Posts by tenyearsafter

49

Another day, another apostate. Here's my story.

by I Want to Believe in

been lurking for a bit, and feel safe enough now to tell my story (condensed).. i'm a third-generation born-in, but my parents were inactive for most of my upbringing.

this means i got the worst of both worlds--no worldly friends (home schooled all but grades 2-3), no witness friends (since we never went to the hall except for memorial), and a generally isolated upbringing in a tiny, tiny town.

needless to say, my emotional, social, and personal growth were stunted.

tenyearsafter

Welcome I Want To Believe!...great first post.

I really liked your use of Pascal's Wager...I am of a similar mind and can really relate to how you feel. I was also a born-in and struggled with it for the first 40 years of my life. What really turned the corner for me was reading Crisis of Conscience by Ray Franz. I don't know if you have read it, but I might suggest you do. The first 100 pages are a bit dry, but then it turns on the after burners and you won't be able to put it down. If your wife is open to reading, suggest it to her and let her make her own decisions about what it says. Good luck with your journey (and hers)!

TYA

234

Suicide - How many do you know within the JWs

by Lady Lee in

thw wts likes to play games with their statistics.

one interesting but truly tragic is the number of jwhovah's witnesses who commit suicie.. now i suspect that if a person commits suicide shortly before or after they are disfellowshipped then the elders would say that person wasn't a witness or that they had done something so terrible that they were too guilty to admit it and by their action of committing suicide they pretty much declared they were no longer a jw.. yup fancy talk to make sure any crap didn't fall on them.. so my question.. do you know of cases like this?

if so then can you answer a few more questions.. had this person been dfed or in real danger of being dfed or whatever the equivalent is if they were never baptized?.

tenyearsafter

I know of two...

One was a close friend growing up, who became a regular pioneer and MS. He was the "perfect" JW, married a pioneer sister and did everything by the book. He was always under pressure to do more by both the elders and his wife. As I was moving out of that congregation, I noticed that he was acting less happy and somewhat down in the mouth. I think his spirituality was suffering and he had started to struggle. After I had moved, I found out he had put a gun to his head and committed suicide.

The other instance was from that same congregation. We had a young brother who was obviously effemminate, but not openly gay. He eventually was DF'ed for being gay (or so it was speculated). He was out for a a couple years, "gave up" his gay lifestyle and was reinstated. Within months, he took his own life...another victim of the "Happiest People on Earth"!

42

Watchtower Growth by CONTINENT and other Statistical Gems

by jwfacts in

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[endif][if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:zoom>0</w:zoom> <w:trackmoves>false</w:trackmoves> <w:trackformatting /> <w:punctuationkerning /> <w:drawinggridhorizontalspacing>18 pt</w:drawinggridhorizontalspacing> <w:drawinggridverticalspacing>18 pt</w:drawinggridverticalspacing> <w:displayhorizontaldrawinggridevery>0</w:displayhorizontaldrawinggridevery> <w:displayverticaldrawinggridevery>0</w:displayverticaldrawinggridevery> <w:validateagainstschemas /> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:saveifxmlinvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:ignoremixedcontent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables /> <w:dontgrowautofit /> <w:dontautofitconstrainedtables /> <w:dontvertalignintxbx /> </w:compatibility> </w:worddocument> </xml><!

[endif][if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:latentstyles deflockedstate="false" latentstylecount="276"> </w:latentstyles> </xml><!

tenyearsafter

I love the flow chart JWFacts! My friends and I have had a good chuckle...especially the "do you think that underwear can be magical?" filter!

15

Sacroiliac Joint Pain - Anyone?

by Lozhasleft in

jw
friends

about ten days ago this pain started...kind of around my hip bone then gradually increasing around my back and down my groin.

i managed to see a dr last thursday and although i had no urinary symptoms i thought it was something to do with my kidney.

by then it was becoming unbearable and strong analgesics and anti inflammatories weren't touching it.. the dr disagreed and said 'i think this is the sacroiliac joint'.

tenyearsafter

I don't know how many tests (ie: MRI, xray, etc.) you have had, but typically sciatic pain manifests itself by local pain in the buttocks, often radiating down the back of the leg. The lack of relief you are experiencing with position changes or analgesics does smack of nerve type pain, perhaps a disc herniation or muscle spasm impinging a nerve. I would make sure to get an MRI if insurance covers, and that can confirm this type of injury.

I had similar complaints earlier this year, and given that I had a history of back problems, I assumed I had sciatica inflammation again. When it got worse, I went to a neurosurgeon and he informed me the problem wasn't my back but rather my hip. I mention this because you said you had groin pain, and that is a very common pain complaint with degenerative arthritis in the hip. I ended up having my hip replaced in September, and I am good as new...back to full activity!

Whatever your problem ends up being, I wish you relief with your discomfort...I hope it is short-lived and easily remedied!

111

What's your Myers-Briggs?

by Londo111 in

jw
friends

i am infp.. some former witnesses in my hometown had a meetup last night...alas, only four of us.

but it turned out we had an infp(me), two infjs, and an enfp.

therefore, it turned out we were all idealists.

tenyearsafter

ENTJ...The Fieldmarshall

20

Social Networking - Dangers

by IMHO in

can someone enlighten me to the dangers of having 'friends' you don't know?.

tenyearsafter

Trust me, you would be amazed what people post. To assume people understand the internet is a bit of a leap of faith...why do you think employers search Facebook as part of the vetting process for prospective employees. You'd be shocked at what people post that comes back to haunt them!

20

Social Networking - Dangers

by IMHO in

can someone enlighten me to the dangers of having 'friends' you don't know?.

tenyearsafter

If you are talking Facebook, by allowing a "friend", you will be giving them access to any information you have generally available on your social network site to friends. It will also let them see who else is in your network of friends. This could cause you some privacy issues if you have a lot of personal information posted.

LOL Outlaw!!

14

dress code for kingdom hall

by frigginconfused in

could a man with long hair and a scruffy face make it up to elder status?.

ive seen some a list actors with long hair and beards at award shows.

they looked sexy, mature, and profesional.. think a guy like that could make it?.

tenyearsafter

no

57

Difficulties understanding passage.

by s-c-3-1-3 in

i am reading colossians 1:15-18, and understand it to mean that jehovah created jesus who then created all other things in the world, thus jesus crall things except for god who created him.

is this correct?

thanks in advance!.

tenyearsafter

Welcome to the Board s-c-3-1-3...if you follow your line of reasoning, yes Jesus created all things except Jehovah...but why would you just assume that adding words is part of the original scripture? That is a bit intellectually dishonest to make that leap...just sayin'.

57

So whats your guilty secret?

by Voices in

jw
friends

alright.....i've had some alcohol.....and i'm not drunk..but slightly buzzed... and i've caved into my guilty secret... i hate to say it.....i really do, adn most of you wont understand this....but.......i just want to say......cradle of filth is a great awesome band.

it's like scream-o, death, gothic metalness that pieces and connects so much for me.

i havn't heard them since 2006, but.....man....it's my guilty secret...... .

tenyearsafter

Sons of Anarchy