Reopened Mind

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Posts by Reopened Mind

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  12

  Celebrate Good Times: Come On!

  by headisspinning in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  today marks our two years free.

  my now husband was df'd on september 13, 2009 and i was officially canned on september 15, 2009!.

  it has been a long road and if any of you remember, we initially came on this board looking for help to get reinstated.that is a huge laugh now, hey!

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  Reopened Mind

  A hearty congratulations!!! Obviously you came to the right place. You've been "reinstated" to a normal life.

  Reopened Mind
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  5

  Have Attended a Small community Church

  by Reopened Mind in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  totallyadd and i have been attending a small nondenominational community church.

  it happens to be the same church that i attended as a small child.

  as some of you may remember totallyadd was raised in the organization so this was his first experience going to church.

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  Reopened Mind

  paulnotsaul: "Conform or be cast out" should be the byline of the WT. LOL Keep your children surrounded by people who value and love them. Unfortunately we raised our boys in the cult. Now that they are adults they are having a great struggle because they are now aware of the lies they have grown up with. With children of their own and wives still indoctrinated their struggles have been compounded.

  jamiebowers: Thank you for your continued support.

  TimothyT: Unconditional love and acceptance is something we are not used to as JWs. I know for myself I need to learn to reciprocate that love and acceptance after 37 years of being judgemental.
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  5

  Have Attended a Small community Church

  by Reopened Mind in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  totallyadd and i have been attending a small nondenominational community church.

  it happens to be the same church that i attended as a small child.

  as some of you may remember totallyadd was raised in the organization so this was his first experience going to church.

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  Reopened Mind

  TotallyADD and I have been attending a small nondenominational community church. It happens to be the same church that I attended as a small child. As some of you may remember TotallyADD was raised in the organization so this was his first experience going to church. How small is the church? This morning there were about 30 people, last week there were 23, and the Sunday before there were 17. To my surprise two women introduced themselves as my babysitters from years ago, eg., before I was nine years old.

  The pastor knows of our JW background. He borrowed and read Crisis of Conscience and In Search of Christian Freedom. He was shocked at the legalism of the Watchtower. Like most he thought JWs were a benign religion but on another path of Christianity. He is very liberal in his thinking and preaching. Last Sunday I spoke to him privately and explained that I was not a Christian and that I called myself an agnostic or secular humanist. He emphasized to me that I was welcome whether I was a believer or not.

  There are only a handful of children who attend. What impressed us was how the children are involved and valued. This morning the children were invited to come up on the stage and do chalk drawings. The pastor's nine year old granddaughter drew a picture of the Twin Towers complete with airplanes flying into them. TotallyADD and I commented how this would never have happened in a kingdom hall. Even in this day and age children are expected to be seen and not heard.

  On other Sundays the children are taken to another room during the regular service by the pastor's wife for a special "children's church".

  Overall it has been a refreshing experience.

  Reopened Mind
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  3

  Remembering, Learning, Growing

  by Marvin Shilmer in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  remembering, learning, growing.

  today i uploaded a new article to my blog.

  please share a moment with me and remember 911 together.

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  Reopened Mind

  Interesting Marvin. Loved the perspective.

  Reopened Mind
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  13

  1-year anniversary on this forum

  by Alfred in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  wow!!!

  i've just noticed that i've been on this forum for a whole year... it's incredible how time flys after escaping the wt's control.... i don't really know what to say at a time like this... except that i have grown to appreciate all kinds of people and i have healed completely thanks to many of you on this forum (like dog patch, barbara, jw facts, terry, marvin shilmer, sizemik, mad sweeney, doug mason and many others that have escaped my memory).... and how can i forget to thank outlaw and punkofnice for adding their humor to it all.... anyway, thanks everyone... i'm a much better person today because of you and i appreciate it very much....

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  Reopened Mind

  HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

  JWN has broadened my horizons as well.

  Reopened Mind
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  11

  Please. One At A Time. But I Have Found The Answer... ;)

  by headisspinning in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  life is short and i regret the years i have wasted.

  i feel like crying over the damage i have caused my kids by raising them in a cult.

  but i really honestly believed all of it.

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  Reopened Mind

  headisspinning and life is short you cannot change the past, only look ahead to the future. TotallyADD and I raised our boys in the WT cult. They grew up and married JW women as well. The oldest one is totally out and the youngest is biding his time until he can escape with his family. You will find that children are very resilient. So give them a chance and help them find their own way.

  Make your own family traditions by introducing your unique celebrations as you are comfortable with them. Keep in mind you and your family have come out of a destructive mind controlling cult that has filled your heads with so much fear and guilt that it will take time to minimize. I don't think it ever goes away. Gradually replace the negative thoughts with positive ones. Nancy drew's suggestion of celebrating your child's birthday because he is special is a good one.

  The WT continually harps on birthdays as being bad because a murder ocurred during two pagan celebrations. Yet they forget that the Christian Greek Scriptures opens with the angels celebrating the birth of Jesus. (This is not surprising since the governing body has replaced Jesus with themselves, the faithful and discreet slave.)

  Reopened Mind
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  22

  Who's Your Favorite Celebrity?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if you could ever meet a celebrity, who would you love to see?.

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  Reopened Mind

  Years ago TotallyADD and I attended a Star Trek convention in West Palm Beach,FL. This was before any Star Trek movies had been made. It had to be combined with a comic book convention because there was so little interest in all things Star Trek. We had the great pleasure of spending the entire afternoon with George Takei who played Sulu on the Original Series. It was George who told us of the upcoming movies featuring the original cast. You can bet we watched eagerly. My favorite ST movie is Star Trek IV the Voyage Home.

  Many years later we met Armin Shimmerman who played Quark on Star Trek Deep Space Nine. This was at the Star Trek Hilton in Las Vegas. We waited in a very long line to meet him. I remember his wife walking through the crowd to apologize for the long wait. Armin took time to talk to each one in turn. So by the time we got to him we had an audience of about five minutes. Another wonderful afternoon.

  These two rank very high on my list of favorite celebrities.

  Reopened Mind
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  20

  Blondie's Comments You Will Not Hear at the 09-04-2011 WT Study (GUIDANCE)

  by blondie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  wt material from today's wt will be in black.

  the warning?

  he gives us careful directions.

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  Reopened Mind

  Blondie,

  TotallyADD and I are sorry to hear of the death of your close family member and your personal medical emergency. Our deep sympathies to you and your family. We also hope that whatever your medical emergency was that you are on the mend now. Please accept a heartfelt GET WELL SOON .

  We both eagerly await you comments each week as they reinforce our decision to have left this mind controlling cult. I know we don't comment very much, but that is because you have covered the points so thoroughly. You really do make a difference in the lives of people lurking on this board.

  ziddina, love the gorgeous pictures you posted.

  Let me reemphasize what JW GoneBad and ziddina said, "Blondie, you are a gem."

  Thank you, thank you, thank you,

  Reopened Mind
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  7

  This should make you smile!

  by coffee_black in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  granddaughter zoey who will be a year on sept. 17th... .

  .

  couldn't resist.... coffee .

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  Reopened Mind

  You sure did make me smile.

  Thanks coffee-black.

  Reopened Mind
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  46

  I am out (finally) - done with the Witnesses

  by Anony Mous in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi, long time no see.

  i am finally out of the borg.

  had a talk with an elder-friend-family member today who said i should just do it if that's what i want to do, and my wife says if that's what i want to do that she's fine with it.

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  Reopened Mind

  Anony Mous,

  Brilliant! You have used the Bible and their own Insight book to prove your points. Having good manners demands treating everyone civily. As sizemik said, "they have no morally or scripturally sound argument to refute you with".

  I don't have reason to be mad at individual witnesses.

  This is a good point to keep in mind. Everyone still in the WT is under the mind control of the governing body. This is why your friend cannot process what you have just said but must take the fall back position of "us verses them". Maybe in time.

  Reopened Mind