Grace, I'm sorry to hear you're leaving. Your good sense help make dealing with the unpleasantness worthwhile. Take care of yourself, and use those winter cleats--no more skating on those icy walkways!
GLTirebiter
JoinedPosts by GLTirebiter
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125
Once again I say goodbye
by mouthy ini find the board is getting very unfriendly of late.
used to be great to be aboard.
but the snipping that so many.
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180
Country music thread
by hillbilly inone of my favorites .
if we make it through december,.
if we make it through december,.
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GLTirebiter
A lot of us can relate to is one
EmmyLou Harris sings a Willie Nelson classic
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36
Feeling Better
by snowbird infeeling better, spry as a setter.
ready to rock, none need mock.
i am winsome, simply awesome.
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GLTirebiter
I'm glad you're doing better, Syl!
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Aloha, I'm new and in need of legal advice
by robyn1991 inso i've been told there are a few people on her that could help me with this problem?.
to cut a very long story short, i was raised a jw, i left the wt in january to be with my partner, a non-jw.
i was marked for dating, even though i hadn't attended a meeting since december.
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GLTirebiter
Welcome, Robyn!
I'm going to try and get myself a soliciter on monday, and have found one nearby that would be interested in my case. I'd like to sue the body of elders from my congregation personally, for harrassment and defamation of character. Does anyone have any idea how much of a chance I have?
Consulting an attorney is a good decision! That is who you should talk to for legal advice. The law and the legal precedents that would support or refute your case vary from place to place. That's why you need an expert professional to advise you.
It is my understanding that they cannot publicly announce my name and religious status without my knowledge or permission.
That depends on the law where you live and all the circumstances of the event. Some here have succeeded with cease-and-desist efforts, others have not. Because you said "solicitor" instead of the American word "Lawyer", I suspect that you live under different laws than I do, so I can't even guess what your chances would be.
Good luck to you, and please keep us updated!
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Help Please. Mother says she can prove I will die using the bible alone, no WT literature
by scooterspank inshe says she can prove i will die if i'm not in the "truth" strictly using the bible .
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GLTirebiter
She says she can prove I will die if I'm not in the "truth" strictly using the bible
If you really want to pursue this, if you really believe she will listen, then I suggest John Chapter 6, from verse 28 to the end. Be sure to read it in its full context; don't let her follow the prepared script of hop-scotching between unrelated fragments. Here are some highlights:
"I will certainly not reject anyone who comes to me"
" It is my Father's will that whoever sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and that I should raise that person up on the last day"
"In all truth I tell you, everyone who believes has eternal life."
"I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever."
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Need Opinions -- Engaged to a JW!!
by junebug_11 inok, quick run down of my situation.. .
1. i am not religious.
my now-fiance was raised jw but left the religion about 10 years ago.. 2. we started dating last march, i got pregnant within two weeks.
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GLTirebiter
Welcome JuneBug!
You are in a difficult situation, with your family under pressure from the start. It is not unusual for former Witnesses to return to the organization when going through life changes or a difficult period, such as a marriage, childbirth, or a serious illness in the family--you are dealing with all of these
This relationship will be difficult for you, a woman, because the Watchtower organization teaches that the wife must be submissive to her husband. Your fiance will be seen as "spiritually weak" if he does not have the children and you with him for every meeting at the Kingom Hall, regularly going out for "service" (the door-to-door preaching), and attending several weekend assemblies and conventions each year.
Also, think about your son's relationship with your side of the family. The message at the Kingdom Hall is that all non-JWs will be anihilated in horrible ways at Armageddon, which will happen Really Soon Now. That includes Grandma, Grandpa, aunts, uncles, cousins and you (unless, of course, you become a Witness). Until doomsday arrives, you and your family will still be called "worldly" and "bad associations".
That is fine with me, until he decides that we're not having sex until we get married (supposedly June 30, 2012)
Yes, he has to cease pre-martial sex (and any other sins they know about) to get reinstated as a Witness, which is a slow and somewhat humiliating process. The time-line suggests he wants to be reinstated before you marry. Have you discussed where you will be married and who will officiate? He may be planning on the Kingom Hall and an Elder for that, which means he must be back in good standing, probably with you following him as an "unbaptized publisher". Going to the meetings with him is the first part of that process: once you are attending with any kind of regularity they assume you will join them in due time. The pressure to come into the organization may be so subtle that it seems like nothing, but it will be very persistent and difficult to resist in the long term (speaking from personal experience).
Please visit the Freeminds web site, and read the articles under sociology-marriage and sociology-women. Then consider carefully if this is the life you want for your son and yourself. Mixed JW-non/JW marriages can work, my ex-wife and I made it for over a decade. You can't make this work by yourself, he must show as much respect for you and your beliefs as you do for his. It takes extra effort and accommodation both ways to make that happen. Be sure you both are prepared to live up to that committment; don't say "I Do" unless you both really mean those words.
I wish you the best, whichever decision you make.
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Study Conductor Challenge (plus hello!)
by educatingMyself inalreet everyone!.
i've been watching and learning for a while, nice one on helping me see the real truth!.
long story short -> got interested in christianity, jws first to ask me about it, studied for a few months, realised they were wrong, tried to be a good undercover apostate, got bored, left, joined a local protestant church.. anyway thats not the reason i'm posting.
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GLTirebiter
I'm thinking about going back to my study conductor and saying I would get baptised if they could show me proof that...
Remember, they are prepared with canned answers for all the questions they want you to ask, and scripts for "conversation stoppers" that let them give those answers no matter what question you do ask. Others who resisted at first have fallen to the effects of repeated, long-term exposure to the indoctrination. Better to leave them alone and stay away, why poke at a snake with a stick? If you slip up even once, you too could be bitten.
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WHY have District Conventions??
by RagingBull induring sunday's program of the dc..."donations" came up and there was mention of using "debit and credit cards" wow!....
so i started thinking... we have an assembly hall in our town?
10 mins from where we have our conventions.
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GLTirebiter
On a different level, the answer is the same for many other questions:
- Why have a no-blood policy?
- Why insist on shunning DA/DF family members?
- Why keturn in monthly reports of field service?
- Why keep track of all partakers at the annual memorial?
- Why reject all holiday celebrations, both religious and secular?
- Why refuse to serve and honor your home country?
- Why should school children spend their summer vacations being "special pioneers" instead of playing baseball or soccer or climbing trees?
- Why forbid attending religious weddings, funerals, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, birthdays, quinceaneras, etc. for friends and family members of other faiths?
A: The Watchtower uses all these as loyalty tests, to prove that they--a corporation in Brooklyn, New York--matter more to you than family, friends, country, even your own life!
If you are not willing to sit still for three days, listening to the same indoctrination you've heard before, spending the family's annual vacation budget to stay in an approved hotel and buy approved food, then you are not putting the Watchtower first. It's the first unwritten Watchtower commandment, the first commandment of any narcissist for that matter:
I. We are thy Lords the Watchtower. Thou shalt not put anything before us!
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I am considering suicide...
by Nebeska Nada inunder the wheels of a train.... .
i feel really bad.... i don't want to be in the cult anymore.... .
i was thinking about that whole meeting today.... .
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GLTirebiter
Nebeska, please follow through and get the help so many here have suggested, as you said you would do. Quit playing the Watchtower's games, learn how to escape their control. You are loved and appreciated. The Watchtower organization is the cause of the problem, not you!
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How Do You Respond To: Like Early Christians, JWs Go "House-To-House"?
by minimus ini read the ray franz book but witnesses just see the scripture about going "house to house".
how would you help a witness understand the reality?.
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GLTirebiter
I would remind them of another scripture about going house-to-house, Acts 8:3
Saul then began doing great harm to the church; he went from house to house arresting both men and women and sending them to prison.