lol! You have no idea how great it is to hear how many people feel and do exactly the same as me at the assemblies and meetings! When you're in a place where it feels like you're the only one experiencing negative emotions so intence you just have to lock yourself away from it all, it can be really isolating. When I have to go to another horrible assembly, I'll just remember all the other Dubs and closet ex-Dubs locked in the loos like me!
pixiesticks
JoinedPosts by pixiesticks
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22
whose hiding in the toilets at the kingdom hall?
by highdose inthis was a favorite way of getting away from the very unloving "loving brothers and sisters".
hide in the toilets, no one can collar you and tell you off.
and even better you won't be in amongst a group of people but still feeling so alone... at least you will actauly be alone!.
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The Invention Of Lying (my favorite clip)
by gubberningbody inhttp://www.webtv.si/v/39412/the-man-in-the-sky.
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pixiesticks
Sorry, this is the Genesis one:
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The Invention Of Lying (my favorite clip)
by gubberningbody inhttp://www.webtv.si/v/39412/the-man-in-the-sky.
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pixiesticks
I love Ricky Gervais! He's an atheist and has some hilarious stand-up comedy on the subject:
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whose hiding in the toilets at the kingdom hall?
by highdose inthis was a favorite way of getting away from the very unloving "loving brothers and sisters".
hide in the toilets, no one can collar you and tell you off.
and even better you won't be in amongst a group of people but still feeling so alone... at least you will actauly be alone!.
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pixiesticks
I'd hide in the toilets or the coat room after the meetings to avoid be accosted by people after the meetings. I hated that fact that Witnesses had absolutely zero sense of personal boundries! I would be petting and stroked like a damn animal, which was especially difficult for me because I hate anyone that isn't my close family or friends to touch me - at all!
At the local assembly, about 3 years leading up to me finally leaving, I would get really distressed and panicy having to listen to talk after talk, so I stopped sitting in the main hall and would sit by myself in the back of the cafe. But that didn't work well because every 15 minutes someone would feel the need to come over and try to 'comfort me' and convince me to come sit with them and I'd have to keep making up excuses.
In the end I just got in the habit of bringing a thick, fluffy coat with me to assemblies. I'd lock myself in one of the upstairs toilets, fold my coat up and go to sleep leaning against the wall for the duration. -
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Are Jehovah's Witnesses "Extremists"?
by God_Delusion ini think this article, along with the video that comes with it, shows that they are.. .
are jehovah's witnesses "extremists"?.
and just think, many of us actually believed in that rubbish and laughed at those jokes...... .
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pixiesticks
"If you really are unhappy about using the word extremist, then at least on every occasion please call them a Cult, that may make people examine them properly before becoming involved."
Oh, don't worry. I definitely do not make an effort to suger-coat the type of organisation that they are in conversations with people. As I said, I do agree that many of their doctrines are extreme and certainly their vision of the destruction and mass genocide to occure at the end of things is highly distrubing.
I usually refer to them as a highly controlling and destructive religion with many cult-type attributes and control techniques. I find this stops people from immediately conjuring the mental image of the Jones Tower massacre or Jihad suicide bombers and realise that Witnesses are far, far more subtle than that.
The danger of bandying around such loaded words is that people will asign their own meaning to them unless you clarify. If you tell someone that Witnesses are extremists and they go away with the idea that Witnesses are like terrorists (which, for a lot of people, is what they think of when they hear the word 'extremist') then, when they meet a Witness and find that they're actually really friendly and charming, they might be less inclined to listen to your warning against them! -
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Link from WT fan Facebook yields BS experience
by huxley2.0 ini found this crap cake while browsing a link on the facebook wt fan site.... .
"from a circuit overseer in georgia.... brother steve kormendi .
we had an interesting experience at our recent assembly.
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pixiesticks
The sad thing is, when I was still a Witness but having moral dilemas over some of the teachings, that story would have scared me.
Being a Witness officially docks your IQ by at least two thirds! -
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Are Jehovah's Witnesses "Extremists"?
by God_Delusion ini think this article, along with the video that comes with it, shows that they are.. .
are jehovah's witnesses "extremists"?.
and just think, many of us actually believed in that rubbish and laughed at those jokes...... .
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pixiesticks
They are supporters and advocates of some extreme doctrines. I personally think that their God is the extremist and that they are just his brainless followers! At the very least, at least they don't advocate their members carrying out extreme acts themselves. Only to wait for God to carry them out for them.
I would be hesitant to lable them extremists when describing them to other people though, as that is such a loaded word and people generally have images of people with bombs straped to themselves and angry, hatred-inciting protestors. When I think of extremists in religion, I think of pure Islam and Sharia law and active Christian or Catholic fundies. Witnesses have a horrible and very distasteful mindset, but at least they aren't blowing up buildings or cutting peoples' heads off every Saturday. Yet. -
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Who do you pray when you feel the need to pray if you dont believe in God?
by cyberjesus insometimes when we face difficult situations i feel the need to pray to god for help, and i know that plenty of times the sole act of praying makes you feel hope and have a better outcome of the situation.
you can call it suggestive or that you prepare a positive scenario by using faith.
the outcome is that regardless if there is someone who listens or not to your prayers oftentimes you feel better afterwards and have more positive attitude.. the problem is that i dont believe in god anymore.
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pixiesticks
Lance Armstrong writing about the night before he underwent brain surgery:
". . . I never prayed a lot. I hoped hard, I wished hard, but I didn't pray."
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The upside of atheism
by paul from cleveland ini realize whether you believe in god or the non-existence of god it has to be taken on faith since both positions are unknowable and unprovable.
however, i can understand faith in god as basically a hope for something better.
i can also understand agnosticism; admitting it's unknowable but still leaving the door open (perhaps the only intellectually honest option).
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pixiesticks
It's impossible to prove for certain, without any doubt, that there isn't a being or force of supernatural power out there. We have no way of knowing for sure and lack of evidence isn't solid proof against an idea, so I think most Atheists would certainly be open to the possiblity of such a being if evidence were to emmerge. We would be prepared to re-evalutate our thinking based on new evidence.
What I find completely impossible is the idea of a personal, perfect, omnipotent God of any kind. One that created the entire universe in 6 days (or even 6000 years) and is more concerned with what we do with our private parts than the suffering of the humans he supposedly created. I find that there is sufficient evidence against the idea that I'm able to confidently reject it. -
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The upside of atheism
by paul from cleveland ini realize whether you believe in god or the non-existence of god it has to be taken on faith since both positions are unknowable and unprovable.
however, i can understand faith in god as basically a hope for something better.
i can also understand agnosticism; admitting it's unknowable but still leaving the door open (perhaps the only intellectually honest option).
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pixiesticks
The further I go from believing in a God, particularly a personal God, the higher my self-esteme becomes. I find that I can look at the world with a much greater sense of wonder and I'm so much more open to learning new ideas and thinking about new possiblities!
I've found it so liberating to be free from the idea of God and divine reward and punishment. I'm not terrifed of Armageddon or hell anymore and I've been really motivated to get out there and actually start actively helping people by volunteering at various charities.
I'm not constantly scared and guilty because of my own thoughts and my own body. I don't judge people for their personal lives anywhere near as much either.That said, it's not up to Atheism to coddle and make comforting promises to people. That's what religion does. Lots of things that aren't true can be comforting to believe in over the actual truth and maybe some people would prefer a life of ignorate bliss. But for me, I'm sleeping a lot better at night without the idea of a tyranical God watching and judging my (and every other person in the world's) every move and every thought.
Atheism doesn't say what you can believe anyway, only that you don't believe in a God - It's an absence of belief. From there you are a blank sheet of paper and can go on to think and believe whatever you want. Humanism Philosophy, Buddism, Taoism... even Aliens and that weird New Age Spirituality jazz!