tall penguin

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Posts by tall penguin

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  5

  Anxiety - Watchtower induced or Bible induced

  by imagineNOheaven in

  1. watchtower
  2. medical

  writing in bottom line health -june issue carolyn chambers and author of, "living well with anxiety: what your doctor doesn't tell you...that you need to know" .

  (collins) she states," after headline: living with negative "self-talk.

  indoctrination from as far back as childhood can make for an anxious adult.

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  tall penguin

  Yes, I remember that scripture well. I developed the perfectionist dis-ease at an early age. I still struggle with it now. I find it one of the hardest beliefs to let go of. I struggle with the constant feeling of not being enough. I also find it difficult to give myself permission to make mistakes. While I rationally know it's okay not to be perfect, I emotionally cannot accept it. It's a hard one to over-ride.
  Welcome to the forum!
  tall penguin
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  6

  An Afternoon with Sheldon Kennedy

  by Uzzah in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  i had the opportunity to spend the afternoon with sheldon kennedy.

  you may remember him best as teh nhl player that came forward about his being abused by his hockey coach.

  he played for detroit ( best known as well as for the bruins).. he has partnered with the red cross in canada and their respect ed program which is designed to address bullying and abuse of all kinds.

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  tall penguin

  Thanks Uzzah for sharing this with us. It's amazing how a single conversation can often bring us into a greater awareness of ourselves and others. I live for those moments. Truly wonderful.
  tall penguin
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  3

  Oldest living Holocaust survivor is a JW

  by under_believer in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://www.portervillerecorder.com/articles/2006/05/16/news/local_state/news08.txt .

  what it doesn't talk about is how rutherford tried to conciliate with the nazis in the 30's, failed, and then deliberately ordered the witnesses there into a position that would put them in harm's way, when there were other things they could have done that would have preserved their "christian conscience" and not gotten thousands of them killed.

  i wonder if that poor old brave guy had known that, whether he would still be a witness?

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  tall penguin

  "He reminds young people about the importance of standing up for what you believe"
  Sure he does. As long as they believe what he believes. I wonder how many young apostates he's willing to keep company with.
  tall penguin
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  2

  Return Visits (tm) -- something I'm thinking of doing

  by merfi in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my little book, all organized into "town", "rural -- by township", and other towns is full of rvs.

  i wasn't all that great at this, as i was not good at getting back to these people that i left stuff with, but i have a few.

  what i'd like to do is go through my rv book and "call" on these people again, only this time with an apology and perhaps some tidbit of real 'truth' -- silentlambs, mexico/malawi etc.. anyone else ever feel like trying to 'right a wrong' or similar?.

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  tall penguin

  I actually contacted a few people I studied with and apologized to them, as well as shared some information about the org so that if they continued to study with the dubs, they'd at least have full disclosure. They've all responded very well.
  I was actually thinking of one return visit, an older lady, who I'd love to go see. I'm not sure there'd be a point really. She's in no danger of becoming a dub. She only takes the magazines and has never been to the kh. She honestly didn't remember what I "taught" her from one return visit to the next. I'm not even sure she'd remember who I am. If she did, the whole issue might just be confusing and upsetting for her. Although I'd love to drop by and say hello I think this one may be better off left as is.
  tall penguin
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  90

  May 28--Four years since Dateline's JW sex abuse program aired. Results?

  by AndersonsInfo in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  sunday, may 28, 2006, is the fourth anniversary from when a threshold was crossed into uncharted waters.

  on may 28, 2002, the u.s. television news program, dateline, publicized to millions of viewers the facts about watchtower's deceitful child abuse policies which protect pedophiles who target and molest jws' vulnerable children.

  subsequently, this subject caught the interest of media throughout the world who, through careful investigation, substantiated the allegations made on dateline.

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  tall penguin

  "When I was heavily involved in my research in the matter of molestation by a Witness of a Witness child, I never heard of false charges, just that there weren't two witnesses to the abuse so the elders dismissed the accusation."
  When I once brought up my concerns about the molestation issue to my local elders, one of them proceeded to tell me of a case he knew of where a mother used her child to falsely accuse a brother of molesting her because he broke up with the mother. The elder used this experience to "show" me that not all the accusations were real. Stupidly I believed him. Of course, it didn't matter about the rest of the cases because "Jehovah will work it out in his own due time." Can't believe I fell for that crap. Oh wait, I guess I didn't. I'm here now. :)
  tall penguin
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  41

  What Exactly Is Your Relationship With Your Family Since Leaving The JWs?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'm closer to my mom than ever before.

  but all the other witness family stays away.

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  tall penguin

  My parents are the only jw's on both sides of the family. They will talk to me occasionally but the conversations are superficial and short, and most often family business related. Of course, there's always the "I love you" at the end, but it means so little without actions to back it up.
  My brother and I though have gotten even closer since I left the org. He was never baptized but still on some level believed it was "the truth". Now that I've left and shared with him what I know about the org he's a much happier and freer person. We talk almost every day and feel a real kinship. What I've lost in my parents I've gained in my brother.
  tall penguin
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  45

  MY DAD HAD A STROKE

  by Mary in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just got a call from my mom.

  my father's had a massive stroke and is in the hospital.

  i'm leaving now to go to the hospital and i probably won't have time to post here for a while until we know what's happening........

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  tall penguin

  Hugs to you and yours Mary.
  tall penguin
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  81

  Excommunication is good!!!!

  by I-follow-the-narrow-path in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  while talking to my teacher today we talked about excommunication.

  i told her i thought it was mean to not talk to those members which have been excommunicated.

  she told me; however, that those who leave the church should be punished.

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  tall penguin

  Hi Elizabeth, welcome to the board.
  You said, "I come out of remission... what if the congregation saw I cut myself. Would they call that a misuse of blood? Would I be disfellowshipped? Can one before baptism get disfellowshipped?"
  I wanted to comment on this. One of my best jw friends was a cutter. It was one of the ways she dealt with stress in her life, most of it related to the pressures of being a jw. She went through hospitalizations, therapy and medications to help her. She also developed a smoking habit. The elders formed a judicial committee for her smoking.
  One elder said to her, "If you're feeling stressed, we'd rather see you cut yourself than smoke, because we won't have to disfellowship you for cutting." She was in and out of the hospital at the time of these meetings and was disfellowshipped shortly after her release because she wasn't able to stop smoking at that time. She was 18.
  I just thought you might like to know the mentality of people in this religion. There is very little true empathy for emotional/mental distress. Once you get baptized you are subject to the judgement of men with little or no understanding of emotional issues. I've been there my dear. It's not a fun ride.
  tall penguin
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  45

  SECRET DOCUMENTS: District Convention

  by Elsewhere in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it is time for the district convention so i thought i would share a nice little tid-bit.. thanks to someone who must remain anonymous, we now have the instructions that are given to the speakers at the district conventions:.

  http://www.reexamine.info/docs/district_convention_talk_instructions.pdf (17 kb - small file).

  http://www.reexamine.info/docs/district_convention_talk_instructions.jpg (1 mb - large file, original jpg scan image).

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  tall penguin

  Thanks for the explanations of "fireside chat". I was actually being sarcastic. :)
  tall penguin
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  21

  Were any of you ever...

  by LaCatolica in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ...teased, harrassed, tormented in school because you were jw and couldn't participate in what other students participated in?

  how old were you when it began to happen?

  how did you feel and how did you react to it?

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  tall penguin

  I actually carried being a jw well as a child and was treated with respect. I did get to stay home when they had holiday stuff at school. My Mom usually did something special with us like took us to a movie or shopping or lunch. I didn't really mind missing out on that stuff. It was the normal mental/emotional development of my childhood that I missed...like learning to think for myself, to love myself unconditionally and value my own gifts.
  tall penguin