i haven't payed mine for almost 3 years because i don't like what the government is doing with its war machine and taking away our civil liberties with the patriot act:.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5981720328972328609&q=irs+tax+is+illegal+-+no+tax+law+exists%21%21&total=1&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1623838328974046647&q=law+federal+income+tax&total=77&start=30&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=6.
excepting John Doe of course who pays twenty per-cent more than demanded just to prove his loyalty to the flag.
An elder in my old hall would not claim any deductions on his federal income tax. He would claim all his dependants, but he would not take his house interest deduction, no deductions for medical or any other legimate claim.
He somehow felt it might be considered cheating Cesar out of his due. It drove his wife crazy, to say the least.
you know you're from louisiana when...... your sunglasses fog up when you step outside.
you reinforce your attic to store mardi gras beads.
you don't look twice when you see pink flamingos in yards of nice subdivisions during mardi gras.
They have cajun food all over the place here in the pacific northwest, it became very popular a few years back. It's pretty good, but it's not cajun food. Northerers have an amazing way of making "blackened" food, that somehow isn't hot, just black. And you can never find squirrel in the gumbo.
And they don't even brew their tea here, just mix up some kind of awful powder and call it "ice tea" I never leave my house without a jug of real tea in my car, cause you can't get it anywhere here (except my house).
Don't even get me started on the barbecue here, it would break your heart......
Picken up pawpaws, put'em in your pocket, way down yonder in the pawpaw patch................
so how many of you actually attended meetings when you went away on holidays?
remember, you shouldn't take a holiday from jehovah!.
when me and my mother went to visit my uncle in 1987, we attended every stinkin' meeting, including a congregation baseball game.
We made a point of finding the hall and going to the meetings 'as a witness' to her relatives.
Oh Dave, I thought this was sooo funny, you were trying to give a good witness on your honeymoon.
What a good dub you must have been.
Instead of being impressed, I bet your worldly relatives just thought you were nuts.
the wtbts always has meditation as a topic on conventions.
they always state that eastern meditation makes the mind "blank", so this is a no no.. of course we know that it is actually the convention that makes the mind blank :).
so what are your thoughts on meditation now?.
i used to suck at it, when i tried i'd get a vision of winnie the pooh tapping his head going " think think think" and crack up.
Thank you Candi for that image.
Now my attempts at "slipping between my thoughts" will be near impossible.
hey all.
i got sidetracked in a comment i left earlier today....and it occurred to me to ask this question.
i used to believe in prayer.
During my years as a dub, Jah answered my prayers many times. he even answered the prayer when i asked him whether i should stay or leave. he made it very clear, he told me to leave.
Now I don't even believe in the old fart, ............... hmm, must have been me all along.
i'm not talking about internet friends, but friends close by in your town.. so, do you have as many friends as you would like to have?.
when i was young and going to school, i had a few friends, but now i don't have any friends, but on the other hand, i'm a loner and i don't really care.
i'm not really searching for friends.
I feel different from everyone...
JH, I can relate to all that you said. I can never get enough alone time, there is tons of things I enjoy doing alone. Can't think of much that I enjoy with other people unless it's my immediate family, and yes, I need alone time away from them too.
Growing up, the restrictiveness of the JW's combined with my family moving on the average of twice a year made it impossible for anything but brief friendships.
Now, I honestly just don't know how. I make awkward attempts from time to time, and maybe someday I will understand how it works. I enjoy socializing with small groups of people, but it is emotionally very demanding on me.
But I'm finally at a point in my life where I'm beginning to accept myself as just different. I love people, and I would do anything to help someone in need, but I don't know how to connect with them.
raises hand.
i thank auldsoul/blodie for helping me out...they stick out in my mind when i first lurked on jwd.
wac - bethelite for 10 years and elder for 1.
No but I would still be an apologist...
yeah, same here.
After leaving I had aboslutely no interest in checking out apostate websites, I was still loyal. Then one day, completely by accident, I stumbled upon Silentlambs. I read stories from dozens and dozens of JW's who had been sexually assaluted as children and how it all was covered up by the elders. This was a profound moment for me, I realized that I wasn't the only one this had happened to. All those years I defended the elders who knew I was being assaulted but did nothing. And forbade me to tell anyone. And told my mother to keep the abuser in the house, but maybe I could go live somewhere else. And told me to be more understanding of the stress my abuser was under, and maybe I could be a better daughter. And told me I must forgave, and never speak of it again.
I made excuses for those a**holes,................ for decades.
I made excuses for those worthless pieces of crap who believed it was more important to protect God, the omnipotent being. But a child in their congregation was not worthy of their concern.
And I would still be making excuse if it hadn't been for Silentlambs. Thank you Bill, thank you Barbara.
am i an active minister?.
am i an active minister,.
the kind that would be missed?.
Just another way to let you know your not doing enough.
Doesn't matter how much you do, it still isn't enough.
i was recently given a copy of the 2006 revelation climax book by a jw's pioneer woman that i see all the time in front of the bus stop.
we talked for a while and she just handed me a billion books and mags.
i brought up the un scandal to her and she right away went into defense mode.
We talked for a while and she just handed me a billion books and mags.
This has happened to me too. If you talk to them for more then two minutes they are more then willing to give you piles of literature that they themselves have paid for, free.
"Placing" literature is so difficult, that they will jump at anychance to be able to report book placements on their monthly time sheet.
i am shunning them.. after some recent developments with my family, and resulting anxiety, i am now the one who has made it clear i want no contact with them.. i am making this clear because i can't say at this point that they are shunning me and i won't claim that anymore.. i did this for the sake of my own sanity (no comments please) and because i need to move on with life without organizational bullshit games that are designed to manipulate and isolate people.. i am not advocating this, i am not saying that this is right and good, it was what i needed to do to survive.. over the winter, i had made this decision, wrote a letter, but could never muster up the courage to do it.. today on the phone, after being told that the reason i could not have family support while hannah had been having her health issues was because they didn't want to offend jehovah, i told my mother that was why i want nothing else to do with any of them.. and that was the end of the conversation.. so..the end i guess.
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I
Today on the phone, after being told that the reason I could not have family support while Hannah had been having her health issues was because they didn't want to offend Jehovah, I told my mother that was why I want nothing else to do with any of them.
t always amazes me how easy it is for the witness' to dismiss children because of their parents actions.
I'm almost where your at, not quite, but close.
