folks - since we just had the academy awards figured i'd ask this question , what actors and actresses are your all-time favs ?
lots to pick from over the many years of hollywood motion pictures !
my picks are as follows - .
i have a story for you.
it relates to being an ex-jw but you don't get that till the end unlessin of course you are a smart cookie and can figure it out before then.
i love playing cards.
People are dumb. That's it.
Eyegirl and I are going to get facials and massages tomorrow. I can't wait.
Go to the Minneapolis Ex-jw Meet-up.
Clean the apartment
Video Game a Bit
Work out some
Possibly make some yummy Irish stew.
i've been lurking here for weeks now and have found the site most informative.
but i have a problem which i'm sure has been dealt with before as most of my circumstances are not that unique.
my background is, i had been with the borg since i was 15, some 40 years ago (really, i should've realised earlier!
This is your wedding. She is your mom.
Now is not the time for the doctrinal debate. That's not what's going to convince her to come. If anything it will make her feel more uncomfortable...or perhaps defensive. Leave the JW's out of it -- it really has nothing to do with them. Simply tell her the truth. It would mean the world for you and your wife for her to be there and you can't imagine the day without her. Also telling her that your JW sis will be there will most likely soothe her fears. Really - that's all you can do at this point. Soothe the fears...she's still going to have them, she's still going to worry and be uncomfortable. She's been in for too long to suddenly have you say one magic piece of "evidence" against the JW's that will suddenly make all her Bible training vanish and unchange her entire worldview.
I think the best you can hope for is for her to be there. Her fears are her own and seperate from anything you can control on your wedding day. I wish you the best, and I hope she chooses to come. She will have a good time inspite of herself, even tho it will be very bittersweet for her.
the pew forum has put out a report called the "us religious landscape survey.
", as reported in the boston globe: http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2008/02/more_americans_2.html .
of note is this quote from the actual report summary: .
Wow - the portrait stuff is amazing...basically it looks like Jehovah's Witnesses are some of the most "uneducated" religious people out there...
And apparently - not having nearly as low a divorced seperated rate as some others -- so much for being special in that department.
Thanks for the links to this -- it's been really cool.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/gb2j2f.
in this flash video, you can use any flash video player or even the latest version of realplayer to view, brenda lee the author of out of the cocoon goes to the memorial to have some stale bread and wine.. amen brenda lee!
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Nice publicity stunt to try and sell some books...probably didn't cost a lot in terms of production or integrity.
there was someones name on here that i thought was great, but cannot remember what it is.. what are some of the better screen names?.
I have to go with Dorktacular.
i look back on all my posts here sometimes (ok not literally - i'm too verbose to look at all of them) and can't believe where i am today.
not that i am sitting on top of the world as the most successful person - but the small victories i have achieved over the past few years really did seem impossible to my pessimistic and damaged little mind when i first started posting here.
when i look back i have a lot of anger in my first posts - and man oh man what a rocky relationship with my parents.
Awake -
It is very difficult not to go a little crazy when your child is making choices that will cause them to "lose their eternal lives."
Oh I definately see that. I am aware that my life choice is something that still hurts my parents. Luckily we've all been trying to come to some understanding.
AuroraB - Thank you Aurora - it's the one thing I wanted to acomplish by sharing my story so it truly touches me that my endeavor was not in vain and it was able to give hope to at least one person.
Openmind - I'm glad you've at least been able to share it with your brother. I also hold out hope that even for the diehard family members we all have that there is some part of them that is human and can be touched. I do hope it happens for you too.
CHL - Yeah - I know.
Snoozy -
I wish more people leaving the witnesses would realize the position their Parents...or..children....are in. If we would only meet them half way we could have a better life and so would they.
Honestly Snoozy - your words encapsulate the biggest lesson I have learned in all of this. I had to acknowledge my own anger and disapointment before I could register theirs.
Aguest - Thanks, I appreciate the compliement.
Gopher - Thanks to you too.
Oompa - Yes they are still in. I don't expect them to leave anytime soon. I'm not sure their leaving would help either of us that much. They need their faith - and I see that now. It's hard for me to disrespect that since they have eventually come to respect my views. I've often thought of writing a book but I feel like it's not done yet -- my story anyway -- and I'm not sure how it would be recieved by the ex-jw community at large or just the publishing world in general. I once sat down to write a spoof and something that was based loosely on my life and loosely on the JW's but I couldn't make it funny -- it was too sad, and I didn't like having to try to invent a new and whacked out religion. But we'll see.
ok, so i'm looking for a new book to start reading.... any genre, any style.. what are you favorite books of all time?.
.
[inkling].
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - James Joyce
My Name is Asher Lev - Chaim Potok (Every ex-jw should read this book imo)
The Things They Carried - Tim O'Brien
i look back on all my posts here sometimes (ok not literally - i'm too verbose to look at all of them) and can't believe where i am today.
not that i am sitting on top of the world as the most successful person - but the small victories i have achieved over the past few years really did seem impossible to my pessimistic and damaged little mind when i first started posting here.
when i look back i have a lot of anger in my first posts - and man oh man what a rocky relationship with my parents.
Awake - thanks for posting that. Good to get the perspective from the otherside of this dynamic.
I'm so happy for you that you and your daughter are able to be close.
I think it will take more time for my mom and I - but baby steps. Like I said where we are now is somewhere I never thought possible to even go to -- so it's a work in progress for sure.
