Posts by DubBeachBabe

156

Reveal something interesting that we didn't know about you

by JH in

jw
friends

.

ok, i'll start with myself.

i'm a nut job, hey i bet you never knew that !!!

DubBeachBabe

Hey whiam

Next time I'm in Wisconsin I'll eat sushi with you.

Maybe some yummy tuna nigiri soaked in soya sauce, or a salmon rose or six, or just some avo maki with wasabi. Or another big platter of luscious salmon sashimi.

Stop me please.

BB

156

Reveal something interesting that we didn't know about you

by JH in

jw
friends

.

ok, i'll start with myself.

i'm a nut job, hey i bet you never knew that !!!

DubBeachBabe

I'm addicted to sushi. Especially Norwegian salmon sashimi. Very addicted.

34

What do you like to read?

by JH in

jw
friends

.

i must still be programmed to think like a jw, cause i like to read articles about how bad things are going in the world.

the worse the world conditions become, the more i love to read.

DubBeachBabe

Besides books, especially current Southern African fiction, which are piled high on my bedside pedestals, I'm a bit of a current affairs junkie.

I've had to control it a bit, so...

I subscribe to the Sunday Times. On Sundays I get up before dawn sometimes to retrieve my big fat piece of multi-layered newsprint from underneath my doormat, protected from the weather in its translucent pale pastel plastic and delivered by some unknown angel in the early hours of the morning, full of the latest scoops, scandals, news, business, career and lifestyle articles.

I can happily read it, armed with a wake-up espresso, and then a keep-going filter coffee, and another, until lunchtime.

And always at work the next day there is something I've read that relates directly to a project or a client. In fact, my manager's manager's manager, the CEO and a captain of industry, said the other day that he doesn't know anyone else that reads the Sunday Times from cover to cover.

Does that make me weird ?

63

Jehovah's Witnesses are not a CULT ...

by Fatfreek in

according to 30% of the following definitions.

that leaves 70% that show quite the opposite.

so -- are they a cult?

DubBeachBabe

I agree with Drew that the JW organisation is more of a high control group than a true cult in its 21st century definition.

The term certainly is open to many interpretations. Christianity began as a cult by most definitions, if you think about the context of its origins. But I think one of the defining features of a truly scary cult is that a high-powered all-controlling personality heads it up (like Moonies, The Way International).

In that sense, JWs don't belong to a cult. (Or maybe I'm one of those exJWs in denial!)

What got to me the absolute most, when I was inside of it, was the presumptiousness of trying to control everyday things like what movies people watch, for heaven's sake, and what facial hair is permissible. How long a hem on a dress should be. Whether to do yoga (answer: never). Who may stay over at your house.

Anecdote: the only time I was ever personally visited by a pair of elders to discuss my 'conduct' was when a bunch of guys, brothers in good standing, stayed over in the living room of the house I was sharing with two other girls, all three of us in excellent standing, after a chaste dinner party! I shudder now when I think of that visit . My spare room is open to any friends, any time!

If you buy into that stuff then it's easy to unquestioningly not get a higher education, work part-time for the rest of your life, grow old without financial provisions, die on an operating table...

But then, there really are people who need and want that degree of 'guidance'. I'm just not one of them. My mantra is Don't tell me what to do! If I don't make my own decision then it's not my decision. And then it's not my life.

27

XJW critical mass?

by IP_SEC in

jw
friends

how many xjws are there out there?

how many xjws know the truth about the troof?

are there now more xjws than there are active witnesses?

DubBeachBabe

Hi Brenda

I think you're spot-on with your observation about the new growth coming from developing countries.

This poses even more of an ethical challenge to current JWs in developing countries, or should. For example, in South Africa where I am, there are people who have had access to first-world upbringing, education, and so on, and there are those, countless millions, who haven't. Those who haven't are on a back foot when the advantaged (read: mainly white) people preach to them.

Mixed in with this is the whole United States thing. It's an American religion with American literature, American leaders and for heavens sake, American voices during the drama at the convention! America represents a degree of sophistication, aspiration. Perhaps a future to some.

BB

18

Wow. A really great insider story...

by DubBeachBabe in

this is one of the best-written and most insightful experiences i've read.

if you're interested in how bethel's writing department actually works, and recent scandals, this is a thought-provoking story.

i like this woman already.. it's very lengthy, so grab a cup of good coffee or a glass of wine, and settle in for a long read: .

DubBeachBabe

Thanks for the welcome, serendipity.

I did a quick click on your profile - I'm still finding my way around here - and was interested to see that you, as do I, use the expression 'cognitive dissonance' in your bio.

Maybe that's a key to a lot of what's going on here.

BB

18

Wow. A really great insider story...

by DubBeachBabe in

this is one of the best-written and most insightful experiences i've read.

if you're interested in how bethel's writing department actually works, and recent scandals, this is a thought-provoking story.

i like this woman already.. it's very lengthy, so grab a cup of good coffee or a glass of wine, and settle in for a long read: .

DubBeachBabe

This story may be bigger than we realise.

If you haven't personally been exposed to child sexual abuse, it's easy to say blah-di-blah. I certainly wasn't, in my almost idyllic childhood, and I couldn't imagine the relevance of the issue to my own life.

But when I read Barbara's article, it reminded me that I ran into an ex (or inactive) JW a few months ago, a guy who still stays in touch with people in the sea-side congregations where we were both involved in our active JW days.

He told me about an elder in our neighbouring congregation, a well-respected dentist, who had been having sex with his daughter for all those years.

I checked with my own sister, still very much part of that world. Yep, it's true.

Damn, I knew Uncle Gert and I had no idea. We had no idea.

He's no longer allowed to be an elder, and he's retired now, in a congregation further up the coast.

What can I say?

18

Wow. A really great insider story...

by DubBeachBabe in

this is one of the best-written and most insightful experiences i've read.

if you're interested in how bethel's writing department actually works, and recent scandals, this is a thought-provoking story.

i like this woman already.. it's very lengthy, so grab a cup of good coffee or a glass of wine, and settle in for a long read: .

DubBeachBabe

Hey beachbender

Thanks. So how do you do that, beach-bending? Is it like yoga on the beach in Florida?

18

Wow. A really great insider story...

by DubBeachBabe in

this is one of the best-written and most insightful experiences i've read.

if you're interested in how bethel's writing department actually works, and recent scandals, this is a thought-provoking story.

i like this woman already.. it's very lengthy, so grab a cup of good coffee or a glass of wine, and settle in for a long read: .

DubBeachBabe

Hi Fullof

Thanks. I've spent some time on JWO, but ze man with ze rubber you-know-whats suggested this as a more interesting forum.

I fear that the huge numbers of posts and people here may be a bit intimidating, and may distract me from more important pursuits, like exploring good sauvignon blanc.

Let's see.

BB

18

Wow. A really great insider story...

by DubBeachBabe in

this is one of the best-written and most insightful experiences i've read.

if you're interested in how bethel's writing department actually works, and recent scandals, this is a thought-provoking story.

i like this woman already.. it's very lengthy, so grab a cup of good coffee or a glass of wine, and settle in for a long read: .

DubBeachBabe

This is one of the best-written and most insightful experiences I've read. If you're interested in how Bethel's Writing Department actually works, and recent scandals, this is a thought-provoking story.

I like this woman already.

It's very lengthy, so grab a cup of good coffee or a glass of wine, and settle in for a long read:

http://www.freeminds.org/women/barbdiscovery.htm

BB