Posts by AnneB

5

Are we too JW centric?

by Mickey mouse in

jw
friends

i realise that may sound like a stupid question on a jw forum but i was thinking about the events in the uk this week and i am wondering if we need to 'widen out our associations'.

it would be preferable if our efforts were directed not against the leadership of a single religion but towards raising awareness of the use of thought reform.

as things stand i am not aware of an effective way for us to communicate with ex cultists from other groups.

When JW-people go looking for "something" online, a JW-related forum like this one is a good place to start. One a person gets past perceiving him/herself as a JW-only, maybe a forum with a broader scope would be helpful (high control group info, etc.). Changing the focus of this site (and others whose focus is WT-related) could mean taking away the "first step". Think back through all you've read, most JW's don't perceive themselves as being part of a high-control group, but many do sense that something is wrong. You have to start where a person "is", then allow that person to move forward at a self-chosen pace and direction. There are many sites dedicated to other causes and perspectives but not too many for JW's. This site, and some others like it, are best left as they are.

AB

197

What is "truth" - COULD Einstein Have Been Wrong?

by AGuest in

jw
friends

may you all have peace!.

just came across this article:.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44629271/ns/technology_and_science-science/?gt1=43001.

AnneB

spacetime could be warped in a way so that neutrinos can take a shortcut without really being faster than the speed of light.

If this proves to be the case, should speed of light continue to be the measure?

26

Should There be a Petition Asking the Watchtower Society to Retract its "Mentally Diseased" Statements?

by DT in

jw
friends

of course, i would be very surprised if the watchtower society ever retracted or apologised for anything.

still, it could gain a lot of publicity and put pressure on them to curb their hate speech.

if they refuse to apologise, it could demonstrate that those statements were intentional and not just a slip of the printing press.

AnneB

Petition: A formal written request, typically one signed by many people, appealing to authority with respect to a particular cause. Make or present a formal request to (an authority) with respect to a particular cause.

Why give WT the appearance of authority? Sue their you-know-what's or bring other, appropriate legal action against them. Don't go crawling with a petition!

28

A life of mental illness ends in violence.

by koolaid-man in

jw
friends

http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/282059/life-of-mental-illness-ends-in-violence?csauthresp=1317045871%3a5dma6uqf4gb51ccvnpdbjnt710%3acsuserid|csgroupid%3aapproved%3aa955edbf7d0543430de7104e3c2115c3&csuserid=94&csgroupid=1.

desperate acts, violent endingsa life of mental illness ends in violencerelatives say woman had psychiatric issuesphoto by alexander cohn / monitor stafffamily photos of shelly naroian fill a board thursday, september 22, 2011. naroian was killed during a stand-off with hillsboro police in may.purchase photo reprints at photoextra by annmarie timmins and maddie hanna / monitor staffseptember 26, 2011share thisemailcomments (2)print3photo by alexander cohn / monitor staffa hole where the bullet that killed shelly naroian last may can still be seen in the wall of the family's hillsboro home; thursday, september 22, 2011.purchase photo reprints at photoextra four months later, jim naroian still displays the condolence cards that arrived after his wife, shelly, was killed by a police officer's bullet in the living room of their hillsboro home.

the cards reassure jim his wife isn't forgotten.

AnneB

"She just wanted my son (Ken) out of the house, and Philibert knew that," Jim said. "Everything could have been avoided if the police just said, 'Shelly, we are making Jim and Ken leave.' But instead of engaging his brain, (Philibert) engaged his trigger finger."

If Jim really believes this, why didn't he move his son out before the situation turned into a tragedy?

Jim wanted the police, his son, and himself to cater to a madwoman bent on murder? Leave their family home because she was behaving like a bully? He sounds more off-balance than she was.

Not a very "pc" post, I realize, but I'm pretty fed up with anything that even remotely seems to advocate doing things the "sick" person's way. Duhhhh!!! They're siiiick!!! Would the healthiest and most qualified person please take charge here??? Oh. He did. The cop sized up the situation and wouldn't let her get by with any more bullying. Good on him! Now nobody in the area has to worry about what she might do if she took a dislike to some other situation.

Jim, stop your whining. Grieve if you wish, but you're the one who enabled the woman for all those years. That's not love, that's just plain twisted. Ken, I hope you don't torment yourself over this, it had very little to do with you.

There's nonsense and then there's sensibility.

AB

7

This is unbelievable

by N.drew in

the scandal in australia is about the society of jehovah's witnesses refusing to file with the government of australia information that would identify persons who have been suspected of child molestation.

but in the past the watchtower has instructed their people to obey the law of the land as it pertains to interracial marriage.. http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/quotes/black-skin.php.

"in a few places, there are even laws making interracial marriages illegal.

AnneB

Did you notice WT said "where such laws are not enforced" and not 'where there are no such laws'?

197

What is "truth" - COULD Einstein Have Been Wrong?

by AGuest in

jw
friends

may you all have peace!.

just came across this article:.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44629271/ns/technology_and_science-science/?gt1=43001.

AnneB

From http://www.unlearning101.com/fuhgetaboutit_the_art_of_/2010/12/see-the-whole-picture.html

Study the picture. Do you notice anything unusual? It is one of the world’s most recognizable corporate logos and yet, surprisingly, even though most people see it every day, few have ever noticed the clever arrow hidden between the letters “E” and “X.”

It is a fitting analogy for how many people view the world. We like to believe—and, in fact, we’re quite confident—we’re seeing the whole picture. Often, unfortunately, there is a glaring hole in our knowledge.

What else aren’t we seeing? This is, of course, impossible to know because we can’t see what we can’t see. Nevertheless, it is safe to assume we’re seeing less than the complete picture and it would behoove us to unlearn the assumption that our vision is infallible.

“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.” – Anais Nin

AB

83

Today's Watchtower Lesson Really Bothered Me...

by dontplaceliterature in

jw
friends

i was a hair away from telling my wife i never wanted to go to the kingdom hall again after today's watchtower.

the conductor mentioned something along the lines of..."if you think having to shun your disfellowshipped children is bad...you should read up on the israelites.

when one of their children was disobedient to the law, they had to take the before the judges so that they could be stoned to death...and guess who's job it was throw the first stone?".

AnneB

Has it ever crossed their minds that Israel was a special people bred to serve a certain purpose for God? They weren't told to drag non-Israelites to the stoning ground! We're not Israelites, not even those who claim these days to be Jews can say they are under the arrangement from back then ('cause none of them live it fully).

Apples and oranges.

AB

8

I WAS so proud of you ..........

by Dudu in

those were my mom's words.... hurt so much.

she was telling me how proud she was when i was a tenager and i went to meetings without her ... and all this time ive been so faithful to the org... im so sad.

AnneB

Tell her "No, you were proud of yourself and of how well I followed your instructions!" Then tell her you love her, but that each of us has to stand or fall on our own in front of Jehovah, that you're doing *your* best now, not hers. Tell her that since you are taking care of yourself now, she will have more time to work on her own relationship with Jehovah instead of trying to run yours.

She'll either get the point or she won't, but you'll probably feel better for having set down the ground rules.

21

Wait, Wait... WHAT?! Dec 15th, WT Study - This bugs me

by civicsi00 in

ok so i decided to just take a quick peek at the dec 15th study edition and i couldn't even get past the very first article!

it's a "personal" story of a jw who was born in 1928 and his experiences from that era.

what is the first thing printed on this page?

AnneB

The odd thing is that WT will use any available legal means to advance their agenda, but when individual JW's or groups which include JW's do the same thing it's going against the will of Jehovah.

55

As a JW - Did you See Meetings Continue in Spite of Medical Emergencies?

by flipper in

jw
friends

i was talking the other day with a fellow board member about medical emergencies occuring at meetings and how we both agreed that we ( while jw's ) had never seen a meeting stop or be cancelled due to medical emergencies experienced by a fellow jw.

the wt society trains jw' s to lose their authentic human feelings or any empathy towards others physical or emotional sufferings many times.

so many times at meetings , in spite of someone suffering a serious medical emergency it was " the show must go on " type of attitude displayed by congregation elders.. my first experience at seeing a medical emergency at the kingdom hall was an older sister who had an epileptic attack.

AnneB

The explanation I heard for why the meeting continues during emergencies of any sort (hurricanes, medical emergencies, whatever) is that when they open with prayer they come into Jehovah's presence, much like being granted an audience with a worldly ruler. Just as you wouldn't offend the worldly ruler by taking your attention away from him/her, you must also keep your attention focused on Jehovah, and allow his attendants (MS's, Elders, Emergency crews, etc.) to handle the distractions.

It makes sense, it just seems heartless at times. Even a worldly ruler would probably be kind enough to allow for illness or sudden emergency situations. Don't they think Jehovah would do the same (or more)?

AB