Posts by recovering

26

Best Guitar Riff Ever?

by cantleave in

legendary guitarist jimi hendrix's 'voodoo child (slight return)' has been voted as the best guitar riff ever by the users of musicians' website musicradar.com.. what do you guys and gals think?.

recovering

don't know if this is the best ever but it certainly ranks up there, follow the link and listen. please post your opinion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KYLkuhaePA

26

Ruminating in the tool shed...

by Gregor in

jw
friends

actually i'm hiding out.

here's what happened 30 mins ago.... .

... been busy all morning preparing to go to our son's house next door.

If you could choose to live in any generation in any time period,

by John Doe in

jw
friends

which would you choose and why?.

I would love to have been old enough in the 60's and 70's to confront the WTBS's Governing Body in a public forum and ask them in front of reporters about their 1975 Armageddon prophesy. I would have loved for them to put in writing (in a newspaper or on TV) their prophesy. That way it would have been even more difficult for them to weasel out of it later. I was convinced to get baptized at 12 years of age in early 1975 due to the impending destruction. What did i know at 12? This mistake on my part caused me to lose my entire family later.

21

I spoke to Ray Franz for the first time today

by recovering in

jw
friends

i have been feeling very blue and hopeless lately.

i miss my family and needed some affirmation that i am right in my characterization of the jws.

i called ray to hear it from the someone in the know, as to what really goes on in the gb meetings and if they really believe what they say.

recovering

Thank you every one for your kind words. i really appreciate it.

21

I spoke to Ray Franz for the first time today

by recovering in

jw
friends

i have been feeling very blue and hopeless lately.

i miss my family and needed some affirmation that i am right in my characterization of the jws.

i called ray to hear it from the someone in the know, as to what really goes on in the gb meetings and if they really believe what they say.

recovering

i do live in the north east

21

I spoke to Ray Franz for the first time today

by recovering in

jw
friends

i have been feeling very blue and hopeless lately.

i miss my family and needed some affirmation that i am right in my characterization of the jws.

i called ray to hear it from the someone in the know, as to what really goes on in the gb meetings and if they really believe what they say.

recovering

Yes someday I would like to meet him. I was not sure i could go on with life any more today due to missing family still in the organazation and remembering the terrible things that happenened to me while I was a witness.(child abuse) Ray was a kind voice , It was just enough to keep me from going over the edge.

21

I spoke to Ray Franz for the first time today

by recovering in

jw
friends

i have been feeling very blue and hopeless lately.

i miss my family and needed some affirmation that i am right in my characterization of the jws.

i called ray to hear it from the someone in the know, as to what really goes on in the gb meetings and if they really believe what they say.

recovering

I have been feeling very blue and hopeless lately. I miss my family and needed some affirmation that I am right in my characterization of the JWs. I called Ray to hear it from the someone in the know, as to what really goes on in the GB meetings and if they really believe what they say. He confirmed that this is not always the case. He pointed to the 2/3 majority vote needed to make any changes to doctrine. He revealed that even if a majority of the GB felt a change was needed, due to the 2/3 quorum rule the change could never be made. He spoke of how he sometimes was did not even want to attend these meetings due this fact. He went on to say that he continued to go so that he could possibly present a more moderate view of things. (He used the alternative service with regards to military service as an example)

I thanked him and wished him and his ailing wife well. He was so gracious and humble. He may not realize this but today he saved a man's life. MINE

147

Did You Personally Know Any JWs That Were Sexually Molested By Other JWs?

by minimus in

i knew of a handful (which is too many) that were molested by a jehovah's witness.

it was not typical in my experience.

what about you???.

recovering

I know of an elders family who had a large number of children. 4 boys and 2 girls. They where considered the model family. Oldest boy went to bethel although he was asked to leave for drinking). The middle son (15) however molested his own 13 yr old sister. it was quite the scandel.

12

JW a cult? - what it means to them

by xelder in

with almost 50 years as a jw, i often heard jw's called a cult.

i now realize that to defend this, a kind of straw man has been created.

the wts has simply defined a cult for them as following men (namely ct russel).

recovering

I am not by any means an expert on hypnosis . I don't think Mr Crawley was saying that a cult had to have each and every trait mentioned either .That being said here is what Margaret T. Singer, Ph.D. a Prof. of Psychology says are the methodology of cult hypnosis. I have included how I think the jws use the methods in parenthesis after the ones that I think apply.

(see Ericksonian hypnosis)
speaking patterns (remember how we are taught to read for emphasis in the MS) guided imagery (constant references to a paradise earth) pacing of voice to breathing patterns
parables, stories with imbedded messages ( all the experiances that are related to the congregation)
repetition ( we here talks on the same topic over and over again as well as WT articles on basically the same topic)
boredom (the meetings are boring )
stop paying attention to distractions, focus
inwardly to what's going on inside you
the use of one's voice to get people's attention
focused
Chanting, Meditation
Teach thought-stopping techniques
Work them up emotionally to a negative state:
re-experience past painful events
recall negative actions/sin in past life
Then rescue them from negative emotion by giving them a new
way to live

As I said before i am by no means an expert, so if others understand this process better please comment and clarify.

12

JW a cult? - what it means to them

by xelder in

with almost 50 years as a jw, i often heard jw's called a cult.

i now realize that to defend this, a kind of straw man has been created.

the wts has simply defined a cult for them as following men (namely ct russel).

recovering

Kevin Crawley defines cults as having the following traits. Don't they remind you of how JWs are are cajoled and manipulated.

Three ideas seem essential to the concept of a cult. One is thinking in terms of us versus them with total alienation from "them." The second is the intense, though often subtle, indoctrination techniques used to recruit and hold members. ...

Cultism usually involves some sort of belief that outside the cult all is evil and threatening; inside the cult is the special path to salvation through the cult leaders and their teachings. The indoctrination techniques include

1) Subjection to stress and fatigue
2) Social disruption, isolation and pressure
3) Self criticism and humiliation
4) Fear, anxiety, and paranoia
5) Control of information
6) Escalating commitment
7) Use of auto-hypnosis to induce "peak" experiences
[Kevin Crawley]