Why, yes, I found going to the meetings and out in service to be psychologically abusive. Emotionally, too. I just hated it right down to the core of my being.
francois
we have all read and watched so many of the child abuse / sexual abuse scandals, and it makes us all sick to our stomachs, i want to touch on a different kind of abuse, i am not trying to draw a parellel between child abuse and being abused.
the abuse i am talking about is just as bad but so different.
i remember growing up a jw, basically having no choice, whether i wanted to go to the meetings or in service, and i always resented this in my parents.
Why, yes, I found going to the meetings and out in service to be psychologically abusive. Emotionally, too. I just hated it right down to the core of my being.
francois
and i remember the days when the jws warned about the catholics and their "index" of books, movies, and plays that were denied to catholics as being "dangerous" to their faith.
that is to say, they were revelatory of the actual truth of a matter and the roman church did not want these truths spreading throughout the faithful.
now the witnesses are up to it to.. have you read 1984?
I don't know if that's the one or not. I don't think so. The one you quote is sort of conditional, whereas the one I'm thinking of is more of a direct statement of fact. Just gimme some time. My folks just moved and as soon as I see that index I'm off to the races.
francois
it is laid out in five floors with the men increasing in positive attributes as you ascend.
you're only allowed in once.
once you open the door to any floor you must choose a man from that floor.
I'm still shopping 'cause I'm still in the market if you have to know.
Notice how we haven't gotten a straight answer, or an answer of any kind from the beautiful and charming Atlanta lady.
francois
i guess i just need to vent a little, so i hope you don't mind me coming here.
some of you know i started a new job this past march with a pharmaceutical company.
it's just a temporary position with the schedule having me become permanent in december.
Anyone who has to work 50 to 60 hours a week to get their job done is being mismanaged. You need an assistant, or your company needs to add another person. And you are making a mistake doing all that work without complaint. All you are doing is inviting a continuation of the status quo, 'cause you are demonstrating that you can do it. Bad move. Look for your work load to increase for that reason.
Suggest you start missing some time. Make some mistakes in your work, obvious ones. When you get called on the carpet, burst into tears and wring a hanky into a million pieces and tell your boss what you just told us. I'm deadly serious. If you don't do something drastic, it's gonna get worse. Act now to save your job and your life. I have a feeling your company is violating the wage and hour laws, check with the EEOC or the Labor Department or the American Dairy Association or whoever the hell is in charge of that kinda thing. Non Carborundum Illegitimi : Don't Let The Bastards Rub You The Wrong Way.
Francois
it is laid out in five floors with the men increasing in positive attributes as you ascend.
you're only allowed in once.
once you open the door to any floor you must choose a man from that floor.
Simple Sally, are you in Atlanta, and are you in the Man Market? No dodging the question, now. No foolin' around, no dancin' 'round the issue, just the straight facts, m'am.
francois
well, here he is in all his handsomness and sly girl-chasing potential.
grayson miller darby, my grandson extraordinaire, especially so since he's the only one i've got at the moment.
ain't he sumpin'?
How come I can't see the fwigging picture?
let me make this very clear from the get go , i am neither for or against the use of marijuana .
but it has just occurred to me that many of my life long friends have either had periods in there life where they have or continue to smoke it .
what if anything has your experience with pot taught you either about yourself or someone you know , was it a positive or negative infuence .
Well, not only did Stephen get stoned, but if you will look just a little more closely, you'll find that some people (approved by Jah) were heavy into mandrake, which is a drug as well. Hell's bells, there was so much screwing around, incest, adultry, fornication, and what not in the bible you can bet your last dime they were doing hashish, mary jane, alcohol and god knows what else back then. And damn. There's always the church lady hanging around making trouble for everyone else.
ft
sometimes i think that because we jws were so deceived, tricked and flat out lied to by an organization that claims to be the sole representative of god, when we take the step to leave the group we (may) have a tendency to discard god as well, in the process.
i realize also there are those who by their nature (perhaps) and their point of view and ideology, that its just a natural personal kind of evolution that brings them to the point that god doesnt exist.
or, that if he does, it doesnt really play any kind of a roll in their lives.
Funkybaby - bad metaphor, really, really bad metaphor. You have stretched it way, way beyond its service life. Ya just can't prove or disprove the existence of God with a physical metaphor that you've turned into an allegory?
You're a good man Funky. Try again.
francois
.
i wanted to remind everyone tonight that the 5th estate runs "spiritual sheperds" tonight at 9pm.
if you missed it last time, its a must to watch.. vic
Is this a BBC program and can I get it here in the colonies?\
francois
and i remember the days when the jws warned about the catholics and their "index" of books, movies, and plays that were denied to catholics as being "dangerous" to their faith.
that is to say, they were revelatory of the actual truth of a matter and the roman church did not want these truths spreading throughout the faithful.
now the witnesses are up to it to.. have you read 1984?
Masterfully done, Alan. However, I believe you're grossly overweening about it. I guess its hard to break old habits. I have said that I was repeating what I have heard others say about the number of changes between the original and the CD versions of the Watchtower; I have said that as far as I was concerned, one change was sufficient - the Your Will one will do; You assert "... you now state that you're not willing to consider the actual evidence..." I have stated no such thing. You only wish I had stated that. I have stated that I am not willing, given that one example suffices - to which you agreed - and that more examples are superfluous, to spend massive amounts of time researching the question when you have already acquitted yourself of this admittedly Augean task.
I will even agree with you that such erroneous charges weaken the case against the WTBTS, not strengthen it, and should be avoided and not bandied about as I unfortunately have done - mea culpa.
You asked, "What kind of thinker are you?" I am an efficient one buster, and I feel no compunction to refuse to wade through thousands of WTs in order to seek out one more (superfluous) example of Watchtower reprehensibility and culpability. Nor will I accept any onus for this refusal. I am in no contest with any one here. I am not interested in standing on my desk to announce for one and all that I have written almost half of this or that essay, pounding my chest all the while and claiming my deep humility. Don'tcha just love irony?
francois
P.S. I do think there is at least one more though, and as soon as I can get my hands on my parent's hardcopy of the original Index, I'll let you know. It was a statement in a WT, rather bald, that said that the WTBTS "acts as a prophet," and appeared sometime in the late 70s or early 80s. I will get back to you all as soon as I can get my hot, sweaty mitts on that Index. So far as I can tell, this claim of theirs has been left out of the Index, or at least I can't find any reference to it on the CD. But it's on the hardcopy version of the Index sure as you're born. And just like the WTBTS, ya just can't have it both ways.
francois