LivingTheDream

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Posts by LivingTheDream

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  89

  US Supreme Court: Hobby Lobby wins we lose

  by designs in

  1. social
  2. current

  the old guys sided with hobby lobby today in denying birth control coverage to its female employees based on the owners religious views.

  intact- is viagra for the guys.

  funny how the far right evangelical owners of hobby lobby didn't want to touch that one.... read judge ginburg's scathing counter argument and opinion.. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/13-354_olp1.pdf.

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  LivingTheDream

  Maybe someone on this forum can help clarify something for me, because I am confused about the ruling myself, even after reading it and listening to news comentators on it:

  Will Hobby Lobby still provide MOST forms of birth control or not, that is, after the ruling?

  I thought their argument was against having to provide for birth control that the Hobby Lobby owners believed were "abortive" in nature, like the Plan B (so called Morning After) pill. I didn't think the ruling was that Hobby Lobby would not provide most forms of birth control. They have always provided those kinds in the past (At least, this is what I have been led to believe... I could be wrong.) So, in a list of birth control methods available in the world, Hobby Lobby was refusing to provide a couple of them only that they deemed "aborted life" and that was the crux of the issue. Preventing preganancy itself doesn't seem to be an issue, at least in this particular case.

  I will add here that I am concerned myself by religious over reach. As an ex-JW, I hate it when so-called moral majorities inflict their beliefs on me. So, the ruling is concerning to me as well. I'm not defending it... yet.

  But at the same time, I want to be balanced in my view on what just occurred and not claim something that isn't, that is, that women have been denied birth control entirely if that isn't a fact.

  Anyone?
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  8

  Catching up after putting life on hold while a JW.....

  by EndofMysteries in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  it's only been a couple of years since i fully woke up to ttatt.

  although it's....almost never too late to turn your life around, definitely the older you are, the harder it will be.

  i had put marriage, school, traveling, and 'worldly goals' aside because the end was 'just around the corner' and those things shouldn't be pursued.

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  LivingTheDream

  EndofMysteries -

  Well done! I'm always happy when I hear ex-JW repudiate the Watch Tower induced tendency to suppress personal fulfillment. It's a trap most JWs seems to be in and even some ex JWs still fall for this mindset. I'm so very glad to see you claiming your sucesses. So celebrate them! After all, happiness and success is the best revenge for all those people who think your "leaving the Truth" was a mistake.

  I have very strong feelings about this particular topic myself because I thought it would be too late for me at one point, and I was even older than you were when I finally "woke up".

  My story about this subject is here: You can lead an elder to college, but you can't make him think

  Brock Talon
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  36

  New Member Story

  by No Retreat No Surrender in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  when i found out "ttat" i felt like muhammad ali when joe frazer knocked him down in their first fight in the 15th round.

  the ref came over grab my gloves and looked me in the eyes and asked me "are you ok, can you continue" and then gave me the standing 8 count.

  no it didn't knock me out but it staggered me.

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  LivingTheDream

  Welcome No Retreat No Surrender!

  It's great to hear your story. I'm very happy for you and Aunt Fancy being out together.

  Your story has some similarities to mine as a matter of fact, but you were even older than I was before waking up. (I was about 40.)

  I'll tell you, the adjusting to being a non JW is a bit strange and difficult at our age, but at least you have somebody to do that with. I had to go it alone... at least at first.

  Then I found my own non JW true love who helped me through it.

  Brock Talon
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  115

  Survey---who is inactive, disfellowshipped/disassociated or active?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am inactive for about 10 years now..

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  LivingTheDream

  I'm a "fader" since the summer of the year 2000, inactive at least a year before that time.

  I got one and only one visit since that time. This person was not even an elder, just an MS that was a "friend checking up on me". Maybe the Christmas tree I had in my living room being decorated by my live-in girlfriend in her sexy sleepwear scared him away? Hard to say...

  Anyway, I've been pretty much left alone all this time, but I still can talk to anyone I wish should I run into them by accident without them backing off in horror when seeing me. It's usually a fairly pleasant, if not short, conversation.

  And that's just the way I like it.

  Brock Talon
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  30

  So now those resurrected on Earth can marry?

  by zophar in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  8-15-14 wt question from readers.

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  LivingTheDream

  We discussed the topic of an earthly resurrection and marriage at length back when I was in Bethel. I even got one of the Governing Body to chime in on the subject.

  If you are interested, my story about it is here in a posting called:

  False advertisements for a fake future that will never happen

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/members/private/205681/1/A-Bethel-Memory-17-False-advertisements-for-a-fake-future-that-will-never-happen#.U3_PsyiwRg0

  Brock Talon
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  29

  Can White JWs Have Mustaches?

  by Space Madness in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  someone mentioned in another thread that white jws can't have mustaches but black jws can.

  i noticed that the only governing body member with a mustache is black.

  can anyone confirm that this is an official policy?

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  LivingTheDream

  Space Madness,

  I was at Bethel and I wrote this about my experience there regarding mustaches, see:

  Much Ado about Whiskers

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/members/private/204449/1/A-Bethel-Memory-2-Much-ado-about-wiskers#.U3qy2igQNlc

  (please excuse my spelling in this story... I was new to JWN then and didn't spell check anything)

  Brock Talon
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  27

  Did You Ever Feel Guilty Because You Deserted The JW Religion?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  once i left, i never yearned for anything associated with the religion.

  i didn't miss their doctrines, their erroneous thinking.

  i never felt guilty because i abandoned the religion i was raised in.. i believe the reason for my not feeling guilty is pretty simple.

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  LivingTheDream

  Sorry, but the question is leading... I didn't "desert" anything.

  Desert: Abandon (a person, cause, or organization) in a way considered disloyal or treacherous.

  That word would be one from the Watch Tower people's bias viewpoint. It's not from mine.

  Should a wife feel guilty for "deserting" her abusive husband?

  Should a kidnap victim feel guilty for "deserting" their holding room?

  Should a prisoner of war feel guilty for "deserting" their captor?

  Maybe if these are all suffering Stockholm Syndom.

  But for me, no way in hell.
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  130

  Involved with a JW woman

  by jonza in

  1. social
  2. relationships

  okay so i'm dating a born-in jw woman, she's younger than me and has no kids.

  i'm a christian man whos divorced with 2 kids.

  we're in love and seriously want to be together.

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  LivingTheDream

  Jonza,
  
  My advice? If she cannot commit to exiting the religion permanently, then run! Run like the wind!
  
  You are fooling yourself if you think you can compromise. There is no "compromise" in the long term for any Jehovah's Witness.
  
  Either she stays a JW and practices the religion fully, or she exits and gets on with life outside of the religion. Anything short of those two extremes will result in misery for her, and then by extension, misery for you.
  
  Being "half-in", "part-time" or "compromised" in any way for a JW is no good because her elders and JW friends and family will tell her it's no good. The meetings and the literature she reads every day will tell her she is "luke warm" and will be vomited out of Jehovah's mouth. YOU will be the reason for her non-blessings in the congregation and for not being invited over to get-togethers. YOU will be the reason she has any "spiritual" problem in her faith from now on.
  
  Your hot passion will not make up for her ensuing feelings of guilt. She'll try to convert you and your children and get you to compromise more and more her way, in order to assuage that guilt.
  
  So, either get her to leave the religion completely or you need to leave her.
  
  Sorry bud, I wish it weren't so.

  Brock Talon
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  27

  I have made my decision

  by Brother Mike in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i'm sure most of you have read bits and pieces of my story throughout the last year being on this site.

  i've decided as a human being, and as an adult, i'm going to make the decision on whether to stay with the jw religion or leave it.

  i of course have many doubts about the organization which has lead me to do research.

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  LivingTheDream

  Congrats Brother Mike!

  Today is the first day of the rest of your reallife.
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  11

  Terry’s New Book

  by SAHS in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just finished reading terry walstroms new book i wept by the rivers of babylon, and i just had to say that i thoroughly enjoyed it!

  i just purchased the kindle version from amazon about a week ago and found it quite hard to put it down.

  (heres the direct link: http://www.amazon.com/wept-rivers-babylon-prisoner-conscience/dp/1492902063/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=utf8&qid=1394547792&sr=1-1&keywords=i%20wept%20by%20the%20rivers%20of%20babylon&tag=vglnk-c1113-20.).

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  LivingTheDream

  Terry,

  Your description of your own writing is interesting. You said you conciously chose three different styles for mood so when I read your book I will look for that. I am sort of curious that you can actually choose to do that.

  I tried to do that in some way in my own book too, although I can't tell you how many styles they were. I sort of experimented with a mashup of memoir / screen play / romance novel / doctrinal dissertation / humor (ala Erma Bombeck, Dave Barry, et al) poetry and other styles. I'm really not a writer (at least not in the traditional sense) so I don't have a particular voice. I wasn't really even looking for one, but my wife said I did have a voice after all. Since she's the writer in our family, I'll take her word for it.

  Mainly, I just wanted it to be entertaining. Between you, me and the JWN walls....well... I really don't care for the "super-serious, overly scholarly tome style" myself. I read technical materials all the time for my work. I even write them. When I read for fun, I kind of want it to be fun, at least in some way. It can be a serious subject, but it still should be fun to read, an "easy read" if you will.

  Like your short story "Caterpillar eggs".

  But that's just me.

  Brock Talon