parakeet

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Posts by parakeet

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  30

  Is the Internet An Answer to the JW Cliche Lament - "Where Else Can We Go?"

  by Seeker4 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in his article at freeminds on when prophecies fail, about the witnesses and cognitive dissonance, randy watters wrote the following, including an insightful quote from barbara harrison grazzutti.

  it may seem incomprehensible how the witnesses could ignore the implications of each disconfirmation.

  outsiders view the witnesses as lacking common sense for not leaving the organization after numerous failures.

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  parakeet

  blondie:
  ***parakeet, that was the first "apostate" book I read. Never checked it out though, just went to the library and took it off the shelf and read in a quiet corner. That was 1980.***
  When the book was first published in 1978, I read a review of it in a magazine and knew I had to have it. It was not available in my small-town library, so I ordered it directly from the publisher.
  That book saved my life.
  When I told my JW mom about it, she demanded to read it and she did. When she returned it, all she would say regarding Harrison's research about the WTS was that Harrison wrote the book to spite her mother.
  I still have the book, tattered and faded; one of my most treasured possessions.
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  26

  How do I get my "lesbian" co-worker to stop discussing her lifestyle?

  by booker-t in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i work with a young woman in her mid-thirties that is openly lesbian.

  we have been friends for about 10 years when she first started working at the company.

  i was crazy about her before she came out as "gay" and i still have a good time working with her.

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  parakeet

  I've found that simply saying "too much information!" with a smile is effective in stopping an explicit narrative.
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  30

  Is the Internet An Answer to the JW Cliche Lament - "Where Else Can We Go?"

  by Seeker4 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in his article at freeminds on when prophecies fail, about the witnesses and cognitive dissonance, randy watters wrote the following, including an insightful quote from barbara harrison grazzutti.

  it may seem incomprehensible how the witnesses could ignore the implications of each disconfirmation.

  outsiders view the witnesses as lacking common sense for not leaving the organization after numerous failures.

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  parakeet

  Seeker4:
  ***The Internet made all the difference to me.***
  When I left, the Internet did not exist, but ironically, it was Barbara Grizzutti Harrison's book, "Visions of Glory" that made all the difference to me.
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  13

  I had a bad dream....

  by loosie in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i dreamt my husband and i were at a kh for a wedding.

  there were about 200 people there.

  we were watching the bridesmaid walk up.

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  parakeet

  Ah, the old stuck-in-the-KH-and-can't-escape nightmare. I used to wake up sweating after one of those. They've faded away over the years. Now I just get the garden-variety nightmares--far less frightening.
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  36

  My mom calls to chew me out about my college... YIKES!!!

  by FreedomFrog in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so, i was happy and celebrating because of getting good grades in my courses, well i get a call from my mom.

  at first the phone call was just "hi, how are you" then she laid into me saying my "problem" (meaning my divorce) was because i was putting my education first and not jah.

  she goes on to tell me that the "talk today" was about people murmuring as israelites and bad things happened to them.

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  parakeet

  ***Most of the time it’s because I can ignore her little cramming in a bit of preaching now and again.***
  I've been "ignoring" my JW mom's little digs for 25+ years, so I know how irritating it can be.
  More than 30 years ago, when I married a nonJW, she told me I was making a huge mistake. My husband and I are still happily married.
  When I left the JWs, after being in the org for 14 years, she told me I "never really gave it a chance."
  When I told her I was going to college, she told me I'd never finish. Now I have a bachelor's and a master's degree.
  When my adult son moved in with his girlfriend, she told me I never taught him properly. Now he's happily married to the girlfriend.
  Follow your own path, FF. No one else should control the direction of your life.
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  18

  Meat on Catholic Friday, JW equivalent?

  by Fatfreek in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  much of my jw time was in new bedford, massachusetts, a catholic dominated city.

  i was a catholic turned jw.

  recall that prior to vatican council ii it was a catholic sin to eat meat on fridays.

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  parakeet

  ***These things, and more, used to bother me when I'd go to the door, fearing that someone would rub my nose in our flip-flops***
  One of the few advantages of being a JW (though they don't see it as an advantage) is that the world-at-large couldn't care less about the unstable doctrines of a small, unpopular religion. JWs always feel far more important than they really are, but there actual insignificance is sometimes a protection to them; otherwise, their current troubles with pedophiles, blood transfusion court cases, and shunning practices would be much more visible in the media.
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  49

  panda's husband died...

  by Country Girl in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  our dear friend, panda's, husband died of a heart attack a night ago.

  she is a sweetheart, and she didn't want to tell us because she was thinking that it would make people feel bad.

  she is feeling very bad, that's forsure.

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  parakeet

  Panda, I'm so sorry.
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  24

  Finally! The Cure for Apostacy!

  by V in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  soon to be reviewed in the watchtower study (july 15 2006, "focus on the goodness of jehovah's organization" page 22, paragraph 15).. this is not a joke!.

  emanuel, for instance, was a witness who found fault with some things he read in publications of "the faithful and discreet slave.

  " (matthew 24:45) he stopped reading our christian literature and eventually told the elders of the local congregation that he no longer wished to be one of jehovah's witnesses.

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  parakeet

  ***He contacted the Witnesses, admitted his mistake, and was reinstated as one of Jehovah's Witnesses. As a result, he again became a happy man.***
  Being braindead must be the key to happiness.
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  42

  Did anyone see or do a random act of kindness today?

  by okie46 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  today while unloading my groceries, i witnessed a random act of kindness... someone in a ford explorer was waiting for a car to leave a parking spot so they could pull in there, they had been waiting for several minutes when finally the car in that spot backed out and left.

  before the person in the ford explorer could pull into the spot, a lady in a ford taurus pulled on into that parking space.

  the person in the ford explorer who had been patiently waiting, just sat there, they didn't honk or flip the person off, then the lady in the ford taurus realized that the other vehicle had been waiting for that spot and backed out to find another spot, letting the guy who had been waiting have his spot.

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  parakeet

  I'm recovering from an illness (not serious), and my friend drove me around today to help me with errands I needed to do. We've been friends for almost 40 years--she's one of the finest people I know.
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  35

  Will You React With Prejudice?

  by Jamaican JW in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  will you react with prejudice when faced with "absolute truth?

  sometimes, an irrefutable "truth" can be spoken.

  and yet, this statement or fact of "truth" can be glossed over or dismissed or not recognized by the community at large, because of preconceived ideas taught us and engrained in us, from our previous upbringing or training.

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  parakeet

  ***Will You React With Prejudice When Faced With "Absolute Truth?"***
  
  Only if "Absolute Truth" is rude and obnoxious. When do I get to meet him?