Posts by AudeSapere

31

I'm coming out on my blog.

by Abandoned in

jw
friends

no, i'm not talking about being gay, although if i was, i'd come out about that too.

no, i'm talking about coming public about having been a jw and explaining why i feel the jw is a dangerous cult.. now, i don't have a huge readership on my blog, but i've never talked about my jw past to anyone outside of that organization or this board.

i would love to hear any advice from those who have been out and successfully dealing with the mental and emotional abuse that the jw poured out.

AudeSapere

Sounds like a great start. I will venture to guess that you will find the process very liberating.

Funny, I can relate to some of what have said.

I was reluctant to tell people about my JW past because I felt shame. Only one or two people actually had a negative response to my 'revelation'. The rest were mildly amused and supportive.

I was also reluctant to tell my extended family members that I no longer believed. I 'came out' to many of them at a family reunion 2 months ago.

Honesty is the best way to go. Be honest with yourself and others will respect you for it.

btw - If I haven't already said so: "Welcome to JWD!"

-Aude Sapere (Meaning: Dare to Know; Dare to Have Wisdom/Understanding.)

24

Im curious.. how many menbers here

by mr_phishy in

jw
friends

being new here i am curious how many menbers are on this site?

is it a few hundred or we looking at thousands.

im amazed i put up a post 30min ago and already 13 replies!

AudeSapere

Not all are active members, as in posting. Some still read and rarely post. Some have left.

Plus there are many, many lurkers. Not registered but still read through the pages of this site. Every once in a while a topic will touch them in a way that they feel compelled to register and post.

I'm an x-jw. Merely 'inactive' - a walk-away believer - waiting for the organization to change. Until two years ago when I stumbled on to a few x-jw sites. I was terrified to even look at them but once I started reading... WOW I couldn't stop.

Welcome to JWD. Nice to have you join us.

-Denise aka Aude Sapere (Meaning: Dare to Know; Dare to Have Wisdom/Understanding)

96

Secret Santa (Gift Exchange) 2006

by Angharad in

jw
friends

hope this hasnt been posted already, if it has someone tell me as i dont want to step on anyones toes !!.

well christimas will soon be here !!.

gadget did a great job of organising the forum gift exchange the last couple of years so i thought i would give him a break and volunteer to organise it this year.. for those that are new basically what it involves is that those who want to join in will post to this thread and then pm me their name and address.

AudeSapere

Getting close.

Anxiously awaiting the drawing...

-Denise.

70

What would be something you'd like from secret santa?

by megsmomma in

jw
friends

i am already thinking of ideas.

my sister had an online relationship with a man from holland (they are now married in the us) anyhow, they would send eachother packages and the coolest things he would send was different foods from there... cookies the us doesn't have, chocolate spread for toast.... this is my first gift exchange since i was a kid, so anyone have some ideas?

( is this kosher to ask?

AudeSapere

Oh this will be fun...!

Christmas music. (I don't have any.)

XJW Books: Have you seen my mother? The Truth Book. A Father's Touch.

Decoration. (I don't have a tree but I do want to decorate my window sills and fireplace mantle.)

Food or trinket from your local area.

I would also like a postcard from where ever you are, too.

Just a few weeks away...

-Aude.

35

going for a colonoscopy(sp) on friday

by orbison11 in

yes, but i hear thursday will be the bad day, when i do the meds and have to sit 3 feet from the toilet for 24 hours,,oyy vay.

any here been thru this wonderful experience?.

orb.

AudeSapere

clean bill of health

What a wonderful feeling, isn't it?

Congratulations. I'm glad you did so well.

-Denise.

25

What awaits the next JW to come to my door........

by zev in

jw
friends

yes, those in the lincoln rhode island congregation will have ample warning.....

.

AudeSapere

I don't see how a little red 'X' is going to keep anyone away...

-Aude.

6

Maybe there is some hope

by nonamegiven in

well, many of you know my situation very well.

i'll give you all an update.

wednesday night i told my wife i wasn't going to go to one of the days of our 2 day assembly this weekend.

AudeSapere

ask you to tell Jake to go to bed but I hear you tell him to go outside and play I'm going to hear that and I will correct you and make sure you tell him to go to bed. That is because you are my only line of communication between me and my son and I'm going to make sure that what I want to say is being communicated 100% right

What a GREAT analogy. I'm convinced...! Oh wait. I already was. heheh

Still, I had not heard this analogy before and I like it.

I'm sure someone has already directed you to other posters who were in your situation fairly recently.

In case you haven't already read it, ithinkisee documented his (successful~~!) process here on JWD. You can find this threads by going to 'Member Directory' at the top of the screen and searching for ithinkisee. There are quite a few others, but this is the one that I followed from the very beginning. (The bikini-clad ape was really, really hard to ignore.)

We look forward to more hopeful posts from you.

-Aude Sapere (Meaning: Dare to Know; Dare to Have Wisdom/Understanding)

29

Breaking it to my grandparents

by AirDuster in

so i've been deciding for the past year or so whether or not i want to stay in this religion, and i have decided that i do not.

i plan on telling my grandparents (whom i live with) this very soon, possibly tomorrow.

of course i can't be just like "i don't want to be a jehovah's witness anymore", but rather "i don't believe in this anymore, and here are the reasons why".

AudeSapere

Only you can know what is truly right for you and the people who love you.

Like the others have said, be sure to have a solid contingency plan in place and lots of outside support just incase they decide to send you away.

For me, I would probably just fade and keep peace with the grandparents.

I thought this was an important statement and can completely respect your view of honesty and integrity:

I don't want to keep living a lie and depriving myself of the life I want and cheating my grandparents by being half-assed JW of a grandson

Maybe sleep on it for at least a few more days and bring this topic to the top of the discussion page a few more times.

I truly hope it goes smoothly for all three of you - no matter which avenue you choose.

-Aude.

35

going for a colonoscopy(sp) on friday

by orbison11 in

yes, but i hear thursday will be the bad day, when i do the meds and have to sit 3 feet from the toilet for 24 hours,,oyy vay.

any here been thru this wonderful experience?.

orb.

AudeSapere

Here's a link (for those interested):

http://www.sages.org/sg_asgepub1030.html#SECTIONIV

Under the section titled 'Summary of Recommendations for Screening and Survailance:

First degree relatives with sporadic colorectal cancer or adenomas before the age of 60 or multiple first degree relatives with colorectal cancer or adenomas.

Colonoscopy every 3-5 years beginning at age 10 years earlier than the youngest affected relative

Hope this helps.

-Aude.

35

going for a colonoscopy(sp) on friday

by orbison11 in

yes, but i hear thursday will be the bad day, when i do the meds and have to sit 3 feet from the toilet for 24 hours,,oyy vay.

any here been thru this wonderful experience?.

orb.

AudeSapere

Parakeet wrote: To me the unpleasant part is the taste of the cleaner-outer (I can't remember what it's called!)

Fleets? Mixed with Ginger Ale, it's not too bad. But I agree with the poster who said Ginger Ale is never the same again...!

Frannie asked: How do they determine that one is necessary?

I don't know if this was specifically directed to orbison or just asked in general... (So sorry if speaking out of turn) -- Lower GI symptoms (especially irregular bowel movements and/or bloody stools). Family history is a key marker, too.

I understand that the guideline is: Take the age of your youngest blood relative when they were first diagnosed with colon trouble. Subtract 10 years. That is the age at which all family members should be screened.

If no colon cancer in the family, age 50.

-Aude.