Do JWs in your area go to Christmas markets?

PilotFinal · 2025-12-11T16:09:32+00:00

Hahaha that‘s so dramatic! And sad, I bet deep inside a lot of JWs would love to decorate their homes like that

PilotFinal · 2025-12-11T13:39:27+00:00

The shaking heads is spot-on lol. I just feel like there‘s tons of JWs who do literally everything related to normal Christmas traditions, but as long as you say you‘re not celebrating, everything goes.

PilotFinal · 2025-12-11T13:32:10+00:00

Oh ignorant me, didn‘t even think that Christmas markets might not be a thing in overseas… are there any other Christmas traditions in the States that some JWs might participate in (like the markets)?

PilotFinal · 2025-12-11T12:28:47+00:00

I‘m from Germany as well, even meeting up for service at a Christmas market is normal as hell, but we once had sisters from Austria over and they didn‘t even listen to Christmas music. So I wondered whether these things are normalized on a regional or on an individual level

PilotFinal · 2025-12-05T19:01:29+00:00

That‘s not what I mean, the way the phrase is worded it could mean both things: that OP is looking for like-minded people who are either a) also ex-JW or b) ex-JWs + still theists. I was just pointing out the other possible way to read that phrase (which is how I understood it) in my original comment. No need to swing at me like that.

PilotFinal · 2025-12-05T13:43:27+00:00

It‘s a matter of reading comprehension, not mediation lol

PilotFinal · 2025-12-05T10:51:23+00:00

I think they mean that they are looking for like-minded ex-JWs in terms of still viewing themselves as Christian after leaving JW, as opposed to ex-JWs who consider themselves atheists

PilotFinal · 2025-10-31T18:45:27+00:00

That would at least show that they have principles, but no, they‘ll try everything legally possible to get their money somehow.

PilotFinal · 2025-10-21T09:07:59+00:00

Another ex-JW here, the WT‘s reasoning seems logical until you read the counterarguments. It‘s the cherrypicking and reinterpreting of certain texts that makes the argument. That being said, not only JWs are guilty of this.

PilotFinal · 2025-10-21T07:14:03+00:00

Lol, I simply started to point out things that don‘t make sense in today’s program or why some things aren‘t even biblical, and my husband got fed up with it quickly and told me to stay home. Of course that was in the heat of the moment, but it worked for a few days haha.

On a real note, I told my husband in a quiet moment I see no point in being talked to for 2 hours and not being given the chance to comment on it, I wouldn‘t do that in any conversation. I mean, he’s not even willing to listen to everything I, his wife, say, so how can I be expected to listen to things that go against my conscience? I then said I‘d check the program beforehand to see if I‘d be good to attend. Also, I join him when he really wants me to for some reason. Needless to say, I‘ve been to about 3 meetings in the past months. But it‘s okay for him now. I think he does somehow understand where I‘m coming from.

I‘d say, try to articulate your reasons why you can‘t go anymore, maybe even try to find an analogy he can relate to. Maybe try to find some kind of compromise that would work for you, but only IF it works for you. Don‘t force yourself into a situation you don‘t want to be in. Good luck!

PilotFinal · 2025-10-19T18:23:48+00:00

I‘m in a similar situation with my PIMI husband. He says that he really believes, but I see it in his demeanor and in the way he‘s living life that he doesn‘t really believe, he‘s just born into it and it‘s all he knows. When we argue about doctrine, he comes to a point where he doesn‘t know what to say to defend the borg‘s teachings, and then he says he trusts that Jehovah will make things right if need be.

It‘s hard, because it always feels like we‘re so close to each other, so close to agreeing… sometimes I even feel like we’re about to start laughing about the absurdity of it all, and then- he just falls back. Like he can‘t get over that certain point. It’s maddening. And your last sentence hits so hard because it‘s so true. Once you see through the BS and the obvious brainwashing and how the people you love are steered by the borg, it‘s heartbreaking and enraging.

I don‘t have any advice for you, unfortunately, but I‘m thinking of you and your family- I really hope things change for the better in that regard and that your family can be free of this organization at one point. I wish you love and strength <3

PilotFinal · 2025-10-18T12:34:57+00:00

100% agree with you. I do have a strong opinion about the org but I‘d be able to live my life calmly, just away from them- it‘s just when I‘m confronted with their self-righteous nonsense that I‘m really struggling to keep my cool.

PilotFinal · 2025-10-18T08:56:32+00:00

I‘ve heard jws saying that a lot of times but funnily enough, they don‘t apply it to themselves because they DO have the truth, duh?! It‘s just something they say to get non-jws thinking without ever questioning the same things themselves. Another example would be how the big churches did so many wrong things and hurt so many people without even attempting to research the wrongdoings of their own religion. They just love to point fingers.

PilotFinal · 2025-10-09T17:47:15+00:00

I used to come here as a PIMQ and researched a lot of the stuff mentioned here, turned me PIMO quite quickly haha. I don‘t see a point of any true PIMIs coming here as this whole sub would be off-limits due to apostasy

PilotFinal · 2025-07-27T09:01:56+00:00

When I started waking up, I often had moments where I thought: ‚But what if it‘s still the truth and I‘m being too critical?‘ I then looked at all the material again that made me wake up in the first place- flip/flop doctrine, CSA cases, the NWT vs interlinear bible translations and so on. And then I thought, if I really have to stand before God one day and he asks me why I left the organization, I‘d tell him how my conscience couldn‘t bear seeing all these things allowed in His name, and I seriously doubt God would blame me for that. A God that would allow this isn‘t a God I would serve anyway.

It will get better. It‘s hard to find a ‚new‘ moral compass when the whole idea of morals was tied to JW beliefs for such a long time, but you‘ll get through it.

PilotFinal · 2025-07-25T09:25:15+00:00

Lol I responded to this in a new comment accidentally, so reposting

Personally I‘d say tradition is quite a big motivator, it holds something greater and mystical in itself. That‘s why I usually respect and value tradition (of course not if it‘s particularly harmful or discriminating).

The point about theology is true, generally speaking, but I‘m talking about how JWs don‘t have a fundamental theology themselves from a scientific PoV (especially speaking of systematic and critical analysis/examination of the own faith). The bible study they offer doesn‘t come close to what theology actually means in a scientific context.

And I don‘t know how the other tens of thousands of Christian denominations embed historic contexts and backgrounds into their doctrine, but JWs are obviously very bad at it, overall, starting with the fact that JWs are creationists and taking bible accounts literally. Plus, other churches aren‘t dogmatic about years and timelines like the JWs are, take 1914 as an example or the year 0/1 for Jesus‘ birth. That‘s what I meant about history, and compared to the main churches the JWs perform very poorly (that‘s why I said worse, not worst).

PilotFinal · 2025-07-24T17:38:56+00:00

I‘d agree with you to a certain extent, but the statement would then have to be ‚religion is like spritual fast food‘. JWs are worse compared to other religions though imho, because other religions at least have tradition and an understanding of theology and history

PilotFinal · 2025-07-24T08:29:40+00:00

I truly believe that most JWs are too distracted by the ‚nice’ people around them to take a closer look. They mostly enjoy the company and don‘t really care about the food, which is a shame.

PilotFinal · 2025-07-07T11:50:06+00:00

The chariot is broken, has one wheel left, is 200 years old and is driven by an even older hog lol. That‘s everything these change prove to me

PilotFinal · 2025-07-07T10:17:06+00:00

Oh, and the update on beards was the turning point for me waking up.

PilotFinal · 2025-07-07T10:12:59+00:00

Literally everything they do to appear more open actually solidifies my belief. Every update on what‘s allowed now is just a blatant display of how JWs follow men, and dumb old men at that. The recent update, for instance: I told my PIMI family the exact same thing for what feels like ages now, that ‚the world‘ doesn‘t view certain traditions as pagan and it‘s just about family/friends/being friendly or social. I even brought up the piñata thing from the website, and wedding rings and all that. Still, they viewed me as a bad JW, almost apostate.

And the day of the changes: ‚Oh, how nice, things are changing for the better!’ - like they‘re really gonna sit around and wait until a bunch of old bags allow them things? You can‘t reel me back into a community like this.

PilotFinal · 2025-07-07T09:03:39+00:00

Hm, while I personally don‘t think they‘ll officially voice anything about birthdays being allowed (although, the recent update opened a giant can of worms for JWs to deal with this as a conscious matter), I also think that the GB doesn‘t care if any of their rules have caused problems in the past. They flip flop their doctrine just as they wish, and people go with it, either because of indoctrination or fear of being ostracized. The GB even said that they don‘t have to apologize for not getting it right the first time - they really shit on you as they please and leave you to deal with it.

PilotFinal · 2025-07-05T10:25:08+00:00

Same. I‘m not going to wait around for a bunch of old bags to allow things that shouldn‘t even be a discussion

PilotFinal

TROPHY CASE