personally, i have never felt an earthquake in my life.
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For anybody still interested in Earthquakes the following link makes for quite interesting viewing . . . an anitimated time sequential of CHCH Quake and associated aftershocks . . . has some interesting interactive tools.
http://www.christchurchquakemap.co.nz/all
Luvonyall
personally, i have never felt an earthquake in my life.
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Hi folks . . . I'm from Christchurch, New Zealand as some of you know. We've had 2 fairly major ones in the past 6 months . . . a 7.1 centred about 30km away at 20km depth; and a 6.3 10km away at 7km depth.
The 7.1 woke us at 4.30 am and started with a loud rumble increasing in volume. Small items began to vibrate on surfaces as the volume increased. My wife and I instinctively jumped from the bed in time to be hit by the first s-wave and she was thrown to the floor . . . I began an involuntary sprint which ended against a wall. It seemed like an eternity before I reached her . . . she had got to her hands and knees only to be thrown flat again. As we moved arm in arm toward the doorway the bookshelf toppled spilling it's contents over us. By this time my son had managed it to the adjacent door frame and the wild shaking had been continuing for about 20-30sec. At that point the shaking appeared to fade only to wind up again heaving the house strenuously from side to side . . . we wondered if it was ever going to stop. I've studied Earth Science at Uni . . . but never experienced an Earthquake . . . and it was very frightening I don't mind admitting.
The second Quake struck about 5 months later at 1 in the afternoon. I was working in my garage behind my house at the time. This one began with a deafening BOOM . . . kind of like a loud sonic boom slowley fading. My tools on the bench began to vibrate and I ran toward the house yelling at my kids to "get out of the f***ing house". One of them made it out as the first wave hit lifting my feet upwards and forwards and slamming me on my ass. I pulled myself up on a fence to watch the houses in my street swaying independent to one another. My work van began to sway and rock and at the peak of the swaying lifted a set of wheels clear from the ground. The physical, solid world around me just seemed to be turned to liquid . . . it was totally surreal . . . the mind just wouldn't accept it. The experience from outdoors was far more spectacular compared to the earlier Quake above.
When it had passed, I immediately thought of my wife who worked in a high rise in town . . . her story is more spectacular than mine . . . I'll get her to tell it one day when she can bring herself to it.
It has transpired that the 7.1 produced the most violent ground effects ever recorded in NZ . . . and we've had bigger ones (mid 8's)
I guess many have had similar experiences but this one is still pretty fresh . . . just had small aftershock as I write in fact.
Thanks for the thread . . . it's cathartic for me.
Luvonyall
before you women jump all over me, this is just a observation.. first of all at least in this country women out number men in religion,.
across the board,(jw,s,baptist, catholic etc.
) you walk in any church.
What may be helpful here is some input from a transexual . . . . anybody?
somedays i've got a monster within my blood, and every so often i'd love to just give into it.
throwing the jw factor aside, i genuinely believe that having and demostrating love for others is an honorable way to live.
however, and there's always a however with everything in life, but i struggle sometimes trying to be consistent with love.
I have tried to be honest, modest and kind all my life . . . truly . . . I have.
But alas, there have been times when I have behaved like a complete and utter arsehole . . . so I guess I owe you all an apology.
My point is . . . people change . . . and often do . . . benefit of the doubt is a worthwhile virtue.
information in this day in age, through technology, has become so readily available for so many people.
this quick supply of information has presented us with a problem.
it is human nature to be drawn to sensational information.
I think what you 'pine' for Sab is already well on the way . . . many of my friends are very sceptical of a single source of information including media reports. Perhaps what is taking place in N Africa and the Mid-east are the manifestations of people coming out from an umbrella of mis-information . . . at least partially. IT and the net are having a very liberating effect on individuals (eg this site) and those who set about to misinform will find it harder and harder (eg WT).
Having said that human nature is such that we WANT to believe when told stuff by someone we percieve as honest . . . we don't want to offend by questioning validity . . . (WT indoctrination takes full advantage of this), but I believe we are in a period of rapid change when it comes to this aspect also.
I have to wonder what I would have done 25 years ago (when studying) if the net were what it is today . . . I asked my friends and family about JW's but no one knew about them at all (my sister thought Jehovah was an american). I can't believe that myself or one of them wouldn't have "googled"
My feelings in conclusion, are that what you seek is happening, and will continue to happen, naturally (I hope so anyway) with time.
Luvonyall
there are some wonderful folks reading this site.. so many wonderful jws( doubters ...but reading).
also there are folks on here who know it is a cult... one of them just called me...( wont say who ,as is fading).. but encouraged me so very much,thank you thank you thankyou.
i always go back to my post & i seem .
I can't tell you HOW MUCH I love this site . . . it is a family . . . a community of very kind, well motivated people, including everyone posting here. It has done so much for me in such a short time. Seeing new posters coming on, and the help and encouragement they recieve, makes me shed tears often.
I wish I had more to offer and could post more often
Mouthy you are a lovely lady . . . I often feel like a thread killer too (I can hear some saying . . . yes you are! as I write) but I've never seen you that way
pdf essay on cult recruitment techniques on the www (jws receive mention).
the essay is written from the point of view of social psychology research, and looks at various methods and known social influence principles used by "new religious movements" (or nrms) in recruitment practices.. four basic principles of social influence that are described in this essay include:.
liking: if the subject "likes" the people who are presenting the information to them, they are more apt to be influenced toward accepting the group the recruiters represent.
Still fresh in my mind are the recent threads on vulnerability . . . when you add the two together it's a full house!
Thanks for re-posting Bangalore . . . it is good stuff
i was just reading of a dude who is going back to the matrix.... to save his wife?
to meet a wife?
to divorce scripturally his wife?
11. To wear a speedo to all the congregation picnics and softball games.
hahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahaah . . . . . . and don't forget to take your sign to the assembly . . . you know . . . the one saying "MILLIONS NOW LIVING WILL NEVER GET LAID"
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha . . .
why did you leave the organization of jehovah's witnesses, and/or why are you contemplating leaving the organization of jehovah's witnesses?.
i've tried to boil it down to the most likely answers based on all the reasons i have heard over the years from xjw's.
a. because the watchtower bible & tract society does not have the truth.. b. because i had a personality conflict with other members of the organization.. c. because i discovered that the wtbts was not being honest or forthcoming about its history.. d. because serving jehovah was too difficult and i just wanted to be worldly and do wicked things.. e. because the governing body of jehovah's witnesses have proved to be false prophets.. f. because i found just cause to disagree with erroneous jw teachings.. g. because the governing body and/or elders were hypocritical.
Leprechaun . . . with the utmost sincerety . . . I'm sorry to hear about your daughter. I hope she's doing OK. But I have to say this . . .
in a very good way you have made my day . . . as we say down here(really) . . . Good on ya mate!
ok...so this is my story.. i'm not sure why i have to post this..maybe more for myself than others.... .
back 2002 i had a my daughter.
i was 18. her father was was pretty much an awful mate and never worked....the same old story.... anyway a long story short we ended up moving in with his aunt, who at the time, was a sister.
Itsbeenalongtime . . . I can only re-emphasise what CJ said . . . you have nothing to fear here. I found this site less than a year ago and have never "officially" left the Org. The people here are in the most part ex-JW who themselves have faced similar "crises" or at the least have travelled a similar road. You will find a lot of fellow feeling, encouragement, not to mention some very practical advice . . . it's a good place.
One thing you will undoubtedly struggle with is a crisis of "belief" . . . spiritual confusion for want of a better description . . . don't be overly concerned about this . . . be patient and things will get better . . . you don't have to make arbitrary decisions for now . . . just keep posting.
And . . . welcome aboard
