My nephew Alan Swyers shot himself to death at age 16 because he was gay and the WT, his family, and general society told him he was a devient.
AdaMakawee
JoinedPosts by AdaMakawee
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90
List of family/friends lost to the Watchtower cult? (suicides)
by hubert inafter reading about puternuts (ari) suicide, and also reading about sabine and js losing their daughter to this cult, i think it would be a fitting memorial, so to speak, to write a list of all the people we know who died because of this cult.
i also know that cruzanheart lost her dad to it, too.
i'm sure there are many here that can make a list of suicides brought on by the shunning/threatening policies of the watchtower cult.
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AdaMakawee
I'd say hold on to that fact. Heavy drinking is very common with JWs and has been a large part of every fest I've been a part of. But alcohol is just self medication to help you stop "feelings." And we all have a lot of feelings when we leave the mother ship. Feelings of disbelief, denial, then anger, etc. The biggest two are betrayal and depression, these two can take a long time to peel off. Alcohol makes these worse and never allows you to deal with those feelings.
I'm not saying thats why everyone drinks, from what I have been told from professionals, there are three types of brains. The first person takes a drink and loves it so keeps up until they are buzzing. That intense pleasurable high becomes something they chase the rest of their life but never achieve. These people are alcoholics. Their brain is wired this way.
The second group of people take a drink and think, hmm, ok thats nice, and they can take it or leave it. These people are usually social drinkers, and not normally the type that drink to excess. Most people from the first group claim to belong to this second group. Again, its brain chemistry, or wiring.
The last group, of which I am one, unfortunately, takes a drink and either says, eww, or in my case, "whats all the fuss about?" I have also drank to the so called "buzzed" state, but in my case it is not pleasurable, it actually feels uncomfortable. So I don't do it. In fact I rarely drink. It just isn't enjoyable. Again, my brain is just wired that way. And my brain chemistry is no better or worse than anyone else's, I might add, I'm just laying out the facts not making judgements.
So, like most things, it is not about morals, like we were taught all our lives. Its not even about choice, though I suppose that enters into it at a point. Its about who you are on a cellular level. Some people are just wired to be able to drink to excess, and the more often they do it, the more it takes them to catch that buzz.
Me, I could smell a beer cap and catch a buzz after all this time (no not literally), but if I drank 6 scotches I would be in hospital that much is certain.
Anyway, my point is, don't think that you have to to be cool.
Ada
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AdaMakawee
Not in my opinion!
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Christmas Tips
by cognac indo you tip your mailman, newspaper, oil delivery persons?
if so, what do you normally give?
who else do you tip?
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AdaMakawee
What surprises me about this thread is how many people still read a newspaper! Dang! I haven't touched a newspaper in years, thats what the internet is for! LOL
As for the mailman, yes cash gifts are a no go, but if you have a speaking terms relationship with them sometimes a $5.00 starbucks card is accepted. Ethics laws say that you cannot accept more than $50.00 in this type of thing in a year, some won't take anything just to make it clear they aren't going to do that, and others will, so it depends on the individual employee.
Hairdresser, yes, any service provider you frequent would also be a good person to tip on the holidays.
Good thread!
Ada
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The fine art of refusing a Shepherding Call
by Open mind ini'm pretty sure the forseeable future will include numerous attempts to "shepherd" my family.
my elder status is either already gone or soon to be gone.. .
does anyone know of specific rules when it comes to refusing a shepherding call?
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AdaMakawee
I've been out for a long time, but I won't forget the "shepherding" call I got from the fine brothers in Kennewick East congregation in Washington State. They came to my door one morning acting all concerned about me, so I told them what my experience was with the gossiping and how far up the elder chain (not just sisters) it extended. He looked at me and said (I shit you not): "How long will you roll around in your vomit?" The other so called brother looked at him and his jaw dropped. He said to me, "I was not here when this happened, and it is not ok. You have my apology for the way you were treated." I thanked him and they left.
Never saw them again, but I moved shortly there after, first to another territory, then across the state, and now to a different state. Its been almost 20 years.
Ada
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I am seriouly disapointed in the Watchtower society
by Aussie Oz ini can scarcley believe my eyes.
i read in another thread about c. t. russells attitude that his 'studies in the scriptures' is better than the bible and come to the conclusion they are not god abandoned today, god was never there.. fast forward to modern times and they are still at it, likening their body of teachings as being part of the bible.. most of you already know the pasages in their own lit that i refer to, i'm just stating my feelings as i dismantle a 38 year old belief system.. it seems to me, that all along, the belief of the watchtower society is this: our writings are true, they are backed up by the bible.
rather than, the bible is true, backed up by our writings.. disapointed.
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AdaMakawee
36 for me and I'm now 53, but I'm one of those that threw the baby out with the bathwater. Not only didn't the witlesses make sense, after while the bible made even less sense.
Ada
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One Congo witch problem solved
by glenster ina recent post showed the problem in the congo of evangelists.
playing off folk beliefs in witches, instead of educating.
people not to have them, in order to gain popular support for.
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AdaMakawee
Its happening here too, don't kid yourself. Here the manhood is threatened through homosexuality, and fear of abortion. Wins elections for them. Seems its more important to bring those babies into the world than take care of them after they are here. Don't get me wrong, I'm not selling abortion, I'm just calling out the tactic.
Ada
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AdaMakawee
I was socially isolated way past the point of "normal JW kids" while growing up, isolated small town where my dad was considered weak, so we were not associated with. My parents were fanatics and we were not allowed to speak to people outside school.
So consequentially I don't know how to talk to people, never understood chit chat too well. I try but its a major hamper in friend making.
Ada
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More Evangelical Protestants in the U.S. than Mainline Protestants
by leavingwt inaccording to pew, there are now more evangelical protestants in the united states than mainline protestants.
thankfully, the jws hardly register in the grand scheme of things, below.. .
some say we are witnessing the death of "intellectual protestantism".. lets face it: so far as the great mass of american protestants are concerned, theology is a dead letter.
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AdaMakawee
This scares me more than the economy on any given day.
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TRESPASSING
by blondie inwoman wins trespassing judgment against jehovah's witness.
miscellaneous news.
source: foxnews.
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AdaMakawee
Yea I lived with a day sleeper for quite awhile and it was hell to keep neighborhood kids from screaming in front of the house and people from knocking at the door. Put up a sign at eye level and no one sees it.