Posts by LouBelle

40

in limbo.

by Captain Blithering in

jw
friends

yo homies.. .

ltr ftp (long time, first time etc.).

i don't really know where to start, but i guess you've all been here before so you'll know where i'm coming from.

Hey Captain B - welcome to the forum that has helped so many of us come to terms about TTATT (The truth about the truth) Don't hate yourself too much, again we've all been there. When something is served to you, be it a delicious dinner, money, doctrines - it's easy to take it and a lot of the time without question because it's easy. When you have to prepare that meal for hours, work hard for that money, and read up and prove/disprove doctrine - it takes more effort. Most people will run with the easy way.

I'd say - take your time - read up on stuff, if you still want to go to meetings - go, but don't stop the questioning, the researching. You have woken up enough to question and use your brain - so do it.

You freedom is more important than what you believe. You can continue believing in a god and if not then so what. I don't think anything like that is wrong anymore - I'm all for living a good healthy life without harm to anyone, believers and non believers - makes no difference to me.

I wish you all the very best.

16

Anyone else celebrating the Memorial with just their families at home tonight?

by ohiocowboy in

jw
friends

tonight, i have decided to bake unleavened bread so that my partner and i can have our own memorial at home.

i already have the wine, and i will be serving it in an authentic ancient greel drinking vessel called a kantharos that was used in ancient times.

i've collected ancient greek and roman coins and antiquities for quite a few years, and i thought it would be neat to try be be as authentic as possible by serving the emblems in ancient wares.

LouBelle

I honestly forgot that it was even the memorial last night - the weather was horrible and I wouldn't be suprised if it kept people home. It was pouring buckets!

I think what you and your partner did holds more meaning than the mindlessness of the JW clelebration and that is what is important - you made it personal.

5

Questions on South Africa

by InquiryMan in

i need to verify certain information given in the yearbook of 2007 on the report of south africa.. 1. there were times, even during the apartheid period, that black brothers lived at bethel, although in separate housing due to the laws of apartheid.. 2. the dining hall at bethel had non-transparent windows in orderr that all the staff could eat together regardless of race.

originally the windows were normal, but were changed to non-opaque so that they could eat together without being caught violating race laws.. 3. in 1992 the first kingdom hall was built in soweto.

white witnesses came in order to help building this as well as several other halls.. .

LouBelle

Hi I'm from South Africa and visited bethel when it was being constructed. I must have been about 8 or 10 at that time so it was probably around 1986 or so. The brothers worked together - black and white.

We did have lunch in the dining hall - I honestly do not recall any windows seperating dining halls - but that may have been due to seating.

As for the kindgom hall in soweto - yes white brothers and sisters did go help as well as going into other rural/black areas. We also used to go preach in black rural areas and I went on those preaching missions.

At the Assemblies there was a divide - the black brothers sat on one side of the stadium and would listen to the discourse in isiZulu, Xhosa and white brothers would sit on the other side. However this wasn't hard and fast and many times if black witnesses wanted to listen to the discourse in english they would come over. There were seperate pools for baptisms.

I'll see if I can find out more information for you.

35

My Left Leg Was Amputated

by TOTH in

jw
friends

i have been out of commission for several weeks.

back around the first of the year i developed an infection in my left foot.

due to diabetes and poor circulation the doctors were unable to save my foot and so i received a below the knee amputation.

LouBelle

Hey TOTH - all the very best getting back your mobility and learning how to get around!

21

My thoughts and observations re: the Memorial

by 144001 in

jw
friends

while sitting through my annual visit to a kingdom hall tonight, i had the following thoughts/observations:.

1. the speaker appealed to the kids: "how many here are 15 years of age or younger?

" he then went on to tell us how exciting it would be to "lie down" with lions that eat straw instead of flesh, and further discussed jw kids napping with leopards, bears, and cattle.

LouBelle

Spirituk - nope - you'll be competing with about 6 other girls who are willing to submit to their future hubby - that didn't sit too well with me *single lady*

27

ACK! GB at my memorial!

by grumblecakes in

jw
friends

it was creepy to see so many people making such a fuss.

and of course it ran way overtime.

(im reluctant to say which gb, because i dont want to be identified).. he compared the covenent with the 144k to:.

LouBelle

W T F indeed!

If a comment like that doesn't make people sit back and think - hold on a second - then I don't know.

38

Long time reader first time poster

by MissMyHarley in

jw
friends

trying to get out after only being in for a year or so.

my wife and i were really taken in by these folks.

we are both have degrees and should have known better.

LouBelle

MissMyHarley - a seriously warm welcome to you and your wife. So happy that you are going to be fading (wow this is the third time I'm typing something like that today)

Take care of mum and yes make sure no one in that faith can get their grubby paws on her estate! So as you suggested, perhaps karma saw it fit you were "in" for a bit - sometimes we go through stuff because it serves a purpose - in this case - clearly so.

Enjoy your bikers experience!

35

New here

by Elbear in

jw
friends

i'm a female jw who has been lurking for a little while but finally has the balls to post something.

i am in need of adivce and help.

i still feel a little nervous typing out these words on an "apostate" website.. i am a born-in jw, 4th generation.

LouBelle

A very warm welcome Elbear. You have come to the right place and are amongst people that have gone through similar experiences.

How fortunate for you that your parents insisted you have a good education, so they actually did help you.

I know from experiences "brownies" can exaggerate what you are feeling and then can also turn into paranoia - I had a friend that had such a bad trip - she still remembers how paranoid she felt and it brings back a lot of feelings of angst for her. Maybe stop altogether so you can have a fresh perspective.

It does get better. I know I initially drove myself so close to insanity (hearing voices too) when I tried to disprove the doctrine and find out what was actually going on - it was maddness, I'd be 'high' that I'd left and then rocked to depression when I didn't have the answers. I learnt to quiet my mind and realise that I didn't need to have all the answers anymore. If there is a god - he must be loving and understanding and wouldn't condem anybodies soul and if there isn't a god - well then there isn't.

If you haven't been baptised you shouldn't be shunned. I'm sure your family will still associate with you, just respect them and their choice and hopefully they will do so yours (simply because you have not been baptised)

Keep coming here, keep talking and sharing.

47

The Mantan the lost tribe of Wales

by designs in

we have been researching our ancestry and so far on my father's side we have located the family land in wales in a little village called machynileth just off the coast of cardigan bay and our search dates to 1749. someday my son and i will visit our family-tree homesteads in europe.. legends develop in anyone's family and one of the curious legends was of an american native tribe called the mantan who lived near the ohio valley and wisconsin and later moved east to the dakotas.

what was interesting about the story of these peoples is that they were blue-eyed and some green-eyed with lighter skin and it was thought early on by anthropologists that some of their words were welsh.

it turns out they were not descendents of welsh explorers but they may have been the result of earlier encounters with europeans.

LouBelle

I haven't done much investigation - many of my family are embarressed that we are mixed so I don't get much information from anyone. I will however sit down one day and chat to my great uncle and get as many details as I can.

I know on my mothers side we have scottsman and welsh ladies. On my fathers side I have norwegian sailors and arabs - talk about a mixed pot. I love it!!

8

Oldest humans

by Satanus in

jw
friends

"in november 2007, researchers found a cave deposit containing mammal fossils on the mulan mountain of chongzuo city and collected two human tooth fossils and several mammal fossils from it.

in may 2008, prof. jin changzhu found a piece of fragmentary archaic human mandible and a large number of symbiotic mammal fossils in the trial excavation of this cave, which was named zhiren cave.

according to stratigraphic correlation and faunal analysis, 230th-234u disbalance uranides method and isotope dating method, the age of archaic humans in the zhiren cave was 100,000-113,000 years ago.

LouBelle

I'm going Africa - cos it's 'my' camp