Posts by cellomould

21

Getting past the anger

by Stealth in

jw
friends

i am looking for some assistance or resources on anger mangement.. i have known the truth about the truth for about a year now.. due to reasons of family i don't beleive i can make a 100% break at this time.. i seem to have a major problem getting past the anger.

i am not an angry person by nature and in the past when i have gotten angry it never lasted very long.. at times i feel that the reason i can't get past the anger is because i have not made a complete break.

i don't know if this is true since i see many here who have made the break and the anger persists.. if there is anyone here who has experienced this and has found a way to move past the intense feelings of anger without completly breaking from the borg due to family reasons and can offer some advice i would welcome it.. is it possible to get past the anger with one foot still in?

cellomould

Hi all,

and btw, good post Ginny!

It was all too easy for me to forget the anger when I stopped attending, letting it fester somewhere in the back of my mind. But it all came back when I starting visiting the 'NET thang' as JT likes to call it.

It was very nice to know that I was helping people by posting prolifically, but in reality...

I was doing it for me.

If we want to help anybody, we have to put ourselves in their shoes.

For the first time in a very very long time, I prayed last night. Something like : "God I don't believe in you but I still want to settle some things with you..."

And that did it! That put me back into connection with those feelings I was trying to sever. I was able to understand why the JWs I love are feeling hurt by me; I put aside the knowledge that it is their actions which are in fact hurtful, and just listened.

I heard my own pain. And theirs. There was little difference.

Have any other confirmed atheists been praying? Come on, fess up!

I know it must sound like sacrilige, but who is to say atheists and theists don't pray for the same reasons?

Thanks for listening,

cellomould

"In other words, your God is the warden of a prison where the only prisoner is your God." Jose Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

42

Personality Survey

by ninjaturtle in

jw
friends

what's your personality type?

take this test if you're not sure:.

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp.

cellomould

Your Type is
INTP
Introverted Intuitive Thinking Perceiving
Strength of the preferences %
33 33 33 44

what does the percentage signify? it obviously does not add up to 100.

"In other words, your God is the warden of a prison where the only prisoner is your God." Jose Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

88

How do you know if you're going to heaven?

by Christiangal in

the only way to go to heaven is believing that jesus christ is god's son, and that he was sent here to earth to die on the cross for our sins.

if you confess him as lord and savior, then and only then, will you be certain that you are going to heaven.

cellomould

These guys look like they're about to ascend to heaven:

"In other words, your God is the warden of a prison where the only prisoner is your God." Jose Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

4

SANDWICHES to the SOCIETY

by Amazing in

jw
friends

the sandwich: something struck me recently about the way jws write to the society ... and those thinking about leaving the organization will do this.

even those elders who are poorly educated ... with no training in how to compose a letter ... will instinctively use the "the sandwich method" in correspondence with the wts.. for those not familiar with the "sandwich" method in business correspondence: this is where you open up with nice words (soft bread) to a business you are having trouble with ... then you layer on some introductory reasons (lettuce, sauce, and tomatoes) ... then hit them with the real issues and concerns (meat) (your conclusions as to why they are jerks and had better change their ways) ... then you add words of grace, and magnanimity (good cheese and spices) to assure them you will work with them on a number of ways to resolve the problem, and then conclude with nice words again to assure them that they are still okay -- final ego stroke (soft bread out the back end) -- all in all that is "the sandwich method.".

following is a typical type of letter written to the society including some or all of the following types of sentences -- and analysis of why these are used:.

cellomould

Very awesome!

I think you've inspired me Amazing. I'd like to add a few <expletive included> and <expletive repeated> to make it a little less palatable.

Like, 'you guys are sh!tf&ckers!'

Although perhaps that hurts the logical arguments.

cellomould

"In other words, your God is the warden of a prison where the only prisoner is your God." Jose Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

5

"Jerico"...NOT a myth.

by gumby in

jw
friends

many on this board claim the account of jerico in the bible epitomizes a mean, murderous god, who killed women and babies.

unjustly.

also, they claim the whole account is bogus.

cellomould

The 'bogus' part is that God didn't knock the walls down. Of course we do expect that there were in fact walls there to begin with. So the first point, that yes, this was a fortified city, is moot.

How many cities of this age were not fortified?

The grain argument is really transparent.

Why would people fleeing a siege take with them large quantities of grain? As I recall, a bushel is a hell of a lot. You can't exactly carry that on your back.

Grain storage in those times was long-term. It had to be. (i.e. 7 years of famine... you'd better stock up!)

The grain argument is invoked again to show that the Israelites didn't take anything besides gold, etc...Again, if they did raid the food supply, would you expect them to take bushels or handfuls?

How can you tell what was taken? You can only tell what was NOT taken. It is a huge leap to say that ALL of the grain was left intact after the city was sacked, just because there was a large quantity. How do you know there wasn't twice as much before? Most likely, some grain was taken.

All the presence of grain really shows is that the city was not likely inhabited or used after it was sacked. How close was Jericho to the Israelite cities? Why transport it all if they had their own food supply?

Trust me, if the Israelites were starving, they would have remembered the supplies they abandoned at Jericho and forgotten 'God's commandments'.

Basically, the evidence shows that Jericho, a fortified city, was captured quickly and abandoned. Who was arguing against that?

cellomould

"In other words, your God is the warden of a prison where the only prisoner is your God." Jose Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

12

Secret Elder Business

by ozziepost in

jw
friends

on amazing's fine post yesterday entitled "my last kingdom ministry school" he demonstrates the wts' paranoia over keeping its internal workings scret from the r&f.. i make the comment that the wts is acting not as christian stewards when it does this, but as corporate masters.

but i decided to 'taste and see' what is done by those whom the wts decries so much, the churches of christendom.. i went to the anglican church website and what did i find?.

http://www.sydney.anglican.asn.au/synod/.

cellomould

Chances are it's because the elders are more discouraged than the average JW... they need to be titillated once in a while.

People love to have 'exclusive' information. It makes the elders forget about their beefs with the COs and higher ups.

cellomould

"In other words, your God is the warden of a prison where the only prisoner is your God." Jose Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

38

Shaving....Legs

by mindfield in

well, since we already have the "taboo" thread of shaving/trimming... down there, why not have the shaved legs thread?.

i ask this, because i'm not sure if i should shave mine or not.

i have naturally hairy legs/lower body, and it would take regular shaving to make the itching stop!

cellomould

I have shaved my legs recently, mindfield. (In addition to other proximate areas which I need not discuss here )

Problem is, it equally sucks after you have shaved to either continue shaving (time consuming), or to stop shaving (itchy bristles).

Well, if you enjoy spending time alone, or even if you have a girlfriend to help you, I say what the heck go for it...

... or have you already?

To all women, quit complaining about shaving. You have a choice (I exercise my choice each time I shave my legs).

I recommend that all women should stop shaving if they so desire. If someone judges you, they have a very small mind. After all, hair grows there, doesn't it?

People act as if women shave to return to their 'natural state'! boo to that!

cellomould

"In other words, your God is the warden of a prison where the only prisoner is your God." Jose Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

14

Contrarian Ideas

by larc in

jw
friends

maybe it is because i am left handed, first born and received contrarian ideas during my education, but i see some things differently than many here.. 1. jws a cult: i don't think they are a cult.

i think they are a high control sect.. 2. brain washing: i don't believe that jws are brain washed.

i think they are indoctrinated if they came in as adults, and i think they were enculcated and enculturated, if they were raised in it.. 3. disfellowshipping: everyone says how terrible and awful it is.

cellomould

At an evening-with-industry event I attended last night, the IBM representative at our table used the word 'indoctrination' four times.

No kidding.

But at least he was honest. I think it was Carl Sagan who said that IBM was a cult, of sorts, in the mid-80s.

Apparently, they've changed a lot. Facial hair and long hair on men are okay now. I asked.

cellomould

"In other words, your God is the warden of a prison where the only prisoner is your God." Jose Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

34

I am a daddy!

by dedalus in

jw
friends

my daughter was born at 9:05am tuesday morning.

she's a skinny little thing, 7 pounds 5 ounces, with a shock of black hair, her father's chin, her mother's eyes, and a fetish for sucking on fingertips that neither of us recognize in ourselves.

i'll post pictures when i have them up somewhere ... meanwhile, foxy and i are trying to catch as much sleep as possible, which is precious little sleep at all.

cellomould

Congrats Dedalus!!!

Now don't let baby Icarus fly too close to the sun. It might melt the wax from his wings...

cellomould

"In other words, your God is the warden of a prison where the only prisoner is your God." Jose Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

59

Guilt over Self-Pleasuring as a Dub. You?

by Lari in

i'm wondering if any of you suffered major guilt over getting yourself off while a dub.

or did you all manage to abstain until you left?

i know it was one of the main reasons i left.

cellomould

Some say quit, or I'll go blind
but it's just a myth

Bite my lip and close my eyes
Take me away to paradise

~ Green Day ~

Now you guys understand these lyrics, eh?!

cellomould

"In other words, your God is the warden of a prison where the only prisoner is your God." Jose Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ