My experience was similar in some ways, different in others, and all I can do is echo what others have said and I know from personal experience: it's probably difficult now, but eventually it will get far better and you'll be able to have a normal relationship with your mom--hang in there. Good luck with your business! :-)
A.Fenderson
JoinedPosts by A.Fenderson
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33
I finally did it
by doublelife ini told my mom that i'm not going back to the meetings.
i wasn't planning on telling her that but i've been going through some hard times with my husband and just got fed up with her hounding me.
so she asked if i'll still consider going back to the meetings and i just flat out told her no and that it wasn't up for discussion.
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My life on the Treadmill
by cult classic ini was born in 1970 to third generation jehovah's witnesses.
like all those born in, i was brought up without hope or guidance for a life in this world.
instead of being taught to be self sufficient and confident, i was trained to obey my parents without question (ephesians 6:1).
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A.Fenderson
Thanks for giving us your story thus far.
You see unlike those who convert to Jehovah's Witnesses, those born in have no past that is free from Watchtower influence. There is no home to go to. No one waiting for our return.
Nicely put. All of us born-ins feel this to some degree when we break free, and it's frightening at first.
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Field service-how did you avoid it?
by sawthe light ini hated field service and would avoid it as much as possible.i tried to work on my own if i could and would just drive some where and lisern to music or pretend i had return visits and just go home.what did you do to get out of the misery service?.
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A.Fenderson
Towards the end of my JW days, I had a friend who realized about the same time as me that it was all bullshit, but we didn't know what to do about it yet. So we'd pair up for FS, leave from the pre-FS meeting, then go partake of mind-expanding all-natural botanical remedy.
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"...cannot be condoned under ANY circumstance"
by parakeet inthis is going around the internet.
enjoy.. "on her radio show, dr. laura schlensinger (a popular conservatve radio talk-show host) said that homosexuality is an abomination according to the bible leviticus 18:22, and cannot be condoned under any circumstance.
the following is an open letter to dr. laura, penned by james m. kauffman, ed.d.. dear dr. laura:.
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A.Fenderson
This is also why the WT Borg and other cults who use mind-control should be sanctioned from using those methods, because their teaching methods and policies infringe on the mental freedom of their victims. Words CAN and DO hurt people at times.
This, to me, seems to be crossing a very dangerous line. As horrible as the cult is, they don't use coercion. They obviously use certain mind-control techniques, whether consciously or not, but they're not bodily forcing anyone into a KH or to sit through a bible study. Laws against allowing adults to associate with whatever group they choose are not the solution here.
Now, like Richard Dawkins, I don't believe the same rules ought to apply to children, but at the same time I'm not ready yet to agree to laws that prevent parents from religiously indoctrinating their children--though I do think it is morally reprehensible to program these types of things into not-yet-rational blank-slate minds which are genetically programmed to believe just about anything they're told.
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Would you fight/die for my right to right to free speech?
by Cagefighter ineven if that speech offended or disgusted you?.
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A.Fenderson
"I (may) disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the [great personal inconvenience] your right to say it."
That Johnny Cash story is awesome. I appreciate someone who demonstrably and fully believes in both the first and second Ammendments!
I believe that government censorship of "hate speech" is potentially very dangerous. Much like the body of existing law itself, the definitions behind what types of expression can be justifiably limited by government coercion will likely tend to grow over time until one day we look at it and realize we're all criminals.
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Where to appropriately focus and direct our anger (and more importantly - how)
by Mad Sweeney inthis is a tangent from another thread where angry responses to jws was a side-topic.. my opinion is that it is important to remember that the rank and file jw is a victim of the cult and that focusing our anger on any of them individually is doing them a disservice for two reasons:.
1. their behavior, thoughts, and feelings are not their own and are only informed by the borg.
it isn't just or appropriate to attack those who are victims just like many of us were.. 2. opposition, especially angry opposition, reinforces the false information that the borg has indoctrinated in them: that one of the proofs they have "the truth" is that they are persecuted.
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A.Fenderson
My opinion is that it is important to remember that the rank and file JW is a victim of the cult and that focusing our anger on any of them individually is doing them a disservice for two reasons:
1. Their behavior, thoughts, and feelings are not their own and are only informed by the borg. It isn't just or appropriate to attack those who are victims JUST LIKE MANY OF US WERE.
Being completely honest with myself, I think my (sometimes) tendency to become irate at JWs for believing such a load of shit is a projection of the anger I feel at myself for having beleived it for a time. I've not read any of the books on cults, mind-control, or the JW organization in particular that often get mentioned here--maybe I should. Perhaps forgiving myself for having believed it will help me turn that same feeling outwards, and I can more easily concentrate my disgust towards the leadership rather than the rank and file. I guess it's worth a shot, anyway. What does anyone consider to be the one best book that I might read in this case?
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What Are Some Of The Dumbest Beliefs JW's Have?
by minimus ini know there are a lot.. one belief i never understood is that blood fractions might be ok for a christian but not "whole blood".
to me the "blood doctrine" is ridiculous from a scriptural point of view..
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A.Fenderson
Thanks for the link, Zid. Wow. Wow. It becomes more apparent to me all the time why the WTS is so emphatic that old light be disregarded and essentially even made taboo--it would take a special kind of insanity to know about all these idioctic stances and failed predictions and still believe that the WTS is getting this shit from God instead of their own asses.
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What's a really good movie you'd recommend that most people probably haven't seen?
by A.Fenderson inwhat's a really good movie you'd recommend that most people probably haven't seen?.
my personal recommendation: synecdoche, new york.
it's one of those movies that words fail utterly to capture--which really is the hallmark of a good movie, i suppose.
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A.Fenderson
Wow, thanks for all the recommendations, gaiz!
I've seen some of these already, and many that I have were excellent (notes on just a few below), so I'm psyched about the ones I haven't seen.
Cidade de Deus - (Netflix recommendation that I was very happy with, highly recommended)
the Wrestler- haven't watched it yet, but I loved all of Aronofsky's previous movies, with Requiem for a Dream and The Fountain being two of my absolute all-time favorites.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - (writer Charlie Kaufman is awesome--if you liked this, watch Synecdoche New York, which he wrote and was his directorial debut, and his best movie to date IMO)
Waking Life - (I really like Richard Linklater; loved Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and A Scanner Darkly which was done in a similar visual style)
A Clockwork Orange ..."Stanley Kubrick is truly a genius." - Agreed.
So......how about any really, really unusual movies that you've thoroughly enjoyed? I would count The Holy Mountain among these--anyone seen this?
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What's a really good movie you'd recommend that most people probably haven't seen?
by A.Fenderson inwhat's a really good movie you'd recommend that most people probably haven't seen?.
my personal recommendation: synecdoche, new york.
it's one of those movies that words fail utterly to capture--which really is the hallmark of a good movie, i suppose.
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A.Fenderson
What's a really good movie you'd recommend that most people probably haven't seen?
My personal recommendation: Synecdoche, New York. It's one of those movies that words fail utterly to capture--which really is the hallmark of a good movie, I suppose. Film, being an audio-visual media, allows for so many interesting and unusual narritive devices that you could never pull off in a book. Anyway, please, if you have the time and the means, watch this movie without first having read any reviews or synopses, and without asking your friends about it--just experience it for what it is. If you want your two hours and rental fee back afterwards, feel free to come back and complain and I'll listen, but that's all I can offer. :-)
And if people start commenting about this movie below, and you haven't seen it--watch it first! No reading ahead. ;-)
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XJWs, do you look forward to and enjoy weekends? As a Dub did you not look forward to weekends?
by miseryloveselders inevery friday at my job, i hear the usual.
"its friday!!
" "i'll be better in three more hours!!
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A.Fenderson
Nice rant, misery, and funny! I always hated the weekends when I was forced to go out in service--isn't it enough that Sunday is already ruined? I preferred school, as you prefer work. I don't recall your circumstances, but I hope you're able to GTFO soon, for your sanity's sake.