every year on a certain thursday in november my family and close witness friends would get together, eat menudo ( hispanic stew) and other foods, watch football and then get dressed to go to the meeting.. sister so and so would bring her famous pie, bro and sister so and so would bring their gross punch and bro and sis so and so would bring mexican sweet bread.
sometimes we would go to "worldy" aunt's and pick up plates of turkey and fixins.. this was every year on a certain date, on a certain thursday in november.. this continued until my mom got alzheimers.
by that time i was married and had my own house.
They are setting arbitrary lines in the sand. Eating Turkey and stuffing on Thanksgiving: evil. Eating Turkey and stuffing the day after: perfectly acceptable. The reality is there is no reason not to celebrate thanksgiving, except that the powers that be don't like it. Most people know this and want to have a big family meal just like everyone else, so they do.
It's sad they can't just decide to do what they want in the first place, but that what happens when you are in a cult.
i joined the board this month and holy cow, are there ever some interesting points of view here.. a bit about my background: my dad was an unbaptised born-in who nevertheless went to vietnam and college where he met my mom.
mom was lutheran, but dad told her the only religion he was interested in belonging to was the jdubs.
they married in the early 70s and were both baptized.
Welcome. It's funny that it seems no matter how long you are out you occasionally find yourself reacting out of JW induced fear. I recently had my Palm read, just to get over that lingering uncomfortable feeling about it from my JW days.
Glad you found us.
Lisa
many christians keep insisting that homosexuality is a choice, and they are 'right' to insist on legal prohibitions (in spite of living in a pluralistic society).. they claim divine revelation as basis for these legal prohibitions.
sadly for them, it does look their god is somewhat schizoid on this matter.. if yahweh is the source of sanctions against those who are sexually attracted to the same sex, then we would not expect any genetic indications for that attraction.
if you think along those lines, the this report from the uk independent will interest you.. largest ever study into the gay gene 'erodes the notion that sexual orientation is a choice'.
Even if they found a gay gene the fundies would still think it's a choice, just like they still believe the fairy tales of Genesis happened like the bible says. They need to believe in God and the bible, facts don't really enter into it.
i was listning to a song by ian dury " what a waste" such perfect and apt lyrics to explain my witness life.... anybody got any songs that explain there watchtower existence?.
.
The Smiths, Heaven knows I'm miserable now.
In my life why do I give valuable time
To people who don't care if I live or die.
Talking Heads, And She was.
wanted to say hello to you all.
i am new to the forum and just wanted to introduce myself.
i was raised a witness, never baptized (yay) and am married to a lovely baptized witness of jehovah.. i had been trying to get back into it due to both our families being j dbs but just never could get it into my heart.
Welcome to the forum, glad you found us.
Lisa
it seems like the list of people who are accusing him of rape and sexual assault is growing every day.
i'm skeptical of single accusations but the number of people and the similar stories seem overwhelming now.. it's not a conviction but to the court of public opinion ... guilty?.
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I grew up listening to Bill Cosby records, I always loved his humor (Chicken heart, so funny). Lately, the few times I have heard him speak he seemed more like a grumpy old man. As far as the allegations, it's not looking too good for him. I wondered why these women didn't speak up sooner, but I guess it's hard to make accusations like that against a powerful person, especially if you don't know he attacked others.
You don't see a bunch of people rushing to his defence and saying he couldn't have done it, and his refusal to talk about it seems strange too. My gut says there is something to this.
it's been 12 years since i first read ray franz's books and the scales came off my eyes.
by that time i was in my forties.. since 2002 i went back to school and have worked with 3 very professional organizations.
but my biological clock is ticking away and while my peers are looking forward to retirement, i am only beginning.
Yes, I have those same feelings, by the time I left the Watchtower my health was compromised and I will never get that back. But I try to focus on those things I do have, a loving husband and a comfortable life, and the freedom to pursue my artistic interests. I am also so grateful that I mentally free of the cult.
Just think of all those who are still enslaved, still running the JW treadmill and still feeling guilty for not doing enough, then pat yourself on the back for getting yourself out.
I couldn't see their my Kindle. :(
my mum recently told me that even surgeons won't have blood transfusions, but the common people don't get told this.
i have also seen or heard others say that a bunch of doctors/health officials/surgeons were asked, at some point, if they would accept a blood transfusion and they all said no.
is this true?
Authoritarian regimes absolutely hate capitulating to their opponents (or being percieved as doing so).
Bingo. Also, if they changed their stance now, it will be painfully obvious that the Jehovah's Witnesses who died for lack of a blood transfusion did so for no reason whatsoever, so that will never happen. They would rather have people continue to die than admit they were ever wrong.
It's a tragedy that in 2014 people are still dying based on an irrational fear of transfusions, dating to the time they were first being used and considered dangerous by the ignorant. People still think they are "following their conscience", when they would have followed their doctors advice if the Watchtower hadn't filled their heads with misinformation.
i was thinking of doing a pop-in visit when they're doing their thing(what ever that might be).
to just see what it is that lures and hooks people, like our son.
i was worried there is some sort of subliminal messages in audio or video that start to brain-wash a person.
It's been a long time sincere I left, but I doubt it has changed much. The meetings are excruciatingly boring. They follow a strict pattern. On Sunday, they first sing one of the boring, unsingable "Kingdom melodies", in the usual perfunctory manner, using prerecorded music. This is followed by the public talk. All speakers use society provided outlines, there are only so many, so everyone has probably heard the same talk several times before. Then they have a go at another boring, unsingable song, then the Watchtower study. It's a question and answer type thing, someone reads a paragraph, then the conductor asks the question supplied in the magazine, then someone raises their hand and reads back the very obvious answer they have previously dutifully highlighted in yellow. Then another horrible, unsingable song and finally annother long winded ending prayer, by which point you will be very, very happy it's over. There is no room for personal expressions of faith or any joy or any deviation from the schedule of any kind.
