Posts by LisaRose

30

Handing out candy

by mikeypants in

growing up my parents would barricade our home off by parking vehicles bumper to bumper - you would have to crawl under the cars or over the bumpers to get to our door.

also, we would turn off all the lights and hide in the back room away from the street.. that was the norm for me.

isnt that insane?

LisaRose

my husband and I and some of our fellow minions.

30

Handing out candy

by mikeypants in

growing up my parents would barricade our home off by parking vehicles bumper to bumper - you would have to crawl under the cars or over the bumpers to get to our door.

also, we would turn off all the lights and hide in the back room away from the street.. that was the norm for me.

isnt that insane?

I had a great time. We always think we bought too much candy, but then they start to really come. And come. And come. We gave out every last piece, 600 or so. Our neighborhood is popular for trick or treaters obviously.

We took lots of pictures and had our pictures taken. We dressed as minions which was a big hit with the little ones. We got one picture with a whole family of minions. We gave out all the candy then walked over to our neighborhood bar for a nightcap. Met a very nice Lt. Uhura and Captain Kirk.

I remember the days of hiding out in the back room, all lights off and a note taped to the door asking people not to ring the doorbell. How silly we were. I hear Pat Roberson said Halloween was children were "celebrating Satan". Whatever, we had a blast.

372

On respect for the belief of others. Sorry for the long post

by StarTrekAngel in

i am inclined to start this thread in response to some comments made in other threads.

i have been coming around these forum for quite some time now so whatever you find in here is not just related to something someone may have said this week.

it can go months back as well.. i have seen many who claim to respect the belief of others but when it comes down to applying it into practice, things take a whole different tune.

LisaRose

Tenacious, thank you for giving examples. In reading through them, I find some went over the line in making a point, but others I don't see the problem. I don't have the context, so it's hard to know on some of them

For example

It's somehow comforting to see that stupid posters are still proud of their ignorance and still posting away, proving stupid is something we can't fix, like a mental disorder

I feel this comment went too far. If it were my forum I would probably not allow that kind of thing, because it is insulting the person, not the comment, but it's not my forum. But as Simon pointed out, it is a discussion forum, if you cannot handle criticism, you should probably not be discussing your beliefs on it. I also don't know the context, perhaps the person was being deliberately obnoxious, I've seen some pretty stupid things posted here.

I always make sure that I can back up what I post. You're lack of ability to do the same is not my problem.

I don't see the problem here. There is no name calling, the person is simply pointing out that the person did not prove their point. The tone was a bit insulting, but if we didn't allow that kind of thing there wouldn't ever be any discussion of weighty topics. There isn't a forum on the internet that doesn't have that, most are a lot worse.

I have criticized other in the past for being insulting, but then I noticed that those getting the most ridicule were often people who refused to engage in any meaningful discussion, they simply wanted to spout nonsense and not be challenged. That isn't going to happen here and I wouldn't want it to.

All ideas and opinions are not equally valid. What the insulting posters are trying to do is to make people think, and to do that you sometimes you have to be blunt. If it distresses you to read that kind of thing, then you should stay out of controversial threads, or go to a different forum, there are plenty of them out there. I personally don't usually like insulting people, it's not my style, but I do think those people who do that often have very valid points. It might be good to just read their posts, with out any judgement about tone or manner, and see if there might be something for you to learn.

23

Halloween / Birthday celebration

by River Song in

new to the board, first time posting a topic.

i just wanted to say how refreshing and sometimes funny it has been lurking here.

so much so that i decided to sign up to this message board.

LisaRose

Welcome river song, glad you found us. Yes, it's hard for a non JW to understand what it's like being in a controlling and destructive religion, but we have all been there, done that and get it.

I also am into Halloween big time, I am very much looking forward to it, my husband and I are going to be minions, not very original, but I think the kids will like it. We get tons of trick or treater, like 600, so we just sit on the porch and hand out candy all evening.

If you are able to do it we would love to hear more of your story.

211

Where are you from?

by BeautifulMind in

jw
friends

i know we are all anonymous for our own personal reasons, so i understand if you would rather not say.

but if you don't mind sharing that would be cool.

i currently live in georgia, usa.

LisaRose

I live in Hercules California, a small town in the north east corner of the San Francisco Bay area, California.

One of the things I like about the forum is chatting with people from all over, and I enjoy the bay area because we have people from everywhere in the world.

372

On respect for the belief of others. Sorry for the long post

by StarTrekAngel in

i am inclined to start this thread in response to some comments made in other threads.

i have been coming around these forum for quite some time now so whatever you find in here is not just related to something someone may have said this week.

it can go months back as well.. i have seen many who claim to respect the belief of others but when it comes down to applying it into practice, things take a whole different tune.

LisaRose

Eden, can you give an example of a post you find objectionable?

47

Suicide or Real Freedom? - My Story As One Of Jehovah's Witnesses

by dubstepped in

"sometimes i think the only thing i could do that wouldn't upset someone would be to kill myself.".

those were the frustrated words of my friend as we stood out in his large yard in the country, just about to enjoy a nice bonfire on a beautiful night.

what was it that could have been a lesser evil than killing himself?

LisaRose

That was a great post, thank you for putting it all down.

I have ADHD also, I only realized it when my daughter was diagnosed as an adult, in researching it I realized I was ADHD also. It explained so much about me and my life and why I struggled with things. When I was a JW I always thought there was something wrong with me, that I was a bad person because I couldn't pay attention at the meetings, actually I hated every minute of them. Well, there was something wrong with me, but it wasn't that I was bad, and the meetings actually were rather horrible. It was such a relief to learn tatt, I didn't have to force myself to do something I hated so much.

I find that meditation helps me with the ADHD, it improves my focus and follow through.

18

I could sue the WTBTS

by shattered_origins in

ever since my sister gave me an " awakening," i have been somewhat obsessed with the failings of the religion i was born into.

i am especially outraged at the article i read about how the elders are supposed to deal with accusations of sexual abuse (jwfacts.com/watchtower/paedophelia.php).

i myself suffered sexual and emotional abuse from a family "friend"/ministerial servant in a neighboring congregation.

LisaRose

I would think you would only have a case if the elders had some knowledge of his behavior prior to his harming you. Otherwise, it's not something the Watchtower could have prevented. Conti won because the elders knew about her abuser, as he had been accused in a prior case, but they still allowed him to go out door to door with her.

If the scumbag that molested you had later gone on to molest someone else, then they might have a case, depending on the circumstances. But you should contact an attorney to be sure, laws vary from place to place.

48

Your thoughts on Halloween , yes, no or maybe ?

by Finkelstein in

well its that time again when the ghouls come out to play.

i personally think halloween is a bit irresponsible and inappropriate from a sociological perspective.. there's something about the intent of frightening young impressionable children minds with frightening objests.

and feeding them candy which most likely cause tooth decay and stomachs is irresponsible activity conducted by adults.

LisaRose

I am totally for it. It's a big deal in my neighborhood, we get 600 trick or treaters on average. Their aren't actually many children here, but it has gotten a reputation as a good place to trick or treat, so we have just gone with it. We decorate and wear costumes and sit on our porch and hand out candy. My husband and I are minions this year. We love seeing the little ones in their costumes.

I think the scary aspect of it is fine, you are showing your kids that things can look scary, but they are just pretend, it's a way for them to confront their fears and learn to deal with them, I think it fills a need. Of course if you have a fearful child you just don't take them out at night, there are plenty of daytime activities for the little ones. I can tell you that every child I see is having a really, really good time.

As for the candy, I don't think something you do once a year is going to harm you, it's the day to day sugar consumption that will do you in. being able to indulge once a year is one of the fun things about it. We keep buying more and more candy hoping to have a few left, but that hasn't happens yet, we spent $60 on candy this year.

13

Disfellowshipped at a funeral

by Yogapants in

recently at a funeral for an active jw, death was sudden and tragic.

was surprised that that one of the disfellowshipped children of the deceased was comforted by the jw's at the funeral.

i would say the majority hugged and said a few short words to the disfellowshipped child on the recieving line to comfort the family.

LisaRose

Yeah, I was surprised to get a hug last year from my uber strict JW sister-in-law, who shuns her own children, at my brothers memorial service. It seems that no matter how much much they have been conditioned to shun, there is a part of them that doesn't want to.