Great post Volo! Couldn't agree more x
krejames
JoinedPosts by krejames
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65
Gay MS??
by andysmiles inabout me, i am being raised in a jw family.
all of my family expect for one aunt, who had left but not disfellowedshiped thankly, are in jw.
my father is an elder and so is my grandfather.
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65
Gay MS??
by andysmiles inabout me, i am being raised in a jw family.
all of my family expect for one aunt, who had left but not disfellowedshiped thankly, are in jw.
my father is an elder and so is my grandfather.
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krejames
Hi Andy. I feel your pain and confusion. You are not the only appointed gay brother I was a gay MS until 2007. I'm inactive now. My circle of friends include a gay ex-elder and another gay ex-MS (the latter is still an active JW but is leading a double life). Already there has been good advice posted on here.
I agree that you will never be happy until you become "authentic": I didn't feel at peace until the person I was showing to the outside world was the same as the person I am inside. I agree with the advice above that you should begin to surround yourself with people you trust, who can get to know the real you. And this ultimately means having friends who are not JWs. There will be some in the congregation that will accept you as a gay (but celibate) brother - but ultimately they will not understand what it means to be gay (the constant references to "struggling with gay feelings" or, as one elder used to say to me, my "emotional problems", I found extremely patronising and annoying).
Your family, if they are like mine and others', will never fully accept your homosexuality as they will see it all through Bible goggles. You will eventually realise this is their issue and not your problem. You need to concentrate on becoming the person you are comfortable and proud of being. There is an American documentary that I found very interesting and helpful, "For the Bible Tells Me So", which is about devout Christian parents (not JWs) who found out their children were gay. I would recommend it. My story, if it's of interest or of any help is here
Feel free to send me a private message if you want to. You will get a lot of support here as there are many others who have gone through the same journey.
Take care James
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7
WTBTS' Pathetic Low Ranking!
by JW GoneBad in1. on-line google search: top on-line bible search tools.
wtbts no show!.
2. on-line google search: top ten bibles.
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krejames
Maybe they don't want to pay google to bump up their ranking. After all, if someone's heart condition is right, the Holy Spirit will guide them to the right website
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95
Please Share one of your Favourite Quotations
by cofty inhave you ever come across words that resonate with you?
it doesn't have to be a great gem of wisdom, just something that is meaningful to you.. please share, and if you want to, tell us why it's meaningful to you.. here is something that made me nod when i first read it.... .
"fortunate are those who have learned to see, in the wild things of nature, something to be loved, something to be wondered at, something to be reverenced, for they have found the key to a never-failing source of recreation and refreshment".
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krejames
"Too long a sacrifice can make a stone of the heart...o when may it suffice?" (Y B Yeats)
I found this quote as a teenager in the liner notes of a pop album. I didn't realise it related to Irish political history at the time, but the quote stuck with me and it kept coming to my mind when I was going through an emotional breakdown - trying to deal with the gay thing while trying to be a good JW, and yet still feeling like it was not enough. I really felt my heart was turning to stone and ultimately the sacrifice of denying who I was, was too great. I can never go back.
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27
Beards....Do What Your Told! The WT Owns You, You Disobedient, Spiritually Immature, Publisher!
by allyouneedislove inwas talking to an elder about beards.
he said that at bethel, only black and hispanic brothers can have mustaches (any actual facts supporting this decision?).
he mentioned that we don't want to stumble anyone so that they won't hear our message.
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krejames
It's a well known fact that JWs are pogonophobic but the UK is much more relaxed about it these days. I was appointed a MS whilst having a beard. Yes I did get the occasional comment/dig about it but this was usually followed by "but yours is ok because you keep it so well trimmed". Mind you I was told that if I wanted to have a talk at the assembly I would need to shave it off. I never wanted to give a talk at the assembly so never shaved it off.
Take a look at this Beard Liberation Front
...and this Hirsute Campaigners Heatwave Press Release
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Brotherhood of the Cross and Star
by krejames ini was in battersea park in london yesterday (enjoying the gorgeous weather and riding on a boris bike hehe), when i saw a number of small groups of africans in white robes talking to various people who were relaxing in the park.
one or two were showing scriptures to the people they were talking to.
obviously my interest was immediately piqued and i stopped my bike and asked one of them for a leaflet.. this morning i finally got around to reading it.
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krejames
I was in Battersea Park in London yesterday (enjoying the gorgeous weather and riding on a Boris bike hehe), when I saw a number of small groups of Africans in white robes talking to various people who were relaxing in the park. One or two were showing scriptures to the people they were talking to. Obviously my interest was immediately piqued and I stopped my bike and asked one of them for a leaflet.
This morning I finally got around to reading it. The religion is called Brotherhood of the cross and star and I was surprised to find one of the addresses on the back said "Mill Hill Bethel, The Ridgeway, High Street, London NW7 1QU". I did a double take and a triple take . Surely they're not a secret apostate group based in the JW UK headquarters?! .
I decided to look on line for more info. As expected, (and disappointingly) the bethel address appears to be a coincidence (they call their churches "bethels" and this one just happens to be based in Mill Hill). This is a Nigerian religion according to Wiki, and clearly a cult (seem quite similar to the Moonies).
Sorry if this is a bit of a non newsworthy thread, but it was quite a moment. Still, I guess it's another demonstration that JWs don't have the monopoly on "witnessing".
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17
A day in the life of a fading JW
by dissonance_resolved ini'm five months into my slow fade and it's going so-so.
my saturday morning was spent on a 3-mile jog and taking the kids to the park, which was great, but i'm still shuddering from the potential alternative.
at the last meeting, an elderette literally blocked the exit to prevent my escape and said she just "noticed" that we were in the same field service group and would i like to work with her in service on saturday?
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krejames
Hi Dissonance-Resolved
It must be very difficult, especially when you've got immediate family and young children still in. Hard though it is, it does sound like you're doing and saying all the right things to pave the way for your freedom. Hang in there. The "encouragement by field service" is really tricky - I can empathise (as I am sure many other faders can - in fact this is what gave me the final push to stop going to meetings altogether). So much of the Jw mindset is all about emotional blackmail and manipulation.
Wishing you the best
James
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32
Stuff You Would Lose If You Went Back
by Nosferatu inso we know all the things the wts prevents us from doing, but that's much, much different than the stuff we've grown accustomed to.. for those who have been out for a number of years, what kind of things would end up being abandoned if you suddenly started going back to the kingdom hall?
you know, stuff that you now do on the nights you used to attend meetings, the things you own, the things you wear, etc..
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krejames
What Rocky Girl said.
oh and i would lose my lovely BF.
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29
Hi everyone !!!
by Durden ini am durden.. a teenager that is an unbaptized publisher and is trying to leave this damn cult !!!.
i have been lurking here for some time and i decided to start posting with this intro.. im from europe, both my parents are jw's, my parents are both teachers (math teachers).. my parents are "softcore" jw's, they accept all my questions and try to answer them.. i am trying to "convert" my dad (an elder which might complicate things), me and my dad recently had various discussions about the org ("discussions" on the good sense of the word).. we talked about jehovah in the nt, 1975, 1914, gb in 1st century, the cross, "new lights" ..., you know the usual stuff.. and all is going well i think, i think i can "convert" him until the end of summer.. i mean is a logical man, what can go wrong ?
man, when i found jwfacts it was like my world had collapsed, all thoses lies .... but its good now to have found the truth.
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krejames
Welcome Durden
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42
Why do all the COs have food intolerances/allergies/special dietary requirments?
by Julia Orwell init's a well known phenomenon i've observed from jwn, my own cos. a new co we had once who was fresh from being a normal elder and after a couple of visits he said, "well i've finally become a true co...i now have food intolerances.".
i mean, only once did my husband and i ever have a co around for dinner and they couldn't eat this, he couldn't eat that, she couldn't eat this...it was so hard to cook something with none of the zillions of things they were 'allergic' to.. and then after all that the wife couldn't come anyway because she had a naturopath appointment or something.. why do all co's seem to have weird dietary problems?.
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krejames
Yes it's true - they all seem to have food intolerances and the wives always seem a bit grumpy (not that I blame them)