Posts by smurfette

34

JW 'urban legends'

by Steve Lowry in

jw
friends

i was thinking about some of the old jw urban legends that we grew up with and believed in as jws.

most of the ones i remember revolved around stories about demons, and jws being "attacked" when they would do something wrong.

some of these legends scared the crap outta me when i was little.

smurfette

I heard the 2 angels story as a kid too Scully. Must've been a popular one. Lots of Smurf's legends too, hence my name.

One of my favorites was the demonization of E.T. the extrateretrial. Kids in our hall were not allowed to see E.T. when it came out, and my Ma destroyed an E.T. doll my brother received from a worldly relative claiming it was posessed. The toy never did anything I ever saw to warrant it's untimley demise. The reasoning for this was that Steven Spielberg had deliberately given E.T. the ability rise from the dead a la Jesus to undermine christianity. His "magic" glowing finger was also suspicious and the fact that he was an alien made him no good too.

Another good one that I actually "witnessed" was the time my mother was at a known local wackjob's door and when she and her partner turned away from him, he picked up a board, swung it at her, and narrowly missed her cranium. They ran to the saftey of the van where the whole cargroup and my brother and I sat stunned. We sped away and on the ride back it was decided that "angels" must have prevented him from actually hitting her. She rose to local legend pretty quickly and repeated the story often adding angelic embelishments.

10

How Can I Get Info on a Dead JW ??

by SanFranciscoJim in

jw
friends

i just received a fascinating email from someone looking for information on a jw who died in the late 1970s.

all i have is the person's name and city of residence at the time of death.

is there some place (preferably on the internet) i can go to see a copy of the death certificate?

smurfette

Try the genealogy sites San Francisco Jim. Look under the Social Securtity Death Index for info. You'll at least get the basic info on the person in ?? if that's what you're looking for. Roots.com is free, I think you can do a free search through the LDS family research site too. (LDS is the Mormon Church or Latter Day Saints) I've found info on lots of my relatives who died in the 70's from these sites. Otherwise the death certificate advice is the way to go, but it'll cost you a couple $$.

-Good Luck and Best Wishes-

5

Lost faith and a Cadillac car.

by smurfette in

jw
friends

was anyone you know's entire faith in all things jw shattered by one specific incident or teaching?

or was anyone you know's faith squeezed from them by systematic taunting for not towing the line?.

for me it was a whole combination of things, not one specific incident, and it was gradual.

smurfette

LOL Gary!

((Frannie))

It makes me wanna heave too Frank.

And COMF, that is one SWEET ride!

-Margy

40

Raised a JW... did you have a childhood?

by ignorance is strength in

personally i was quite serious at a young age.. there was no "boys will be boys" growing up.

personally i feel kind of cheated out of a childhood by an organization that forced you to think that "everything around you was going to be gone soon so you better grow up, start publishing, and giving talks.

" did any of you experience a less than stellar childhood, especially because of the lack of holidays and socially-isolating religion gowing up?

smurfette

My formative years were stunted at best, due to JW and not JW issues. I've decided that since I couldn't be a kid when I was a kid, I'll just be a big kid now. I have a huge nerdy toy collection and celebrate all holidays to the hilt.

((Hugs to all you guys it sounds like some of you had really awful childhoods, I'm sorry, I wish I could give them back to you.))

28

Was it just my hall?

by freedom96 in

jw
friends

my wife and i joke about the differences in our own halls all the time.

i swear she lived in a country club compared to my hall.. just to give a couple of examples:.

and this is from when i was growing up until i left home at 18.. every single weekend was field service.

smurfette

LOL Odrade! I get the extra eyeball look alot too when I tell what I think are funny stories to other people about my childhood.

28

Was it just my hall?

by freedom96 in

jw
friends

my wife and i joke about the differences in our own halls all the time.

i swear she lived in a country club compared to my hall.. just to give a couple of examples:.

and this is from when i was growing up until i left home at 18.. every single weekend was field service.

smurfette

Freedom96- You described my hall/family to a T! Just replace your dad with a Super-Pioneer single mom. We never ever missed meetings for any reason and that went for the whole hall. Same for service too.

My best friend refused to go to a meeting one time as she was really sick and her Presiding Overseer/ Uncle/ custodial guardian/ warden was ticked. When I asked where she was after the meeting various members of her family rolled their eyes and said she was being a drama queen and probably just wanted to get out of the meeting. When they got home they found her crawling around on the floor by herself. She had appendicitis and because they'd left her alone and didn't listen to her, by the time they called the ambulance it was almost too late. Her appendix burst just as they were about to operate and she almost died. She was only 14 or 15 at the time. None of them learned from this at all and she received no apology.

8

'The Generation' Question

by stephen in

jw
friends

hi ex jw's folks .

i'm a new member and have been reading some of your postings with great interest, and much laughter .

in one posting there was mention of the wts article about the new view of 'that generation' which i missed (as i was dfd at the time and missed the crucial meeting - naughty!

smurfette

I asked the same ? in July. I've been out 10 years too. SaintSatan gave me a really good reply. I searched tha site and found it for you. Basically the new light is that all the people born in 1914 may pass away and Armageddon still won't be here, but it's o.k. because the org. "misinterpreted" the scriptures, again.

W. 1995 11/1 A time to keep Awake:

Rather than provide a rule for measuring time, the term "generation" as used by Jesus refers principally to contemporary people of a certain historical period, with their identifying characteristics. (p.17)

Is anything to be gained, then, by looking for dates or by speculating about the literal lifetime of a generation? Far from it! (p. 19)

...this "generation" apparently refers to the peoples of the earth who see the sign of Christ's prescence but fail to mend their ways. (p. 19)

...we need not conclude that Jesus was referring to a set number of years making up a "generation". (p. 31)

Hope this helps, and thank SaintSatan for the info. -Margy

26

What Is The One Thing That You....

by Frannie Banannie in

jw
friends

would do or accomplish, if you could?

i'm speaking of something that you either think or know is beyond your present capabilities or circumstances?.

i would fly autonomously, if i could.. frannie b.

smurfette

I think I would want to live in luxury on a tropical isle, while feeding the starving, housing the homeless, educating the masses, and bringing world peace. I guess I want to be what Oprah thinks she is, the benevolent queen of the universe. Oh, and I also want to be able to fly, that would be cool!

4

New Insight Into The Aposta-Ministry

by smurfette in

jw
friends

is there anything you have learned from this site about jehovah's witnesses that despite having been one you did not know before?

for me it was the 1975 issue.

i had been raised on tales of "brothers and sisters" led astray by their own wishful thinking that the world was going to end in 1975. my family joined in 1980 and bought this retoric lock stock and barrel.

smurfette

Rayzor- The "This Generation" new info was new to me too. I shared that with every ex-dub I know after learning about it here. My bro. was the most blown away by it and I think he's going to try to get a conversation started with my Ma about that next time they talk. Should be interesting at any rate. I also have been calmed by this site. It's amazing what talking with people who've been where you've been can do for the soul.

-Margy

5

Lost faith and a Cadillac car.

by smurfette in

jw
friends

was anyone you know's entire faith in all things jw shattered by one specific incident or teaching?

or was anyone you know's faith squeezed from them by systematic taunting for not towing the line?.

for me it was a whole combination of things, not one specific incident, and it was gradual.

smurfette

Was anyone you know's entire faith in all things JW shattered by one specific incident or teaching?

Or was anyone you know's faith squeezed from them by systematic taunting for not towing the line?

For me it was a whole combination of things, not one specific incident, and it was gradual. I knew several people who's entire way of thinking shifted and their whole world was rocked by the WT "New Light".

One guy in particular who fits both questions has been on my mind today. He was a ministerial servant in 1975 and decided to buy a Cadillac since he wasn't going to have to pay for it anyway since Armageddon was nigh. When the world was still here in 1976 this man lost his Cadillac and his ministerial servant position because he continued to say the society had said Armageddon would be here in '75 and he refused to admit that he may have just wanted it to be true. The loving "brothers and sisters" continued to taunt this man about his lost cadillac, mostly behind his back, well into the '90's. After many failed attempts to regain his status in the congregation, he eventually drifted away. I'm glad he's out, but the treatment he received makes me sad for him.

This story also makes me wish my Ma had paid attention to his story and the fact that when we joined in 1980, our congregation consisted of 4 families meeting in the H.S. library and yet it was often talked about in those days that the congregation had been quite large in the recent past. Hmm. Where did all those people go?

I would love to hear your experiences and thoughts on this subject- Margy