if only there was a way to hack in and play this.
:).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bmca1qdhho&feature=push-u&attr_tag=3yku113wrp-khxdt-6.
"Some back then believed 1975 would be it" ................ only some?
If most didn't, then they were certainly a silent majority. (Actually, make that bloody silent ! ) Not at all surprising, though, when the WTS thought they had that "No man knows the day or the hour" scripture covered. A Watchtower article in August 1968, entitled "Why Are You Looking Forward to 1975?" warned that this was "no time to hide behind" that particular bible verse.
i'm a very positive person who always try to focus on the good side of things.. however, my fading is becoming increasingly painful and i'm starting being shunned by some i thought were friends.
i'm missing some meetings so the rumour is spreading to neighbouring congregations where i'm known that i'm not as spiritual as i used to be.
elders want to have a shepherding meeting with me.
Unfortunately, there is no magic "silver bullet" to cure that one; unless somebody invents a Time Machine, the past is the one period of time that none of us has any control over!
At the end of the day, all any of us can do is make the best with what we have. You at least have age on your side. Coming from somebody who is more than twice your age, 30 is not at all a bad age to be! Another advantage you have is having already completed a university degree (you didn't mention what qualification you gained there?). That definitely places you one step ahead of the likes of myself, who never managed to complete their degree until over the age of 60 (and even then, only gaining the equivalent of an Associate Degree).
It is true that all too many employers have rather unrealistic expectations of a job applicant - the old wanting somebody who is "17 years old and fully experienced" attitude still reveals itself on occasions! However, rightly or wrongly (and as I discovered), academic qualifications tend to be rated higher than practical experience. In my own case, although having worked at all levels in the industry from labourer to senior management, that lack of formal qualifications posed a definite barrier (very much a situation of "No degree qualification - don't even bother wasting our time!")
Being a JW doesn't exactly refine ones social skills, and as Finkelstein has already remarked, somebody like yourself gets rather quickly "sent to Coventry" by their former friends. There are, though, ways of making new friends, through involvement in various community groups - such as sports clubs, cultural organisations, social groups etc. In that way, it is a bit like moving into a new town.
The main idea is to try to keep looking ahead through the windscreen, rather than backwards through the rear vision mirror!
i still believe in freedom of religion even if i disagree with the beliefsof the religion.
what about you?.
What Island Man said!
if only there was a way to hack in and play this.
:).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bmca1qdhho&feature=push-u&attr_tag=3yku113wrp-khxdt-6.
That's what they said!
(And everybody developed a collective case of amnesia afterwards).
considering the demographic transition patterns of societies historically under go and in particular how the population pyramids evolve over time has a direct application to the future of the organization and i encourage all to have a look at this very interesting subject.
i've spent quite a bit of time formally studying these proven concepts and despite all the spin we hear and read about the magnificent growth the society is enjoying ... it is in fact in a death spiral (or more exactly a stage 5 population contraction).
look it up for yourselves guys, it can be quite encouraging when you think about.
We can all certainly hope that this is the case!
Where, though, do you get this data from to form that conclusion?
growing up as a jw, i was told that kiss stood for knights in satan's system (or service).. i just did a google search and learned it's not true.
it's actually not an acronym for anything.. to be honest, apparently it's not just the jws who believe it means something related to satan.. http://www.snopes.com/music/hidden/kiss.asp.
one day paul [stanley] and peter [criss] and i were driving around, brainstorming for new names.
Yeah - I well remember that priceless canard!
According to the WTS, members of this band were so bad that while travelling by commercial airline flights, they had to be physically separated from the other passengers.
All of it complete nonsense, of course.
look my life is not bad but sometimes i just think about all the normal things i missed out on.
and no i'm not talking about christmas and birthday parties.
i'm talking about your first kiss happening in your twenties instead of your teens.
JW_Rogue,
Fair point.
Although I was very young (Year 12 at high school), I had at least begun to develop into something that wasn't quite an automaton of the Watchtower Society. By that, I mean things like sports, education, travel and cultural activities rather than "sex, drugs and rock'n roll". To be honest, I am not particularly disappointed that I "missed out" on those. (However, the brother who laid claim to bringing me "Into The Truth" certainly liked his booze. He also introduced me to the stuff, and sorry to have to report, I proved to be an able student!)
At the end of the day, though, all you can do is make the best of what you have - looking ahead through the windscreen rather than behind in the rear-vision mirror (or at least trying to, anyway!)
look my life is not bad but sometimes i just think about all the normal things i missed out on.
and no i'm not talking about christmas and birthday parties.
i'm talking about your first kiss happening in your twenties instead of your teens.
Rainbow_Troll
Ttdtt = Teletype-writing device for the deaf?
You appear to like acronyms, so how's this for one:
FYJ
all regimes get defectors and some are more vocal than others..
I generally agree with what most here have already said.
Also, it is extremely hard to believe any member of the current Governing Body is of the same calibre of Raymond Franz. In fact, the term "Flim Flam Artist" comes very much to mind!
look my life is not bad but sometimes i just think about all the normal things i missed out on.
and no i'm not talking about christmas and birthday parties.
i'm talking about your first kiss happening in your twenties instead of your teens.
In answer to the OP's question, I found it necessary to rediscover the person that I had been before the Watchtower madness took hold, then move on from there.
It helped to reconnect with friends I had had before this happened:
- persons who actually proved to be surprisingly forgiving and understanding, considering that back then they must have thought that I had taken complete leave of my senses!
Other than that, to quote a favourite saying of my late mother, it is a case of "making the best of a bad job!"
