Posts by circe

28

Truth hurts

by Decidedly_Unsure in

jw
friends

i can't believe it's all a sham!

remember before i was baptized, i wondered onto a hostile site and felt a sickening dread, when i confronted the sister who studied with me she reassured me that i shouldn't worry, all the stuff on those sites are written by bitter outcasts who have nothing constructive to offer, "after all", she said, ""did you ever read anything upbuilding there?

" well, here i am baptized, back on the net 4 years later and wham!!

circe

I don't think that Joel was saying that we have to offer an alternative religion or philosophy to Decided (or to those that visit this site).

I do think he was trying to say that maybe it would help various lurkers and posters if we offered positive experiences in our life that have happened as a result of leaving JW's.

Am I right Joel?

What will life be like if you leave?

I for one, work full time as a manager for a natural foods and vitamin store. I've been with them off and on for seven years. I've recently had to declare bankruptcy (mostly due to attitudes I had toward money that I picked up from JW's: no need to worry the end is coming Real Soon Now). The people I work for purchased a car for me and I'm paying them back.

I'm married to an ex-JW. He posts here as felix angler. We have a nice apartment and hope to have a house sometime in the next few years. We have four cats and four zebra finches (and would have a house full of ferrets if I had my way).

I get to sleep in on Sundays, peacefully, knowing that I'm a good person and that some boogy-man in the sky isn't going to fry my butt for not selling magazines and books on the weekends.

We've been celebrating our birthdays. I even put together an "Easter" basket for my hubby this year (although we celebrate it as the Pagan holiday that it is).

We've considered attending the UU church in order to meet local like-minded people and to get involved in community things. My views of God are off the wall and unique, but I know that I'll be welcome at the UU because of their accepting attitude towards individual beliefs.

I am able to make friends with workmates without judging them as "worldly". I'm able to attend social gatherings without worrying about "bad association".

I get to watch the people walking by in the park without thinking "Oh those poor people, they don't have The Truth(tm). I hope they get it soon or they are all going to DIE!" Instead I watch them and think "I wonder what they believe about God? I wonder if they are good people? Do they have kids? What are their lives like?" And if they look like they need help, I know I can offer help without feeling like a hypocrite because it was drummed into my brain that if I really wanted to help them I would offer a Free Home Bible Study, instead of food, money or a blanket. Sigh.

I would have to say that the biggest positive benefit that I have reaped in my life due to leaving JW's is the feeling of PEACE that I have towards the world and the people in it (including myself).

circe

15

A Discussion With An "Anointed" Elder

by Defender in

jw
friends

an elder from my congregation visits my wife and i whenever he is in the area.

it has been a while since his last visit.

he used to come in uninvited and unexpected.

circe

The subject of JW's having a "blinking light" of truth is one that has been discussed many times before. Even JW's admit that their "truth" is progressive: a light that gets "brighter and brighter".

But I've never quite thought about it in the way that you said:

The elder and I had come from Catholic backgrounds and his argument was a JW will stand a better chance of survival than a Catholic. I asked him why does he think that. He responded by saying that JWs have more accurate knowledge than Catholics. I asked him if JWs had always had accurate knowledge. He said: “ No! The Society, over time, had acquired more accurate understanding and had discarded false doctrines.”
So I asked him if that means that JWs living today, that have more accurate knowledge, will have more chances of survival than JWs that had lived years ago and had passed away having believed false doctrines? Furthermore, will JWs in the future have more chances of survival than those living today, since they will definitely be having yet more accurate understanding?

"This means everlasting life, their taking in knowledge... blah, blah, blah..."

I wonder if the line of reasoning you used would work on my mom? Hmmm.

Thank you so much for a wonderful post!

circe

edited for formatting

14

Jehovah's Witness evangelist killed.

by Big Jim in

jw
friends

jehovah's witness evangelist killed.

after hearing word man stabs sectarian with knives .

moskovskii komsomolets, 31 july 2001 .

circe

FreePeace,

Hi! Remember me from H20?

I agree with the sentiments presented in your post. I keep thinking: "That could have been my mom."

My mom is a loving, wonderful person who trusts way too much. She's a Witness. So what!?! So was I at one time and I wised up. Maybe my mom will wise up. Maybe that DEAD woman would have eventually wised up! Now we'll never know. What a waste. So sad.

circe aka circegirl

36

What do you think of Seeker (good or bad)?

by Seeker in

jw
friends

reading farkel's thoughts about being called names, and remembering my own discouragement about the same thing, and thinking about all the posts recently decrying the fighting and bad language, i'm curious to know how my "seeker" persona is perceived here.

i know i have fought with some, made friends with others, so how i am perceived will be varied.

i want to know it all, the good, the bad, the ugly.

circe

Seeker,

There have been perhaps a dozen different people on H20 or on this BB that have helped me to think, rethink and consider certain things from different perspectives: Amazing, Liberty, J, Ken P, Farkel, Skeptic, Cygnus, JanH, Felix, Norm, Luvsdubs, wasasister, gedanken, RW, freepeace, maximus, Joe Mesko and YOU!

I'm sure there are others I've forgotten (no slight intended).

The point is that you've touched my life. I like your forthright style. You tell it like you see it without resorting to name calling. IMHO your style has always been gentlemanly without being a pushover. You helped me through some tough times when I was first coming out of the Borg. Thank you Seeker. I love ya!

circe

16

God?!? hahaha. that so funny.

by d0rkyd00d in

jw
friends

here is a little post for all you people who believe in god, or at least the god that the bible presents to us.

first off, why would an all powerful being thrive on his creation's worship?

that is a little selfish if you ask me, and a little childish.

circe

As I read various accounts of people attempting to fit a loving God into the context of the Bible, I find myself breathing a sigh of thanks that I don't have that conundrum anymore.

I agree with Francoise that the God portrayed by the Tao Te Ching "is much more like it".

Take the Bible (or any "holy" book) out of the picture and contemplate God from that perspective. It can be very "enlightening".

circe

3

Vacation is over, back to life......

by LDH in

jw
friends

aaarrrrggghhhh what can i say?

a week of sun and not thinking about anything was heavenly.

i thought i'd share a couple of experiences with yas...... when we left fresno, i had somehow mixed up our departure time (chalk it up to pregnancy; i've never done that before) on american west.

circe

Welcome back!

Sounded heavenly to me (except the barfing part).

circe

19

Goethe to the Rescue

by Maximus in

jw
friends

this is especially for farkel, whose good name has been stolen but who has not been robbed of the affection so very many of us have for him.. recently we've been treated to philosophy that has been a bit opaque to many.

i thought i'd expose you to the german philosopher johann wolfgang von goethe (sounds somewhat like gert.uh).

he really makes sense most times, once in awhile i think him out to lunch.

circe

Here are some of my favorite philosophical quotes:

Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it. - Helen Keller

As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of being. - Carl G. Jung

Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are traveling the dark journey with us. Oh, be swift to love, make haste to be kind! - Henri Amiel

Pursue some path, howver narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with love and reverence. - Henry David Thoreau

Happiness is not achieved by the conscious pursuit of happiness; it is generally the by-product of other activities. - Aldous Huxley

It is preoccupation with possession, more than anything else that prevents men from living freely and nobly. - Bertrand Russell

You'd think that self-knowledge would be fairly easy. After all, we have constant and immediate access to the quarry of our investigations. - Tom Morris

If a man speaks in the forest, and there is no woman around to hear him, is he still wrong? - Unknown author (Please realize that this quote pokes just as much fun at women as it does at men!)

circe

41

back to basics

by cnn77 in

jw
friends

as soeone raised in the truth my whole life i am struggling with a basic doctrinal issue.

the issue has to do with universal sovreignty and the ransom sacrifice.

let me try to illustrate by way of analogy:.

circe

God makes a whole lot more sense if we could get rid of some of the more ridiculous notions that have been invented by people wearing funny hats over the millinea. ... Think how simple an approach to the spirit and spirituality would be absent these things, these primitive teachings left over from a time when the collective IQ of the entire human race was about 12.

Exactly!

The Bible is simply a collection of various writings by persons who were trying to figure out (and explain) the meaning of life and what the future holds. As an attempt I don't find it very enlightening.

It makes more sense than other religious writings, but not by much.

Contemplating a Creator from a perspective in which no "holy" books are involved has been incredibly liberating. Right now I'm studying cosmology and quantum physics. WOW! The picture of God I get from such studies is definitely not the anthropomorphized, petty, judgemental, illogical twit that the Bible describes.

Leaving the Bible behind does NOT mean leaving off a belief in God. Actually, for me, leaving the Bible behind has allowed me to believe again.

circe

43

The C.O. and elder came to my house last night!

by Sarah in

jw
friends

please tell me i made the right decision.

last night the co and another elder showed up at our house just 5 minutes after my husband got home from work (i think they were sitting on the side of the road just waiting for him to come home)*stalkers*, anyway to make along story short, the pressure was on.

i felt like they were there to get us to da ourselves.

circe

Sarah,

First off: Consider you and your husband ((( hugged )))!!!

My husband and I have done the slow fade over the past two years. There have been two instances where Elders have come to our house to "talk". My husband has told them basically "Go away". Each time there is a knock at the door I wonder if it's JW's. I want to scream "Just leave me the f*** alone!" Why do they have to push?

You have my deepest empathy and support. If you need to talk in private, feel free to email me. I know we've never talked before, but I'm here nonetheless.

circe

5

Wise Up!

by ChuckD in

jw
friends

one of the society's lesser-known publications..

circe

Cute!

Let me guess... Photoshop? Great job.

circe