Posts by Gretchen956

Sorry Drew and Amber, that you have to go through this mess. I personally decided not to give them ANY power by not playing by their rules at all. If you attempt to argue with them you have to remember the old saying, which I edit to this topic: arguing with an elder is like wrestling with a pig, you both get dirty and you find out the ~~elder~~ pig actually enjoys it. I always feel like the elders are old men in bad suits playing at god. The only power they have is what is given them by those that believe the voodoo that they preach. If a voodoo priestess cursed you, would you be cursed? Yes, if you believed you were cursed you would live out that experience. If they cast judgement on you what value does that judgement have? Place it in one hand and a five dollar bill in the other and you can buy a Starbucks.

The fact that you stand to lose your family is what makes this tragic instead of comedic. I only wish one day someone would snap their fingers and all the scales would fall off the eyes of the "faithful" so that they could see what a mass of lies it all is. In the meantime, you have the fact that your family do know that you were lied to, perhaps you can use that as an inroads to keep in touch.

Whatever happens, good luck to you both.

Sherry

49

Why the Watchtower is NOT Christian

by smellsgood in

watchtower, feb. 15, 1983, p. 12. .

" john 6:40 watchtower style .

the watchtower; "12/1/1981, p. 27. .

Gretchen956

This is news? A better question might be, who cares?

Sherry

(who is going off to a fluff thread where she belongs)

23

Does our language betray us?

by Mysterious in

jw
friends

has anyone else noticed how you can tell who is new or fading, who was a long timer, who was never really into it, etc just from the way posts and language are structured?

i think it struck me when i heard someone say they did their utmost to leave the organization..do your utmost..not a common expression in most people's worlds so it still twigged a jw connection.

reading steve hassan's book on mind control reminded me of just how important language is in cult group membership.

Gretchen956

Speaking of cartoon characters, I quote myself from another thread:

This email is despicable.

Can you tell me how many years since I last watched a Bugs Bunny cartoon?

Whats up ~~Doc~~ Mysterious! (Actually I think now the phrase is: Whatup Dog)

Sherry

10

God? Why didn't you save the school children at Virginia Tech??

by What-A-Coincidence in

this is making the rounds in the jw community ... keep barf bags handy .

subject: wow - what a wake upcall .... .

deargod:.

Gretchen956

I got this exact same email from a fundy workmate through Myspace. I promptly removed him from my friends list. This email is despicable.

Sherry

15

Anyone from the Hamilton Montana congregation???

by What-A-Coincidence in

jw
friends

i met a friend of my brothers who use to attend there and has family still locked in.

this guy left at 15 ... he rolled out like this ... he was accused for fornication during a sunday talk ... so he gets up and says ... well this elder is f ing that elders wife and that elder is f ing someone else ... pointing them out as he was saying this and never returned.

talk about balls.

Gretchen956

Well I'm not afraid to say that I grew up and attended in Libby, Montana. I had relatives over in Cut Bank, and went with them some. Had a good friend move to Hamilton and may still be there and attending, I lost track of her years ago. You may have heard of the Jelleseds. Nice family. Jody was my age, but after they moved from Libby to Hamilton I really lost track of them, other than to run into them at assemblies from time to time. I know she got married fairly young, but thats typical. Thats all I know.

Sherry

If anyone from Montana wants to compare notes, PM me, that way it will be out of the eyes of the elder spy drones.

33

So sick to death of the whole 'find Maddie' campaign - now includes Pope

by needproof in

jw
friends

i am sure most of you are now aware of the missing british girl madeleine mccann, who was abducted from portugal a few weeks ago.

the media is making a massive thing about this, and i am just wondering why.

they say 70,000 kids go missing each year in the uk alone - but this case seems to be unique in that it is so widely reported.

Gretchen956

I haven't heard about this case, the hype has apparently not reached here to Oregon, US. However, in this country the recipe for missing child hype is wealthy white parents. They get spotlighted every time. I have to agree with you, I always pray the kids are found, but there are SO many others of minorities or of the poor (or both) that do not get any attention. Its very sad.

Sherry

16

What was the biggest thing that helped you when you were leaving?

by jambon1 in

jw
friends

for me, the support of this site was invaluable as i had had years of couped up emotions.

always being told that if you are sporitually weak, it is your fault.

i actually swallowed it and tried to be a good jw.

Gretchen956

This is a good question. For me it was the one scripture that says something like 'by one thing this you will be known, that you have love amongst yourselves.' I know I'm paraphrasing but you know the one. After a bad accident I got no support from the congregation because I had married out. Then to top that, the gossiping started. When I was told by Mrs. Ministerial Servant that she had heard it from the Assembly Overseer, then I knew it went all the way up. I had experienced the gossiping at every single congregation I had been in without fail, but went along because, after all it was God's org and they were only imperfect humans. OMG how well they condition you to that cognitive dissonence. (SP?)...

After that one scripture fell apart, the other things fell apart one by one.

Guess I really have to thank them because if they weren't a bunch of hens (men included) I would probably still be there to this day and still be miserable.

Sherry

50

#1 Song on the Day your were Born

by JH in

jw
friends

http://www.joshhosler.biz/numberoneinhistory/selectmonth.htm.

on the day i was born, this song was #1 .

"theme from 'a summer place'" by percy faith .

Gretchen956

Don't be Cruel/Hound Dog by Elvis Presley..... how depressing!

Sherry

23

Phonecall to Watchtower regarding child sex abuse lawsuits

by kool aid man06 in

jw
friends

here is the link.

enjoy.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2eh2c9dgxq.

Gretchen956

Here's a Nashville newscast on the subject, watch the elder at the Kingdum Hall. Is obstructive a word? This is amazing, the general public absolutely cannot come away with any other message than what a destructive cult this is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlRHaO0y4ro&watch_response

Sherry