joannadandy

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Posts by joannadandy

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  30

  Hello everyone

  by Ticker in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just wanted to say hi.

  ive been reading the posts for quite sometime now but never actually ever posted.

  wanted to thank everyone for the posts and for helping me to break free from the guilt after 20 years of it.

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  joannadandy

  Welcome Ticker!

  Nice to see you come out and say hello - happy posting to you.
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  33

  Have you re-read the bible since leaving the Kingdom Hall?

  by Eyebrow2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i always wanted to re-read the bible after i left the org; to be able to read it without having to feel like i had to apply something, or to have to read it out of obedience, etc.... well, i have always liked the new world translation, i know it isn't perfect, but i think it is better than some.

  but i have always wanted to get a different modern english translation, and read that.

  well, i finally picked up a new international version at wal-mart the other day...under $6, what a bargain.. started last night, and finished genesis today, and am just starting into exodous.

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  joannadandy

  Read it for a class at my school, "The Bible as Literature". It was fun. Especially since there were some older people who sat in on the class. To hear their perspective, versus that of the rest of us 20 somethings was interesting.

  It was also neat to finally sit down with people of obviously different religious backgrounds - not just JW's repeating the same exact things they all said the last time we read a certain passage.

  Personally reading it in a clinical fashion with a focus on it's literary elements was facinating--and actually fun (Yeah I'm an English nerd).

  I know that kind of focus wouldn't be for everyone on this board since a lot of people still hold that it's spiritually inspired (I'm not so sure myself), just as it wasn't for everyone in the class. Sacred texts do funny things to people.

  Anyway--my suggestion would be that if you can somehow start a local club or meet with people face to face for that real interation while you discuss your reading would be most benificial and eye opening. It was for me at least.

  Something gets lost in an on-line discussion.
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  7

  Hope...

  by joannadandy in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  so while sitting at work, being off task, for hoots and hollars i type my best friend's name in a people search.

  i don't really know what compells me, perhaps a hallmark special the night before, or the the fact that tis the season to wonder about old friends...and to wish you could share some time together again.. i have writen about her here in the past.

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/7/36575/1.ashx.

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  joannadandy

  So while sitting at work, being off task, for hoots and hollars I type my best friend's name in a people search. I don't really know what compells me, perhaps a Hallmark special the night before, or the the fact that tis the season to wonder about old friends...and to wish you could share some time together again.

  I have writen about her here in the past. http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/7/36575/1.ashx. It was always her experience and the way the elders treated that always got me thinking, "God's organization indeed." While I always thought the fault was with me before, it was after their treatment of her I realized I wasn't the flawed one here.

  A shock to me (because those people searches NEVER work for me) I found her. And living in the city she was moving to when last we talked. I was worried the information was old, but wrote it down nonetheless.

  I hemed and hawed for a few days over what to do. What do you say? What if she is still in. I had heard through the grapevine she had gone back to meetings for a time. That made me nervous. One of my other friends who had already left once had gone back, and all zealous too. (Zealous for daddies money to bail her out I'm sure had something to do with it too).

  Good old Hallmark to the rescue. (No really they paid me nothing and this is not a commercial for them). I decided while shopping to just stroll through and see if I found anything that struck a cord. I did. Something about lost friendships, but knowing if we met again the same familiarity would always be there.

  So I sent it off. (I was too chicken shit to call).

  I also added a little note inside explaining that I wasn't going to meetings, so that if she felt she couldn't contact me I understood. I figured it was only fair.

  Well mail must travell faster than I expected because I got a phone call a day and a half later from her. Apparently she is done with the witnesses too. She had read some of the same books I had. Apparently while explaining to her youngest brother (who is doing nothing with the witnesses and has developed an escapist drug problem) that he should maybe try and read these books, he let it slip that his sister was an apostate.

  Her parents, grandparents, and everyone else in her family hasn't spoken to her in over a month. And sworn they won't.

  She mentioned she was really glad to get a letter from me, she could really use some friends now. She was especially glad to hear I too am an "apostate" because it "feels good to find someone who understands what it was like"

  Maybe there is a God. Maybe it's fate, but for whatever reason I feel like it was a good thing I got the urge to write a note to a friend...a friend at the time I didn't know would need me so badly.

  We have tenative plans to meet soon. My hope is we stay together this time, and not let such a long and meaningless time pass between vists again.
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  1

  Tee-hee

  by joannadandy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  chapter 1 .

  the details such as i will now endeavor to set down are such that the retelling of them will only serve to elucidate the facts of the situation such as are those that this yarn seeks to shed light upon, inasmuch as those facts are sought to be made clear by him who sets them down, in this case, i, who wishes this to be the eventuality.

  hunchen pritchett sat on the porch of his crumbling mansion by the sea in his great granite rocking chair, carving a whale into some smaller sea mammal.

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  joannadandy

  Chapter 1
  
  The Details such as I will now endeavor to set down are such that the retelling of them will only serve to elucidate the facts of the situation such as are those that this yarn seeks to shed light upon, inasmuch as those facts are sought to be made clear by him who sets them down, in this case, I, who wishes this to be the eventuality.
  
  Hunchen Pritchett sat on the porch of his crumbling mansion by the sea in his great granite rocking chair, carving a whale into some smaller sea mammal.
  
  "Good sir," said I.
  
  "DEVIL!" shouted the old man. "Your foul countenance singes my white head! You bring lies by the duffel bag, and nothing good can come of your visit here, Devil!"
  
  Good folk strolling past the Manor Pritchett were eyeing me suspiciously.
  
  "Let's keep the 'devil' shouting down to that which is only very necessary, if I am not being too forward," I whispered.
  
  "Devil! Devil! Big Fat devil! Huge red, sharp-tailed, pitchfork using devil!" he taunted.
  
  "Good sir! Ple--"
  
  "Old scratch, the enemy, author of all lies!" He continuted.
  
  "I entreat yo--"
  
  "Cloven hoof, tossed-from-heaven, horn headed--"
  
  "All right, that's it" I said stripping off my waistcoat and preparing to give him great quantities of what for.
  
  Years of being old and grizzled had toughened him, and it was not as easy to subdue him as I might have liked. I was forced to begin hitting him with antique elbow chairs, which I had dashed inside and gathered from his sitting room for just that purpose. But he was no stranger to being hit with antique elbow chairs and was able to rally, pulling an intricately carved oaken buffet from behind his back, hitting me directly upon my head and driving me through the weathered wood of his porch like a nail, until I was stuck fast. Then he began tapping me, checking my progress, and tapping me again, "setting" me in the porch as a master carpenter might do a peg.
  
  "Prithee sir, ouch. Please stop that," I begged of him.
  
  "Just"-tap-"let me"-tap-"get you"-tap-"just right"-tap. "There now! Isn't that better?" he asked.
  
  "No! Sir, as I said before, ouch! Dis-un-enpulleth me from stuckitude at once," I commanded. He yanked on me with a comically large pry bar that he apparently kept for such occasions until I was released.
  
  "Good sir" I began yet again, "I have come on a matter of urgent business concerning Manor Pritchett."
  
  "Be you the lawyerman? One they call Pillington Chillingshead?"
  
  "Tis me, and none other than me be he."
  
  "Well, why did you withold this information like it were a great big grape?" he asked warmly, though "bitterly would probably be closer to the truth, and if I added "and with vile hatred" I would not be overstating it.
  
  "Would it be too much trouble to sit with you in your house away from this sea storm"-there was a great storm threatening to blow us away-"or were manners repealed by President Millard Fillmore and I somehow missed the headline?" I said and looked at him with a sarcastic "Well old man?" look, my hands out to my sides, palms up, shoulders shrugged.
  
  "Do come in, Master Chillingshead," he offered expansively, though "resentfully" probably scores more accurate a hit and if "and as though he would rather die than ask me in" were following along behind it, I think I still would come up short in describing his rancorous displeasure with me.
  
  I passed over the threashold of Manor Pritchett and into the drawing room, where Pritchett bade me sit on an overstuffed tiger.
  
  "Can I get you a watermelon shandygaff" He asked sarcastically giving a stiff little bow. "Or woudl you like to smooch my gray, pimply backside?"
  
  "What th--?!"
  
  "Father!" Came a sharp cry from the baulstrades. "Stop inviting our guests to osculate your unkinder half, at once!" And the heavenly young woman descended slowly, floating down the stairs as if on wings of cloud. Such were, I would later learn, the sophisticated hydraulics of the Liftmaster 3000 installed several yars before for the old man.
  
  "Father, will you have Encomium bring our guest a refreshing glass of elm juice?" She commanded, her voice soft, but clearly signaling that it would be entirely her pleasure to dish him out a broom-handle beating if he disobeyed. She was lovely.
  
  Hunchen Pritchett shuffled off to the kitchen, making noises like Poopdeck Pappy as he went.
  
  "I'se don't see wise I'se gots to get the whelp a glass of..." I heard him say before rounding the corner.
  
  "Dear sir or madam-" she began.
  
  "Sir covers it quite nicely, and I thank you," I interupted.
  
  "I do beg your forgiveness for my father's shocking ugliness and his regrettable behavior as well," she said tenderly. "He has not been the same since the unfortunate event of his birth."
  
  "Well who is? Think nothing of it, I beg you."
  
  I stood up to receive her offered hand and was able to examine her face. It was breathtaking, and indeed, a breath I took and thereby avoided passing out, which admittedly I might have done anyway.
  
  "My name is Pillington Chillingshead." I offered. "Inquiries were made with my office conerning the Pritchett landholdings in England. I came to get the family documents in order." She looked at me unblinkingly. The clock ticked. We stood this way for a quater of an hour.
  
  "So, I guess I would need those," I said. Tick Tick Tick. Another quarter hour.
  
  "Just the family documents, and I would be out of your hair." I said.
  
  "And what would those look like?" She said, screwing up her face with the efoort of her inquiry.
  
  "Their mien and bearing would suggest to the soul who happened to take in their appearance that they were composed of paper." Then added, "About this big" holding my hands the appropriate distance apart. Tick Tick Tick.
  
  One half hour ticked away.
  
  "Very Skinny in this direction," I offered, trying to suggest how thin paper can often be, without meaning to insult her obvious intelligence.
  
  "Do they have legs?" she asked.
  
  "Madame, it would indeed surprise me greatly if the family documents had any such appendages." Tick Tick Tick. "No legs. Nope." Tick.
  
  "What do they sound like?" She asked earnestly.
  
  " Well now, that is not altogether effortless to answer. They emit no sound unless some action is being performed upon them-"
  
  "Are they in a box?" she asked.
  
  "Yes! Yes, often the family documents are put in a box of some sort! Good. Good, very good."
  
  The excitement of the moment died.
  
  Tick Tick.
  
  "Please know how happy it would make me to retrieve that box for you," I offered.
  
  "I will go and bring it back to you." she said, and floated away.
  
  It would be fair to say that at that moment, I felt as though I was connected to Desadora Pritchett by a golden cord of heavenly love that only death or horrible disfigurement could sever.
  
  The End.
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  10

  What one thing would you like to vent?

  by MelbaToast in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  mine is my mom.. ii dont know where to start and dont know where to end.

  therapy sessions later, i am still at a loss.

  i think that a parent is someone who loves and protects you from harm, doesnt shame or bribe you to make you into "a perfect pioneer".

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  joannadandy
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  162

  If its good, God did it... if its bad Satan did it....

  by Elsewhere in

  1. jw
  2. friends

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  i've read the bible and i don't recall satan himself actually ever doing anything evil or harmful... however i read many accounts where god killed or tormented countless thousands of people for arbitrary reasons.. aside from prophecies where jehover says that satan will hurt people in the future (hasn't happened yet, and no sign that it will happen), can anyone cite an example in the bible where satan actually harmed anyone?.

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  joannadandy

  Really enjoying the debate people. Keep it up smart ones so I can sit and read something good while I scratch.

  I am reading The Origin of Satan, right now by Elaine Pagels. (spelling?) I am only a couple chapters in, so I can't comment with any real authority, but I find some of her ideas really interesting - Like what is the importance of making Pilot seem like a sweetie pie, while the Jewish leaders are blood thirsty? Also putting the struggle in terms of a heavenly conflict that is still going on, makes it easier for new followers not to be disapointed because their leader is dead. I'm rambling--sorry, I didn't really plan out this post.

  I dunno, it's interesting stuff to me--anyone else read it?

  Also, Elsewhere I would seriously recommend you read The Marriage of Heaven and Hell by William Blake. Very thought provoking stuff, some of it echoes what you said in your opening post. There are a lot of poets and authors who wrote during the Romantic period that felt that Satan was infact a hero, not God--and likened him to a Promethus type character i.e. someone sympathetic to the plight of humans who was punished by the gods, or in Satans case the capital G, for helping humans to no longer be in the "dark" and totally under the control of (g)God(s).

  I find the whole debate facinating, and this debate on this forum is no different. Thanks to everyone who contributed--it's been fun reading!!
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  5

  The Ballad of Bettie Page

  by Valis in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  eh say hello to the new bettie page!

  hbo and ifc are in post production as we speak and the film will be out next year!

  woohoo!bettie page and lana turner movies in the worksposted on wed, 18-feb-2004.

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  joannadandy

  Niffty
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  78

  Belief - a key to Spiritual experience

  by LittleToe in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  setting aside dogma, taking the comments of augustine to a deeper level ("unity in what is essential.

  freedom in what is not essential.

  charity in everything"), i'd like to share an observation.. i don't know if i can articulate it properly, and i know it'll open me up for some abuse, but so be it.

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  joannadandy

  hee hee!

  Gumby, I like you! God help me, but I do!
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  8

  The Village (movie) : WARNING SPOILER INSIDE

  by Oroborus21 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  warning this posting contains spoiler info about the new movie, the village.

  if you plan on seeing the movie and don't like to know stuff in advance stop reading now......

  i saw m. night shyamalan's new movie, the village, today.

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  joannadandy

  I just had to comment on the Amish thing, Rumpspringa, which ex-jw's often seem to equate with, "Wow that's cool why couldn't we have something like that"

  Rumspringa is not nearly as great as it would seem. Much like the JW rhetoric of, "We don't make anyone do anything they don't want to, it's their choice", we as ex-jw's all the fine print of those statements which is, "as long as you do what we want you to".

  Most Amish kids get to dabble a little. But it is not nearly the earth shattering and all encompassing chance at liberty and freedom. Most of them don't even make it 100 miles from home. Much like disfellowshipped people, they have no support nor any skills to hack it in the real world, and many of them return, unaware of what might have been.

  Back to the topic...

  As soon as I saw the movie, I knew there would be posts about it comparing it to the JW's. I think Shamalan was trying to make it more of an allegory about present government than anything else. Anyone notice the main elder's name is Walker? Hmm...who could that be?! I didn't really enjoy it. I was expecting more of a scare fest and creepy thriller than a preachy piece. It wasn't bad, but it seems like he is trying too hard. Plus I kind of figured out the ending after the first few scenes anyway.
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  22

  I thought I'd share a bit of the book I'm reading...

  by Surreptitious in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  "i'll be honest about it.

  it is not atheists who get stuck in my craw, but agnostics.

  doubt is useful for a while.

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  joannadandy

  Syrup-

  Ahh yes...the book that everyone keeps telling me I should read...lol...once you finish lemme know if I should read it...heh heh!