earthdreamer

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Posts by earthdreamer

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  36

  How would you explain jws to a non-jw?

  by Gadget in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in the past, when i've been talking about being a witness they haven't really understood just how much of an impact it has on your life unless they've been one too.

  whats the best way to explain it to someone who has never been a witness and had little contact with them?

  i'm more thinking of how much control there is over your life, and the reason why a lot of witnesses feel down and suffer from depression, ect.. gadget

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  earthdreamer

  Can we add to that the following:

  If the family and friends are still "in", they suffer the knowledge as they know it that Armageddon is coming soon and we will be destroyed.

  The parents are in total denial to all of the above statements.

  The circle just goes around and around. Who really should we feel sorry for the most? Seems to me that everyone is a victim in one way or another. Course from where I'm sitting - I feel sorry the most for me. Why? Because not only have I suffered the physical abuse from my mother, the mental abuse from all, but the heart ache from knowing that the parents I love so much will never understand how much of a victim they are as well. And I know that I am not alone in all of those things.

  Being a 4th generation JW, you can imagine the abuse that just kept being handed down. Sad part of it is that they just don't get it.
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  27

  An elder wants to study with me...please help!

  by shotgun in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  after my recent barrage of elder visits i've been told that to truly show i'm willing to work at restoring my faith a bs is needed.. i want to be able to pick a few recent publications (last 10 yrs) and sit down with him and examine all the quotes and references in the publications to show how the society has misquoted and misrepresented so much in their publications.

  do you know which publications would be best..keeping in mind the reference material will also have to readily accessible to be of any use.

  i don't think searching on the internet will be acceptable to him.. .

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  earthdreamer

  Just say NO! Unless there's a reason for you to say yes?

  Earthdreamer
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  64

  Were You Ever Put On Restrictions?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as a jw, were you ever put on restrictions?

  how did you feel when you were told that a certain "privilege" was being taken from you?

  were you given any warning by the elders in charge that what you did merited a removal of some sort?

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  earthdreamer

  I was reinstated after being df'd for about 13 years. But when they reinstated it was with restriction. No commenting and they actually said because I wouldn't be "up to date" on the current situations within the Society. No field service, no nothing. I was allowed to come to meeting and I was allowed to sing Praise to Jehovah and oh, yeah, now my parents could sit down at the table and eat with me.

  Any chance there might have been of me truly coming back to the fold was flushed that day. I went to meeting two times after that and haven't been back since. Oops, not true, I did attend Memorial twice. That was ten years ago.

  Earthdreamer
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  29

  My updated profile...

  by Billygoat in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i finally decided after being here for over two years now, that i would finally get down in writing my jw history.

  i've posted it in my new profile, but since there are so many new people here i thought i'd go ahead and post it too.

  i do this to encourage you to pen your jw history.

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  earthdreamer

  Dearest Billygoat,

  Your words have truly touched me. I am new to the board and have only written a few things.

  I have been "out" for probably about 10 years or so. I opted to phase out - after being DF'd and reinstated (with restrictions of course).

  My mother is the bad memory for me. My father I am happy to say has always treated me like his little girl, even now when I am 41. It saddens me that they have lived their whole lives as JW's and for them there is not even an option of anything else. I have just learned how to communicate on a different level. That in itself is sad.

  You said that you don't remember a lot of happy times after the age of 7 or 8. I don't remember my childhood at all except for little snippets here and there. I wonder how prevalent that is with all of us here on the board? My most vivid memory is my mom dragging me to the back of the hall for a spanking as I wasn't paying attention. I was literally grabbing at the chair edges the whole way back. Oh, yes, I think I was about 4.

  I was baptized at 12. I've had to really think about it to remember that. But it was 1974, so that would make me 12.... All of the repercussions involved in baptism. That statement holds a lifetime in it.

  I chose to leave home at 18 and remember my father (yes, he's an elder) laying on the bed sobbing. My mother was screaming at me how horrible I was for what I was doing to him.??? Still not a clue as to what was done to me. I was only allowed to take whatever I had purchased. I recently worked through the memory of walking to work in the cold with no coat. Yep, Mom made me the coat, so it had to stay. Then I remember my dad showing up one day with the truck loaded. All of my clothes, my bedroom furniture and new towels that he had bought me. My mother stayed in the truck and refused to even look at me.

  Funny, those are the good memories. Because I have always known, even when I was df'd that my dad loved me.

  Hopefully one day you will have more good memories of you and your dad. I'm sorry to have taken up the space on this thread with what is really for you.

  Bless you for your words. You brought tears to me and helped me walk a little further in this journey I just call MY life.

  Earthdreamer
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  47

  Which way will the Society go because of the Internet?

  by be wise in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i've only learned the truth about this society over the last 5 months or so, so i'm not sure what the difference is to say - 2 years ago.

  do you think the society will now get even more cultish in it's methods of teaching and more heavy handed if they feel things are slipping?

  i don't feel i'm being over the top here because i've experienced very heavy handed talks at the assemblies and kingdom hall in the past that are just plain scare tactics but this just makes people ask more questions ??

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  earthdreamer

  Hi everyone. My name is Earthdreamer. I am an EX,EX,EX JW and have been for several years. Someday I may tell all of my story, when it's the right time.

  For now, I just wanted to comment that when I was DF'd in 1982 there was no place like this for me to come. I was reinstated in 1993 - don't ask, at least not right now - there was no place like this for me to come. In about 1990 I went to a Christian Book and Video store. I rented a couple of films on the WTS. I felt really guilty just doing that, and I was already DF'd, an outcast, a piece of dirt, so who was there to care anyway???????

  Anyway, here I am now with this place where I can listen and learn. Sometimes join in. Understand that I am not alone in the pain and paranoia that seems to never leave.

  Well, of course they think the Internet is the power of the Devil!!!! I say yeah for this site so that maybe some of these young ones will find out what can happen to them and run away before it does! Devil's work my A--, this is the Truth.

  Earthdreamer
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  32

  What In Life Have You Kicked Yourself For?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  we all have wished that if we had just one more chance to make a decision and could have changed things, we would have done something differently.

  is there anything that you would have changed in your life if only you could?

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  earthdreamer

  Getting baptized at the age of 12.

  Earthdreamer
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  263

  Growing up a gay Jehovah's Witness (My Life Story)

  by m0nk3y in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i feel the need to express how i feel and felt about my life as a gay man.

  i was brought up from birth as a jehovahs witness.

  this has played a major part in my life and it has been a real struggle to get past.

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  earthdreamer

  Josh,

  Your story moved me very much. I am only glad that you have made it to the other side. Yes, we do grow stronger from the adversity, and you have had that. I wish you the best and I wish your relationship the best. Treasure this life as you want to live it!! Don't ever let anyone again tell you how to live.

  Earthdreamer
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  13

  opinions whats the best way to get out the door and not lose your fam DA or

  by primitivegenius in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  pros and cons............. dissasociation......... disfellowshiping....... or just fadeing away.

  i got family that i dont wanna lose but im not sure the best way to leave and the consequences.

  raised in the "truth" so all my friends are jw with a few exceptions.

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  earthdreamer

  I had also looked up some information and somebody correct me if I'm wrong. If you're considered inactive, the elders/society/whoever, can not DF you. I found it somewhere on the WTS site by doing a search on DF.

  Anyway, yeah, my parents had the subscription sent to me. I felt really bad about all of the paper that was wasted when I threw them away unopened. Great day when they stopped doing subscriptions!

  earthdreamer
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  13

  opinions whats the best way to get out the door and not lose your fam DA or

  by primitivegenius in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  pros and cons............. dissasociation......... disfellowshiping....... or just fadeing away.

  i got family that i dont wanna lose but im not sure the best way to leave and the consequences.

  raised in the "truth" so all my friends are jw with a few exceptions.

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  earthdreamer

  I was DF'd and can tell you that it is absolutely horrific the way you're treated. Especially by your family. I chose to be reinstated some 11 years later just to be "accepted" again by my family. I was also newly married and didn't want any children to have to go throught the heart wrenching mind games that are played. I took the easy(???) way out by reinstating. After being reinstated for about 6 months or so, I moved away from the congregational area. I then just faded out. My parents are 3rd generation JW's and have no concept of reality outside of the JW world, so for them this was also the easy way. They treat me no differently and realize that they don't talk "truth tm" to me as I don't want to hear it. I guess you could say that I'm a lucky one. But I opt for fading out...but this could also mean a geographical change in order to not be called on all the times by the zealots

  earthdreamer
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  67

  Adventures at the District Convention

  by RunningMan in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well, after a 15 month absence from the kingdom hall, i once again found myself in the biggest kingdom hall of all the district convention.

  as in previous years, the material presented was dull and repetitious, so once again, i was forced to provide my own entertainment.

  so, like last year, i am pleased to present a further installment to my assembly adventures, called:

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  earthdreamer

  Oh my. I had to laugh about the 24:14 placard. I just pictured the attendants motioning for who would be the one to grab it. That was hysterical. I applaud you for sitting through that. I can't even imagine it. It's been probably at least 10 years since I went.

  That whole rendition was priceless. BTW - how many donation boxes were there? and were they listed on the map?