Posts by days of future passed

6

Non JW and JW friendsips. I am a non JW

by ricsa in

himy story is as follows.

i've been friends with a guy for round 1,5 years.

he told me once he had another guy friend who was gay.

days of future passed

ricsa - When you are with other JW's, what you believe seems right and normal. But as you said, when it comes to "worldly" people, you know that it will seem weird or strange to them what you believe in. You could liken JW's to being a group like the Amish. They are isolated in a certain location and keep to themselves for the most part.

JW's are isolated from the rest of Christianity and world, by not celebrating birthdays (or any other holidays) it used to be NO blood for transfusions but now they take fractions and other things. The most isolating is the view that all others that aren't witnesses, are bad, wicked, have a bad heart and that goes for close family members and relatives. So the religion makes it a "us" against "them"

Growing up in the religion, I wasn't supposed to have any friends at school only those that went to the meetings. No outside activities. It's very effective in making you depend on whatever relationships you have at the hall. Now that I am out, I have no friends. So unlike those that keep in touch with childhood friends or ones they met in college, I have to make new ones. Too bad I'm not easy to get along with anymore. Makes it hard.

6

Non JW and JW friendsips. I am a non JW

by ricsa in

himy story is as follows.

i've been friends with a guy for round 1,5 years.

he told me once he had another guy friend who was gay.

days of future passed

Behind the JW facade, I think many have worldly friends. Why? Because when they go to meetings (at the kingdom hall to listen to talks) or out door to door - the usual chit chat is just about surface things. How many hours do you need to get this month, experiences about householders, things they bought, what they will do later.... Then after, they go their separate ways until the next meeting etc. Not many have friendships that go beyond that. They have deeper relationships with co-workers.

Your friend is also living vicariously through you. He could never get to do the things that you do as a JW. So it's exciting and very taboo the things you do.

From my own experience, people who are raised as a JW (most anyway) will have as a default, a knee jerk reaction to defend their religion. Even if they haven't gone to meetings for years or actively practice it, if you touch on a subject like shunning or not obeying the elders or the Governing Body (the leaders) suddenly they will become the most staunch supporters.

Right now, the Jehovah's Witnesses organization is being looked at in Australia, England and USA for their handling of Child sexual abuse matters. They have a rule that they quote scripture on, that there must be 2 witnesses in all matters, in order to determine whether a person is guilty. So child molesters, unless they confess, are not considered guilty by the testimony of one victim. Neither is this reported to the police. In Australia, the Royal Commission (ARC) found from the JW own files, 1,006 cases of provable molestation that was never reported to the police. There were many more cases not acted on by the Elders, nor reported to the police because there wasn't a second witness. These cases are also being investigated now by Australia.

The organization has hid this for years. Hopefully, this will all come out soon. Until then, most JW's will not hear or believe anything like this could be true. Just like the Catholics wouldn't believe that their church would shuffle around pedophile priests.

So be his friend, but don't expect him to suddenly think objectively about his religion. And if the time comes, you might be able to help him see that if something this bad is happening in his religion, maybe it isn't so truthful after all.

29

Guilt trip

by Jrjw in

did anyone have other jws try to guilt trip them when they were leaving or if you were making a decision which jws felt was wrong but wasn't unscriptural?

i'm getting people guilt tripping me to eventually get back with my emotionally, spiritually and mentally abusive husband who i'm separated from.

i feel sick at the thought of getting back together and putting myself through that nightmare again but i'm being told its what jehovah wants coz he doesn't want families to be apart.

days of future passed

I like to make comparisons. If you had a friend that treated you the same way your husband did, would you keep them as a friend? No. Yet somehow, it's supposed to be accepted in a marriage mate.

The WT has encouraged women staying with abusive husbands since it's early years. Probably because the higher ups have not treated their own wives with respect.

35

what big change could bring down the watchtower?

by stan livedeath in

what single big change do you think could back fire and bring the cult down ?.

me: tithing..

days of future passed

Haven't they taken baby steps towards tithing with the "promise note" of what they were willing to contribute on a yearly basis?

Tithing as one radio evangelist explained it - Giving god 10 percent is like saying "I want God as a business partner" Wouldn't we want that?

28

Why did the Governing Body come behind the curtain?

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

in the movie the wizard of oz, while the whole yellow brick road gang was being addressed by the great and powerful wizard of oz, the dog toto ran off to the side, pulled back on a curtain, and showed that a normal-looking humbug of a person was operating cranks and levers.

for a short while, the normal-looking man kept yanking levers and cranking cranks, and said into the microphone (which made the great and powerful wizard speak the same words) "pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!

i am the great and powerful wiz .

days of future passed

Why did the Governing Body come behind the curtain?

To see what was on the other side of course.

Many have listed what I think are good reasons. Who is else is going to represent the WT but the GB? They are certainly deluded enough to believe that only they could truly represent the best of God's organization. If they were hesitant at first, it would only take some ego stroking to make them think that they thought of it first.

Now that the first act is over - breaking the ice and showing that the GB are just one of us - they will be quietly retired to the shadows lest any too human qualities shine though. Although it's a little too late for that. And by now, they are used to being on the throne so good luck with that.

Hey I just had a thought of how useful Warwick could be. Let everyone know that it is the place where god most often communicates with them. Have them permanently retire there. Then when groups of visitors tour, have them be seen off at a distance, giving a friendly wave. Except they are just Disney robots.

48

Anyone struggle to find meaning in life?

by Good JW in

just wondering if this is a common thing for you guys and girls?

when i left the jws it was hard to make a connection with people, much of the time i felt that whatever they wanted to talk about just didn't seem relevant/deep/meaningful.

i find myself filtering my mind to get to a level with others (small talk mostly).

days of future passed

Yeah, I can relate to almost everything on this thread. My viewpoint on life swings in a wide arc, but then I come down to feeling like a tool that is useless. You know the ones that you buy and think it's great until you really use it and find it falls short.

Even gardening which I've done my whole life - now is difficult just because I shrug my shoulders and say So What. Some of it I attribute to having an 8 hour work day - I've usually worked 6 hours. Plus the worst boss in my entire life, if he isn't a psychopath then a sociopath. Working with JW's so that you have to bite your tongue. I've got no friends that share my interests and have a hard time making them. Yeah, crappy attitude.....

33

Manmade rules

by Jrjw in

i was talking to someone a few years ago and he said in his congregation they have a rail of white shirts prepared in the cloakroom for if a speaker doesn't have a white shirt on.

it was a rule in their hall that all brothers in the platform must wear white shirts when going talks and if the speaker won't comply when asked to change into the shirt they provide an elder in the congregation will do the talk instead.

i have never known any other halls do it so it must be a rule the elders have made up without gb input.

days of future passed

For sisters, it was all about the skirts. Way back when, one sister told me that one of the elders had them come up to the stage after the meeting. Why? He had them get on their knees to see if the skirt touched the floor.

Denim skirts came into fashion for awhile. They were comfortable and easy to wear. Didn't have to dry clean them either. Next thing you know, NO DENIM skirts. They were "too casual" to wear to the meetings.

After years of the WT worrying over skirts being too short at the knees, they attacked the long skirts. My sister was told that hers was too long and had her shorten it. (she regrets that to this day)

Have a below the knee skirt? You might have the dangerous slit up the back (or side) of it that might show too much thigh. Sisters pinned it lower down or like I did, made sure your slip was lower.

There is also the crazy people in the hall that wanted their own rules followed. One sister had a small hair clip with a dragonfly that slightly bobbled when she moved her head. She was counseled that it was too distracting. (brought up by a crazy old lady)

Of course there was the infamous mirror covering that went on at conventions years ago. You don't see it now but they covered them up to keep sisters and brothers from standing in front them, fixing their hair or makeup. Turns out my sister and another one, marched up to the convention leaders and said how are we supposed to know if a baby has barfed on our clothes, or if there is food stuck in our teeth? Etc. Down went the coverings. Ridiculous isn't it?

26

What Is The Major Reason Jehovah’s Witnesses Exist?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i understand that cults and religious groups will always exist.

but why do jehovah’s witnesses continue as a religion that people will join?.

days of future passed

As I drive along, I see memorials on the freeways for people that have died. No one wants to forget loved ones. They wish for them to be alive.

Heaven may be too far away and unlike what we want for them. Jehovah's witnesses offer life on earth without the disease, old age and death. Maybe it is easier to picture that life, than one up in the clouds. An old movie I watched, had three gentlemen that died. They gathered back at the house that they had lived in and tried to figure out what happened. As the movie went along, each were called to heaven or limbo hell. One man's son appeared to take him "home". But what is it like, said the father. Whatever you wish said the son. So the father wished he could go to his old army haunts in the tropics - the scene appeared and off he went happily. So it's more natural I think, that people want to return to an earth that is clean, with happy animals and people.

My mother's main reason for joining was that she would never grow old. Throw in no wars too. I don't think she is religious actually. Now she is 80 plus and having to cope with depression over impending old age death.

19

My fading suffered a miscarriage

by Ireneus in

i thought of successfully fading out, but suffered a miscarriage last week.

i gradually decreased the number of meetings i attended.

in the latter half of the year it became once a month, then once in two months, once in three months ….. last week, two elders who visited me, after their bla..bla..asked: “where will you go leaving the motherly organization—the only truth now available on earth?”.

days of future passed

A miscarriage of justice for sure.

4

Any one else having trouble with a new post?

by dropoffyourkeylee in

jw
friends

i have been tryin to create a new post, it keeps hanging up.

is it just me?.

days of future passed

I did find that it acted as if it was spinning around and going nowhere. But I waited a while and then just closed it. There it was, posted. So it's done that maybe twice and I just do the same thing.