Cabin in the woods: "I ask if anyone here has walked away from a higher education not to be nosey but to help me to deal with my own anger."
I was still a JW when I graduated from high school, so college was not an option. When I left the org in my mid-20s, I immediately started taking college classes and 7 years later earned a master's degree in English lit.
I would recommend to anyone, no matter their age, to start taking some classes now, even if you don't want to obtain a degree. It's never too late. The most valuable thing I learned from higher ed is systematic and critical thinking skills. They can be developed without higher ed, but it's a more difficult and roundabout (although much less expensive) method. Once you have these skills, no one can ever again deceive you with false arguments, religious or otherwise.
parakeet
JoinedPosts by parakeet
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19
Threw away educational opportunities
by Cabin in the woods ini actually wrote this late last night and when i tried to submit it i was rejected.
the reason for that is still a mystery to me and i vowed not to rewrite it as it would mean visiting myself and that is never easy.
sometimes as i look through the site and read to many posts i marvel at the beauty of the words and the complexity of the reasoning.
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parakeet
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Threw away educational opportunities
by Cabin in the woods ini actually wrote this late last night and when i tried to submit it i was rejected.
the reason for that is still a mystery to me and i vowed not to rewrite it as it would mean visiting myself and that is never easy.
sometimes as i look through the site and read to many posts i marvel at the beauty of the words and the complexity of the reasoning.
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Show us your picture
by Honesty in.
that is, if you are able to without the prospect of facing a three-man kangaroo court appointed by jerhover to keep the congregation clean from apostate influences.. i'll go first: .
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parakeet
Sorry, can't. I did a successful fade a long time ago and don't want to jeopardize my relationship with my elderly JW parents.
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Friday District Convention notes: Control, control, control
by truthseeker inwell, one third of the convention is over, i had no choice but to attend due to my current situation.. the talks were worse than last year, and as usual if you have seen the program you will not find jesus in any of the talk titles - in fact, the only time jesus is mentioned is during a prayer or in connection with the ministry.. when you become aware of how sidelined jesus is, you can't help but notice that jehovah's witnesses are a modern version of the old testament religion - it's all about control, be attentive, obey the "faithful and discreet slave" etc etc, in stark contrast to belief and salvation through jesus.. only the talks with midly interesting material or that had ridiculous phrases used by the speaker are shown here.. friday.
9:50 be attentive to jehovah's promises of deliverance .
would you believe that this 20 minute talk was solely about being attentive to the program?
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parakeet
ZZZZZZ......ZZZZZZZ.......ZZZZZZZ.....huh, uh, what, uh, did I miss anything?
Thanks, truthseeker. All predictable information, but still good to know what's going on. Looking forward to tomorrow's notes. -
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Are there still things that were witness no-no's that you refrain from?
by AK - Jeff infor me, after decades as a witness there are quite a few i suppose.
this thread was inspired by min's thread about sex and our attitudes now as opposed to when we were witnesses.. one thing that i have never done - and it might seem somewhat trivial to many - i have never, not once, in my entire life uttered the f word.
i always found it to be utterly vulgar - and i still do.
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parakeet
I won't eat anything with blood as a major ingredient because I don't think it would taste good.
I won't salute the flag because I don't like being forced to make a public display of my patriotism. -
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Extra training ... so you know that shooting babies is WRONG ?!?
by Simon inhow dumb and pathetic.. no extra training should be necessary for even slightly trained and disciplined soldiers.
i guess it is for some of the rabble that the us call "troops" though.. of course the real problem is not just those on the ground that have committed the latest attrocity.
it is the chain of command that tried to cover it up and all the way up to the president who sanctions bombing of civilian targets with nothing more than rumour for "intelligence".. from now on america, you are on your own.
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parakeet
XJW4EVR said, "The last time I looked peopla are innocent until proven guilty. At least it is here in America. I for one am willing to allow ALL the evidence to come forth, unlike the the people above me."
The problem with this position in wartime is that all the evidence held by the military doesn't get declassified until 30-40 years (or more) later. By that time the perpetrators have retired or died and there's no one left for injured parties to prosecute. -
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were you forced to join the (misery ) ministry school?
by headmath in.
maybe you have some fond stories of this.. my story is that i was forced to join when i was about 12. i always got an assignment that dealt with beastilaity in exodus or somethin.
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parakeet
Dragged kicking and screaming into it as a teenager. I was so frightened at my first "talk," I blew through my allotted 10 minutes in 2. Fortunately for me, immediately afterward I was "constructively" criticized by a brother at the podium in front of everybody. Ah, fond memories ...........
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When you were a JW true believer, what were you most afraid of?
by under_believer init's been pretty well established that all religions use fear as a motivator, to some degree.
the jw's have honed this practice to a near art form.
what were you most afraid of when you were a jw?
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parakeet
Big, angry dogs in FS. There were some mighty vicious apostate dogs out there who would have liked nothing better than to tear a few strips off me. It got to the point I couldn't go to the house if it had a "beware of dog" sign on the gate. People missing out on the "Truth" and being destroyed at Armageddon because they owned large dogs -- there's theocratic justice for you.
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I've having a hard time dealing with the present time in my life
by Undecided ini don't have any problems that i am dealing with but i can't seem to enjoy the present.
everywhere i go i recall the past life with my family when i was young and they were alive.
i remember the houses we called on when i was a jw with my dad and mother, cousins etc.
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parakeet
You need medical help. See your family doctor. Describe to him/her exactly what you've described here. Follow his/her instructions.
I often forget names and other small details, too. My doctor told me about this little test to determine whether you need to worry about Alzheimer's. He said that if you forget where you put your car keys, and you hunt for them in the usual places (purse, countertop, pockets, etc.), that's just normal aging. If you forget where you put your car keys, and you hunt for them in the fish tank, then you need to be tested for Alzheimer's.
Good luck. -
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Not swearing is proof of the "truth"
by pennycandy inthis was a said by my jw relative to my never-been-jw husband this weekend, during a conversation about the prevalence of swearing.. "my friend maria's husband [was unbelieving mate, now a witness] always swore like a sailor.
he said he could see jehovah's witnesses had the truth because they didn't use bad language.".
for all the reasons for believing jw's have the truth, this was a new one to me..
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parakeet
Let's see if I can follow this reasoning: Not swearing is proof of the truth. JWs don't swear. Therefore, JWs have the truth. That's one profound argument.
Lemme try one: Abstaining from alcohol is proof of good moral character. Hitler abstained from alcohol. Therefore, Hitler had good moral character.
Anyone else want to play?