bernadette

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Posts by bernadette

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  39

  Days that Go From Bad to Downright Embarassing

  by Crumpet in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so far this monday has been one nightmare after another.. it began with discovering that overnight my computer has wiped my harddrive - everything gone - photos, msn conversations, university assignments, diaries, letters, work docs, movies, videos, unmentionables.

  i feel like i have been erased!

  why - i have no idea?.

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  bernadette

  When I was a poor pioneer i used to frequent charity shops. I picked up a really pretty blouse on one occasion and wore it to the meeting - only the buttonholes had stretched from the previous owner and the blouse came undone after the meeting without my noticing. So there was me walking up and down the aisle with my chest on display feeling quite proud of my new flattering blouse. sooo embarrassing.
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  13

  a prostitute at 16 thanks to the WT

  by mathilde in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  yesterday i promised i would tell another ugly but true story about sexual abuse within the org,so here we go:.

  my ex comes from a catholic family.his youngest sister and he became a jw at the same time ( like me they had an elder brother in the org.but not much contact with the jw) my sister in law had a large family -7 children.6 of them very pretty but also rather stupid but then came young p, a very gentle, handsome and intelligent boy.he really stood out.

  he was brilliant at school and they wanted him to study- but his parents said no.somebody from school came over to talk with the parents-this man said it would be a terrible waste not to let such an intelligent young man study, but they were unshakable-it was almost paradise time and this boy would never use that education for anything- so why bother?

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  bernadette

  Hi Mathilde

  what a sad story.

  We learned something from that case and promised each other that we would never do this to one of our boys-no matter what the boys might do and what the org. might say or do against us.We also promised each other we would always say hello to those who were DFd,no org.would dictate us who to say hello to and who not.

  welcome

  bernadette
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  31

  How did you spend Sunday?

  by Crumpet in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i spent mine enjoying a traditional sunday romp in the rural idyll that is england, communing with nature.. this, for those who dont know, translates as getting lots of manure on my shoes, nodding politely at passing ramblers, edging away from the well endowed bull, walking for a couple of miles, limbo-dancing under electric fences, and then fighting for a table along with the countryside's finest and their dogs, tucking into a traditional sunday lunch and a pint, then walking it back off - wondering if i a) i just ate one of the bull's babies and b) if i did, can he smell it?!.

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  bernadette

  visited relatives too, a huge sunday meal and a long 2 hour walk taking in 2 families of swans with five signets between them. We were treated to an amazing scene of a male swan chasing a couple of Canadian geese off of his patch after which he gave one of his signets a ride on his back
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  23

  Polytheism, Monotheism, Atheism: a logical sequence?

  by Narkissos in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the current heated "(monotheist) believers vs. atheists" threads tends to overlook, imo, this rather commonplace but relevant issue: how modern atheism continues (and thus is tributary to) a line of religious, philosophical and scientific thought which runs from ancient polytheism through monotheism, both in greek and jewish traditions (which are the two main sources of western culture).. in the greek-speaking world, homeric-like polytheism went out of fashion, and although political authorities stood for the conservation of popular worship of the gods (atheism being a capital offence, ask socrates), an intellectual monotheism came to the fore, especially in platonic tradition, along with more or less "underground" forms of early atheism (democritus, epicurus).. in judea, for mainly political reasons ("one god, one temple, one priesthood, one king") the "deuteronomistic reform" of the 7th century bc promoted the active rejection (1) of all other gods than yhwh, and (2) of any representation of yhwh himself, henceforth branded as "idolatry".

  it also (3) reinterpreted most "natural" features in older israelite religion (linking yhwh, just as baal, with the cycle of seasons, especially the rain and dry seasons, vegetal and animal fertility) into historical (or pseudo-historical) celebrations: the feast of spring became the celebration of the national foundation in the exodus from egypt, etc.

  (4) the development of a doctrine of creation, increasingly construed as creatio ex nihilo -- mere "fabrication" of the world out of nothing instead of the older theomachy (struggle between the gods) wrestling for order out of chaos contributed to emptying "nature" of its numinous, sacred or divine presences: the sun, the moon, the stars, vegetables, animals and humans became mere "objects," vessels designed and made by a master craftsman, but devoid of intrinsic divinity.

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  bernadette

  An interesting topic Narkissos - It made me think of Jesus words "you will know the truth and the truth will set you free". The wts tells us that we are set free from false worship but really they then enslave us by their absolutist theistic rules and regulations disguised as truth which imo all religion does to a lesser or greater extent.

  I think I'd see atheism as "truth setting us free" and therefore as progress because it allows us the freedom (and responsibility) to bring our own sense of judgement with regard to values and morals into play. (excuse me misapplying the scripture but it makes more sense like that, to me).
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  4

  The Snow Day

  by WTWizard in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i know it's a little late in the year for snow, unless you live in the far north or high up in the mountains.

  but, i wonder how many others would hope for a blizzard on meeting night or when the a$$emblies were scheduled--or if anyone has ever had the crapmorial cancelled for snow.. one thing i liked was when, on a meeting day, it would be snowing hard.

  there would be a foot or so on the ground with more coming down toward suppertime.

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  bernadette

  No such luck over where we live - mind you flu was a blessing in disguise especially if it lasted for a couple of weeks

  btw is that a blizzard you've got going on in your avator?
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  28

  letter to parents of molesting ex-husband---FEEDBACK PLEASE!!!

  by J-ex-W in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  trying to get topic page started (keep getting 'error page' instead)...hopefully letter will show in next post....

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  bernadette

  You poor thing J-ex-w. Steven sounds like he has an obsession with sex.

  Be prepared for some of the victims to have obliterated events from their memory. Someone I know who had all sorts of sexual deviations carried out on her as a child doesn't remember any of it .

  But like others have said definitely inform the police too cos its very likely that steven has continued to abuse.

  bernadette
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  12

  Man's search for meaning

  by ithinkisee in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a book that i cannot recommend enough.

  one of the more balanced views of life from someone who was stripped down to his very existence as a prisoner in the nazi concentration camps.

  the book is short - half the book is dedicated to covering his actual experience in the camps.

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  bernadette

  Ithinkisee, that is an excellent book - took it with me on holiday recently. Here is another quote, the author says

  "the perception of meaning as I see it, more specifically boils down to becoming aware of a possibility against the background of reality or, to express it in plain words, to becoming aware of what can be done about a given situation."

  Viktor Frankl writes about finding meaning in the context of life in the moment rather than a grand scheme of things in the distant future or up in the sky.

  I definitely recommend it.

  bernadette
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  20

  Anyone else end up on a JC after losing their virginity?

  by yaddayadda in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  yep, i did.

  i got 'privately reproved' after rushing to the elders to confess my sin after losing my virginity via fornicating.

  i think all that shame and guilt and legalism that flowed on from that experience must've f*cked me up a bit, scuse the pun.

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  bernadette

  I almost ended up on a JC before I got married - got to the 2 elder stage

  Tyrone

  Does anybody agree or am I just talking out the top of my hat. Thats what happened with me anyways and that's what I see.

  You are so right Tyrone. If no body else knows the elders will cover it up and let everyone continue to think you are a shining example of innocent purity and righteousness. really sorry that you suffered so much and for so long.

  bernadette
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  11

  Do bad things happen to us for a reason.................................

  by fifi40 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  some believe that things happen to you for a reason...................that you are being told to slow down, or get fit, give up spending hours on the internet.....................i think you get the picture.. so i dont know what yesterday was all about but here goes..............i parked up in the petrol station, got out to fill up and thought i'd lock the car (as i needed to get bread and milk from the mini supermarket attatched to the petrol station - sainsburys for uk readers)..........so i am happily filling up the freelander with diesel when the darn thing starts to roll forward..................aaaggghhhh..............panicking i dropped the pump on the ground try to open the front door (which i have locked) then i am trying to get to the remote but the keys are in the petrol cap making it very awkward to get to..............meanwhile the car is still slowly rolling toward the pay kiosk and on its little journey blocking the exit path for other cars.............eventually i get it open and pull on the hand brake (our other car has an automatic hand brake ........so being a dumb blonde i forget sometimes).

  i then returned to filling the diesel tank up.............aghast at the amount of diesel that had slopped down the side of the car.......................got in the car reversed up a bit to allow the exit path to be clear and went into pay.

  next i had to stand in the queue for 10 minutes because the person on the till was on the phone to the police because somone else had filled up before me and driven off without paying..................eventually i made it back to the car and drove off...........only to hear this loud grunching noise coming from the underside of the car............it sounded like i had a bike stuck under there..............so i pull up in the middle of the road in front of some traffic lights and get out to inspect..........back, front, sides and nothing showing........so back in the car up to the lights (which change on me just as i am about to cross and i am now nervous that the car is about to disintegrate around me so i stopped past the lights, but had not gone across the road and i cant see the lights so i dont know when its my turn to go).........fortunately there was a car behind me so when he started to move so did i...............but still it sounds like i am dragging half the steel industry around with me.......so i pull up again..............which is when i notice the little green light on the display area blinking madly at me.........................in my haste to pull the hand brake on i had managed to switch a fourwheel drive/steep incline button on................the problem was soon resolved.. so what is life trying to tell me...........................should i get a bike or maybe a horse?.

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  bernadette

  So what is life trying to tell me...........................should I get a bike or maybe a horse?

  I think you'll find a bike more useful for city life

  Personally I'd suggest doing what Outlaw's has done - life among the penguins
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  22

  THE NEW SYSTEM WILL BE OVER CROWDED ?

  by vitty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  im following along a little from the above topic.

  i remember in a book study reading that there are more people alive on the earth today than have ever lived in the past.......6 billion.

  so is it true that less than 6 billion people have ever lived up to this century?.

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  bernadette

  I remember that point coming up in a bookstudy group - can't remember what book we were studying. The study conductor very animatedly pulled out ephesians 1:21 "not only in this system of things but also in that to come." How many stars and planet's are there, he said excitedly.

  I used to use his point a lot in the ministry until I was told very firmly - that's speculation. but its fun I wanted to say.

  bernadette