By DA'ing you are leaving on your own terms, at least, rather than leaving them to force things upon you. You sound prepared for whatever fall-out occurs. Good luck.
Alpheta
JoinedPosts by Alpheta
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5
Putting a Rabid Dog to sleep...
by AK - Jeff intrying to put a description on finally submitting my letter of da [next week].. it is the only right thing to do - the safest thing to do for those i love and wish to protect - yet the years of attachment to that which i loved deeply make it difficult also.
it is the only sane course of action, yet it brings relief and a sense of loss at the same time.
the above analogy seems to be the best fit to describe the odd emotions i am feeling [and didn't expect to feel].
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15
Looking for old friends whom I miss dearly
by Chicken Chunks indo any of you know any of the following people:.
andrea kumiko mcelfresh - aka andi; since she was such a sweet heart she's probably married by now so her last name may have changed.
if not, guys are the stupidest beings on the planet.. shannon levins (she, andi and i used to hang out all the time in wichita.
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Alpheta
Hi Tyson,
I hope you find some of your friends soon. Perhaps this link might be helpful? http://exjw.meetup.com/
Alpheta
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95
MY SON WAS ATTACKED!
by Dansk inyesterday afternoon my older son, karl, who is studying musical production at brighton university, came round to see his family.
he had just been to see his pregnant girlfriend, who is staying with her mum and dad for a week.. karl is a wonderful boy; the type of son any parent would be proud of.
he is loving, considerate, respectful and has never once caused any trouble or been in any.
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Alpheta
Hi. You don't know me, but I want to tell you I'm so glad to hear your son is okay. I hope the police catch the a-holes who did this - the video in the car park will, I hope, help.
Outlaw is right. It's an unfortunate fact of life these days that you can no longer assume that you are safe ANYWHERE. Over the past year and a half or so there have been several attacks in my city - Milwaukee, Wisconsin - by vicious packs of teens and olders who have severely injured and even killed innocent people - not gang-banger stuff (where they're killing each other), but killing innocent people standing waiting for the bus or walking home from work or going to the grocery store. It's sickening, and terrifying. Everyone is "up in arms" but no one knows what to do to solve the problem. Well, if it were up to me, I'd do a Rambo and go in with machine guns and just wipe them all out. But that's not politically correct. And that's really a stupid solution too, but that's just the measure of my ANGER and FRUSTRATION over this kind of thing, that is happening more and more.
Silly me, here I was thinking this is just an American thing (culture of violence, etc. and all that stuff I constantly hear the neo-cons spouting on television, those silly talking heads on Sunday morning television). But I see from your son's attack and what others have reported here, its not. Somehow, that's not particularly gratifying knowledge to have. How can this small minority terrorize the majority? Why do we let them?
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Feeding the Homeless
by purplesofa inone day this week, my daughter volunteered to feed and serve the homeless.
every wednesday at a certain shelter the homeless are fed with business people in the community.
the ones that can pay $3 a plate and if you cannot pay all that is asked is that you clear off your dirty dishes, etc.. i found this combination a bit odd.
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Alpheta
Purplesofa, what a wonderful daughter you have raised!
Doing that kind of volunteer work really puts one up close and personal with "but for the grace of God...". I didn't realize it at the time, but I probably raised some eyebrows, when I was vocal about the Witnesses doing more at a local level for charitable relief work. I thought that since there were so many of in the US we could have really made a difference. I suggested many times that we get involved with teaching English as a second language and tutoring people to get their GEDs (local programs run out of a few community centers in the "bad areas" by some Roman Catholic nuns) that I'd been involved with for years, and I also suggested from time to time that we get involved with Habitat for Humanity, particularly since we had so many skilled brothers and sisters who helped on the kingdom hall builds. Of course, nothing was ever done in those directions, although I got a lot of indulgent smiles. Geez, now I see how stupid I was! At the time, though, I just shrugged off their attitude that what they were doing was the "best" for people, and I kept doing what I'd been doing before I became a Witness. I just thought they were naively insular. I didn't pay attention to the Witnesses tooting their own horns about how much good they were doing with bringing people the Word of God and their literacy programs to teach people how to read the Bible. As others here have noted, that doens't put food in one's belly or clothes on one's back. I didn't stop giving to my favorite causes once I became a Witness.
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9
Were you told to give till it hurts? (Time, contributions etc)
by truthseeker ini remember hearing many times from the platform, and especially the assemblies, that we had to give our valuable things to jehovah till it hurt - and if it didn't hurt, we weren't struggling enough.. especially contributions - did we give till we hurt or did we give out of our surplus?
they love to use the example of the widow's mite to guilt us.. one co said that "some people only give jehovah 10 hours a month!
" - can you imagine that?
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Alpheta
Justice-One,
Monopoly money. Good one! LOL! Perhaps with a note attached with a recommendation that the GB turn the funny money into the real thing, just like Christ turned the water into wine.
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Secret Santa (Gift Exchange) 2006
by Angharad inhope this hasnt been posted already, if it has someone tell me as i dont want to step on anyones toes !!.
well christimas will soon be here !!.
gadget did a great job of organising the forum gift exchange the last couple of years so i thought i would give him a break and volunteer to organise it this year.. for those that are new basically what it involves is that those who want to join in will post to this thread and then pm me their name and address.
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Alpheta
I'd love to. I'll email you my info.
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9
Rep. Foley
by Alpheta inmaybe i skipped over the posts and if so, i'm sorry and you can delete this thread.
just wondering if anyone else has seen the similarities between the allegations swirling around u.s. congressman foley (rep. florida) and allegations made by victims of sexual assault for years in the jw congregations.
not as to the particulars regarding foley's somewhat hinky emails or the sexually explicit text-messages he exchanged with at least one of the house pages, but as to how certain people in power knew of the allegations of bad conduct but, instead of acting on behalf of the alleged victims, decided to "deep six" everything.. now tonight i have just seen on the t.v.
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Alpheta
"You really think it's about males? Think again."
No, Confession, I don't think it's just males. I made my statement within the limited context of the Rep. Foley and the Amish murder stories.
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Rep. Foley
by Alpheta inmaybe i skipped over the posts and if so, i'm sorry and you can delete this thread.
just wondering if anyone else has seen the similarities between the allegations swirling around u.s. congressman foley (rep. florida) and allegations made by victims of sexual assault for years in the jw congregations.
not as to the particulars regarding foley's somewhat hinky emails or the sexually explicit text-messages he exchanged with at least one of the house pages, but as to how certain people in power knew of the allegations of bad conduct but, instead of acting on behalf of the alleged victims, decided to "deep six" everything.. now tonight i have just seen on the t.v.
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Alpheta
Maybe I skipped over the posts and if so, I'm sorry and you can delete this thread. Just wondering if anyone else has seen the similarities between the allegations swirling around U.S. Congressman Foley (Rep. Florida) and allegations made by victims of sexual assault for years in the JW congregations. Not as to the particulars regarding Foley's somewhat hinky emails or the sexually explicit text-messages he exchanged with at least one of the House pages, but as to how certain people in power KNEW of the allegations of bad conduct but, instead of acting on behalf of the alleged victims, decided to "deep six" everything.
Now tonight I have just seen on the t.v. news that Foley says he was himself sexually assaulted between the ages of 13 and 15. I have read and read and read about this kind of pattern for years. Why is it that male victims of sexual assault so often prey on the innocent, in turn, and play out that same violence that was committed against them? I can't begin to fathom it.
All I know is that since this story broke (I first read about it on September 30th) I've been getting more and more angry with each new revelation of the DEPTH of - well, I don't even know what to call it! At least some of Foley's fellow politicians seemingly aided and abetted the burial of allegations of Foley's predilections. Somehow, PERFIDY just doesn't begin to describe what went on.
And also on the news tonight, the "details" about a guy in Pennsylvania who killed five young Amish schoolgirls by putting bullets into their heads because he was - allegedly - "tormented" by the facts of sexual assaults he had committed against younger victims some 20 years ago.
Am I the only one seeing a horrible, terrifying pattern here? Such as - we can expect to see more of this behavior coming out of the Kingdom Halls, because there have been so many "silent" victims? Well, I don't know what I'm saying anymore; it's way past my bedtime, a bad storm is predicted to come about 2 in the morning and I'm already worn out from three prior nights of thunder and lightning storms, so I'm going to call it a night. Maybe I'm just sleep deprived and this will all go away with a good night's sleep...
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When are ex-jws/Apostates going to get on with their lives?
by booker-t ini went to a ex-jw's potluck the other day and it will be my last time going.
there were about 20 ex-jw's there just bashing the watchtower society for 2 hours.
i had all i could take and left.
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Alpheta
I agree with many of the others have said. I guess I'm one of the "lucky" ones, because I don't have family in the WT, I came in to it as a 43 year old woman with a college education and full-blown support system outside that I never gave up; so leaving after 10 years wasn't as traumatic an event for me as it is for so many others. We all have such different circumstances...
I started visiting here initially to see if I could find out anything about the WT financial situation, that is something that ALWAYS interested me even while I was in and from time to time I'd do a few searches to see if I could find anything new on the internet. After reading so many testimonies and experiences here that have broken my heart - they hurt so much reading them - I got so sad, and angry too. And frustrated that such an organization continues to exist, seeming immune to the immense amount of suffering it has caused - rather like it accuses the Roman Catholic Church! But there are stories of hope and love and triumph here too, and vindication.
So if people need to vent at get-togethers, that's part of their process and I guess one should expect that might happen at such get-togethers, along with lots of good things too.
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17
Questions for the forum...I need some help understanding
by truckerich ini was just wondering just because the wts have made a mess of things and have done things that are questionable.
is jehovah still the name of god?
does he exist?
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Alpheta
Hi truckerich,
I believe that we all have spiritual needs, whether we acknowlege them or not. And that need has a way of expressing itself in us if we are sensitive to it.
I don't know how old your son is. If he is in school, perhaps he has picked up on certain things he's heard from classmates, or perhaps he even has some memories of singing and prayer from the few KH meetings you took him too when he was younger, and that is resonating somehow. That he is expressing an interest in "church" is, I think, a really positive and good thing.
I would not recommend going back to the KH, I don't think the Watchtower can supply us with what we truly need to operate in our day to day lives. If you want to give your son a sense of religious "structure" other than opening up the bible with him and just reading it, perhaps a unitarian or universalist church would suit you. Perhaps you can take a "tour" of different churches in your area during the holiday season that will soon be upon us, and see which one (if any) in which you and your son feel comfortable.
As for the bible - wow. Some people feel it's the word of God, no questions asked; some people feel it's a conglomeration of Hebrew history; some people feel it's a blend of both; and well, I guess there are a thousand variations of what people think about the bible. Personally I think, it's designed so that you can take out of it what you need and disregard what you think is baloney. Personally, I never did pay any attention to Paul's sourpuss garbage.
Alpheta