Posts by AuSet

61

A witness should NOT ALLOW their cat to eat a bird!

by gumby in

witnesses believe it would be a transgression against jehovah's sanctity of blood to give your pet a blood transfusion....even though it's an animal, blood is to be poured out on the ground and not used in any manner.

one time, a notable brother who left the borg and was visiting with some friends to encourage them out of the cult, saw the wifes cat eating a bird out the window.

he said "maggie!

AuSet

Well, dontcha know we're all supposed to keep our cats indoors nowadays anyway, according to the DNR. Apparently, they wreak havoc on the local bird populations. Puhleez!

I've always wondered how carnivores could eat berries, grass, and stuff before the flood. I mean, just look at their teeth! The design of their entire bodies suggests preying on other animals. Did they "evolve" after the flood? My boyfriend's fundie parents gave my son a book about "when dinosaurs were good." They devoted an entire page to TRex, showing him with his massive head/teeth, and his tiny little arms with claws, and saying how Trex used to go around plucking berries and such off from trees, before the flood. WTF??! Do people actually believe this stuff?

28

In praise of older women....(I prefer the term mature)

by Makena1 in

an older woman will never wake you up in the middle of the .

night & ask you, "what are you thinking?

" an older woman .

AuSet

wow, I have so much to aspire to.

can't wait till I get there!

35

US Christian fundamentalists are driving Bush's Middle East policy

by Bryan in

it's all about texas!.

their beliefs are bonkers, but they are at the heart of power .

us christian fundamentalists are driving bush's middle east policy .

AuSet

Patio, thanks for posting the article. Its good to see the media finally starting to come around and do some real reporting. It seems like for so long, after 9/11, everyone suddenly had this idea that we need to be united, don't criticize the administration about anything, etc. Very un-democratic.

Yeru: its a wonderful thing to have many diverse opinions on the board! Its always best to get both sides of the story, which is why I try to read a lot of conservative editorials and such as well, to balance things out. I may not agree with them all the time, but more knowledge never hurt nothin' !

5

Setting a good example for your JW fam...

by AuSet in

jw
friends

this came up in a conversation the other day, and i'm wondering if any of you have ever thought about this.

now that i'm an apostate, i've come to realize that that term is not synonymous with being a total screw-up.

in other words, i haven't really succumbed to all of those "bad" things that i was told would happen to me if i ever left the truth.

AuSet

This came up in a conversation the other day, and I'm wondering if any of you have ever thought about this.

Now that I'm an apostate, I've come to realize that that term is not synonymous with being a total screw-up. In other words, I haven't really succumbed to all of those "bad" things that I was told would happen to me if I ever left the truth. In fact, I live a pretty normal, happy, almost boring sometimes life.

My JW family call me constantly for advice on their life problems, and I feel that compared to my JW siblings, I am pretty much the most level headed, stable one. This is not to say I haven't had my problems and struggles, and my drama, but overall I would say I feel extremely happy and for the most part, recovered.

Sometimes, especially when I'm around my JW family, I feel this overriding sense of happiness, satisfaction, and freedom, that is almost shining out of my body. I have three younger siblings still living at home who can see this, I think, and see that it conflicts with what they've been told about people who don't go to the hall anymore. I feel it is one of the best ways I can help them without setting off their apostate radar. They know I will love them unconditionally no matter what they choose to be, and that if they ever come out into the "world", they have a good example to follow about how to live authentically.

35

US Christian fundamentalists are driving Bush's Middle East policy

by Bryan in

it's all about texas!.

their beliefs are bonkers, but they are at the heart of power .

us christian fundamentalists are driving bush's middle east policy .

AuSet

Did anyone else see "The Jesus Factor" on Frontline last evening? Very interesting stuff. They actually got a film crew into Midland, Texas, in an unprecedented look at the bible study group CBS, the group that George Dubya credits with turning his life around to jesus. They threw out a figure that something like 40% of all americans consider themselves to be evangelical christians, of which dubya claims he is one.

The bushes realized with Sr. Bush's election that with the support of the evangelicals alone as a voting block, you could get into the white house.

I know quite a few evangelicals personally who say they will vote for him no matter what, because "we need one of our own in the white house." I don't have a problem with Dubya claiming to be evangelical, but I do have a problem with his administration using it to manipulate the american people. One of the things that was most striking about the Frontline report was the differences in his behavior and speaches, theologically speaking, between the pre and post 9/11 attacks. Its as if he switched denominations....he went from salvation/jesus/compassion/faith based initiatives (pre 9/11) to the "axis of evil" and "we are going to rid the world of evildoers" mission-from-god post 9/11 rhetoric.

21

Is It A Good Thing To Ignore Our JW Past??

by minimus in

jw
friends

does showing our upset or anger regarding our life as witnesses a good thing or a bad thing?

personally, i feel that everyone of us has to express whatever feelings for however long time it takes to heal.

(i'm not talking about carrying the same anger or hurt for 25 years).

AuSet

I think its dangerous to ignore it...you can't just leave your garbage sitting around, it doesn't go away. You need to make an active effort to clean it up and deal with it.

From personal experience, my brother, who was raised in the truth, left when he was 15 and unbaptized. Didn't deal with any of his experiences growing up as a JW. Went back on sept. 12 01 after being scared out of his mind thinking armagedon had arrived at last. He now attends all meetings and even brought the rest of his nonjw family in with him

10

FOR SALE - OR FREE TO A GOOD HOME

by natalienu in

jw
friends

1 x songbook containing wonderful songs to praise jehovah to

watchtower magazines dating back to the last year.

1 x greatest man book

AuSet

Nat, will you take a trade?

Lets see, I think I have

1.) a leftover casserole in my fridge which is growing some mold.

2.) a couple bags of garbage which haven't made it to the dump yet.

3.) cat litter box contents.

4.) a thread of used floss

5.) an ex husband

please, please at least take #5!!!

9

How to break the spell of cults/religions -- be like "Ella" in the movie

by Gopher in

i went with my older daughter to see "ella enchanted" this weekend.

it's an updated version of the cinderella story, and was very entertaining.. .

shortly after ella's birth, her fairy godmother gives her the "gift" of obedience.

AuSet

Hi, Goph,

Just saw the movie tonight, and really enjoyed it also. The scene where Ella and Char are in the hall of mirrors, and she drops the knife, hit with me for some reason, I just started crying.

If only it were that easy, LOL.

It took me a long time to break the spell, and I wasn't "pushed," I did it on my own and left my entire family/network of friends behind. Why? I guess ultimately I realized that I was too intune to myself and too aware to stay within the WT's clutches. I could not continue to just blindly accept everything they told us to be absolute fact. I distinctly remember a trip to bethel where a bethelite asked us what our goals were in the org., and the young people I was with were gushing with answers, ...pioneer/gilead/bethel/etc. It got to my turn and I said "huh, I don't really have any." It was kinda a magical moment for me, I guess you could say. I realized I would never fit in with the org., but still held all their beliefs. It took many years for me to slowly peel back all those ugly layers of lies. Feeling pretty good now, though!

Hey, Goph. On a side note, guess what? I'm getting married this summer, LOL!!! Hows that for eating my own words?

8

Going to court.... I need info/advice please...

by outbutnotdown in

jw
friends

i haven't been real active here lately, but some might remember that i am going through a divorce with my ex, which, it seems will have to be terminated at a trial.

she is technically still a jw.... (not df'd but she publically despises the religion).. and her mother is a regular pioneer.

my ex is continuing to allow her mother to have a lot of influence over my kids, including that i recently found out that my oldest (of four) son's exercise book (that goes to school showing what he has been reading at home) had almost all the entries being from their, "greatest man who ever lived" book.

AuSet

Out but not down,

sorry to hear that its going to go to trial, I'm going through a divorce too right now so I know pretty well how absolutely HELLISH they can be. Fortunately mine will probably not have to go to trial.

My attorney has advised me on similar matters, so I may be of some help. Its very difficult to provide actual proof that this is going to harm your children, the court weighs religious and cultural beliefs of both sides, and tries to find some kind of agreement in the middle. You neglected to mention the reason why your children are being exposed to this now, and why they wouldn't be so much in the future. Is it because your ex is living with her parents? If so, maybe you'll just have to wait it out until she can move out, meanwhile attempt to actively minimize the influence your mother in law is having on the children. I have to do this every time my child comes back from spending some time at grandma's. We talk about how "silly" the meetings are, how its o.k. not to believe it or have your own, different beliefs. Its really not that hard to do this, because the JWs are not kid friendly at all, they don't really provide material most kids get excited about. My son is way more excited about sunday school classes than anything at the KH.

Divorce courts are rarely the answer to solve kinds of problems like this, and this infuriates me to no end!! The only other option you may have is to have a guardian ad litem appointed who will look at both sides and make a recommendation to the court. But that can go both ways, good and bad. A psych eval of the kids may also be helpful, or not. It can go either way.

Well, good luck, I hope everything works out for you. Feel free to PM me if you like...

12

1976 baby boom!!!

by AuSet in

jw
friends

how many of you were part of the post '75 baby boom???

i was born in '77, my sis in '78.

did everyone suddenly think "oh, its o.k.

AuSet

Oh my goodness! I owe my life to the whole '75 debacle!

huh.