Posts by paul from cleveland

The word "America" is actually part of the official name of the country known as "The United States of America" so it makes sense that when people use the word "America" or "American" they're referring to the "United States of America" or someone from that country. Of course technically everyone from North and South America is "American" just as everyone from Europe is European. If the official name of Canada was something like "Canada of America" I suppose it would make sense to call people from the "United States of America" by another name. What would you like to call us? "United-Statesians"?

9

She sent me 'Return to Jehovah' I sent her a Christmas card

by Xanthippe in

it just felt so good to say to a jw i don't feel the guilt this booklet says i must be feeling.

i don't feel guilty for having a great big christmas tree or letting my daughter have birthdays, easter eggs, dress up at halloween, have sleepovers and friends, i told her.

i only feel guilty about not contributing to live aid and bandaid and giving the money to a cult instead.

paul from cleveland

The REAL reason I believe they did away with Christmas was to make sure Witnesses had NO contact with their non-JW relatives.

Exactly LongHairGal! However, for me, the birthday celebration ban is what truly exposes their motives. There is no real justification for that other than separating you from your non-Witness friends and family. Given that, I'm convinced that's the real reason behind all the other holiday bans too. In my mind, they may have successfully concealed their true motives had they not banned birthday celebrations too.

68

Does this make you feel good? Coz it makes me feel bad.....

by ScottyRex in

jw
friends

i just watched this clip on youtube....i can't begin to say how it made me feel.

, i'm not sure who i am more annoyed about.

the bloke doing the commentry, the punk shouting at a serious and should be respectful religious event, or some of the youtube comments that follow.. and i find this so disrespectful.

paul from cleveland

I'm learning more and more to wait until I cool off to choose how to react or whether to react at all.

I'm working on this too. Mainly work related issues. I'm averse to confrontation but some situations bring out a part of myself that I don't like.

68

Does this make you feel good? Coz it makes me feel bad.....

by ScottyRex in

jw
friends

i just watched this clip on youtube....i can't begin to say how it made me feel.

, i'm not sure who i am more annoyed about.

the bloke doing the commentry, the punk shouting at a serious and should be respectful religious event, or some of the youtube comments that follow.. and i find this so disrespectful.

paul from cleveland

Magnum, of course you are right and my initial reaction was coming from a place of pain. However, that's not the person I want to be. I have a hard time seeing this objectively as I wrote before. On the other hand, If this happened when I was in the audience as a Witness it would probably made me think. Something similar happened in the congregation I used to attend. A disfellowshipped man came in and tried to yell something out during a meeting. Three brothers physically dragged him out the front door and locked it. I just remember looking back and they were dragging him by the arms while he was yelling. I think they may have called the police. He didn't get a chance to say more than a few sentences. I wasn't offended at all but more curious as to what he had to say. This was before the internet so there was no place to research anything he said... I can't even remember now what it was. Actually, it made for an interesting meeting.

68

Does this make you feel good? Coz it makes me feel bad.....

by ScottyRex in

jw
friends

i just watched this clip on youtube....i can't begin to say how it made me feel.

, i'm not sure who i am more annoyed about.

the bloke doing the commentry, the punk shouting at a serious and should be respectful religious event, or some of the youtube comments that follow.. and i find this so disrespectful.

paul from cleveland

I have a hard time being objective about this.

30

People keep sending me messages saying "what happened?"

by slimboyfat in

jw
friends

i am sorry i haven't replied and if it seems rude.

but people keep asking me what happened and i am not sure what to say.

thanks for writing anyway.

paul from cleveland

Your posts are my favorite on this forum.

68

Does this make you feel good? Coz it makes me feel bad.....

by ScottyRex in

jw
friends

i just watched this clip on youtube....i can't begin to say how it made me feel.

, i'm not sure who i am more annoyed about.

the bloke doing the commentry, the punk shouting at a serious and should be respectful religious event, or some of the youtube comments that follow.. and i find this so disrespectful.

paul from cleveland

If it made one person think it was worth it. He didn't hurt anyone. He used only words, not bullets. The Watchtower created this situation by not permitting any respectful avenue of dissent. They've destroyed so many families and lives why are you so worried about respecting their precious ceremony? This out-of-the-box approach might wake someone out of their mental stupor.

56

Privacy

by Esmeralda001 in

i need some advice guys.

how do you get people to mind their own buiseness without coming off as rude?.

i was invited to a jw gathering last night.

paul from cleveland

They probably were just trying to show interest and make conversation and be friendly. I meet people like this often. It has nothing to do with being a Witness. Blame Dale Carnegie. He wrote the book "How to Win Friends an Influence People" which basically taught people to feign interest in others to make friends and start conversation.

What I do when I meet people like this, after answering a question or two, is say "Enough about me, tell me something about yourself" and just turn the conversation around.