Posts by dandingus

90

Do You Personally Know Of Anyone That Committed Suicide?

by minimus in

jw
friends

lately, i've come to find out that a more than a few people in the area had killed themselves.

most of the people i know of were in their early twenties or forties.

for those loved ones surviving them, it was mostly a shock!

dandingus

2 people in my graduating class from High School committed suicide. No JWs in my old circuit that I know of have done so, but the operative term here is "that I know of".

An interesting corollary to this topic would be "have YOU ever thought of suicide?". The answer in my case is "yes", although I have dismissed the idea for the present and the foreseeable future. I'm sure a lot of people leaving the witnesses have at least thought about it. It's a morbid topic, but an important one to discuss. The organization so consumed our lives for so long that upon leaving that it may seem like we have nothing left. The trick is to find new things to replace what we gave up, and sometimes to rediscover things about ourselves we never knew we lost in the first place.

24

Has Your Growth As A Person Been Stunted Because Of Being A Witness?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i think that in many areas, that just might be the case.. what do you think?.

dandingus

Min, I am.

LOL

69

What advice would you give to your 20 year old self?

by paul from cleveland in

jw
friends

dandingus

See that red pill there? Down the hatch...

12

Do you suppose NastiCanasta is a 'mole' from "Watchtower" Facebook Group?

by ziddina in

jw
friends

(sure hope this is the correct place for this topic).

i was reading nasticanasta's comments on a couple of threads, and it occurred to me that, since so many have gone into the jehovah's witness sites on facebook and have - uh, let's say, 'played a role'.... do you suppose a few of those ardent, blindly faithful jehovah's witnesses have buzzed in here to wreak revenge?.

a - ha!!

dandingus

I doubt he's a JW or has ever been one at all. His posts are steeped in ignorance about the organization and he felt the need to ratify his position by saying things like the DO comment, or having a book signed by Russell. As if that somehow makes one knowledgable, or that we should all have reverence for someone who was "so close to the top people". If you ask me it's just someone desperately craving attention. And we all gave it to him.

I loved when undercover put up the "Do not feed the trolls" sign. Priceless.

24

Has Your Growth As A Person Been Stunted Because Of Being A Witness?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i think that in many areas, that just might be the case.. what do you think?.

dandingus

It can be very awkward and embarrassing to be just start doing things at age forty that most people did and learned as teenagers.

So , SO, SO TRUE!

24

Has Your Growth As A Person Been Stunted Because Of Being A Witness?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i think that in many areas, that just might be the case.. what do you think?.

dandingus

I noticed that most kids raised in the witness always seemed behind in emotional and mental development.

Balsam, fortunately for me I was always a curious person who wanted to know everything so mentally I'm actually ahead in many ways. It's the emotional component that in my case was affected.

But you're right I think in the 3 to 4 year estimate depending on the age of the person. I think it gets worse over time as areas where you still haven't learned or grown become more glaringly obvious. I have several aunts and uncles who were raised around the witnesses as well, and even though only one of them has gotten baptised, they have all had their lives affected a great deal. One in particular has still not "grown up" in many ways even though he's well into his 40s.

24

Has Your Growth As A Person Been Stunted Because Of Being A Witness?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i think that in many areas, that just might be the case.. what do you think?.

dandingus

I know for a fact that being raised a Witness stunted my social growth. I was very isolated as a child in my congregation. There were lots of girls in the congregation, but not one boy anywhere near my age (I'm male for those who may not have been following my posts). I actually made several friends in school when I was very young before my parents really became active as witnesses. And that might have served me well in later years had it not been for the fact that we moved right when my mom and dad started studying. Not being allowed to make friends anywhere growing up meant that I didn't really KNOW how to make them. I still don't relate to people well most days.

Relationships are another story altogether. I think that the most severe way in which being a Witness from a young age affected me was my ability to interact with women. I'm getting better now, but it's been a long, long road. At first, since I didn't think I had anything to offer and didn't know how to offer it anyway, I tried to play mister cool. This went over terribly because I just came off like a jerk (I have another word for it, but I'm trying to consider certain people's sensibilities). It took me a long time to learn how to just be myself. I know that may sound strange, but it's true.

As always, good question Min. I'm beginning to think that you and I have a lot in common, at least in the way we think about things.

31

Dramatic posters on the board...

by tresdecu in

jw
friends

it cracks me up when i read a really dramatic "good bye to jwn" or "im outta here" threads only to see them posting a few days later.

what is the point?

if you want to stop posting for a while, then stop posting........and then if you want to start again, go for it.. are you just trying to get attention?.

dandingus

Regarding keyser soze, notverylikely said:

Everytime I see you post I imagine hearing it in Al Swearengen's voice with a few F-bombs and references to sex thrown in.

I keep doing the same thing! I half expect him to close every post with "cock sucker!"

23

If you could dismantle the WBTS Would You?

by Nephilim in

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do you think its morally wrong to have a desire to see the end of the jw organization?.

dandingus

I would engage and empower the members in a collaborative effort to make it an organization of joy and creativity.

Heaven, I like your style! That certainly would be a more positive solution. Rather than merely dismantling something, make it better. If only it were that easy though... To bad none of us actually have that kind of power.

30

Were You "Afraid" Of The Elders?

by minimus in

jw
friends

did you view them as men who truly cared about you?.

did your heart sink in fear when an elder came to talk to you?.

were the elders nothing special to you?.

dandingus

We need that Shamus monkey, methinks.

He is one unpredictable monkey!

As for the topic, I was never really afraid of the elders. At first it was kind of reverence, until I could tell that many of them were materialistic jerks who were only concerned with their own image and position. Then I just kind of told myself to respect the position rather than the man. There were a couple of elders though, that I actually thought had my best interests at heart. At least for a while.