bernadette

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Posts by bernadette

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  26

  Moving

  by Xena in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  our settlement visas came thru and we have booked our flights for july 16th so it's official that we are moving to scotland.

  i've already got a few boxes of confort goods (stuffed animals, photo albums and dvd's) packed and are now fixing to tear each room apart and sort it by what i want to take, store or sell.

  it's a bit daunting.

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  bernadette

  Hi Xena, welcome to Europe. Hope the move goes smoothly. If you need help just give us a call and we'll be right over for some scottish brew and to help you of course

  bernadette
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  22

  It's my Birthday!!!

  by Nellie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  okay, so thursday was my actual birthday - but i understand that i should be celebrating the whole week long .

  see what i missed all those years!.

  so, happy birthday to me !

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  bernadette

  H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y

  N E L L I E

  bernadette
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  34

  You Know You're Addicted to JWD When.....

  by brinjen in

  1. social
  2. humour

  just for fun....... the first thing you do in the morning is log on.... you view your job as just another distraction to keep you away from it.

  you start looking for career options that might allow you internet access.

  you look at all the feet in flip flops on the bus in the morning and think "crumpet would enjoy this".

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  bernadette

  You start looking for career options that might allow you internet access

  dhuh .... did have a vague feeling I was in the wrong line of work
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  46

  What didn't you do because you were a JW that you now regret?

  by jwfacts in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i just bought a bottle of wine for an exjw's 30th that i am about to run off to.

  on it there was a great quote by mark twain:.

  "twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do... explore.

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  bernadette

  Because of illness in the family I used to stay home a lot. During those years I managed to do 3 a-levels and passed with credits. What I do regret though is the guilt and shame I felt whilst doing them and having to be sneaky about the whole thing.

  bernadette
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  6

  Religious extremists in 3 faiths share views: report

  by Dogpatch in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is a valid report, but do you really think there are anywhere near as many violent fundy christians and jews as there are muslims?

  seems to obscure that, but it succeeds in pointing out the dangers of fundamentalist religions.. randy.

  religious extremists in 3 faiths share views: report.

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  bernadette

  Stern said to compare violent extremists from the three faiths was not to suggest that the threat was the same. "These are not equivalent," she said. "The problems arising from Christian or Jewish extremism are not threatening to the world in the same way as Muslim extremism is."

  It seems to me that Christian and Jewish extremism have been 'tamed' by rational thinking and much of their extremist violent behaviour is in the past and hopefully they will subject themselves to further taming and dare we hope towards complete taming? Are Muslim nations heading in that direction? Can it be speeded along?

  Btw Serotonin-wriath you have a very clear and rational way of making your point.
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  13

  Been in psychoanalysis/psychotherapy?

  by michael downing in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  being a dyed in the wool northeasterner means i have certain proclivities:.

  a love of smashmouth nfc east football and an abiding affection for underachieving baseball teamsthe ability to find woody allen films (nee' woody allen himself) exceptionally funnyan uncontrollable desire to drive 4 miles out of my way to go to the place with the better bagelsno aversion to psychotherapy/analysisi went under psychotherapy for about 8 months; not near long enough to get the kind of depth thats needed but it was still insightful and liberating in its truncated form.

  resistance is a huge factor in the process and i fought it like most, maybe with a subconscious disadvantage stemming from an inbred fear of "the world".

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  bernadette

  The sessions became even more stressful when it seemed clear that I could not make any true progress until I let go of "the truth" and accepted one simple incontrovertible truth about myself; I am apparently capable of thinking for myself and I am not in need of redemption. To quote Patti Smith: "Jesus died for sombody's sins, but not mine".

  How liberating it is to let go of a huge concept like that.

  Have been for 12 sessions of counselling/psychotherapy - Had to consciously decide not to shy away from discussing my JW life and beliefs and its impact on my ability to function as an individual.

  bernadette
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  34

  Did you ever 'Turn Someone In' to the elders? Do you regret it now?

  by AK - Jeff in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am not proud of that, for i know the pain i caused someone as i look back.. i turned in 4 people for 'gross sins' over my tenure as a jw.

  i wish i could take it back now.

  were these people guilty of 'sin' as defined by the wts?

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  bernadette

  AK Jeff you've reminded me of an awful situation that developed -

  My husband and I were both new in the 'truth' and newly married - we were asked to encourage a sis who had 4 small children and, what we didn't know at the time, she was also emotionally vulnerable.

  During the course of our helping her she confided that one of the elders was deeply in love with her and she with him. It was all based on meaningful looks that he had supposedly given her.

  Well being such an earnest couple we warned the poor elder. He almost went to pieces and told us that his wife was very very jealous and ithat f she got wind of what this sis was saying his life wouldn't be worth living. Honestly - he was so upset that he went straight over to the poor sis and basically told her what he'd been told and said that she was delusional and that his attention to her was simply because she was a a member of his group.

  The poor sis confided what had happened to me and my husband, only she blamed a single parent sister for telling the elder. She was ready to go over there and have it out with the single parent sister.

  We quickly told her that we were the culprits and we were very sorry. There was dead silence and she ordered us to leave.

  The awful outcome was that she had a nervous breakdown (poor thing had already had 2 breakdowns in the past so she was very vulnerable) and ended up in mental hospital.

  I can't believe we did that - its really upsetting for me to think about it now. Thanks for letting me tell you about it. weren't we self righteous.

  bernadette
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  10

  JW publications are so toxic they result in False Memory Syndrome

  by Abaddon in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i know the effect of the lovely blood and gore illustrations in the borg publications has beendiscussed, but i think here is proof postive that speculaion they are harmful to children is actually true.. it concerns events after a baby's body was found in rupert, idaho.

  the case had no leads, although obviously some people believed it was proof of satanic ritual abuse, until one ay tyhey had a call.

  a child protection official in san bernardino county, calif., was on the line.

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  bernadette

  We are fairly well convinced that the little boy didn't see any," Everitt says now. "We believe the boy jumbled what he's been read, and other folks interpreted that as they wanted. Probably the next step will be to give a clean bill of health to the father as well. We can't connect him to anything."

  Also when religious parents read bible stories to their children their tone can convey the deep religous significance of the the story so the pictures and words gets deep into the psyche of the poor children .

  Perhaps the day will come when 'My book bible stories' comes with a mental health warning
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  67

  FOR THOSE UNFORTUNATE ENOUGH TO BE GOING TO THE ASSEMBLY, HERE'S SOME TIPS:

  by Mary in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  yes, there are several of us that either have to go to the crap-assed assembly this year, or simply because we plan on taking notes and posting them here.

  knowing how bloody boring the entire thing is, i've made some tips up on how you can keep awake during the 2007 borefest:are you really going to the assembly this year?

  are you ready to fall asleep by 10:05am when the opening song and prayer are over?

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  bernadette

  wow what fun - almost wish i was going now - but it would have to be in disguise - us faders could get together pretend to be very worldly visitors - we could sit in your row Mary and innocently offer you and your family our . What a picinic
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  29

  DID YOU DEDICATE YOURSELF BEFORE BAPTISM OR DID YOU LIE?

  by free2think in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was just wondering when you where going through the questions for baptism did you know you had to dedicate yourself to jehovah before hand or did you lie?.

  i didn't know i had to so when i went through the questions i had to lie and say i had.

  i always felt bad about it afterwards and quickly did a little prayer that night.

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  bernadette

  I remember being quite puzzled re the need for dedication because it seemed to me that only the 144,000 should be dedicated and the rest of us should just be baptised.