Being unhappy is what finally made me leave. I was driving home one night and somehow the block fell apart. I decided that very night I was done.
IsaacJ22
JoinedPosts by IsaacJ22
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36
Mental Illness & Suicide In the Organization
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this topic has been discussed before ... i just wanted to put my two cents in.. i will start off by saying that of course mental illness exists outside of the organization.
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Sparlock makes his appearance on the Simpsons
by NewYork44M insparlock and the simpsonsif rumors are true, and they generally are, then sparlock the warrior wizard is set to make a special guest appearance on an upcoming episode of the simpsons.. .
according to matt groening, the shows creator, sparlock will feature in a simpsons episode to air on thanksgiving day.. it was only natural due to the popularity of sparlock the warrior wizard, groening explained, that he would end up on this show.. .
http://www.sparlock.info/.
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I am so proud of how we've handled Sparlock!
by NewChapter ini know, another sparlock thread.
but i just have to express this!
i am so proud of what we have done with sparlock.. youtube is being flooded with videos.
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9
Has anybody read "A Universe from Nothing..."
by Dagney inhttp://www.amazon.com/universe-nothing-there-something-rather/dp/145162445x/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=utf8&qid=1338398025&sr=1-1 .
i was wondering if anybody has read this.
tia .
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IsaacJ22
I'm actually part way through the audiobook version. So far, the book is largely about the history of physics and seems to be building up to the conclusion that something does come from nothing, just one discovery at a time. It's pretty good if you like science generally. I knew that something could come from nothing from earlier books I'd read, so I was pretty sure I knew where the author was going. But taking us through the journey helps you to make better sense of it.
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Sparlock ? Can somebody ,in a nutshell explain this ? to us oldies ! What does it have to do with the WTB&TS
by smiddy ini`m sorry but i am having trouble digesting what is happening here , is it jw of origin ?
what`s it`s message ?
who is it targeted at ?
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Interview With Steve Hassan
by Bangalore ininterview with steve hassan.. http://dialogueireland.wordpress.com/2011/04/22/interview-with-steve-hassan/.
bangalore.
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If you and your spouse were both JWs but you decided to leave: a few questions
by Lady Lee inif you and your spouse were both jws but you decided to leave and your spouse decided to stay: a few questions.
i am going to be addressing the international cultic studies association (icsa) in july at the conference in montreal.
my focus is on 3 groups.
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IsaacJ22
What have been the biggest problems you have faced regarding your relationship and the impact the JW beliefs have had on you?
The strain of peer pressure on my wife has been considerable--especially when I first decided to leave. JWs from my former KH were literally harassing me for years after I left. They sought me out at work, at home, left 50+ messages on my answering machine every day, etc. For them, she was one way they could gain access to me and it was very hard for her to say no to an elder. That put her in the middle of my struggle to leave. Worst of all, I was, in a real sense, a source of shame for her and her even parents. It's as if my decision to leave reflected on her somehow. Bear in mind that the stereotype of the battered wife trapped in a marriage to a "worldly" mate is a powerful one among Witnesses, and even now, many seem to feel sorry for her. Now that 16 years have passed, she has told me that she's glad to be married to me instead of the Witness husbands who have, in fact, treated their wives badly. But this isn't something she's really allowed to say to other Witnesses who assume the stereotype applies. Also, the topic of religion and the WT was unofficially off-limits for many years between us. Fortunately for me, the KH's bad behavior has eroded my wife's WT bubble with little help from me.
How has the JW spouse reacted towards you?
When I first told her that I'm not going back to the KH, she was very upset. That's how a good JW spouse is supposed to feel. She begged me to speak to the elders on at least one occasion when one showed up announced, as they often do.
Have the elders interfered with your relationship?
Actually, there was far more interference when we were dating. She had an uncle who was an elder and he felt entitled to get involved even when her more immediate family asked him to back off. When I left the KH, I suspect more may have happened than she admitted at the time. But the way they harassed me about coming back was the worst thing I saw.
Has your decision to leave the JWs resulted in divorce or separation?
No.
And if you had children together what has been the effect on them?
We have no children.
What would you want therapists to know about your situation?
I would want them to understand the culture of JWs, especially the org's power structure. You don't say no to an elder or stand up to an elder unless you want problems. The literature is just plain true, no questioning it. Therapy itself is sometimes frowned upon, and the therapist would be a source of "worldly" wisdom and guidance. In other words, her being a JW comes with a whole new set of baggage the therapist would have to deal with.
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Belief in evolution begets belief in God
by yadda yadda 2 ina strange statement i know.
but consider.... if humans evolved, and humans are a relatively recent evolution, then would it not make sense to believe there might be other far more ancient intelligent beings (who would appear to humans to be like gods/a god) who began evolving long before humans?
in a sense, to believe in human evolution hardly refutes god's existence, unless you believe that us humans are the only thing in the entire universe that has evolved into a salient, intelligent, self-aware being.
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IsaacJ22
I think a lot of things have to happen for your idea to really be workable. It's great science fiction fodder, but really, what's more likely? That all the problems that have already been discussed (like the distance between habitable worlds) were overcome just to screw with primitive cavemen only to leave us alone forever after? Or that we just invented gods for our purposes and continue believing in them to this day?
It's not that your suggestion is impossible or inconceivable. It's just that the second answer just seems far simpler and far more likely.
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Do Present Day Bible Students Go Door-to-Door?
by Band on the Run inwondering how rutherford's faction was more successful in terms of growth and public awareness.
through a strange coincidence, i met someone raised as a dawn bible student.
i had no idea until then that bible students still existed.
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IsaacJ22
I could be wrong, but I don't think they require members to go door-to-door. There was a local break-off that formed from my old KH that supposedly formed a Bible Students group. I was told that was one of the things that made them different from JWs. But then, it could be that these were just rumors.
