I'm going to start walking soon. I need the exercise anyway. I just need one of those metal carts all the older ladies in my apartment building have! I'm not brave enough to ride a bike in the street.
Ingenuous
JoinedPosts by Ingenuous
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31
What would you do if all the gas dried up?
by jayhawk1 inokay, we know all the gas won't dry up soon, but it sure is expensive.
i got to thinking, what would i do and what would others do if there simply wasn't any gas to buy?
myself, would it no longer be worth making payments on my home and moving to another one closer to work?
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8
Startin' Off Vacation with a Crying Jag!
by Ingenuous ini've been too afraid to go to my parents' place to see them since my last encounter with my dad.
my dad came by this morning to talk.. 90% of it went pretty well.. i gave him a letter i'd composed to give to the brothers in lieu of meeting with them (i don't have the emotional wherewithal to do it, besides having no intention of giving them the satisfaction).
it described the things taught by the org that bothered my conscience - not all of the things, but those things that prompted me to quit service and meetings: the org's insistence on prophesying, its insistence on jws accepting everything they teach to remain "christians", policies which cost lives then are changed (e.g., blood, organ transplants), the "no mediator for the great crowd" teaching, 607 bce, the un fiasco.. in addition to agreeing that these are important issues that deserve answers, he stated that he felt the org did too much "talking" (putting thousands of pages of their perspective into print) and that they were constantly sticking their nose into things they shouldn't be (i.e., prophesying the end of the world).
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Ingenuous
I'm grateful it went as well as it did. I feel a lot less fearful dealing with my parents now. My Dad said he'd let me know if he found anything "helpful" about the points I brought up; I'd welcome his input and the possibility of a calm, reasonable discussion. I'm just glad I had a normal conversation with my mother tonight - the first one in weeks. I'll have to keep any Bible discussions with others to myself for the time being - which I planned on doing anyway. (Theocratic War Strategy, anyone?) At this point, getting DF'd may actually be a good thing: if my Dad thinks my questions are valid and the elders decide they're unacceptable, it could be an eye-opener for my folks. I think I'll take a few cues from IThinkISee - babysteps.
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64
Since it is obvious all religion is wrong why do so many believe?
by jwfacts inany religion that claims it is the only correct one is obviously wrong.
by it's arrogance it becomes mutually exclusive of any other religion.
when one steps back they can see that the contradiction of one religion over the others is a proof that they all must be wrong.
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Ingenuous
I was always troubled with why i was so lucky to be born a Witness. I wasnt any better or more special than anyone else, so why should I be saved and they wouldn't. JW's say that God draws his sheep, but that rang hollow to me. I knew that most people will never have the opportunity to be a JW, and i would never have believe it if i wasnt born it.
I've had similar feelings. Wow, wasn't it great that I didn't have to search and suffer like everyone else - I had the "truth" dropped into my lap! Actually, I comforted myself with the idea that "God draws his sheep" because I knew there were likely billions of people out there who would never know the first thing about JWs and what they believed. There were people JWs would never reach.
There was also an interesting phenomenon I saw at work in the congregations that I knew had to be at work in other religions as well: Once someone decided that JWs had "truth", they stopped thinking for themselves and let the Org do it for them. They submitted to every instruction and accepted every teaching without the slightest investigation. I thought - If there are people within God's organization who submit once for all time to the Org and refuse to ask questions or think independently out of "loyalty" to God, why would God adversely judge those outside of the organization who at one time were convinced of the "truth" of their system of worship and who refused to question it out of the same sense of loyalty?
I was working the "God draws his sheep" line something fierce before I quit.
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Startin' Off Vacation with a Crying Jag!
by Ingenuous ini've been too afraid to go to my parents' place to see them since my last encounter with my dad.
my dad came by this morning to talk.. 90% of it went pretty well.. i gave him a letter i'd composed to give to the brothers in lieu of meeting with them (i don't have the emotional wherewithal to do it, besides having no intention of giving them the satisfaction).
it described the things taught by the org that bothered my conscience - not all of the things, but those things that prompted me to quit service and meetings: the org's insistence on prophesying, its insistence on jws accepting everything they teach to remain "christians", policies which cost lives then are changed (e.g., blood, organ transplants), the "no mediator for the great crowd" teaching, 607 bce, the un fiasco.. in addition to agreeing that these are important issues that deserve answers, he stated that he felt the org did too much "talking" (putting thousands of pages of their perspective into print) and that they were constantly sticking their nose into things they shouldn't be (i.e., prophesying the end of the world).
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Ingenuous
I've been too afraid to go to my parents' place to see them since my last encounter with my Dad. My Dad came by this morning to talk.
90% of it went pretty well.
I gave him a letter I'd composed to give to the brothers in lieu of meeting with them (I don't have the emotional wherewithal to do it, besides having no intention of giving them the satisfaction). It described the things taught by the Org that bothered my conscience - not all of the things, but those things that prompted me to quit service and meetings: The Org's insistence on prophesying, its insistence on JWs accepting everything they teach to remain "Christians", policies which cost lives then are changed (e.g., blood, organ transplants), the "no mediator for the Great Crowd" teaching, 607 BCE, the UN fiasco.
In addition to agreeing that these are important issues that deserve answers, he stated that he felt the Org did too much "talking" (putting thousands of pages of their perspective into print) and that they were constantly sticking their nose into things they shouldn't be (i.e., prophesying the end of the world). He even agreed with my feeling that pedophiles shouldn't be going door-to-door.
I told him I could not in good conscience go from door-to-door telling people to join this organization.
He said he could respect my need to not participate in the ministry when my conscience wouldn't allow me to. He could also respect my need to avoid the meetings, as he knew that having difficulties with what was taught/done there yet forcing myself to go would be unhealthy.
He said he could respect my doubts.
But I wasn't allowed to pursue answers to those doubts outside of the Org.
That there was a difference between non-participation because of conscience or deeply-injurious personal offenses and pursuing "something else" through another route.
And that only those questions I came up with myself were alright to have - it wasn't OK to "field" questions posed by opposers/non-Witnesses.
Well, at least I know they don't hate me anymore.
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21
Well its Monday morning and I did it ............................
by vitty in...............this is an update on my thread about giving up drinking.
if you didnt read it, this was my first weekend in years that i wouldnt have a drink.
well ill admit it i was quite worried how id feel, but it was great.
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26
The most monumental conversation with my mom and dad.
by Daunt inat the meeting today, me and my family were sitting in the back.
i've been heavily emotional lately because of the katrina disaster and my temper and sadness and all emotions have just been on a rise lately.
well my dad was noticing that i was frowning so my father got sort of angry with me and demanded that i stop.
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Ingenuous
{{{{{Daunt}}}}}
Been there (actually, am still there) and my heart breaks all over again for you.
It's a tough road that very few are willing to take. Consider us your fellow travelers.
All the best...
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28
*** Results of my Social Security Disability Hearing ***
by BrendaCloutier inhttp://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/96242/1.ashx my postscript immediately after the hearing.. well,.
i got my paperwork in the mail today.
i was scared shittless to open it.
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Ingenuous
FM and CFS suck.
Congratulations on the ruling!
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2
Human Givens
by Gadget inhas anyone had any experience with human givens therapy?
someone i know is thinking of trying it as a treatment for insomnia.
i looked on a few websites but didn't feel comfortable with some of the things i was reading, although the only thing i could put my finger on was that they knock all other forms of treatment saying that theirs is the only one that works.
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Ingenuous
Gadget,
I've never heard of this therapy until you mentioned it. Have you tried looking through the books on Amazon?
It sounds like just another modality. Doctors, no matter how many letters they have after their names, have favorites and opinions like everyone else, and this is probably what you're seeing when you come across the "this approach is all you need"-types of pages. What parts of it aren't you comfortable with?
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Wifey's surgery went well - she is back home and sleeping it off....
by AK - Jeff in.
she was only in the hospital part of the day.
it is amazing how quickly they kick you out of the hospital nowadays.. she is fine, a little groggy yet, but should be back to normal within the week.. jeff
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Ingenuous
Glad she's on the mend. Being sick is the pits.
Tell her we said, "Get well NOW!"
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26
No more hand claps, please
by coolhandluke inat conventions especially, hand clapping annoyed me to no end.
the first day i was excited and really in the business of clapping and silently condemning those around me who didn't do so.
i even condemned those who i thought did not clap enthusiastically enough for my tastes.
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Ingenuous
I always thought it was funny when someone would try to start a clap and it didn't work - especially when they kept clapping louder and harder trying to get the momentum going. It was even worse when, after that attempt didn't work, they'd keep trying at every slight nuance in the talk until they got a real round of applause going. I always expected one of the brothers on stage to break down one day and finally say, "Look, I'm trying to talk here, will you quit it?"