jambon1

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Posts by jambon1

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  22

  Most Livable Cities in the World - is Yours on the List?

  by sammielee24 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in case the olympics weren't drawing enough attention to city of vancouver, this year's economist intelligence unit's list of the world's most livable cities has declared the canadian city the number one urban area in which to settle down.. if you are surprised, well, you shouldn't be, due to the fact that vancouver is a consistent high achiever in these polls.

  what is it about the city that makes it so great?

  according to the economist's gulliver blog, canada and australia do exceptionally well in the eiu rankings due to their perfect scores for health care and education.. some of the other rankings might be more surprising, however - for example, what does one make of the fact that detroit (40th) beats both london (54th) and new york (56th)?.

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  jambon1

  Edinburgh is an absolutely stunning city & I love being born & bred here.
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  18

  The effect of this religion on my children & the action I had to take - Part I

  by jambon1 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i have been meaning to tell this story for some time now.

  i feel that i would like to share it so that it may serve as a warning to anyone who thinks that the jw religion does not have a negative effect on children.. i have been out of the religion for 4 years now.

  i wasn't brought up in the organisation.

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  jambon1

  Hi again

  Thanks for the input.

  It may be a couple of days before I get to write part II as I am extreemly busy this week & it seems to take me nearly an hour to put it together in a way that makes sense. Please bear with me. I will post it on a seperate thread.

  Regards,

  J
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  18

  The effect of this religion on my children & the action I had to take - Part I

  by jambon1 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i have been meaning to tell this story for some time now.

  i feel that i would like to share it so that it may serve as a warning to anyone who thinks that the jw religion does not have a negative effect on children.. i have been out of the religion for 4 years now.

  i wasn't brought up in the organisation.

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  jambon1

  I have been meaning to tell this story for some time now. I feel that I would like to share it so that it may serve as a warning to anyone who thinks that the JW religion does not have a negative effect on children.

  I have been out of the religion for 4 years now. I wasn't brought up in the organisation. At the point I left only my wife & I and our 2 little children were active JW's. You can search my post history to see the varying degrees of bitterness that I have felt toward the JW religion. I left completely disillusioned with the whole thing. Badly treated & hurt by the actions of many witnesses. At the same time I had a few good friends who I still care for & love.

  I left the organisation because I felt that what I was taught as a bible study ten years previously (I was 18 when my wife & I studied) was not what was practised in the religion. I felt a gross lack of love. I saw very angry & frustrated individuals in many congregations. I saw families that were a mess. But mainly, I was averse to believing & practicing some of the things that I was introduced to AFTER I became a baptised JW. I knew the day that I bacame a parent that I couldn't withold medical treatment from my kids if required to do so. I knew that I would rather cut my right arm off than SHUN my flesh & blood baby girl if she transgressed this religion as an adult. I hated having to look down on non witnesses & believe that their lifestyle sentenced them to death at the hands of a bloodthirsty god of 'love'.

  As I progressed as a pioneer & ministerial servant, I saw a side of this religion that disturbed me greatly. My disbelief in god grew day by day. My disgust at what I was supposed to believe & teach my children who were very young just escalated. I became depressed & even suicidal.

  One day in January 2006 I walked out of our kingdom hall & I knew I was never, ever going to return. It sounds pathetic but it was one of the bravest moments of my life. If I hadn't taken that action back then, I could very well still have been a part of the organisation today. I had attempted to leave before but couldn't do it. This was my time now. I believe my action back in January 06 saved, at the very least my sanity, but very possibly my life.

  When I put it to my wife, she was naturally upset. Things were hard in our family for many months.

  As time passed, I became more & more opossed to the whole thing. I hated the fact that my children were being infected with this dispicable belief system. A set of beliefs which teach young children that their whole world, including non-JW relatives, schoolmates etc is soon going to be destroyed by god because they are evil, wicked people. I was becoming more & more aware that what JW's are prepared to teach children, MY children, is wholly inappropriate.

  I reasoned that if this religion could take me, a happy go lucky 17 year old & turn me into a paranoid, depressed, anxious wreck, then what could they do to my children by means of this gradual drip, drip, drip that happens as you soak in their words & phrases? Their sectarian beliefs.

  You see, I was lucky to have been raised in a loving, happy family. I grew very much closer to my non-JW parents after I left the org. I began to understand just what an effect my being a witness had on them. I began to respect my parents as I matured as a person & related to all that they carried out & went through to raise myself & my sister. I was enjoying happy times with them again. Birthdays, new year (which in Scotland is a big thing), mothers/fathers day. My respect for my parents, despite any mistakes they made when raising us, was completely restored. I was having a relationship with them again which had been 'put on hold' during my ten years as a JW. It was alll good.

  Except my kids were still being raised as witnesses by my wife whom I love deeply. My daughter (aged 8) who is very, very bright was being drip fed this illness every single week. I could gradually see that it was having an effect on her. Here was me, the father she loves & respects being a part of celebrations that she is being taught are wicked & deserving of death (yes, celebrating my fathers 60th birthday really is viewed as being worthy of death!). I didn't realise it at the time but my daughters head was a mess. One day, last year, it all came to a head.

  What I heard from my daughters lips convinced me that action needed to be taken. She came to be in a state of severe agitation that day. She was delirious. What I saw & heard from her made me cry & weep like a helpless little boy once she had fallen asleep that night. The whole sorry sitiuation is a sad indictment on the JW religion.

  I shall tell part II of the story very soon.

  J
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  22

  V's memorial teaser - its time to get busy with your email campaigns :-)

  by besty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  they had better wine glasses at this hall, but otherwise everything was the same.

  we had one at our hall last year.

  so the people in the side rows get to hold the wine glass twice.

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  jambon1

  I never, ever got the whole thing about the attendants passing it to each other at the front of the hall. So, so pointless & silly. In actual fact, a very zealous old sister brought this to my attention.
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  61

  What Do You Value in your Life Now that you Exited the Witnesses ?

  by flipper in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was talking with a friend of mine on the board yesterday and the discussion gave me the idea for this thread !

  ( thanks friend !

  ) and it seems as we were talking the thought came up that many of us when exiting the mind control of jehovah's witnesses we really come to appreciate the freedom to think how we want and be able to have access to other views which helps us to have a broader scope , or broader world view than just the tunnel vision of the wt society.

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  jambon1

  Lots of things.

  Not feeling like I need to judge people or look down on them for being different.

  Looking at life positively & planning for the future with happy thoughts.

  Enjoying the company of many different people & learning about other peoples values & experiences.

  Life is good at the moment.
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  52

  Will you sink or swim with Jehovah's Organization? June 15, 2010 study article

  by truthseeker in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hence, many people feel.

  of the psalmist?

  there they will feel.

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  jambon1

  Typical fear based scaremongering.

  For what it's worth, I have been out of the organisation for 4 years & have made brilliant friends. Friends & aquaintances who are respectful & considerate of other peoples beliefs. Immoral? Nope. Dangerous? Nope?

  Ten years in the org left me feeling suicidal & depressed.

  Life is good for me now. It has become better & better since I left the org. I like my friends.

  I like myself. I like my life.
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  52

  "When armageddon happens, I want to be able to SEE the people dying"

  by jambon1 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  said to myself & others by a jw elder.. i always recall this as a sort of .

  when this elder was pressed on the matter, he replied that it was because of all the years of laughing & sneering & mocking that he had put up with, quoting the scripture that goes along the lines of 'where is this promised presence of his'.. i realise now that this person is not loving.

  and yet, i would hear similar sentiments from others such as 'just wait until the end' or 'i wonder if they'll be saying that when jesus comes with his big sword'.. even as a jw pioneer, the thought of such a thing happening to people repulsed me.

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  jambon1

  So when god directed the Israelites to purge the land of the cananites, that is different is it?

  Did he direct them to do so or not?

  Has god made bears kill children or not?

  Did david get away with murder or not?

  Did god destroy the Babylonians by his hand & direction or not?

  Seems to be a bit confusuion with what some read in the bible to what others read?

  Or are you just rationalising to justify your beliefs?

  Genuine questions.

  J
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  52

  "When armageddon happens, I want to be able to SEE the people dying"

  by jambon1 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  said to myself & others by a jw elder.. i always recall this as a sort of .

  when this elder was pressed on the matter, he replied that it was because of all the years of laughing & sneering & mocking that he had put up with, quoting the scripture that goes along the lines of 'where is this promised presence of his'.. i realise now that this person is not loving.

  and yet, i would hear similar sentiments from others such as 'just wait until the end' or 'i wonder if they'll be saying that when jesus comes with his big sword'.. even as a jw pioneer, the thought of such a thing happening to people repulsed me.

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  jambon1

  Thanks guys for the kind words. It's our third & I'm still head over heals about it.

  I'll leave any debate for now.

  I get angry about their beliefs sometimes.
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  15

  Just got a Phone Call

  by cantleave in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it is the congregation's co visit this week.

  it is first one since i stepped down and i have not attended any of the programme.

  i just received a phone call from a sister, i answered thinking it was someone else.

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  jambon1

  If I were to have been hounded on my leaving (which I sort of was but wasn't if you know what I mean) then I would have undoubtedly told one of them to f**k right off.

  In fact, nowadays I wish I had went out by telling a few individuals exactly what I thought of them. Just a few, not many.
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  52

  "When armageddon happens, I want to be able to SEE the people dying"

  by jambon1 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  said to myself & others by a jw elder.. i always recall this as a sort of .

  when this elder was pressed on the matter, he replied that it was because of all the years of laughing & sneering & mocking that he had put up with, quoting the scripture that goes along the lines of 'where is this promised presence of his'.. i realise now that this person is not loving.

  and yet, i would hear similar sentiments from others such as 'just wait until the end' or 'i wonder if they'll be saying that when jesus comes with his big sword'.. even as a jw pioneer, the thought of such a thing happening to people repulsed me.

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  jambon1

  Sylvia

  You seem to be missing the point.

  Two wrongs smply do not make a right.

  I've just felt my baby move in my wifes stomach today. It's hard to imagine how god could view that as deserving of having it's head smashed against a rock because of my actions, no matter how bad I was.