Good stuff Terry . . . next stop home.
sizemik
JoinedPosts by sizemik
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284
ABOUT TERRY
by Quentin interry was admitted to the hospital yesterday.
he has a severe case of cellulites which has affected his neck glands.
his face and neck are very swollen.
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sizemik
BlackSheep, I remember reading about that guy. He is ex jw and he killed somebody.
He was a born-in who was abused by his bat-shit crazy mother who called him "the devil's spawn" . . . and a few JW elders who had a liking for tying other peoples kids to a clothesline and belting them with sticks. Didn't "spare the rod" it would appear.
He grew up and did some awful damage . . . and the last person he killed was himself, in prison, by bashing his head against the wall. No ressurrection there I guess.
Another JW success story.
Anyway . . . have you chosen a bleedin' hairstyle yet? I'm really interested in this.
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Are we Ex JW's just as cognitively dissonant as we were before?
by chapstick inchallenge me on this.
challenge yourself on this.
can you, personally, handle the truth?.
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sizemik
JW's are unknowingly suffering because of the constant need to try to "rationalise" their beliefs with the facts that bombard them on a daily basis. . . . Phizzy
I'm not sure of your reason for the emphasis, but I can probably guess. The process is not "rational" because CD can only be dealt with in two ways.
1. The conflict can be confronted honestly and critically and a currently held belief modified or discarded.
2. The CD can be alleviated through constant justification. This usually involves holding to a set of strongly argued "facts" and adding weight to them by being selective, using a confirmation bias. It's a process of constant self-justification. It's very well explained in the book, Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson.
If you're not a reader, then this audio is well worth a listen . . . CarolTavrismp3 . . . it's audio only, so you can play it while you surf.
Oz is right . . . we all confront CD daily . . . and usually use option 2 because we're hard-wired to . . . it helps us sleep at night. (It's the JW default position).
Being able to recognise it and confront it fully, in ourselves and others, is an advantage in true "rationalisation", but you can't live without some self-justification.
So in answer to the OP . . . probably not, because we've discarded a wrongly held belief and thus releived it. But our beliefs will always be confronted (or should be), so it depends more on which option we choose when our CD is confronted now, as to whether it's really reduced or not.
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Are we Ex JW's just as cognitively dissonant as we were before?
by chapstick inchallenge me on this.
challenge yourself on this.
can you, personally, handle the truth?.
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New to the forum. Just wanted to say hi.
by WalkTheWalk ini am 45 years old and have been inactive for about 8 years or so.
i was basically raised in the truth (sounds funny...
truth?
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sizemik
Welcome WalkTheWalk . . .
I'm mid-50's, exited about 10 years ago . . . similar.
Be sure to take the time to fully deconstruct your cult experience, using the fine resources suggested. It will help your walk from here. Ideally, you and your partner should try and travel together with it.
Nice to have you here.
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284
ABOUT TERRY
by Quentin interry was admitted to the hospital yesterday.
he has a severe case of cellulites which has affected his neck glands.
his face and neck are very swollen.
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-
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50
Heres What Happened When an Elderly Woman Took It Upon Herself to Restore a Painting in a Nearby Church
by Arcadio inhttp://gawker.com/5936665/heres-what-happened-when-an-elderly-man-took-it-upon-himself-to-restore-a-painting-in-a-nearby-church.
"we admire people who have can-do, elbow-grease-type attitudes.
if something's broke, why not fix it?
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New to the site.
by ?evrything infinally opened my eyes about a month ago.. born in male from texas.
mid 20's.
suffered/suffer from general anxiety which i feel is a direct result from my childhood and teenage years in the org.
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Why Is My Sister Accusing Me Of Apostasy? (new guy here)
by HelpMeBelieve inhello, maybe i am gambling by posting a thread here at your website.
i don't know what an apostate really is and why someone is removed from the watchtower for this sin.. .
i have a sister in visalia california who is telling all my brothers and sisters "he is an apostate, our schizophrenic brother said so!".
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sizemik
HelpMeBelieve . . . welcome.
Your user name suggests that you are struggling with more than just your sisters very poor behaviour, as if that is not enough.
The implications of not remaining an active witness are beginning to reveal themselves to you. No doubt your faith in God is also in a bit of a crisis.
The one single mantra of JW's that has any value at all is the call to be a "lover of truth." I encourage you to put aside your preconceptions and biases, including much of what you've been taught, and engage in an honest pursuit of the truth. It's not easy . . . but the rewards are definitely worth it. Is it not what God would have you do?
Remain positive . . . and use this place, it can be very helpful.
