Posts by fifi40

38

Are We Any Better Than the Witnesses?

by Caljuher in

i have just been on this board a short time.

i have been visiting it for years, however, via the freeminds site since i left the jws in the late 1990s.. but there is so much anger and pain and hatred--especially for people who still want to believe in some kind of god or religion--on this board that it doesn't seem to be so healthy of a place.

why so much hate?

fifi40

Caljuher

I have to agree with Awakened's comments..............I too looked back at your posts and was suprised you felt so 'hated and unwelcome'.

There are tons of different types of threads on this board..........some that offer support to those who need it, some that are fun and silly, some that are a hot bed of debate.........usually the ones entering into a heated debate do so of their own choice.

People have opinions..........people have different ways of conveying their opinions..........people have different levels of maturity, respect, anger, love, consideration, humility and many more human characteristics...........this is true of the the world and the human race ..........not just the users of this board.

If you can find peace with yourself and your own beliefs, then really nothing anyone else can say to you should or can make you feel hated or unwelcome..............even if someone says hateful things to you directly, you can understand that this is their problem, not yours, their lack of maturity, not yours, venting of their anger, not yours and so on.

Fi

18

My First Counselling Session. EDMR anybody?

by Crumpet in

jw
friends

so it hadn't escaped my attention that two weeks ago i was melting faster than a snowman on a lava flow path.. i had to do something.

i ended up in hospital.

i hoped this would mean i'd get help, not just medication, which i've tried for 6 months and hasn't really helped.

fifi40

Crumpet

Your post makes me want to cry and laugh at the same time...............you are a wonderful writer and I think you should pursue this on a professional level........you are gifted.........I have images of you skulking along the streets of London like some celebrity trying to avoid the photographer of Hello magazine.

Back to the subject at hand I have had 2 years of counselling and have more recently had a 4 sessions with a NLP practitioner which involved hypnotism (but not so I was completely unaware) and a tapping technique similar to EDMR (me thinks), The reason for my counselling and NLP work was due to to various reasons........ coming out of the JWs, losing my first son and one bad relationship, which in turn has contributed to me suffering with panic attacks on and off throughout my life from the age of 16.

The private counselling I had about 8 years ago and helped sort out a minefield of unhelpful thought process..........the NLP helped with a severe case of panic, literally within 3 sessions I felt back to normal........... and the hypnotism was after a more recent, less severe panic episode............he basically talked me into a very relaxed state and then asked me to go back to a time when i felt unsafe, (I did say to him that I dont remember a time when I felt safe) but a particular time did come into my mind and we worked around that event........I cried a lot............we then did an excercise of imagination that involved being in a room with 2 tv screens that you could control and imagining how you want your future to be.......he also gave me a cd with similar excercies to use at home.

All in all I feel much more informed and better able to cope with life than I have ever done in my life before........like you I wish I had known what I know now when I was younger. I dont think any 2 cases are comparable but in ways I can relate to things you describe, but I also recognise in you the drive and intelligence that will force you to deal with the issues you have and get to a place where you are comfortable, strong and happy.

Crumpy if you ever want to chat just ring me, I am a phone call away or a train ride away if needs be.

Hugs to you hun.

Love

Fi

91

MADELEINE MCCANN;DOES ANYTHING MAKE SENCE?

by badboy in

jw
friends

i am not sure if it does.

fifi40

Badboy you seem a little obsessive about this case...............maybe its time you took a break.

These parents are two professionals trained to be calm and collected during tragic events..........it is what they do 7 days a week in their working lives.........it is hardly suprising that they have been able to support a find madeleine campaign in the manner that they have.

If either one of these doctors had been responsible for an accident that involved the death of their little girl, I find it unbelievable that they would have calmly gone out for dinner, turning up first at the restaurant where they met friends that night.

As for appearing happy after these sad events............the fact is that after you have lost a child, and I am talking from experience albeite that my son died, your mood swings.........there are days where you are uncontrollably sad and grief stricken and there are days where you laugh and smile...........its what happens.

There guilt lies in leaving the children unattended and they are paying the biggest price ever for that.

Living where I do, I know people who have personal experience of both of these people from working with them or being a patient of them, and nobody has anything but the highest regard for them.

Fi

94

The Spread of Muslims in Europe

by serotonin_wraith in

the spread of muslims in europe.

it seems inevitable that a hundred or two hundred years from now, the majority of people in europe will be muslim.

this is based on the number of children they are having compared to non muslims, and the presumption that they will be told from a very early age they are muslim too, and taught to believe the same things as their parents.

fifi40

Burn

You would like the words of Scottish comedian Frankie Boyle who in the aftermath of the Glasgow airport attack joked "I just love the naivety of someone trying to bring religious war to Glasgow" a city known for its history of sectarian tension. He also said about Glasgow, words to the effect......." that is it only place on earth where a burning man would get kicked in the balls"........with reference to what actually happened that day.

"Aye bring it on boys"

Fi

94

The Spread of Muslims in Europe

by serotonin_wraith in

the spread of muslims in europe.

it seems inevitable that a hundred or two hundred years from now, the majority of people in europe will be muslim.

this is based on the number of children they are having compared to non muslims, and the presumption that they will be told from a very early age they are muslim too, and taught to believe the same things as their parents.

fifi40

Gill...........dont worry too much we can always set the Scots onto them if things start getting out of hand

Fi

50

Why Religion?

by hillary_step in

jw
friends

i have no issue with a person having a spiritual dimension, but i wonder why people have difficulty accepting that the religion that an individual makes up inside their head is no more or less worthy than the ones other people have made up in their heads.. why do people feel the need to have others tell them what to believe and how to think?

simplistic though this may sound, this is at the basis of all religion.

does religion scratch the itch of our insecurities?.

fifi40

Religion gives answers..............regardless of their accuracy.

Religion is like a childs comforter; it is like that worn old blanket that they snuggle up with each night, worn, tattered, misshapen and probably faded of all original colour.............its many purpose is one of reassurance, it keeps the monsters at bay...........and like a child's comforter it is more often than not given by a parent.

For some, it caters for lifes biggest questions; Why are we here and where are we going? It keeps the monster of our own mortality at arms length.......it sates the 'itch of our deepest insecurity'.

Why do we think our own religion is right? You can ask the same question of a hundred subjects.

Why do we think our own country is great?

Why do we support our own football team?

Why do we not get another's sense of humour?

Why do some feel superior because there skin is lighter?

........the list is boundless

Some human beings like to be right............it gives them a false sense of security...............it gives them an anchor in a turbulent sea..........they cling to it because to them it means 'life' literally.

I remember the comfort of 'knowing' I was right, the security of an unwavering belief of what the future held and, very occasionally I mourn the loss of 'all that was in my head' and 'kept the monsters at bay'.

Fi

58

Evolutions billion dollar question!

by Blackboo in

how did emotions evolved???

*grinning* are emotions, thinking, and morals biological?

please answer this sincere question..i am actually being nice this time.

fifi40

Blackboo after I stifled my yawn, I have to ask you have you never seen a happy dog.........a happy dog wags its tail, it gets excited at the return of its owner........you need to spend time around some animals, dogs would be a good start and whilst you may observe that dogs do not have the sometimes crazy range of emotions humans are able to muster up..........they sure can let you know they are happy.

You seem to have a mental block Blackboo.......your approach can be quite alienating as you continue to run around the board initiating threads based on the concept that you are right and anyone who disagree's is a fool.........this type of strategy usually bears little fruit and indicates that the originator is actually a fool himself.

You do realise that you are in the main addressing posters who have vast experience of faith, religious belief, devotion to a God, consideration of science and evolution and all of the consequence's the previoulsy mentioned continue to have on the world within which we live........dont you?????

You have obviously chosen to have a faith in a God, and whilst that is your choice, shouting insults at non believers is not going to make you any converts or win you any friends................and remember faith is all you have.........faith in your decision to believe that God made men.......... others who have studied the same evidence available to you have faith themselves............faith in their decision that men invented God.

Fi

64

Those who do not believe in intellient design and creation is brain dead!!

by Blackboo in

i am gonna keep it as simple as this...please answer this simple one question to you who do not believe in intelligent design.. but wait...you notice how evolution leaves out all the obvious details about the human body..which leads to my question how did man and woman evolved???

well my bible says god put man to sleep and took one of his ribs..and made woman.

whats your non god explanation...lol..i,ll wait..i need a good laugh tonight..

fifi40

BlackBoo

If your version is right why do we have the same number of ribs????

46

IF IT AIN'T BROKE---WHY would they FIX IT?

by Terry in

here is a bible quiz.

answer each question to the best of your ability.. 1.when god has sent a prophet to speak in his name, what is the standard which must be met?.

2. if a prophecy fails, what does it indicate about the prophet?.

fifi40

In one sense they have applied the 'If it aint broke......dont fix it' concept.....

They have mastered a technique, whereby no matter how far out or mistaken they are proven to be, they are able to twist their prophecy and teaching and convince themselves and their followers that this is Gods desire, that everything is just as it should be and Armaggedon is still 'just around the corner'.

They have managed to keep a large proportion of the rank and file in a state of suspense, loyalty and false reasoning, decade after decade without so much as passing suspicious thought..........'rely on Jehovah'.......'there are some things we just dont know'.

My own brother, who serves as an elder. has for definite had the issue of 607 raised to him a few years back yet continues to blindly follow the questionable lead.

It seems to me they have a system of fear that works well on the minds of many followers, and if that system continues to work well they have no need to fix it. It seems to me that many prefer to be led, blindly accepting rather than thinking and questioning...........like children with their comforters.

Good to see you around Terry

Fi

147

Getting the forum back on track

by Simon in

recently we seem to have had a few different dramas and subsequent fallout on the fourm which i feel has detracted from its purpose.

with this in mind we have decided that we need to bring the forum back on track and as such we will be clamping down on a lot of the aggressive / insulting posts which have begun to become the norm for a few people.

we will also be clamping down on the paranoid assusation type of comments against newbies, if someone joins the fourm and you do not believe everything they post - so what, why do we need to hound them away with shouts of troll and fake etc, just ignore them if you dont beleive them.

fifi40

Void Eater

Can you just clarify to me where it is that HS spoke of 'abusive' behaviour in the form of written word to be ok to use on threads..........I am struggling to find it..............I did note he used the term 'combative', which in the context it was written I took to mean that it was healthy for some to have their opinions challenged and could for some cause them to think and examine their thoughts and thinking process.

Fi