..camel smegma....? bad mental image....
Upside....I wager to add...What do you think? If you think you are a "Dub"; then you are.
If you think you are not a "Dub"....you are not.
...I am not a dub; not a dub; not a dub; not a dub....
Frank
i've heard in comments here that after 6 months of being "inactive", you're no longer counted and/or taken off "the rolls".
to what degree?
locally or at hq too or both?.
..camel smegma....? bad mental image....
Upside....I wager to add...What do you think? If you think you are a "Dub"; then you are.
If you think you are not a "Dub"....you are not.
...I am not a dub; not a dub; not a dub; not a dub....
Frank
Xena! ....you are stars and stripes and glitter in our box.....
Ross,
If I understand the premise; the false fear I experienced as a fading JW might have caused me to pick up a crowbar and bash the local elders myself rather than hire a lawyer to fight them in court. The fear itself was was; what? fear as educated into JW children about the infallability of elders and gods earthly organization?
I still felt fear of what they would do to me ( they cant do anything if they are DEAD!). Fortunately for me and them, the fear I felt was not that irrational; and I chose the latter course of hiring a lawyer. False fear ( of an iimagined threat of elder retalitation) or real fear; I suppose we do have options.
those of us who are multi-generation "born into the wts" people, exist only because the wts exists.
my grand parents were all jws, both of my parents were born and raised in the religion and i was born and raised in the religion.
the simple fact of the matter is that if it was not for the wts existing neither of my parents would exist and therefore neither would i. sure brings and interesting new twist on the time travel "go back in time and kill your father before you were conceived" paradox.
Think of it this way....
the same wind that blows a ship across the ocean; can dash it to pieces on the rocks. It is the set of the sails that makes ALL the difference
It is the perception in our minds that drives US. Do we really hate the Watchtower? No , I do not believe that. We no longer will let them control us or influence our decisions concerning our lives. WE MAKE OUR OWN DECISIONS and CAN THINK FOR OURSELVES.
The Watchtower is nothing more than a group of men with differing opinions; amongst many other groups in existence.
Life is a gift; our lives will be what we make of them.
Ross,
to answer your questions
No, I do not lose sleep or get ulcers from the "fear" of what may happen.
As for the fear of Watchtower reprisal for my actions; yes, I did go through that long ago; spent 2 years in therapy and conquered that fear ( which by the way; was nothing more than a false apparition); that is behind me and can no longer cause me any harm or concern.
I sense that same fear here on this forum from those still going through the early fade motions. As your original post indicated; there is really nothing to be afraid of.
a hard question...must consult a few philosophers before being able to formulate an answer.. no, wait!!!
i have the answer.
kate, i luv ya and all that---but, now, kindly step aside and recognize universally acknowledged and incontrovertibly demonstrable laws of conduct: the man owns the remote..
my wife and I fight over the remote all the time....I took the remote from one of the other TVs in the house and we had a fight of "dueling remotes"....
She now hides them from me....
i find that to get rid of the jw mentality i have to play mind games on myself as i go throughout my day.
one tactic that i've been using recently involves telling myself "now as i go through this (whatever) situation how would you act if you had never been exposed jehovahs witnesses".
it really is an amazing thing for me b/c after i think about the situation i really do become more comfortable and the true "me" comes out.
keep up the good work...
i don't consider myself an overly emotional person, but gina and i went to an art museum years ago and i was nearly in tears over something i saw there.
it was a statue of an old man carrying a jug.
it was made two thousand years ago.
statuary of children playing...
Ross, there is a saying....
....be careful what your wish for; as dreams do come true....
My dreams HAVE all come true.....
I FEAR what life may bring me next....
It is a fear, not from insecurity; but from watching the real world all around me. I exist with my precious little family in a bubble. A real bubble of prosperity; and security and lots of fun and freedom from want....but it is a bubble just the same
One of my friends just lost his 4 year old son in a freak sledding accident; there are terrible things that CAN and DO unexpectedly happen to us.
This fear prompted my wife and I to spend a tremendous amount of money to remove the huge old trees on our property ( they were showing signs of decay and a licensed arborist advised us that they might be a danger in a storm) for fear that they might fall and kill one of our children. If the trees came down in a storm; no doubt they would crush the house; most definitly squish us like ants.
Fear does have a place in my life.
upon arriving i ran into lots of old friends and really enjoyed seeing everyone and visiting.
they dont know that im currently struggling with doubts about the organization and they think that im the same old zealous brother.
i couldnt help but feel a sence of guilt visiting with them about our current number of publishers and how many we had pioneering ect.
....thank your for the vivid assembly memories...
Your post just reinforces to me the fact that I made the right decision to RUN from that religion 20 years ago. The programs back then sound identical to the one you described.
As for the head of Oxford University; I do not doubt your accurate telling of the story. But logically speaking, why would ANYONE from Oxford University ( much less the headmaster) or any other legitimate center of Higher Education quantify ANYTHING the Jehovahs Witnesses and the Watchtower teach.
The teachings of Jehovahs Witnesses are not based on any historical fact; are not objective in reasoning ; are loosely based on the writings of the Judeo Christian books of the Bible (and then interperted by Watchtower and their appointed heirchy who are themselves not recognized educators or even secularly educated persons ) and cater only to those who are actively participating in the belief.
The leaders of the Watchtower Society have no professional credentials; they have no credibility, except their own.
THAT STORY sounds like one of the many JW urban legends....