Posts by IsaacJ22

41

How did you tell your mate that .....

by stuckinamovement in

jw
friends

you no longer believed that the watchtower organization was the truth, and that you were no longer going to go to the meetings or service?.

and a followup question... what was the response?.

IsaacJ22

I've been through this. My wife and nearly all my in-laws are JWs. My wife isn't very active by their standards, but she takes grief for it. She still believes, yet she seems to understand many of my objections to the WTS and religion generally.

Maybe you could sit down and have another serious talk about this and agree to some terms? It could be a set length of time to figure out a reason to stay or not, for example. I definitely wouldn't let the "where else are you gonna go" excuse be, either. The answer is wherever you want.

Of course, you can mention this to put the idea out there and then come back to it later.

16

Shepherding Call Coming Up

by dontplaceliterature in

jw
friends

well, my wife and i are supposed to be visited by a couple of elders soon, as part of a "regular shepherding program".

i am a ministerial servant in our congregation and our circuit overseer has been busting the boe's chops each visit lately for not having a program in place for shepherding.

it was previously done on an "as needed" basis, but i guess he cracked the whip pretty hard on this last visit so they are going to try to get down to business.

IsaacJ22

If I were you and planning to step down, I don't think I'd do it during a shepherding call. Paula's right. Unfortunately, confessing your own feelings upfront won't make the SC any better or shorten the length of your anxiety. Either way, you'll probably have to wait it out, man. I don't blame you for feeling anxious, though.

Besides, you'll only catch them off guard and turn what could be a routine visit into a real matter of concern. You're better off doing this when you're alone with them, though you may want to tell your wife before hand out of respect for her feelings.

Personally, I can't help but wonder if you're wife is afraid of the embarrassment it will cauce. So consider her feelings when handling this. It could make a difference to your marriage later on.

11

"All Scripture is inspired of God and Beneficial" .....

by smiddy in

did you just take that scripture at face value ?

beleiving it to be so ?.

was" all scripture is inspired by god" written down at that one time ?

IsaacJ22

I've read a few books on the Bible's history and "creation." But if you're looking for a religious commentary as opposed to a secular one, I won't be able to help you. I'm no longer a believer. Off hand, I don't recall enough to answer your initial question anyway. I would to do research. Which is what I suggest you do. There's plenty of info available for free online.

I still think you're asking very good questions, though. I think every Christian should ask those same questions, even if they don't arrive at their answers my way or don't come to the conclusions I have.

Good for you.

34

Are you an "apostate"?

by cedars in

jw
friends

i'm quite new to this site, and i've noticed that many of you are more than happy to call yourselves "apostates", even though many of you evidently believe in the bible and in jesus as saviour, etc.. i'm aware that the society brands anyone who disagrees with them as being an "apostate", but just because they choose to do this, does this mean we should be comfortable with being so branded?

should we "bend over" and take it?.

here is what the insight book says on apostasy:.

IsaacJ22

Sometimes, people can take ownership of a thing and the sting goes away.

"You're an apostate!"

"Yeah, and proud of it."

Kind of how being a geek has become something of a good thing. When I was a kid, being a geek was a lot like being a nerd. A dweeb. Etc.

For me, there is no sting. I'm generally moved to shrug my shoulders or shake my head at them, but that's about it. I'd prefer it if they left me alone anyway. Their interventions are a tremendous (and irritating) waste of time.

The only disturbing thing is how painfully effed up it is to demand that someone have a conversation with you about something that is THEIR religion--because it is no longer yours--then get bent out of shape when you tell them that you feel their faith is less than praiseworthy. And so, in retaliation, they call you an apostate that must be shunned. Even though they're the ones who started the converstaion you didn't even want to have!

Of course, I'm merely a bad associate officially. In truth, the difference is merely one of degree. It's a very cult-like thing to do. To me, it's just pitiful and obvious.

23

Migraines?

by skeeter1 in

so, i get a migraine a few times a year.

i usually take some advil and i'm fine.. but, this past month, i've had about 4 migraines.

one is coming on right now, and i'm about to take an advil.

IsaacJ22

Littlerockguy, one of the ingredients of migrelief is magnesium. I believe there are 3 ingredients. Can't remember what the rest are...

23

Migraines?

by skeeter1 in

so, i get a migraine a few times a year.

i usually take some advil and i'm fine.. but, this past month, i've had about 4 migraines.

one is coming on right now, and i'm about to take an advil.

IsaacJ22

I used to get migraines even before I started in school, but they were very infrequent. Then, through my teens, they only hit when I was under severe stress. I didn't know what they were, but they would completely immobilize me until they went away. Immitrex didn't work so well for me, but no one told me to take them early in the attack. (We have sucky doctors in Delaware...it's the malpractice mecha of the USA)

As mentioned before, it seems that sinus problems and insomnia go with many migraines. Your experiences seem to be suggesting that this is true, which is interesting to know. My grandmother also has all 3 of these problems.

Anyway, more things that help me with migraines:

Going outside and taking a walk, though this was too difficult when they first got severe. Sometimes, sitting in the bathroom with the fan on helps. Maybe something in the air here is bad for me. We also tried getting "air cleaning" plants.

Exercise (though I understand this makes them worse for some people...it used to make them worse for me, but no longer does).

Getting enough sleep and REGULAR sleep patterns. If I stay up late on a Friday because I'm off that weekend, I will likely have a migraine the whole weekend. Which sucks, BTW.

Migrelief, which I mentioned earlier, cut my migraine recurrences in half. But only after I took them for a couple of months. You may not realize it's working until you stop taking it and suddenly you have them all the time again. It works gradually. You can get them through Amazon.com with free shipping if you can't find them locally. They even mail them out every 30, 60, or 90 days if you want them with the free shipping and a discount.

I avoid artificial sweeteners. I probably have allergies.

Loud music. (Again, this would not have worked for me in the early days.)

Eat some food. Eating regular meals is a good idea, too.

With the last two, the effect can wear off quickly once you stop. But it can give you a break at least.

Visual imagery/meditation can be of some help, though it's hard to do this when the migraine is in full blast. Like so many other things, you have to start working on it as soon as you think you're getting one. You can try imagining that the migraine is a flame, then imagine the flame getting lower and lower. Then try breathing slowly through your stomach, which should lower your heart rate. You can breath starting with the stomach, then fill the lungs, and out with the air if you like. This sort of thing works with other issues, like stress and other forms of pain, too.

Try imagining that your JW in-laws are a fire that gets lower and lower...Oh. Sorry. Snuck that in.

23

Migraines?

by skeeter1 in

so, i get a migraine a few times a year.

i usually take some advil and i'm fine.. but, this past month, i've had about 4 migraines.

one is coming on right now, and i'm about to take an advil.

IsaacJ22

I just might be the migraine King. :) I used to have a suicide migraine for several years. That's a migraine that literally doesn't go away. Then I had them 3 to 4 times a week. Recently, they've almost gone away, but that could be the weather. They may come back this Winter. We'll see. A full-on migraine can be completely debilitating, as mine used to be. I couldn't work for a long time thanks to mine.

I tried Migrelief (must be similar to Migraleve as someone else mentioned). It's a cocoction of supplements/minerals. Not herbs. It takes a while of continuous use to work. I read about it in Psychology Today and thought I'd give it a try. It's supposed to take a couple months to work, and it works gradually. But now it works better than any migraine preventative my doctors prescribed. You can get it shipped for free from Amazon.com if you subscribe to it. That means you sign up to have Amazon send it to you automatically on a regular basis. (You can tell them to stop whenever you want, though.) You also get it at a discount if you do this.

Ibruprofen and naproxen sodium work better than any other over the counter pain killer. Probably because they're also anti-inflammatories. Most drugs seem to work best if you take them before the migraine get bad. Including Imitrex. If you wait until the pain is unbearable, they tend to be less effective.

Bear in mind that migraines are somewhat mysterious. They used to blame blood vessels in the brain, but that was disproven. Then they did scans that show that true migraines usually begin in the brain stem. It's like a pulse of electricity that shoots through the brain. Some brains are more susceptible in certain regions, so some people get nauseous, as I did. Others see auras. Etc.

Sometimes, sinus sufferers (me also) get migraines--or at least pain that can be considered a migraine. I seem to have multiple problems. Lack of sleep and migraines often go together. I also suffer from insomnia.

There are plenty of web sites that give info and advice on both insomnia and migraines. You might want to start checking them out.

10

Do have brothers or sisters constantly telling you how to get your life together ?

by av8orntexas in

wow im not really sure where to start.. .

well i work for a rather large company in a large city.

at one point we were the largest employer in the city.

IsaacJ22

I have had similar problems with Witnesses, and even other evangelists from time to time. One of the things I often argue is that their approach and attitude often undermines their goal of making and keeping converts.

Dealing with Witnesses like this is very hard if you don't want to be declared an apostate. It's much easier for those of us who don't care. :-) But I would take him to task for talking down to you as if he were a higher form of life looking down on you. Then I'd point out that even the Society doesn't approve of Witnessing on the job at work.

47

For those who do not believe in the Bible: Why don't you?

by Chemical Emotions in

jw
friends

i don't believe in the bible either, but i'm just curious as to why others don't.

ridiculous misogyny and mass murder by a petty little god are two reasons for me.

(ilovehigh-lighting) .

IsaacJ22

From the perspective of historians, it seems that their are plenty of reasons to doubt the Bible being truly inspired by any deity. Christianity itself has similar historic problems from my point of view, but you asked about the Bible. So I'll stick with that.

Like many Witnesses, I bought into the Society's apologetics. It offered us evidence that was meant to prove the Bible had to be divinely inspired, usually due to its scientific or historical accuracy. Once I learned that these reasons were exaggerations or even just plain wrong, there didn't seem to be a good reason to view the Bible in the same way any more.

Then I learned that scholars can prove that the Bible texts, as we know them today, have been altered. No one knows what the originals said, but they do know they don't match anything we have now. That, to me, was pretty condemning. Some of the text is even known to be a forgerie! What's that about?

English translations leave out a lot of details that were culturally relevant at the time, too. So even in its current form, most English speaking Christians don't understand what the Bible's really saying as well as they believe. I'm looking at you, WTS, among others.

Now, I don't even think the Bible is a very good book. I think most people could write a better one. Even the 10 commandments could be made much better with little effort. It's historically and culturally interesting, but -- to me -- it is very umimpressive. I don't see how an all knowing, all powerful god who wants us to hear his message could be involved in any meaningful way.

What ya gonna do?

18

Convention drama

by Gorbatchov in

jw
friends

i did'nt like the convention (no surprice), but what do i hate the drama on saturday.

a shocking inside look in a jw perfect family.

the solution of their problems are stupid.

IsaacJ22

I stopped going to conventions a long time ago. But I've seen videos on Youtube. I don't know if it's the same drama you're talking about, but I thought the family drama shown there was hilarious...and eerie.

I remember thinking these dramas were stupid even when I was a JW, and it was hard not to laugh at others who got hyped on how good they thought the dramas were. I always wanted to go, "Really? What were you looking at?"

It seems that I'm one of the few ex-Witnesses who didn't like the conventions. Maybe that helped break the spell? I dunno.