Hi, and thanks for the kind welcome. It's late here, and I'm past my bedtime, will be dragging my butt at work tomorrow for sure! But I want to respond before I collaspse in exhaustion.
Thanks, jgnat (sp?); in particular, yes, it's rather daunting going all the way back to the beginning, but it's been educational and entertaining as well. And it has helped me a bit getting to know who was here, and who is here still.
NOT that I have a handle on any of y'all yet. And that doesn't mean I'm from the south, either, just a good short-hand way of expression and a good sort of "down home" expression, and this is a "down home" feeling type of place.
I misspoke in my first post, guess I stopped my latest reading somewhere around "22" or "23" (not "14"), and just tonight I stopped at a post by Amicus on January 19, 2002, "Post 80 of 274". What he/she said so struck me as having so much common sense. Something sorely lacking these days, I'm afraid, at WTBTS. If "It" would have adopted those common sense recommendations as made by Amicus, I'd never have left, as that post was done prior to my "D Day", which was a year + process that began the night of a service meeting/ministry school when the elders, with very serious faces, reviewed the Society's procedures with respect to suspected pedophile child abuse in the congregation. That was (I'm very bad at dates), sometime in the spring, I believe, of 2002. I don't remember the exact date of that meeting, but THAT policy (which had never come up in numerous discussions during my 3 year plus of studying and association with the congregation prior to my decision to get baptized) that, in effect, allows pedophiles to continue to prey upon innocent children in the congregations and in the door-to-door ministry was, in hind-sight, the equivalent of Samson having his hair cut off by Delihla. It sucked all of the fervor right out of me.
I'll continue scrolling through and reading those earlier posts as time permits. Guess I learned, the hard way!, ha ha ha!, about THOROUGHLY studying whatever I want to get involved in; so - hence - my resolution to give you all a thorough review. Still may be suckered, but hey, darlings, c'est la vie!
Before I check out for the night, I want to give kudos to RedhorseWoman, waiting, Frenchy, momma, Thinker's Wife, and Blondie, who made posts that struck resonant chords with yours truly; some of them are back from day "1', and may no longer be here; I know, at least, that Blondie is still here, and I always look forward to reading her posts. Where DOES she get her information from???