Posts by CeriseRose

I think you may be confusing it with the Kingdom Ministry school. Elders and MSes go to these every year or two; there's generally a one-day session for MSes, and two days for Elders. Ministerial Training School is for Ministerial Servants or Elders; it's actually a two-month program. Unlike the KM school, which is for all Elders and MSes, MTS requires a special application process, and only a small number attend (maybe a couple of hundred a year).

No, I wasn't confusing it. I didn't even know about the Kingdom Ministry School. What I didn't know was the length of the MTS,and that's why I was showing that I was guessing on the timing.

I gave an overview of my understanding of it, as no one else had by the time I did. Being a single female, we know how often I would have any opportunity to know anything about the actual workings, beyond what I would have retained from the ultra-boring meetings (zilch). hehe Besides I'm doing my darndest to dump extraneous crap from my memory.

Thanks for clarifying for the person asking.

9

Tragedy averted

by SheilaM in

this is about my older sister and i .

tragedy averted.

i spoke to my sister today.

CeriseRose

I sent a letter to my sister (still a JW) on my impending marriage and our possibly crossing paths at a family function (if they go).

What you've written is EXACTLY how I felt when writing/sending the letter...and the trepidation I'm feeling at her possible response (non-response). She told my aunt before she got the letter that the party sounded good. She hasn't gotten back to my aunt (it's been over a week). I don't know how to read that.

I also don't know if I care to worry about it. It's sad, but I can't keep living worrying about her and how she might perceive it. Of course, I'm feeling cavalier right now. By PMS time it may bug me a lot. :S

*hugs* Thanks for sharing it. :)

9

Someone's avatar reminded me...

by CeriseRose in

on the weekend i *finally* got to see dogma (of the jay and silent bob class).

omg it was such a hoot.

it takes potshots at everything.

CeriseRose

On the weekend I *finally* got to see Dogma (of the Jay and Silent Bob class).

OMG it was SUCH a hoot. It takes potshots at everything. It's sick and twisted and I laughed myself silly.

I think it's RandomTask's avatar that is Buddy Jesus. hehehehe

If you like things of the Jay and Silent Bob variety this is a definite watch. :)

4

Not sure if this belongs in this subheading...

by CeriseRose in

but i really don't know where to put it if not here.

just an interesting bit of things that i'm reading.

now, please remember that i had no bible knowledge prior to jws and they 'got' to me just as i was hitting the years where most people go to university to expand their knowledge.

CeriseRose

It's a bit of a heavy read. I love reading and read quickly and I have to go a little slower because it's so full of stuff.

But if you're questing for knowledge, even varied and confusing knowledge *grin*, this could work. :)

4

Not sure if this belongs in this subheading...

by CeriseRose in

but i really don't know where to put it if not here.

just an interesting bit of things that i'm reading.

now, please remember that i had no bible knowledge prior to jws and they 'got' to me just as i was hitting the years where most people go to university to expand their knowledge.

CeriseRose

but I really don't know where to put it if not here.

Just an interesting bit of things that I'm reading. Now, please remember that I had NO Bible knowledge prior to JWs and they 'got' to me just as I was hitting the years where most people go to University to expand their knowledge. So in my quest for knowledge and catchup, I saw this book and my fiance picked it up for me to read.

It's called the Secret Teachings of All Ages, written by Manly P. Hall, originally published in 1928. It is self-described as "An Encyclopedic Outline of Masonic, Hermetic, Qabbalistic, and Rosicrusian Symbolical Philosophy."

I'm taking a philosophy course, but as anyone who's delved into that area of study knows, the subject of religion is quite intertwined. I picked up the book for its philosophical side, but am I ever getting my eyes opened to religion, and the 'stories' from the Bible in particular.

Things like most ancient cultures had a flood fable (which even the Insight book mentions). What they don't mention is that most ancient cultures had a 'dying god acting as a saviour for all' facet. !

I'm only 100 pages into this 700 + page book. I'm simply astounded at how much the Bible *could* have been taken from other cultures and their mythology/religion.

This, coupled with reading the DaVinci Code earlier this year, really boggles my mind. I mean, I don't know how much of any of these other things are true either, but the concept that it *could*...wow. Talk about opening my eyes.

20

I don't play their game any longer

by Dawn in

jw
friends

i've posted a few times about the troubles with my poor mom and the &*!

@# elders telling her she can't talk to her daughter.

being that i'm the only family she has here to take care of her.. anyways - i've kept my distance out of respect for her....that is...until a few weeks ago.

CeriseRose

I'm really glad for both you and your Mom. She will get the help she needs, she still has a daughter she can rely on, and you aren't under the thumb of hypocritical elders.

GOOD FOR YOU! :)

27

How Many JWs or ExJWs Have Some Type of Mental Problems?

by minimus in

jw
friends

do you think they are more succeptible to illness than others?

?

CeriseRose

At one point in my congregation there were 7 people with schizophrenia.

I think JWs (or religion in general) attract those who are mentally ill because they are treated well.

My own experience and after reading the Australian study mentioned (I think I found it shortly after disassociating), I have to say that while it attracts, it also creates or exacerbates existing conditions.

I suffer from depression...have for most of my adult life. While I know that 'depression' is not a mental illness (at least not in the vein of some of the more major ones I've come across), I can state wholeheartedly that my association with JWs aggravated my ability to manage and come through the bouts quickly and uncomplicatedly.

I did seek a counsellor while a JW. While I was not told *not* to go, I was warned about allowing my counselling to interfere with my meeting attendance, with my view on Jehovah being able to solve my problems, and with my being influenced by the counsellor's 'worldly attitude.' I told a few elders I was going, but by and large, didn't tell a lot of people (My initial reason for going was breaking up with my fiance...I knew that I had never dealt properly with loss in my earlier years and that everytime I took another loss it brought up unresolved issues. A couple of years after I started my parents died and I went/am going through a period of grief added to the depression.)

I was strong enough and had the background of NOT being a JW (I wasn't raised as one) to know what I needed to do to take care of myself. How many JWs, raised or not, either have the wherewithal to get themselves help, or have support while doing it? Not many I would think.

I had tried coming off anti-depressants several times over the past few years while a JW. I'd never needed to be on them before, I had always been able to heal and managed through my episodes (of course I'd never gone through anything the magnitude of grieving both parents either). I left the JWs in January and in May went off my medication. I'm still off of it.

I think that the fact that I'm no longer a JW, no longer having my moves dictated by them, no longer feeling beholden to an organization that clearly doesn't have my best interests at heart, is what's made the difference.

edit: In re-reading I would like to clarify...depression *is* a mental illness; I was trying to show that in a lot of cases (and in my personal experience) is not always as debilitating as other mental illnesses such as schizophrenia where a person needs to be heavily medicated to function on a basic level (such as holding down a job, managing their personal affairs, etc., if they even *can* do so on medication). Depression is more and more widespread and for the most part, sufferers still maintain a fairly 'normal' life.