the wonderful world of the human psyche.
yes, we can.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9znf88-n3y&feature=channel.
Over time this is to be expected. People's confidence has much to do with how well they do. That is why the day that all people: women, homosexuals, bisexuals, minorities, and any one else stepped by self righteous people are no longer stepped on, on that day we will know our true potential as a species.
Isaac
no matter how stupid, they can not drop 1914 - far too embarassing.
This is one of the longest lasting results of WW1! Because of that coincidence they will I doubt they will ever let 1914 go completely. It's like a lie told so many times, the teller cmes to believe it himself. But 1914 will cost them as time goes on. And they MAY change it's significance, like they did after the fact with 1874.
Isaac Carmignani
i have been lurking around here for a few months and i'm really excited about participating in some of the discussions.
i have already enjoyed several late nights and early mornings catching up on some of the older posts.. .
when i first came across a link to this board my hand trembled as i held an outstretched finger just above the mouse button not quite sure whether i was prepared to go past what seemed to me to be the point of no return.
I went through the same thing Jabberwock. It took years to get over. Welcome.
Isaac
I did it for several years. It was my way of transitioning from JW to regular person. It helps to have status and connections. In fact I recommend this route (the double life that is) to any planning to exit. It can mean the difference between depression and simply having a bumpy ride when one finally decides to dump the Witnesses.
Isaac Carmignani
the parable of the prodigal son.
i will set out and go back to my father and say to him: father, i have sinned against heaven and against you.
" "my son," the father said, "you are always with me, and everything i have is yours.
As elders we were taught at KM extension schools that restrictions are always to be imposed on the reinstated. That is in addition to the one year automatic restriction on pioneering. This is allegedly to make sure the person sees the seriousness of staying on the road to recovery. Actually many never return to meetings regularly after reinstatement and so never come off of restrictions. One can't help but wonder if it isn't a tactic to in effect keep them "marked" in case they weren't "truly repentant".
Isaac
a more detailed look at the just released american religious identification survey (aris) shows witnesses have increased from 1,331,000 in 1991 to 1,914,000in 2008. that is 583,000 more people, or a whopping 43.8 percent growth.
they now make up 0.8 percent of the u.s. population.. who says jws are in the decline?.
(http://b27.cc.trincoll.edu/weblogs/americanreligionsurvey-aris/reports/aris_report_2008.pdf).
The poll likely allows self-identification as the criteria to judge whether someone is a JW - which allows hundreds of thousands of disfellowshipped people, who still somehow belive "it's the truth", to call themselves JWs when an anonymous "worldly" pollster asks them.
I think you have something there sir82.
Isaac
i love inspirational quotes.
i read through them from time to time and i always feel better after sharing the thoughts of yesterday and today's greatest minds.
"if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours.
I never guess. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
"The important work of moving the world forward does not wait to be done by perfect men."- George Eliot
wondered if anyone else is going to be watching this programme tonight... .
documentary: the end of the world cult .
on: channel 4 (4) .
Well we see where this mutt's prediction ended up....
Isaac
why oh why can't i seem to shut up!......i am not the ragin open doubter/apostate i was two years ago and who raged on for a year.....making me a shunned being to most of my so called friends and causing my wife scars on her soul..........but why the hell do i feel so compelled to wake up my retired mom and dad and wife/son/?......and the other jw friends that will still come over for one of my famous grillouts (just ask changeling, newlite, robert7, and wings)???.
i know it is tough enough for me to move on socially at 45 but how much harder for my parents?
why the hell do i so want to alert/wake up them and my wife and son and anyone else i care about to the lies we have believed since birth?.....after all, they do have a right to believe what they want, and i (hope) i respect their position.....so wtf is wrong with me there??.........oompa.
As mentioned, you're probably a caring individual who wants to help them. It's tough to see people believe in BS and know that it's such and then just keep quiet. Of course, that's also the JW excuse for knocking on doors.
Isaac
i am now a jedi, so trust me on this.. .
why dis-associate, you are just playing by the wts rules?
how can you dis-associate anyway, you never thought you were baptised as a watchtower society member, you thought your dedication was to god, so why formally disassociate from something you did not formally join?
I wish there were a legal way of pursuing the "minor" issue. Of course it would make little difference. One would still be an apostate in their eyes anyway.
Isaac
