Maybe the King of the North is Santa and a bunch of rabid reindeers.
Posts by Elise
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32What's the very next event the JW's are waiting for?
by JH in.
i'm just wondering what next event the jw's are waiting for, or do they know?.
i mean, god can't keep them in the dark, can he?
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72
How many actually watched or owned adult material when they were Witnesses?
by free2beme ini was at a book study when i was in my teens and went to use the bathroom, and the family who owned the home said to use the one in their bedroom, as someone was already in the other one.
so i did and as i was in there i noticed a magazine on the counter that was only partly covered.
i could not help myself, and looked to see what it was and it was a penthouse.
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Elise
What does it say about me Skyman??? That I believe that we are responsible for our own actions? That I believe that when we put ourselves in a position of trust we should honour that position and if we feel we can't, we should bow out respectfully without dishonouring it and if we do happen to dishonour it, we should never in the future be proud of that? I hope that's what it says about me.
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72
How many actually watched or owned adult material when they were Witnesses?
by free2beme ini was at a book study when i was in my teens and went to use the bathroom, and the family who owned the home said to use the one in their bedroom, as someone was already in the other one.
so i did and as i was in there i noticed a magazine on the counter that was only partly covered.
i could not help myself, and looked to see what it was and it was a penthouse.
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Elise
And I suppose, Auldsoul, it was the Holy Spirit that interpreted all of stillajwexelder's exclamation marks for you.
You can justify his flippancy about being a significant person in a religious organisation by turning it around and blaming the religion as being based on false beliefs, but at the end of the day, stillajwexelder must have known he was not being guided by the Holy Spirit when he accepted the position as elder, just as he knew that, with the position he held, it was not right for him to read porn.
It was his choice - his choice to become a JW, his choice to be an elder, his choice to read porn, his choice to be flippant about it.
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72
How many actually watched or owned adult material when they were Witnesses?
by free2beme ini was at a book study when i was in my teens and went to use the bathroom, and the family who owned the home said to use the one in their bedroom, as someone was already in the other one.
so i did and as i was in there i noticed a magazine on the counter that was only partly covered.
i could not help myself, and looked to see what it was and it was a penthouse.
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Elise
You know what stillajwexelder, that says plenty about you and absolutely nothing about the Jehovah's Witnesses.
And you seem proud of that fact with all your exclamation marks? H.e.l.l.o.
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6
Did you feel picked on and persecuted?
by Virgogirl inas a dub, did you tend to color every slight and small injustice in your day as persecution?
i just learned today, that my elder at work discovered a small error in his paycheck that payroll made.
he immediately ran to the union, as well as any to co-workers who would listen, and said i must have messed up his pay because i have something personal against him, me being an ex witless, and knowing he's an elder.
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Elise
I left the organization when I was 16 but for most of those years I felt - we as a family felt (I take the liberty of saying that D!) that we were persecuted. I felt it because my parents constantly drummed it into me/us that the teachers hated us for our religious beliefs our school friends were only friends for their own selfish reasons and just about anyone and everyone else did not like us and disliked us even more because our family happened to consist of 2 bi-racially adopted children. For us there were not just religious reasons for people being bigoted towards us but there were also racial reasons too.
OMG, I'm so glad I'm away from it all.
What I've learned since I left is that, in general, people don't give a toss what religion you are. The majority of people in the world just want a peaceful life and they want a happy, healthy family. Before it was mostly paranoia on our behalf. It's so refreshing and lovely not having to worry about it all - to be free of it all.
Good post, thanks!
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21
Shaking my head, JW's talking about Paradise
by DevonMcBride in.
they have no idea how brainwashed and cult-like they appear to be when us "worldly" people read stuff like this.. http://www.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=messageboard.viewthread&entryid=10581786&groupid=100816827&adtopicid=27&mytoken=edca818c-e6e4-bec5-e18a6031a7aee4cb51834383
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Elise
Hi Fleaman
Your words strike a chord with me. I've read a few replies to the initial post and I read the comments about the paradise earth on the link provided. My thoughts about the young people talking about the paradise earth are this: Even though, I do not believe in what they say and would never (now) subscribe to that train of thought, I also do not subscribe to (what I think is) the universally held Christian belief that Mary was actually still a virgin after she conceived Jesus (nor much of anything else that the bible proclaims as truth and fact). My point here is that these kids seem happy - happy with their present and happy with what their future holds. They are not talking about how great it is to be stoned or off their faces on some other substance. They are not talking about underage sex, unplanned pregnancies, stealing or anything else that may be destructive.
Who am I to point the finger at them and call them deluded or anything else? They are happy. To me they are just as deluded as every other Christian out there who believes in the bible per se. But that is my belief and you know, I may be wrong, wrong about Mary and Jesus and wrong about a paradise earth. There are many people who think that I'm deluded and in the dark, but I don't believe I am and I don't believe that anyone has the right to point a finger at me and if they do, well everyone's allowed their point of view, but people who are not supportive of me are not not the type of people I want in my inner circle anyway.
I will also not 'be the pot calling the kettle black' by criticizing spelling and grammar, because many of us have bad spelling and grammar indeed, some of us pointing the finger and laughing also have bad spelling and grammar!
I've been visiting this site for a week now and I understand the need for people to get things out of their system. I understand that people are grieving for family, a lifestyle and a loss in a future that they once truly believed in, but one of the stages of grief, the final stage, is acceptance. I truly hope that people who are judgemental themselves of the Jehovah's Witnesses will come to accept the religion as much as they are accepting of every other religion, because every religion has it's flaws and every religion has it's members and ex-members who have been burnt by it. What we need to believe in is the absolute right for each individual to be happy and at peace - for some that may emcompass Jehovah, for others Buddha, for others Allah etc, etc, etc. Lets be accepting and supportive, both when people are enthralled in the religion and when they are trying to break away.
Peace Dude!
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28
On this Forum my Light is getting Dimmer
by Spectrum ini don't know if it is a good or bad thing but my view of jws has got dimmer since i joined jwd.
the reason i'm not sure is because i don't dislike the jws per se as i've met some good people but at the same time i feel more suspicious of these people's drive and motive - i'm talking about the ones i know personally.
i find that disconserting and uncomfortable.
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Elise
Sorry, wrote my last repsonse to IPS when it was actually for ontarget. Have no idea where I got IPS from?? I'm hopeless and would be better off getting my 3 year old to help me figure it all out!.....seriously - he's much more computer savvy than me!!
Sunspot/Annie, thank you for your reply - I agree with everything you say. You are such an inspiration to have done what you did - to actually stand up for yourself to the powers that be like that. When I left home, I was a 16 year old girl who had never been baptised, so, 'poof', that was that - I was gone. There was no letter writting to elders etc. It was very clean cut. I'm so glad because when I was 16 my spelling was dreadful.....
Elise
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28
On this Forum my Light is getting Dimmer
by Spectrum ini don't know if it is a good or bad thing but my view of jws has got dimmer since i joined jwd.
the reason i'm not sure is because i don't dislike the jws per se as i've met some good people but at the same time i feel more suspicious of these people's drive and motive - i'm talking about the ones i know personally.
i find that disconserting and uncomfortable.
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Elise
IPS
I'm sorry, your situation just sucks.
It gets easier - time truly is a great healer.
It's my view that your parents are not being good and nice people, neither are any people who ignore and snub you. They are being nasty to you and it is rude and unloving. I believe you should feel angry - anger is a stage of the grief process. You have lost a family and a lifestyle. You've also lost what you thought was real and true.
I don't believe in pointing the finger at the religion that is Jehovah's Witnesses though. The religion after all only has as much power as it's members give it. We were both involved in this religion (I was born into it) and for much of my time there, I was accepting of it and endorsed it. When it suited me to be a Jehovah's Witness I was and the religion was there for me then. When it didn't suit me to be a Jehovah's Witness (because I didn't agree with many things that were taught) I left and so did you. Everything we do comes with a consequence. When I was in it came with positive and negative consequences and now that I'm out, that also comes with positive and negative consequences - although I happily and loudly admit that the positives of being out far outweigh the negatives!
I used to bag the religion then I came to feel that criticizing it as an outsider was just as bad as when I was a Jehovah's Witness and I was highly critical of all other religions.
I truly believe that every religion has it's good. For me it feels better to focus on that - the fact that some of the people I love (but am unfortunately estranged from) feel secure and comfortable being Jehovah's Witnesses. For them it is a positive aspect of their lives and really, that's all that matters.
If a muslim person questions or renounces Islam it is an offence punishable by death by stoning. The latest rumour I've heard regarding the Catholic church is that the Late Pope John Paul the 1st (who died in the late 1970's) was actually murdered by senior members of the Vatican because he was wanting to modernise and liberalise the Church. Puts being shunned and ignored, by rude people who are Jehovah's Witnesses, into perspective!
Take care, look after yourself, your wife and your own family - that's what really matters.
Elise
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On this Forum my Light is getting Dimmer
by Spectrum ini don't know if it is a good or bad thing but my view of jws has got dimmer since i joined jwd.
the reason i'm not sure is because i don't dislike the jws per se as i've met some good people but at the same time i feel more suspicious of these people's drive and motive - i'm talking about the ones i know personally.
i find that disconserting and uncomfortable.
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Elise
Thank you to those who replied to me. Unfortunately I'm completely in the dark about how to use this site properly - it's set out very differently to other discussion boards I've used. No doubt I'll learn.
There was one person who spoke about the enforced group isolation one must endure as a Jay Dub as well as medical and other issues. I wholeheartedly agree with every comment that person has made (and comments everyone else makes). I too have been badly affected with parents and a sister who remain 'in the truth' (and I use that term flippantly). My point is, no-one is forcing my parents to be the way they are. They could choose to be any religion they want, but they choose to be Jehovah's Witnesses and that is my point, it is their choice. Oh yes, they're brainwashed blah, blah, blah........whatever!
My reality is such that bitching and backstabbing about a religion by people who are still involved in it is childish (please know I don't think that everyone on this site is still associated with the Jehovah's Witnesses). I can understand that people are scared to be disassociated from their families, but what sort of relationships do these people have with their families just now?.....I mean, it can't be a beautiful, loving and nurturing one. By staying and pretending to conform, or by staying but fading, what are these people showing their own children? Stand up for yourselves. Okay, get disfellowshiped, so what, be shunned - at least they won't come near you. Isn't that what it's about, surrounding yourselves with positive people who are supportive of you and love you unconditionally and staying clear of negative people? Stand up for your principles and be a role model for your children and others who feel trapped in ANY religion.
I left when I was 16, well, I was told if I didn't like it I had to leave. I am soooooo glad now that I did and I wouldn't change a thing - aside from the relationship I have with my parents, I'd change that in a heartbeat. This dysfunctional and abusive relationship has seen me hit some very sad lows, but I'm just one of billions of people down through the centuries with a sad parent/child relationship. There are SO many people who have absolutely horrendous stories to tell (I don't believe that mine's in anyway horrendous), many of which also encompass religion and many which don't. My parents though are as they are and really, that's not religion, that's them and I can't change them. Nor can they change me.
I sincerely wish all of you peace within yourselves.
Elise
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On this Forum my Light is getting Dimmer
by Spectrum ini don't know if it is a good or bad thing but my view of jws has got dimmer since i joined jwd.
the reason i'm not sure is because i don't dislike the jws per se as i've met some good people but at the same time i feel more suspicious of these people's drive and motive - i'm talking about the ones i know personally.
i find that disconserting and uncomfortable.
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Elise
It's just a religion full of people and people the world over are simply people. There are good people everywhere and there are not so good people everywhere. There are also downright nasty and bad people everywhere.
Don't most, if not all religions think theirs is 'the truth'?
Doesn't the Catholic religion think it knows best?
Doesn't the Protestant religion think it's gone one better than the Catholic religion?
What about the Mormons?
What about Islam?
Don't feel any less about Jehovah's Witnesses than you do about any other religion.
The problem arises when we as individuals realise that what we thought was real and truthful actually isn't. We shouldn't be pointing the finger at religion - whatever religion we were brought up in, we should be pointing the finger at ourselves. Reality really is a perception!
The most important aspects of our lives should be ourselves, our children and our spouses, not our religion. I truly believe that we should be looking within for our answers and giving our children the gift of a postive self worth, unreliant on anything outside themselves. To me, our own families are what matters most.
I'm so over the JW's.
I'm so over religion per se.