vivalavida

Joined

• started 9 topics
• posted 228 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by vivalavida

• 
  8

  Apostasy Movie

  by The Fall Guy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i found it extremely accurate, and as such, not a pleasant experience.

  merely reinforced my certainty regarding the org's venomous teachings & practices.. a very well made film for non-jw's to get a good insight into the minds & attitudes of the cult and its members, but not really one i'd urge faders to go and see.

  victim returning to the scene of the crime scenario.. opinions will differ..

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  vivalavida

  Rodrigo, the British use "cheers" also as a synonym to "thanks" or "thank you".
  
• 
  22

  Cotton wool jws

  by purrpurr in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  there was a talk i heard recently given by a top bethel bro, he was complaining that the type of young jws that have been joining bethel in recent years has been totally unfit for work or even life.

  he called them "cotton wool jws" as he says that the parents of these young ones have kept them so sheltered from life that by the time they are of age to strike out on their own they are completely unable to cope socially, emotionally, mentally and that they have no practical life's skills or instincts of common sense or responsibility.

  he said that the brothers at bethel have to work at peeling off the layers of cotton wool these ones have come wrapped in and that often when exposed to the reality of life away from mummy they quite literally go running back home.. for once i actually agree with a brother on the platform, i've met many a young teen or young adult whose life has been one long warm bath as it were.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  vivalavida

  I guess they are the result of a type of helicopter parenting lots of universities have been complaining about.

  The problem is not limited to just JW Kids though, but it is more a general western society thing. So much so that even Jordan Peterson assigns one of his 12 rules for life to this, namely, his 5th rule "Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them".

  But as spiral mentioned, JW kids have a huge disadvantage on top of this for "striving to not be part of the world".
  
• 
  6

  Lucid dreams and virtual reality

  by Bad_Wolf in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  long ago when i learned about lucid dreams i was fascinated by them and sought to try to induce them.

  over the years i've had quite a few.

  i can't definitely force one to happen on any particular night.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  vivalavida

  Lucid dreams are definitely a very interesting ability and some people have it without even trying, while others cannot develop it no matter how much they try.
  

  Like the name says, it's dreams where you become lucid and that you can control, but they are still dreams and come from your brain, which might explain why you cannot summon god. Do you still believe in god? If you don't or if you have doubts that might explain it.

  Just keep having fun!
• 
  21

  Beard update

  by Coded Logic in

  1. social
  2. physical

  so it's been over a month since i decided to grow a beard.

  the mustache and chin have come in fuller than i ever imagined - while the cheeks leave me wondering if i'll ever grow enough hair to make it not look so wildly unkept and patchy (if anyone has any advice here it'd be much appreciated).

  but in the mean time i'll give it another month and see how it goes.. .

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  vivalavida

  When I started letting my beard grow... it was all gray! lol... Either way, I ended up liking it and kept it for a long while. Just have fun with it!
  
• 
  127

  PORTUGAL: Filed a petition to the parliament to erase the legal entity of the Jehovah's Witness

  by EdenOne in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  based on legal arguments that revolve around violations of several articles of the portuguese constitution, and of the law of religious freedom, a petition to the portuguese parliament has been set in motion to extinguish the legal entity that represents the jehovah's witness in portugal and remove this community from the national register of recognized religions protected by law.

  the petition does not seek to ban the jehovah's witness as a whole in the country.

  the petition denounces the institutional policy of shunning former members as a violation of basic human rights and psychological torture, and asks the portuguese legislators and judicial authorities to take action to stop this abuse, and suspend legal recognition to the branch office entity until the policies of shunning are changed.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  vivalavida

  Voted!
  
• 
  49

  Repeal of Internet Neutrality. How will it affect surfers?

  by Fisherman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  today the fcc voted against internet neutrality..

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  vivalavida

  Even though I am not really directly affected by this, I found this article's point of view interesting and illuminating.

  "Good bye net neutrality, hello competition"

  Vivalavida
  
• 
  15

  Attractive Sisters: what are you lurkers thinking right now?

  by pomo6780 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  dear lurkers, you won't be disappointed by this topic.

  when i was in the org, there was a strict dress code.

  no woman was attractive, and when i was a young witness child i was conditioned to believe every woman in the world must be ugly.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  vivalavida

  I have to laugh... obviously you never went to some of my Spanish congregations! Lol... the question is a Spanish congregation WHERE?

  I started and spent all my JW life in Spanish congregations in many different countries and of many different social and economical levels. Many in Latin America (Venezuela, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico), several in NYC and a couple here in Germany. And in my opinion, it is not necessarily the attractiveness but more the ability to present themselves in an attractive way.

  But I must say that there were a complete range, going from amazingly beautiful to ugly as !"$!.

  In fact, when new galaadites were assigned to our territory and they happened to be females and young, we found them attractive. I guess we felt attracted to the fact that they were different which, probably is what happens for Americans visiting Spanish congregations in the US.
  

  Just my 2 cents!

  Vivalavida
  
• 
  6

  How do cultural norms impact Witnesses throughout the world?

  by optimisticskeptic in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  an easy example is beards.

  i hear they're not unusual in places like europe, even on appointed brothers.

  it also seems like they're becoming more accepted in more liberal parts of the states.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  vivalavida

  SlimboyFat no, you did not make that up. I live in Germany and was once visiting the parents of a friend in the area of Saarland and was invited by a couple of elders and MS to go to the sauna. The last thing I expected was a mixed sauna complex with bar, 5 saunas, heated swimming pools etc. etc. and everybody running naked all over the place.

  In the same congregation in Saarbruecken, the WT conductor sported a full beard.

  Believe me, on that trip I went from surprise to SURPRISE very fast!

  Vivalavida
  
• 
  58

  Non JW wife/JW husband Christmas tree debate

  by spacegirl443 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  first post here and looking for advice and help.

  sorry in advance for it being so long :(.

  i'm a happily married woman (no kids) who is a non-jw, presbyterian to be precise.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  vivalavida

  Spacegirl,

  You are welcome, glad I could be of help.
• 
  12

  He killed them because they expelled him from the Jehovah's Witnesses - Canal de Noticia (Venezuela), Nov 28, 2017 - Two JWs found murdered

  by darkspilver in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this tragic story has been developing over the last couple of days in venezuela.

  there is a mixture of reports and accounts coming in..... two jehovah's witnesses (and fleshly sisters) aged 71 and 65, where found murdered.

  a 26 year male suspect has been arrested.. in the apartment where the two where found dead, the words "death to witnesses" (“muerte a los testigos”) had been scrawled onto one of the walls.. he killed them because they expelled him from the jehovah's witnesses - canal de noticia, nov 28, 2017. .

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  vivalavida

  The articles linked in reddit do say that the sisters expelled him. Obviously the journalists have no clue how things work in JW world. In other articles though, the explanation is definitely clearer. They do imply some type of revenge because the sisters as well as the perpetrator, a music teacher, were JWs. Whereby he was recently expelled.

  It is obvious that he is the murdered because they captured him in his house where they found a computer that belonged to the sisters, dresses with blood of the sisters and the marker he used to write "Muerte a los testigos" (Death to the witnesses) in the victims' apartment.

  A tragic situation.

  Vivalavida