never really in the world but never really in the religion and being cradle taught that it was the "truth" I mistakenly thought if I tried hard enough I would fit in. I married an elder who was older than I am and who had moved to a congregation where the CO asked him to because the need was great. We lived on nothing, it was so hard being newly married and having NOTHING. I put all my trust in the members of the hall and they did not want me. I could not do anything right. Pioneered and was asked "what good was I doing?" by the other 9 pioneers in the hall, was sent home from meetings for service when my husband was not out because he was doing his elder duty. I was so alone. We went to Bethel during the construction of 90 Sands and again was accused of not doing it for the right reason by those who were working full time jobs and buying homes, new cars, etc.

I still did not get it I thought if I just tired harder, and than harder, and than harder that sometime, somewhere there would be a hall where someone would like me where I would fit in. I never fit in. Never. I had the whole congregation over to my 980 SQ foot home three time, over 90 people there was standing room only. I fed the book study when it was our time to feed the speaker every six weeks, yet the one time that I was just to wiped out to do it I was yelled at for not doing it.

While others were saving for retirement I was giving and giving and giving and finally one day I woke up and realized that no one in the religion cared if I lived or died. In fact I think that they truly wised I would die, commit suicide. I truly do believe that. My husband had two heart attacks one at the meeting, he was an elder for 32 years gave everything to the religion. Would drop me and my needs in a heart beat to be there for anyone in the hall who needed him. Yet when he was in the hospital most of the time no one was there. In fact instead of even calling an ambulance and yet knowing he was having severe chest pains they had me drive him alone to the hospital from the KH and only one couple came up to see if he was OK. He coded on the ER table.

Anyway you are right the only ones who get hurt are those like myself who are or were stupid enough to give up their life for the religion. Whenever I would bring up to my husband that we seemed to be the only one doing it my husband always told me to just keep my blinders on and look forward to the kingdom.

One day when I realized that there were three pedophiles in the hall and that I was supposed to take them door to door and that I had, had them in my home with children, etc it all just crashed down around me and I was done.

The stupid thing is no one cares that I left. I gave up everything that mattered to me because I was told I could have it all in the new system and for what? And yes I did mean to say welcome. It's just what you said really just hit home.

LITS

50

If The Witnesses Try To Get You Back To Jehovah...How Will You Respond!

by minimus in

jw
friends

i am most curious.

life is to short

Matthew 11:29 & 30

Being forbidden to go to the police when my life was threatened by a mentally ill JW and than being told to just crawl on my hands and knees in my home because he was outside our house with a loaded gun, being robbed at gun point while out in service because of being assigned to work in a super dangerous territory and than being told we could not change KH while we were at Bethel, having elders YELL and point their fingers in my face at me without my husband around, having elders gossip about my family and the best for the last. Being told I had to take a convicted registered pedophile who was on the websight for convicted pedophiles and the highest level sex offender our state has door to door in my car that I worked and paid for, all because I was an elder's wife.

Somehow that just does not seem to me to be what Jesus was talking about here, So no I do not think I will be coming back anytime soon.

LITS

45

Return to Jehovah… No Return Address

by Marvin Shilmer in

jw
friends

return to jehovah... no return address .

today i read a small piece of poetic irony.

im not going to advertise from what web forum i read this, but it was so astounding i had to share it somewhere.

life is to short

I am just going to say how can I return to a religion who forbid me going to the police when someone in the hall threatened my life because they did not want Jehovah's name brought into and who forbid me from switching halls when my husband and I were robbed at gun point while at Bethel, again because of Jehovah's name it but then demanded that I as an elder's wife take a convicted pedophile door to door in my car when his poster was disturbed in the area we were supposed to work door to door. If that is not crazy making at its finest than I do not know what is and I want no part of it. I will never allow a religion or I should say cult to control my life like I did.

LITS

31

Tony's life story

by life is to short in

so i finally read tony's life story and this one point really hit me where he was talking about his son's.

on page 7 he say's "because they made the truth their own, they make susan and me look good.

so those who children leave the "truth" look bad?.

life is to short

I got to thinking about Tony being homeless for a couple of days. While when we drove to Bethel to work there for free we were homeless the two weeks it took to drive there and than we were homeless for months after we left. And no Jehovah did not give us a sister who owned a boarding house to help us. Jehovah gave us the brains to work. I just saw this saying and I think it fits quite well. "I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more of it I have." by Stephen Leacock.

I know, know Jehovah Witnesses do not believe in luck but there is another saying that goes "pray like it depends on God, work like it depends on you.

Also the very first day we were at Bethel Gil Nazeroff went on a tangent telling all of us new free volunteers that he was sick of hearing from ones who came to work at Bethel and had to leave complaining about having a hard time making it in the real world after life at Bethel. Gil told us no one made you come. So basically if you are poor after Bethel or pioneering it your own stupid fault for listening to the GB in the first place.

I will never forget how strong and disrespectful Gil sounded that day almost hateful.

LITS

54

Those of you that born in the Borg in the late 60;s and early 70's

by James Mixon in

was life that bad for you?

we are really sorry...

life is to short

I can totally concur. I was 12 in 1975 thought Jehovah was going to kill me. My parents were half in and I knew enough that I thought Jehovah was going to destroy my whole family. What a mind trip to put on a five year old. I literally counted down the years I had to live starting at about the age five. No joke.

I know was a strange kid I know but I truly thought my life would be over in 1975. Then this stupid elder's wife in the hall I went to who was born in 1978 told in me in 2008 it was all made up lies. That 1975 was not that big of deal and those who say it was are apostate. You truly cannot convince them that it happened. Now those who were born in 1975 are 40. The GB have done a great job of hiding the past. The book 1985 anyone.

This religion ruined my life. I will never be who I could have been and it is so frustrating to be told to just get over it and move on now that I am 50.

LITS

31

Tony's life story

by life is to short in

so i finally read tony's life story and this one point really hit me where he was talking about his son's.

on page 7 he say's "because they made the truth their own, they make susan and me look good.

so those who children leave the "truth" look bad?.

life is to short

Your spot on Outlaw

31

Tony's life story

by life is to short in

so i finally read tony's life story and this one point really hit me where he was talking about his son's.

on page 7 he say's "because they made the truth their own, they make susan and me look good.

so those who children leave the "truth" look bad?.

life is to short

I know what you are saying OTWO. Just reading that story makes my blood boil, What he says is just so stupid. Like the guy who studied with him was "Brother Gardner but he affectionately called him Jim". Why isn't that just precious. Tony calls him Jim. It brought tears to my eyes to read that. But wait isn't Jim short for James and don't most of the people named James go by the nickname Jim. Silly me to ask such stupid questions.

Or like where he says he was homeless for "a few days" another total tear jerkier of a story. Well "Jim" found out and got Tony in touch with 'a sister who owned a boarding house. Tony really believes that Jehovah used Jim and that dear sister to provide a nice place for him to stay.' Isn't that so sweet. Tony says that 'Jehovah takes care of his faithful worshipers.'

It just brought such tears to my eyes to read that. It was just like when I prayed my brains out for Jehovah to help me and I got NOTHING! Like the time I moved out of my abusive parents home and there was a sister who lived across the street from me but she refused to take me to the meetings because I did not have enough money to give her for gas. I was just 18 years old at the time and dirt poor she was in her 50's. I walked five miles one way while she drove her empty car to the hall, and at the time in the city I lived in there was a rapist that the police had not caught raping young women my age and the police were begging young women to not go out at night alone. Oh well I guess Jehovah did not let me get raped so that was how He cared for me.

There were so many, many, many times I begged Jehovah for help and NOTHING. Like the time the guy in the hall threatened to kill my husband and I and I begged to go to the police but Bethel said NO! We were not to bring Jehovah's name into it and going to the police would so NO police period. Or the time we were robbed at gun point while at Bethel and we asked if we could switch halls as I was so freaked out. Again Bethel said NO!

I guess I just don't have the in with Jehovah that Tony does.

LITS

31

Tony's life story

by life is to short in

so i finally read tony's life story and this one point really hit me where he was talking about his son's.

on page 7 he say's "because they made the truth their own, they make susan and me look good.

so those who children leave the "truth" look bad?.

life is to short

So I finally read Tony's life story and this one point really hit me where he was talking about his son's. On page 7 he say's "because they made the truth their own, they make Susan and me look good." Really! So those who children leave the "truth" look bad?

This does not even begin to touch on the fact that HE HAD KIDS! Especially so close to 1975. I was told that I SHOULD NEVER HAVE KIDS in this worldly system, Woe the pregnant women and yad, yad, yad. I was only about 12 years old in 1975 but I clearly remember the warning about not having kids. So Tony disobeyed and had children when so many obeyed and did not have kids when they really wanted to but now Tony gets to look good?

It really is like a gut punch to read that. I wanted kids like crazy but I was told that I could have them in the new system, I needed to obey. But all that really matters is Tony looks good.

LITS