Gulf Coaster

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Posts by Gulf Coaster

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  47

  What are you up to this summer?

  by Xanthippe in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i really enjoy hearing about other people's lives.

  feeling a little lonely this evening so please tell me if you have plans for the summer months.

  i may go to some outdoor theatre with my daughter who's home from uni; with a picnic and a bottle of wine.

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  Gulf Coaster

  Xanthippe, wow, Greece! Good for you. I was there years ago but would like to go again one day. Have a wonderful trip. Enjoy the delicious food. I love Greek cuisine.
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  21

  People who study for years ??

  by Clambake in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  in my cong ( my wives cong.

  ) there is a lady who attends every meeting , minus the field service just like a regular dub.

  it just seems odd she has not taken the dip yet.

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  Gulf Coaster

  They weren't pushing young kids to get baptized back in my day (late 70's), or at least not in the KH I went to. 16 or 17 was the common age for kids to get dunked at our KH, slightly younger if they were born-in keeners. But around that time, my doubts had become so strong that I knew the JW life was not for me.

  From about age 17 to 19, I put up with some pressure to make the commitment. A couple of the hardliner elders were pretty passive aggressive about it to me, and sometimes not too passive either. My mother often got quite nasty about my avoidance.

  It was stressful and sometimes miserable but getting baptized felt like I would be trapping myself forever. Something about it just scared me silly. I'm glad I listened to myself :-)
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  42

  How much damage has internet done against the The Watchtower Society ?

  by opusdei1972 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in the beginning of internet the society was worried about the information published exposing its falsehood.

  so, i wonder how many people lost the society on account of forums and web sites like this.

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  Gulf Coaster

  I'm sure the internet is a massive carbuncle on the bOrg's backside. How can it not be? I can only give you a comparison to when I fled that cult back in 1980. There was nothing out there as far as info, other than a few old books in the library. I can't even remember the titles but I recall two written by ex-JWs that I took out and read in secret, as well as some books on cults in general. So without the internet, you actually have to be doubting the JW scam in the first place and making the effort to look for proof of your doubts. With the internet, it's far easier to just come across something that makes you stop and think. Even if you listen to the warnings about not reading that stuff, the ease of access is a problem for the JWs. Far easier to keep away from the Religion section in the library.

  The thing I regret not having though was the support everyone gives and gets here. I so could have used that back then, so be grateful you have this place and appreciate your fellow forum members. It's really tough doing it completely alone.
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  7

  Manipulation of child minds

  by Marvin Shilmer in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  today i read a comment on my blog about an image found in a 1958 watchtower publication titled from paradise lost to paradise regained.

  it reminded me of what went through my mind back in those years.

  watchtower meeting agendas were notoriously boring with the result of children (including teenagers) spending their time looking at pictures in great detail.

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  Gulf Coaster

  I became a highly skilled daydreamer. I would sit there and zone out most of the time. I'd pretend to be paying attention once in a while to keep my mother off my back. Some of my fantasies weren't exactly pure or JW-approved as I got into my mid to late teens but they helped me deal with the excruciating boredom of those meetings. Unfortunately, I couldn't employ my excellent daydreaming skills while out peddling propaganda.

  Yeah, those pictures were something else. Fortunately, I was probably old enough to not be traumatized by them - my mother dragged us into that cult when I was about 10. After I became free, married and had kids, my 5 year old daughter was really freaked out by those pictures when my JW mother sneakily started proselytizing to my kids, against our wishes. I suppose if you grow up with that fear mongering crap all around you, as part of normal discourse, it's not as horrifying as it is to a kid from a normal family who's suddenly presented with it.
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  64

  Kingdom Hall Sign Generator

  by reneeisorym in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  let's have fun with the church sign generator!!!.

  http://www.churchsigngenerator.com/sign11.php.

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  Gulf Coaster

  Thanks for bumping this. Very clever, very funny.
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  10

  Something that my devout JDUB cousin said...

  by yogosans14 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  we used to be so close before she got heavily involved in the jw religion.

  she actually got me into it (i actually believed all the nonsense) and i went to meetings with her and everything, we were like brother and sister.

  she lives in texas now in a remote area where their is no cell phone signal or anything with her dad and mom (i think they said they moved their to get closer to jehovah which is weird).

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  Gulf Coaster

  @dubstepped: "I'd rather be shunned for doing the loving thing than loved for doing the shunning thing."

  Good for you, dubstepped. That's such a genuinely loving, kind and good way to think and feel. You're far and away a better person than your JW family.

  The shunning thing is one of the factors that led me away from that cult. I knew it was hateful and hurtful. I guess I've always had a soft spot for the underdog and I never like to hear of people being emotionally hurt or abused. So the JW practice of shunning always bothered me deeply.

  I always remember a DF'd young man in our congregation whom I adored like my big brother because he was such a nice, good person. He was about 20, I was 12. I was with my mother one day out shopping when we happened to meet him. My face lit up with a big smile, so did his. I said hi but my mother grabbed me by the arm rather painfully and yanked me away as if he was some horrible, dangerous person. I remember the crushed look on his face. And the hurt in his eyes. I got threatened by my mother that I'd get a beating if I ever even looked at him again. Just a horrid, disgusting way to treat another person, all because they dare to think for themselves. The JWs can't tolerate that sort of thing, the independent mind. It's worse than being a pedophile apparently.
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  34

  Vertigo, WTH.

  by James Mixon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  who here have suffer from vertigo?

  if so how did you combat it?

  how long.

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  Gulf Coaster

  It could also be something called Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo. Or BPPV. Look it up to see if it sounds like what you got and then go to your doctor and ask if they can confirm it. There's simple physio for it, that's successful in most cases. I was suggested that for my vertigo if it continued to be bad despite medication.
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  10

  Lowell Mass. City Manager Says The JWs Are Welcome Anytime For Their Conventions!

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as a matter of fact, he plans on bringing out info to the lowell city council as to how much of a positive impact the conventions were, that were held in the city.

  evidently, a lot of money was brought in to the city's restaurants and lodging.. go witnesses!!!

  !.

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  Gulf Coaster

  I heard this sort of thing back in my day too - the late 70's. The JWs were viewed very positively by anyone involved in the facilities they hired for their assemblies and conventions. To be fair, they are great at treating the properties with respect and cleaning up after themselves really well. That's all anyone wants whenever they rent out their property, whether it's a large convention center, or a pokey little rental house. Good tenants are worth their weight in gold.
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  39

  Just an introduction

  by Israel Ricky Gonzales in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  just wanted to say hello since i am new to this forum.

  allow myself to introduce myself.

  lol.

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  Gulf Coaster

  Welcome! What a great story. It's great that your wife is so reasonable and loving as to give your marriage a chance. I'm sure a lot of that has to do with you too.

  My dad wasn't so lucky, unfortunately, despite being reasonable and understanding. He also told my mother that the JWs weren't his thing but he was fully supportive of her choice to be one. Except my mother couldn't abide that. And that was the end of their marriage. It broke my dad's heart. And mine too, when I saw how it hurt him, a good man.

  All the best to you and your family!
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  34

  Vertigo, WTH.

  by James Mixon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  who here have suffer from vertigo?

  if so how did you combat it?

  how long.

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  Gulf Coaster

  I wouldn't mess with that. I had vertigo last year and still get the occasional minor relapse but that was from a severe concussion. A good friend of mine is suffering from it badly due to a tumor called an acoustic neuroma. Slow-growing, benign tumor in her brain that can cause hearing loss, facial paralysis and worse if left to grow. She's due for surgery in a few weeks.

  Go see a doctor. In my case, I was prescribed pills that minimized the vertigo when it was bad - meclizine.\

  Good luck with that.