I remember a movie from the early 70's called Marjoe. It chronicles the life of Marjoe Gortner who started off as a child tent preacher and shows how he changes as he grows up. It then follows him as an adult (and self admitted scam artist) as he goes on a "preaching tour" to expose the business of fake evangelism. Much of his adult anger and cynicism stem from his use as a child preacher. It is a good watch...you can get it on Netflix, etc.
tenyearsafter
JoinedPosts by tenyearsafter
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25
Child preachers - I find this very disturbing
by freetosee ini believe young children are often capable of much more then we imagine.
these preacher children are surly very talented.
as much as i find them ever so cute, i find it disturbing how their parents use them to further their own religious ambitions.. .
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Worried about my friend
by pharmer ini have a friend who has been a jw for a couple years (baptized).
she might have to undergo gallbladder surgery.
i'm worried for her (about the blood issues)and have made that known.
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tenyearsafter
Ditto to what everyone else has said on "keyhole" surgery...I had it last year, and other than the standard consent forms, blood never really came up. If your friend is unfortunate enough to have open abdominal surgery (not typical any longer), then blood might be more of an issue. Even with open surgery, blood loss is not a major concern unless there is a complication which leads to excessive blood loss.
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Another day, another apostate. Here's my story.
by I Want to Believe inbeen 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.
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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
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Suicide - How many do you know within the JWs
by Lady Lee inthw 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?.
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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"!
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Watchtower Growth by CONTINENT and other Statistical Gems
by jwfacts in[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:documentproperties> <o:template>normal.dotm</o:template> <o:revision>0</o:revision> <o:totaltime>0</o:totaltime> <o:pages>1</o:pages> <o:words>8</o:words> <o:characters>48</o:characters> <o:company>netsuite</o:company> <o:lines>1</o:lines> <o:paragraphs>1</o:paragraphs> <o:characterswithspaces>58</o:characterswithspaces> <o:version>12.0</o:version> </o:documentproperties> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng /> </o:officedocumentsettings> </xml><!
[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><!
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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!
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Sacroiliac Joint Pain - Anyone?
by Lozhasleft inabout 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'.
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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!
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What's your Myers-Briggs?
by Londo111 ini 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.
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tenyearsafter
ENTJ...The Fieldmarshall
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Social Networking - Dangers
by IMHO incan someone enlighten me to the dangers of having 'friends' you don't know?.
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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!
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Social Networking - Dangers
by IMHO incan someone enlighten me to the dangers of having 'friends' you don't know?.
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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!!
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dress code for kingdom hall
by frigginconfused incould 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?.
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