tall penguin

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Posts by tall penguin

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  24

  Letting go of the black and white thinking...

  by tall penguin in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i think that this is the most difficult lesson in leaving the jw world.

  the black and white thinking created such a neat little world where everything was so easily explained and categorized, provided you didn't mind living in a bubble.

  i think the one area of black and white thinking that caused me the most difficulty and cognitive dissonance was the question of jehovah's will vs. satan's temptations.

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  tall penguin

  Wow Terry! You da man!!!
  tall penguin
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  36

  The memorial service once a year or once a week? Which is apostolic?

  by greendawn in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  there is little doubt that the early christians from apostolic times performed the bread and wine ceremony (eucharist) every sunday.

  however russell made it a one time per year event.

  isn't this move strange and suspicious?

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  tall penguin

  Narkissos: "Actually the Eucharist in the Synoptic Gospels echoes the Pauline institution in 1 Corinthians 11:23ff -- I guess that makes it "apostolic"."
  I guess what I'm wondering is if it was such a big event like the jws make it out to be, wouldn't there have been more mention made of it? (I'm talking from their perspective here.)
  tall penguin
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  36

  The memorial service once a year or once a week? Which is apostolic?

  by greendawn in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  there is little doubt that the early christians from apostolic times performed the bread and wine ceremony (eucharist) every sunday.

  however russell made it a one time per year event.

  isn't this move strange and suspicious?

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  tall penguin

  Perhaps I missed this in my "daily bible reading" but is there any reference in the nt to the apostles celebrating the "memorial" instituted by christ, after his death?
  tall penguin
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  24

  Letting go of the black and white thinking...

  by tall penguin in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i think that this is the most difficult lesson in leaving the jw world.

  the black and white thinking created such a neat little world where everything was so easily explained and categorized, provided you didn't mind living in a bubble.

  i think the one area of black and white thinking that caused me the most difficulty and cognitive dissonance was the question of jehovah's will vs. satan's temptations.

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  tall penguin

  bythesea: "I've finally come to the place that I'm comfortable just NOT KNOWING...NOT having all the answers."
  Yes, the not knowing is indeed freeing. Having all the answers gives a false sense of security and really isn't much fun. I like to wonder a lot now. Put a question out to the universe and wonder about what the answer might be rather than feeling I must wrack my brain to come up with it now.
  
  Goldminer: "By putting it on Jehovah or Satan we could take the accountability away from ourselves and spin the situation in the direction we wanted it to go.You could write a whole chapter in a book on this one."
  A whole book could be written no doubt. It is really a lack of personal accountability isn't it? When I started into various healing therapies some years ago, I learned about the value of taking personal responsibility. And realized how jw's really don't have a clue about what that means. The more work I did on myself, the more I saw how unhealthy it was to be around jw's. It was hard to be around people who were delaying working on their personalities or health issues because the "new system will be here soon."
  
  Sentient: "The WBTS' teachings basically create these unbelieveable intense irrational fears, that dictate every aspect of life as you described Tall Penguin."
  These irrational fears were indeed intense. For a few years before I left, my brain felt like it was slowly being fried. The conflicting voices in my head, the neverending questions and analysis...it was all so crazy-making. My mind has quieted down considerably since leaving. There is still much work to be done but I'm healing.
  
  Narkissos: "I can still remember the exact moment and place (crossing a street in Paris, just a few weeks before I was df'd) where this simple thought occurred to me: I am not supposed to have an opinion on everything. I am not even supposed to be right."
  I love those ephiphanous moments where it all becomes more clear. It's very freeing to not have an opinion on everything. I think one of the most empowering statments I'm learning is "I don't know."
  
  ithinkisee: "I couldn't help noticing your name is TALL PENGUIN and this thread is on BLACKand WHITE thinking."
  Ha! Yup, that's me. For me, the penguin is about the contradictions. Flightless bird. Warm-blooded animal in a freezing cold climate. It represents my contradictory nature. Thanks for noticing. ;)
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  15

  People traumatised by cults other that the WTS

  by greendawn in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the wts is just one of the cults that exploits and damages people, besides it there are many others that operate and damage their adherants in a similar or worse way.

  .

  did you happen to come across such individuals that were similarly traumatised by these other cults or read about them on the internet or books?

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  tall penguin

  Funny but I met two people this past weekend who were raised in a United Pentecostal Church. They were very physically sheltered their whole life, having no television, outside music, etc. Their education and association was strictly monitored. There was rampant physical and sexual abuse within the church. And the church members practiced shunning when these two people left.
  One of them said that when her father, a church elder, sees her on the street, he says an audible prayer for the devil that's possessing her to leave her.
  It was very interesting comparing notes with another religion. Yes, there's many cults out there. And many victims. So sad.
  tall penguin
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  14

  i just had to share

  by walkaway in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i met a friend of mine for lunch today, and lunch extended into coffee.

  now this is a girl from a rural background and always seemed to be doing the right thing.

  as coffee progressed she asked me what i thought of the new blood card- we discussed that for a while, then she mentioned another doubt.

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  tall penguin

  Wow walkaway, that's great! It's great when you can share the journey with someone. Makes it that much easier to leave. I hope you can continue to discuss these things openly. I hope too that some of your friends don't have a "change of heart" and turn you in to the elders, or at the very least, cut off their ties with you. This happened to me before I left. A very close friend cut me off after we'd been discussing our doubts for some time. She could only go so far in her thinking and in the end, wasn't ready to leave the org.
  Enjoy this, just be careful.
  tall penguin
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  24

  Letting go of the black and white thinking...

  by tall penguin in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i think that this is the most difficult lesson in leaving the jw world.

  the black and white thinking created such a neat little world where everything was so easily explained and categorized, provided you didn't mind living in a bubble.

  i think the one area of black and white thinking that caused me the most difficulty and cognitive dissonance was the question of jehovah's will vs. satan's temptations.

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  tall penguin

  Thanks Drew for your comments and support.
  I was just noticing in my awareness today yet another example of black and white thinking that needs to leave my worldview, which is tied to the one I already mentionned. The "good always triumphs over evil" thinking. The reality is "shit happens" and sometimes those who cause the shit spend their life continuing to do so with no direct repercussions. I'm seeing this for what it is now. And seeing too that my job is to value myself enough to stay clear of those whose life purpose is to cause shit to happen.
  It's coming together now. The consciousness is expanding. :)
  tall penguin
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  24

  Letting go of the black and white thinking...

  by tall penguin in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i think that this is the most difficult lesson in leaving the jw world.

  the black and white thinking created such a neat little world where everything was so easily explained and categorized, provided you didn't mind living in a bubble.

  i think the one area of black and white thinking that caused me the most difficulty and cognitive dissonance was the question of jehovah's will vs. satan's temptations.

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  tall penguin

  I think that this is the most difficult lesson in leaving the jw world. The black and white thinking created such a neat little world where everything was so easily explained and categorized, provided you didn't mind living in a bubble. I think the one area of black and white thinking that caused me the most difficulty and cognitive dissonance was the question of Jehovah's will vs. Satan's temptations.
  Every opportunity, trial, experience, relationship, life decision prompted the question, "Is this a gift from Jehovah or is it a temptation from Satan?" I got a job offer: Is it Jehovah providing so I can pioneer or Satan trying to tempt me with worldly goals? I meet a new brother: Is it Jehovah providing a prospective mate or Satan trying to keep me from the full-time service? My car breaks down again: Is it Jehovah telling me to sell it so I can focus more on the ministry or Satan trying to tie me up in working longer hours to pay for repairs?
  My mind would be filled with these questions. Endless questions about why things were happening the way they were in my life. And every jw would have their own take on each experience. It was always so amazing to me how they could take any situation and make it appear that Jehovah was behind it in a positive way or take the same situation and say "Satan is trying to get us down." It's crazy-making!
  I'm so tired of all of the analysis. I'm tired of the question "why". I'm starting to believe that sometimes, it just is. There are so many factors, seen and unseen, that have lead to any given scenario; some you had something to do with and some you did not. In my opinion, the key is to find a way to deal with the situation and move on.
  But that's just me. Maybe my words are a gift from God and maybe they're a tool of Satan. :)
  tall penguin
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  20

  www.rathergood.com I'M GOING TO FLIP OUT LIKE LIKE A NINJA etc

  by blondie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

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  http://www.7secondsoflove.com/ninja/

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  tall penguin

  This was hilarious, but I'm sure it won't look so funny in the morning. ;)
  tall penguin
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  57

  I'm going to give you one more chance.

  by LDH in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i hope all of you genx-r exjw will get a kick out of this story from my childhood.

  i was just talking to jt and he says i should post it..... my daughter is studying wwi history in school.

  i told her that when i was in 10th grade, i had a social studies teacher named nancy galbraith.

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  tall penguin

  I had a major crush on my High School History teacher and preached to him for 4 years. Being the kind soul that he was, he would accept any and all publications I'd give him. His comment in the end was always the same though..."These publications have no references for their quotes." He was a stickler for a bibliography and footnotes (which I dutifully provided in all of my assignments). It's funny that it never struck me how crazy it was that the wt couldn't put together an article the way I could in High School.
  Anyhow, I still keep in contact with this teacher and I recently apologized to him for my naivete in trying to preach to him with such slanted materials. He said he was never offended. He's been a great support for me since I left jw.
  Another story...in my final year of High School, there was a writing contest where students were asked to write a FICTION piece on what they foresaw the future to be like. I took the opportunity to do a rendition of the "paradise prophecy" in Isaiah, as told by a grandmother to her grandchild, kind of fable-like. I ended up winning. My principal even recognized the biblical reference and commented on it. I was a proud little dub for weeks after that.
  Most of the time though, I didn't use wt materials for school projects, unless the subject matter directly involved jws. I did a Grade 10 history project on the Holocaust (I was obsessed with this in high school, read everything I could get my hands on, including "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich"...no light reading when you're 15). My presentation included a few experiences of the witnesses but was more of a general overview of the time period. I really didn't find the wt publications to be that literary.
  tall penguin