ReallyTrulyAthena

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Posts by ReallyTrulyAthena

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  43

  Say it together now: "itsacult"

  by pirata in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i dedicate this thread to itsacult.. everyone say it:.

  "itsacult".

  .

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  ReallyTrulyAthena

  itsatrap!!!

  Nice Star Wars reference, zoiks.

  RTA clears her throat, warms up her voice and sayyyyyys: itsacult.
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  18

  Video Of JW's WItnessing

  by Pig in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  new cartoon, i hope this isn't considered spam but this one took me a while and i'd like to share it.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_pqu0bln74.

  one criticism (god, that word reminds me of the tms) was that my other videos weren't boring enough to match what it's really like as a jw, i think i've captured it a bit better in this video.. also, it's meant to be fairly non offensive because i hope jw's can take a sneaky peak.

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  ReallyTrulyAthena

  I like your videos a lot...this was hilarious!

  Uh oh - gotta break up that brother and sister from possibly pairing up together in service. Oh, the horror! I always seemed to be the kid that got stuck with the older brother or sister who would inevitably sing/hum/whistle/caterwaul one of the kingdom melodies...off key. Yikes.

  RTA
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  8

  The athiest awake

  by keeshondgirl in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i recently found the awake november 2010 issue on 'is atheism on the march?

  at my mother in laws house.

  the first few sentences say "a new group of atheists has arisen in soceity.

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  ReallyTrulyAthena

  You're welcome, ziddina

  I love PZ's quick retort:

  That's right. The door-knockin', rabidly proselytizing cult is rebuking atheists for not keeping their views to themselves.

  LOL
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  8

  The athiest awake

  by keeshondgirl in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i recently found the awake november 2010 issue on 'is atheism on the march?

  at my mother in laws house.

  the first few sentences say "a new group of atheists has arisen in soceity.

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  ReallyTrulyAthena

  Oh yeah, this article was a doozy, eh?

  Check out the following post/discussion over at Pharyngula:

  The Jehovah's Witnesses redefine irony

  http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2010/09/the_jehovahs_witnesses_redefin.php

  Lets arrange the wording a little "A group of christians has arisen in soceity. Called the Jehovah witnesses, they are not content to keep their views to themselves. Rather, they are on a crusade, 'actively, angrily, passionately trying to persuade the religious to their point of view."

  And: Jehovah witnesses are on a mission: They want to convert you to their way of thinking. But is their reasoning sound?

  Thats more like it! haha!

  Agreed, keeshondgirl!
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  33

  A deep deep hurt

  by sooner7nc in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  when i was a couple of months old my father was put into prison in seagoville, texas.

  the watchtower took him away from me for almost 2 years and destroyed almost all hope that he and i would ever have a normal relationship.

  i say this because i believe the bond that we should have formed when i was a baby was severed forever and that's the damnable shame of it all.

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  ReallyTrulyAthena

  ((sooner7nc))

  I'm not the most prolific poster here, but wanted to reach out and give you a big ole hug. I'm sorry to hear of the devastating impact the WTS had on you and your family (wipes tears). The WTS has demonstrated/continues to demonstrate how very much they do NOT walk their own talk about LOVE. They are all words, all appearances; it's just a front. May their facade come crashing down (or at least have people continue to see thru the facade)...and in the meantime, all we can do is do our best - for our families, our friends and ourselves.

  Strength, peace & blessings to you

  RTA
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  21

  Peanuts on the Overlapping Generations

  by FatFreek 2005 in

  1. social
  2. humour

  we apostates have to maintain our distance at times.. .

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  ReallyTrulyAthena

  Love the Peanuts gang...this is awesome. Nice job!
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  32

  Cult...Cult...Cult...Cult!

  by Cold Steel in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  it seems that many people on this board get a certain amount of glee calling the jehovah's witness faith a "cult.

  " especially former jehovah's witnesses.

  and though it's true in a number of senses, we must be conscious of the fact that the early christians were considered by nearly everyone in roman and jewish society as a cult.

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  ReallyTrulyAthena

  After all these years of being out of the WTS, I'm finally getting around to reading Combatting Cult Mind Control in its entirety. Although I'm only a few chapters in, the "a-ha" moments are already piling up.

  My wife thinks all religions are cults, except hers. (She's Greek Orthodox.)

  My beau thinks the same (that all religions are cults); he was raised Serbian Orthodox (but for quite a while now, he has aligned himself most with the Taoist belief system and honestly could care less about "religion").

  Ding - Agreed. I took your succinct write-up and copied it for future reference/use, thanks!

  I think it disturbs some former members to think they were in something that turned out to be a cult.

  OTWO - I'll admit: it disturbed me mightily. I remember seeing the words "JW" and "cult" in the same sentence for the first time in about 2001 and just about flipped. Seriously, I almost lost it emotionally (the vision is so clear -- my fists: clenched by my side; eyes: closed tightly; the scream: near-primal from my throat, wailing, "Noooo! I was NOT raised in a cult!"). Even though I had been DFd for several years by that point - I. Just. Did. Not. Know. It sent me into a tail-spin, but I'm here to tell the tale of continued reading, research (and boat-loads of therapy).

  They have personalized the words and take offense at them, instead of looking at the meaning of the words.

  cult classic - I hear ya. I was one of those that personalized...at first. But I got over it Whereas I previously chose to "emotionally charge" words (such as 'cult' and 'apostate') - I finally realized that by doing so, it limited me in my understanding and my ability to move past them. Once I learned acceptance and how to better manage my emotions surrounding my upbringing, I could then drop my prior superimposed definitions...and move forward onto the next level of the journey.

  RTA
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  24

  ive been to hospital and had a biopsy taken from a lump in my breast today

  by looloo in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i was expecting to just get examined then told it was nothing to worry about but i also had a mamogram , then scan .

  the lump i was worried about was ok but the scanner found one behind it that she was not sure about , she took a biopsy from it after i had a local anesthetic and sent me back to the doctor who told me i would now have to wait a week for those results !

  when i had arrived i was told i would be told today if everything is ok !

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  ReallyTrulyAthena

  (((looloo))) I'm hoping that you receive good news and in the meantime, I am sending up positive vibes and thoughts and prayers.

  have any of you had this experiance or know anybody who had a good outcome and even had breast cancer but survived it ?

  A co-worker of mine has survived breast cancer - twice. About 3 years back, it came out of remission & she was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. We bawled our eyes out. "Surely, there's no surviving?" we thought. BUT - progress in medicine really has come so far! I do not know all of the particulars in her case, but high level is they caught it quite quickly as it came out of remission, put her on intensive chemo as well as some some trial medicines...........very long story short is she still here with us here today, telling her story of survival. To be sure - it was very tough on her; she was bowed, but she did not break. She's a personal hero of mine who was....wait...IS the steady, ever-smiling, strong, calm, heroic face of coping/beating/dealing with breast cancer.

  One day at a time; one step at a time; one moment at a time. I am putting myself in your shoes and golly, I would be scared senseless (I'm high risk what with my family's history of breast cancer, so I report for my yearly mammo even though they ain't fun - UGH), even knowing how far medicine has come with breast cancer awareness/research/prevention. Please let us know of your results...blessings and peace

  RTA

  PS - palmtree, the pic & poem were great! Laughter sometimes really IS the best medicine.
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  39

  do you miss anything from when you were a jw?

  by Newborn in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a few of my friends who also used to be jw's, say they miss certain things abt it...i can honestly say that i don't miss a single thing (my sister obviously who's still in but nothing else).. before i could sometimes miss having such a strong belief but that's also gone.

  i guess i've moved on big time.

  /newborn.

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  ReallyTrulyAthena

  I miss my family. More so than I will admit, sometimes even to myself.

  All the rest -- the monotony of going to the meetings week in and week out; the super late nights when Dad stayed afterward to talk with the other elders; the gut-gnawing stress endured during the hell that is Field Service; the torment of being unmercifully mocked in school -- I do not miss those things one bit.

  RTA
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  26

  If society UPHELD the pagan origins of umbrellas would the R and F obey?

  by Botzwana in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if the society said that umbrellas were indeed pagan, because their origins are, and you would be dfed if you used one do you think the rank and file would obey?

  or do you think that would push them over the edge?

  i can just see the wealthy witness woman you know, the real pretentious ones not going out when it rains etc..

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  ReallyTrulyAthena

  For real? Wow, I had no idea (Thanks, pirata for the info) Here I just thought umbrellas were just practical n' stuff, not anything pagan. Silly me.

  RTA

  PS - sabastious - was that picture by Miyazaki? I loved Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle!