every year now, we all get story after story of the cruel practive of taking people away to work on thanksgiving.
while i was not raised to celebrate the holiday, and even after taking it on, i still see it as a dinner and at best a few friends and family members eating together.
yet for most americans, it is not really that big of a deal to work on thanksgiving.
I think it's sad that we can't have a few days a year that are not all about shopping and buying things. The holidays should be about spending time with loved ones and taking a break from the every day.
I say let people be home with their families, shop another day, relationships are more important than things. On black Friday I will boycott any business that opened up on Thanksgiving and shop at those that didn't.
i want to retire.
i'm quite a ways off from the age to collect social security and all.
i don't hate working--i actually like it.
I am right there with you on that one, I hate the drama queens. I am not working at this point, so I am mostly free of drama, and I am grateful for that, but when I was in Colorado I had space at an antique cooperative, there was always something. The manager was a bully, it was her way or nothing, and she fostered drama by constantly playing favorites. People fought over which vendors they bought from ( I carry creative CO-OP, so you can't) who carried what kind of things ( I did snow angels first!) And accusations (she's copying me!). People who had space upstairs whined to get a downstairs space, or a bigger space. People got kicked out for various reasons, others got mad and left, we even had a lawsuit by a vendor (she won) . People who didn't sell well were jealous of those who did. We had one guy that ordered every one around like he was the boss, he said we were just a bunch of bored housewives (I gave him hell about that) The owner was an alcoholic slum Lord.
I loved my business there, haven't found a place out here yet, but I don't miss the drama.
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.
I recently had a milestone birthday, so it has caused be to think about things. It occurred to me that no matter what I had done in my life, I would probably have regrets about something by this point. Obviously joining a cult is pretty high up on the "wished I hadn't" scale, but no life is free from mistakes, foibles and plain bad choices, and of course we are all still making them. It also occurred to me that I did learn some things from the JWs, it did teach me some discipline, so it wasn't completely a negative thing. If I had it to do over again, of course I wouldn't, but I lived through it and are above it, and for that I am grateful.
As they say, gratitude is an attitude.
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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@ShirleyW that's what these cases are looking like. People who are mad about failed careers that seeking revenge for it. As far as sexual predators, they will always be out there.
So your take is that all fifteen women had failed careers, so they just decided to make up lies about being raped? All of them? Really?? Do you even know they all have failed careers? I'm not buying that, it's absurd. Even the JWs would find two witnesses to be sufficient proof, much less fifteen.
had a coversation with a very close friend (of 15 years) and understands how i feel about the wt org.
he himself is a serious doubter.
i on the other hand am not a doubter, i know with every living ounce of myself that this is a cult!
But he has come to grips that he would rather have "peace at home" then constant fighting.
He thinks the only two choices are living a lie or fighting constantly? That's a cop out, he is still being affected by cult mind control. Arguing takes two people, if he refuses to argue, there will be no argument, it's entirely in his control. What he means is that he doesn't want to deal with the inevitable fall out of choosing to leave. That's his choice, but don't let him fool himself that he is helpless here.
If he chooses to leave it will be unpleasant, but there is little anyone can do about it if his mind is made up and he refuses to engage with anyone about it. I think he really just isn't ready to leave yet.
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?.
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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
