steve2

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Posts by steve2

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  33

  What JW belief do you think is correct?

  by JH in

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  2. friends

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  what biblical belief do you think they have correct compared to other religions?

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  steve2

  My apologies: I may have misread the question. Having been a JW since a very young age, I sometimes mistake organizational policies for Scriptural doctrines. So then, what Biblical teaching do I still believe is correct? This one: That no man knows the time or the hour of the end. However, there is a woman down the street who swears she does. Should I give her a chance? steve2
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  33

  What JW belief do you think is correct?

  by JH in

  1. jw
  2. friends

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  what biblical belief do you think they have correct compared to other religions?

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  steve2

  That you should underline The Watchtower before you get to the hall...Oh yes, something else: That it's best to squeeze free magazines into letterboxes and not under doors. I did the latter once and inadvertently pushed the door mat to the left and it knocked over a small stand upon which was a valuable 1920s chinese ginger jar. I learned this when I made a return call one week later. I must say this was infinitely more embarrassing that turning up to the hall with a blank (i.e., non-underlined Watchtower). steve2
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  5

  I'm growing up

  by Aude_Sapere in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  two big events for me today.

  ok maybe they are not so big but they are solid.

  after idly waiting for long, chronic depression to clear, i took two more steps toward growing up and away from the wtbs.

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  steve2

  Thank you everyone, Each of you for your contributions to this board. It really means more to me than I can explain. And I do mean *each* of you. Thank you.

  Hey Aude: I've found contributions to this board most useful. Thank you and more personal power to you as you journey through life! steve2
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  60

  What Is THE Number One Reason For JWs Leaving???

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  from what i can see, it's the "lack of love" that gets people to realize the witnesses don't have the "truth" after all!

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  steve2

  Most brothers and sisters are eager to (and some enjoy) shunning, marking individuals, disassociating members and the worldly art of gossiping.

  Hey AskQuestions welcome and I agree with your observation - I noticed an unhealthy "buzz" and excitement in the congregation whenever an announcement was read out about specific individuals! I have also been on the receiving end of seemingly relished acts of shunning, as if personal pleasure was derived from what is essentially a cruel practice. steve2
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  20

  WATCHTOWER IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK!

  by badboy in

  1. jw
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  i see in the 1 january 2005 watchtower that it has a r surrounded by a circle indicating that watchtower is a registered trademark.. when did this happen?

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  steve2

  Let's not get caught up in slamming them for breathing, eating, and pooping.

  I agree. On the other hand, I was trained so well as a young JW to find the most minute fault in other groups and to milk the faults for all they were worth.

  One of my nicer JW aunties - who was reasonably safe to talk openly to - until I was disfellowshipped - once complained to me that the Witnesses were being picked on for almost anything and everything. I said to her as gently as possible, "Do you think that at least part of the reason for that is that some of us Witnesses have a tendency to claim more about ourselves than we can justify and are too quick to criticise others?"

  She laughed and said, "You'd better watch out saying things like that!" Truer words were never said to me. Twenty years later she's still not talking to me! steve2
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  19

  Do you have to respond?

  by JustTickledPink in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i continually battle with my emotional feelings as the daughter of a devout jw and my beliefs as a reasonable educated individual.. problems arise when my mother makes some sort of contact with me via email and always has to put in some dig such as "since you have turned your back on jehovah's people" and then i get furious because if god does have people on earth i am sure the red cross volunteers would be on the list, not the jws i know.

  the statements she makes always irritate me and i sometimes choose to defend my beliefs, my morality, my truth vs her truth.

  i spend time writing not only factful but sometimes emotional charged testimony about what it means to be godly.. once i make my point it opens up a can of worms and i get bombarded with emails or magazines from her trying to make her point.

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  steve2

  I don't consider my reply to be complete in the sense of addressing the unique features of coping with a parent who is a JW, but I have found it helpful to see many of the patterns in parent-daughter or parent-son interpersonal relationships in terms of fairly predictable patterns of human behaviour.

  For me, the first step in my coming to terms with strained relationships within my family was seeing most of the patterns as (you must excuse this term, I do not mean it literally) "normal" (that is, in many families, relationships are already strained or "not quite right" anyway, and the religious factor just solidfies the differences.

  It also works the other way: I've seen cases where the parent-child relationship was pretty sound and robust anyway, and when the son or daughter left the JWs, the parent made a good adjustment to it. These are extremes, I know. But there's nothing like viewing one's behaviour in a wider framework in which you begin to develop a greater tolerance for uncomfortable reactions and for changes in relationships over time. It may call for just letting so things go and periodically questioning your assumptions about how relationships "should be".

  Having said this, I do have heaps of empathy for your situation JustTickledPink! steve2
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  17

  Pioneer Pace!

  by The JellyBaby in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i never had the priveledge to go to any pioneer school or anything, so i was just wondering if there was any special training for this pace that the pioneers walk at, (it is not just limited to the pioneering ones..but they seem to have it mastered) it is noticeable from a mile away, usually breifcase swinging, one arm gesticulating, but not much progress being made.

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  steve2

  "So 5 guys and a day of 11 hours each, totalling 55 hours spent and having talked to a handfull of people for all in all say two hours ..... Great organized!"

  That's got to be a record! Can anyone else better that as a true-life example of purposeful avoidance of door-knocking by "active" JWS? steve2
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  17

  Pioneer Pace!

  by The JellyBaby in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i never had the priveledge to go to any pioneer school or anything, so i was just wondering if there was any special training for this pace that the pioneers walk at, (it is not just limited to the pioneering ones..but they seem to have it mastered) it is noticeable from a mile away, usually breifcase swinging, one arm gesticulating, but not much progress being made.

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  steve2

  Hey, I don't often see the JWs out witnessing these days - activity seems to have slowed right down here in New Zealand. Maybe it's because, as well as in the door-to-door ministry, they do they pioneer shuffle everywhere they go - hence they now don't quite get to where they planned to go.

  Anyway, when I have seen then, the wander the street in untidy dribs and drabs, sauntering along at a snail's pace. Don't they realise how unmotivated and lethargic they look? I swear that the Mormons move ten times faster - and that's even towards houses that are palpably without attractive females (ouch - I couldn't help that). steve2
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  263

  Growing up a gay Jehovah's Witness (My Life Story)

  by m0nk3y in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i feel the need to express how i feel and felt about my life as a gay man.

  i was brought up from birth as a jehovahs witness.

  this has played a major part in my life and it has been a real struggle to get past.

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  steve2

  Damon - I hope Josh does fix the gay thing this side of Armagedon by accepting himself exactly as he is. His sexuality is an important part of who he is.

  People who reject part of who they essentially are may well be more prone to mental illness. The condition you refer to of fighting or repressing your sexuality is known in psychiatric circles as "ego-dystonic homosexuality" which is fuelled by fundamentalist belief systems and leaves the individual hating himself. Little wonder that young gays and lesbians have higher rates of attempted and actual suicide compared to their heterosexual peers - they live in a world that overtly and - more frequently covertly - signals disapproval.

  I am an ex-JW and am gay (I first knew this when I was age 4 although I did not know what it was called). I am also a registered clinical psychologist who works with moderately and severely mentally unwell people, most of whom have strong schema of self-condemnation which fuels their mental illness and suicidal impulses.

  Building up one's self-acceptance and personal honesty are keys to good mental health. Repressing one's sexuality and allowing oneself to be bullied by fundamentalist teachings lead to clinical depression.

  Hey Josh - I hope you're still tuned in here. Don't buy the old self-hating line. Your sexuality is yours to be proud of, just as your heterosexual peers are proud of theirs! steve2
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  27

  Shunning via US Postal Service

  by Thechickennest in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in today's mail came a envelope from ms. b[edit] c[edit] of rawlins, wyoming.

  betty and her family were our longtime associates while were in the cult of jehovah's witnesses.

  enclosed were photographs of my wife, daughter, myself and my wife's sister.

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  steve2

  Hi Duane - just when I thought I had heard it all!

  To me, it really underscores the mean spirit that seems to underlie JW shunning. I would interpret her action as that of someone who leads a dreary life and has limited control over hers and others' lives, so gets her sense of importance by engaging in an explicit act of rejection. If she were genuinely happy in her life as a Jehovah's Witness, she wouldn't need to reach out to you in an act of rejection. There's a blatant sense of manipulation behind her actions. JW shunning amounts to little more than emotional blackmail - pure and simple.

  Did the sender provide a return address? I suppose you could play dumb and write her a thank you note saying that you had lost your copies of those photos and appreciate her thoughtfulness in providing her with much needed copies!

  Imagine spending 1,000 years with such people!

  steve2