I feel your pain my friend. The first memorial I missed, sorry to say, I lied to my mom and said I was going to another friend's congregation. I was too scared to just tell her the truth. The next year, I was newly married and my mom insisted that my husband and I go with her, that we're being selfish and not thinking about the family. By this time, we're Christians and we said, thank you for the invite but no. We went to our first Easter celebration instead. We were stunned by the difference. There was so much joy and the emphasis was not on the memorial talk - 'Jesus is dead and you'll be dead soon unless you do what we say!' It was a message of hope and the emphasis was 'Jesus has risen and he loves you'. So the 3rd memorial we missed, my husband's mom sent us a guilt letter, telling us that we're disrespecting Christ by not going, we didn't respond to the usual judging, condemnation, you better go pressure, we went to another Easter instead, read the bible, went out to lunch, just enjoyed the family time. This is our 4th memorial and no invitation yet, if any one dares we'll invite them to Church! One year my brother went and he was so uncomfortable, said it was depressing, that there was just nothing for him there. Sorry to say, the gb don't care about you, they care about their numbers. Wish you all the best - V Sky.
Victorian sky
JoinedPosts by Victorian sky
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Pressured
by mjs mouse, ben injw memorial is coming up, i told myself i'm not going this year, having a mother a couple brothers and two sisters still "in" all pressuring me to attend, saying things like "this may be the last memorial b4 the end", you've heard the spiel before.....crap like that is putting a lot a pressure on me this year, wish they would just stop it and worry about their own crappy lives!
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U.N. Scandal Clarfications Please.
by lowden insince i joined the forum a short while ago i was confronted by the above scandal, hadn't known about it , haven't been in touch with anything to do with the org for a while.
so i've read all the posts and questions and i think iget the drift, but what i want to kno now is why did they do it?
i hear their excuse of the library card, but that's obviously a load of tosh.
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Victorian sky
DOZY- Do apostates offer any real alternative to a worship of Jehovah based around an association with Jehovah’s witnesses?
No. Apostates simply wish to destroy the faith of active JWs. If they then decide to worship trees , pray to the Devil or build an idol of Benny Hill and bow down - great. The key word is “freedom” - as used in Genesis 3. The aim is to break down & destroy rather than build up. Oh Dozy, you are in my prayers. I love active JWs too much to let them live, 'lives of quiet desperation', in an organization based on lies. Sorry, I can't just walk away, not when people are suffering under the guise of a religion. Just to clarify, yes my life is dedicated to 'destroying' the faith in the WTS not in God, big difference, get your facts straight. Also, you'd like to think it's about the freedom in Genesis 3, everyone here has their own views and that's their perrogative and I don't put anyone down for it. I'm a Christian and I'm talking about the freedom in Galations 5, verse 1 - 'So Christ has truly set you free. Now make sure that you stay free.' verse 13, 'For you have been called to live in freedom...use your freedom to serve one another in love.' That's what I intend to do. Give active JWs all the love they aren't getting in that cold organization and I'm not going to stop helping free as many as I can for Christ. - God Bless, V-Sky
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I registered to vote
by NewYork44M inon saturday i had to get my driver's license.
the clerk asked if i wanted to register, and i took her up on the offer.
i have often thought about joining the ranks of voters but never felt strong enough about an issue to go through the process.
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Victorian sky
Cool New York! Good for you. I voted for the first time during the 2000 election for Gore as prez and Hillary as Senator of NY, It was exhilarating, For the first time, I enjoyed watching election results, knowing that I played a tiny part. Ironically, I didn't stop attending meetings until 2003! Voted again in 2004, I feel like a pro now! Don't like the current administration at all so I can't wait for 2008, hope the democrats or independants can bring it.
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Everybody welcome Anneshirley new member!
by mkr32208 inmy wife finally joined!
her user name is anneshirley!
everyone make her feel welcome please!
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Victorian sky
Huge, warm, welcome AnneShirely! Love your name and where it's from. Enjoy the forum, it's been a lifesaver for us. As LM Montgomery says 'tomorrow is fresh with no mistakes in it.' Glad you're here. - V Sky
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"Crash" - the movie
by Billygoat inhas anyone seen this movie?
what were your thoughts on it?.
i just saw it last night for the first time.
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Victorian sky
One of the best movies I've ever seen, The writer had a lot of guts. It deserved every award, esp best picture.
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Questions You'd Like To Ask DOZY & Does Dozy have enough faith to answer?
by whyizit indozy seems to be okay with the un deal.
i've got some relatively simple questions that i would like answered from the bible, by dozy!
if dozy has enough faith to do it.. i would like to see one verse from the bible that actually says jesus & michael the archangel are one and the same.
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Victorian sky
Interesting post, very curious what dozy has to say about the deaths of those who refused organ transplants and vaccinations based on WTS misguidance. I told a JW who came to my door that I was raised a JW and my bible trained conscience would not allow me to remain a part of a blood guilty organization like the WTS. She was shocked, what did i mean? I told her about people dying for no biblical reason because they obeyed the WTS about org trans and vacc. Her reply? They'll be rewarded for their faith in the ressurection! I told her faith in who and what? If God and the bible didn't ask this of them, then who did? She said the FDS, so I said, so the JWs faith was in men, that's why they died or were df'ed if they didn't obey. She had no reply so what do you say dozy? People died, do you get that? And when the blood issue is reversed quietly and cowardly like they change everything else, what about all the people and children who died? The gb's motto should be: So much bloodguilt, so little time!
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Life Outside the Witnesses
by jgnat ina newbie poster reminded me that jw's considering an exit may not be fully informed of their choices.
what is life like on the outside, and is such a life worth following?.
i'll post a summary of my lifestyle and choices in a minute, but i thought i'd at least get the thread started.
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Victorian sky
jgnat, great post,
What makes you happy now? God, my family, being alive, chocolate, books, movies, travel and music.
In a typical week, what kind of community or social interactions do you engage in, and what percentage of your time does it take? Depends, we go to church on Sundays, belong to a JW outreach ministry and volunteer for American Red Cross disaster relief, so i'd say 30% of our time.
Did your financial situation degrade or improve after leaving the society? Definately improved, I went to college, got a degree and started my own business, my husband just went back to school and recently graduated after suffering through minimum wage jobs so he's doing much, much better too. Our view of work has changed. We're pursuing our dreams, passions and ambitions without guilt and the thought of what will the elders, JW family & friends think? Also, now we know that God wants us to be happy and the best way to honor him is to become a blessing to others.
If you are single, what qualities do you look for in a date? Happily married, saw enough miserable JW marriages to put me off the whole thing. My husband treats me like an equal partner and we work together as a team.
If you have a partner, what are the most important principles you try and bring in to the relationship? Unconditional love, tenderness and honesty.
If you have a family, what are the most important principles you try and instill in your children, as their parent? No kids yet, we're working on it!
What guides do you use for your personal moral compass, if any? (It could be a book, concept, religion or quote) The Bible, our Church home, the ministries of Joel Osteen from Lakewood Church in Houston and Bob Coy of Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale really helped us, refreshingly positive and inspiring.
P.S. I like this post. It's funny that anyone would think that JWs leaving are uniformed, when I got baptized as a witness when I was a teenager, I missed the fine print about cutting off your friends and family if they don't conform, I had no clue that people were grilled during JC's (heard all the horror stories, never sat through one thank God), I didn't know that they were just another religion that didn't help people nearly as much as they boast, I wasn't informed of what real life would be like in the org, I didn't know that I would be far happier without them and their gazillion man made rules, I love my Christian freedom and I wish anyone doubting all that God has for them - love and life in abundance. - God Bless, V-Sky
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Wow that UN scandal really DOES work wonders
by osmosis ini'm totally amazed.
i gave that un report to my (hardcore jw to the extreme max, but in a nice way) aunt, and she didn't speak of it for several days.
when she said nothing, i knew i'd gotten somewhere.. today she finally spoke up.
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Victorian sky
os, hope your aunt wakes up, all the best.
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Wow that UN scandal really DOES work wonders
by osmosis ini'm totally amazed.
i gave that un report to my (hardcore jw to the extreme max, but in a nice way) aunt, and she didn't speak of it for several days.
when she said nothing, i knew i'd gotten somewhere.. today she finally spoke up.
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Victorian sky
Unbelievable, does anyone else remember the series of watchtowers on bab the great, the wild beast and the image of the wild beast back in the spring of 1989? Or the way the UN is portrayed in the revelation book? I preached that garbage to people, little did i know. What makes this religion so repulsive is the dogmatic insistence of obediance to rules they aren't willing to follow themselves. God forbid, you question them or they won't hesitate to cut you off as one 'loving' elder said of my df'ed mom 'cut her off like a rotten limb'. If they were in bed with the UN for nearly a decade how dare they df the r&f for lesser offenses and still claim to be the 'truth' when lies come so easily to them. The gb have a lot to answer for.
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Where were you when the realization hit, that the WTS was not in the truth?
by whyizit ini was listening to a testimonial by valerie acuff and she said that she was sitting in an assembly, looking around at the crowd and thinking to herself, "this is your family, these are your people.".
she said at that moment she heard a voice inside say, "these are not your people, this is not your family, get up and leave now, and don't ever go back.
" so she took her two children at that very moment and left, and she never went back.
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Victorian sky
I'll never forget it. I was sitting in the hall during the air and sea show. The Blue Angel jets were screaming overhead and would drown out some of the talk so the brother would pause for the jets then speak. Well i couldn't stop listening out for the jets and wishing I could see them. I had the odd thought that i wish i could fly away from here, from these people. After the meeting, as I walked out, a voice inside my head said, 'never again, don't ever come back here again, it's over, you're free.' It was a gorgeous day, I looked up and saw the jets in formation and i felt exhilarated as if a heavy load had been lifted. That was 3 years ago. There's been pain and family drama as a result but there's just no going back. I'm a Christian now and happier than I've ever been. God bless - V Sky