Marilyn

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Posts by Marilyn

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  34

  Am I the only 'fruit cake" here?

  by Marilyn in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  before i confess to my rediculous weakness, i just want to assure everyone that i've been out for over 20 yrs - disfed for apostasy - that's true apostasy, as i stopped believing in god.

  i (& hubby) were disfed in 1981. never met another apostate or read anything apostate when we left.

  thought our way out unaided.

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  Marilyn

  Roski, Welcome to the board. You said: Her reasoning and ability to register the 'facts' is far better than mine was. Of course your friend is yet to prove she has truly registered the facts. I think there is a twilight zone where Witnesses hang out periodically playing with the idea of escape and freedom. Many don't make it out and retreat back into denial and comfort. You made it though. :-)

  Your comment about registering the facts seems a very significan problem. I told the last callers at my door that there was no point in talking to them because they were unable to process factual information like normal people. I think back to my witnessing days and realise that I came away from many discussions feeling triumphant, when the reality was quite different. It was just my spin on it.

  It sounds like you've done a lot of healing? If you want to email me some time I'm [email protected] (I'm in melbourne but was a Tasweign during my dub years).

  Marilyn (my real name)
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  34

  Am I the only 'fruit cake" here?

  by Marilyn in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  before i confess to my rediculous weakness, i just want to assure everyone that i've been out for over 20 yrs - disfed for apostasy - that's true apostasy, as i stopped believing in god.

  i (& hubby) were disfed in 1981. never met another apostate or read anything apostate when we left.

  thought our way out unaided.

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  Marilyn

  SJ, And to those others who only feel disgust when they see anything Watchtower. I normally do. For example, I cannot read a WT. I can't get more than a sentence in and I feel too irritated to read on. Same with their books. I don't feel drawn by seeing them in the street witnessing. It was just the sight of them in the convention. So many young attractive people, all dressed up. It was only when I listened to the speaker than I snapped out of it. He made me cringe.

  So many replies. I don't think Americans use the term "fruit cake" to denote someone being unhinged??

  Marilyn
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  34

  Am I the only 'fruit cake" here?

  by Marilyn in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  before i confess to my rediculous weakness, i just want to assure everyone that i've been out for over 20 yrs - disfed for apostasy - that's true apostasy, as i stopped believing in god.

  i (& hubby) were disfed in 1981. never met another apostate or read anything apostate when we left.

  thought our way out unaided.

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  Marilyn

  Danny, I didn't mean to play one upmanship over my disfellowshipped status. Hey my disfellowhipping was better than yours, kinda thing. It's just that I don't think people who find another belief system are apostate. A true apostate, is one who's forsaken God. Btw I wish I'd gone out with a bang like you!!!!!!!!! :-))))))))))) We just can't help it can we? Aussies are so course!

  Craig, thanx for your comments. I feel quite reasured to know I'm not the only one. Not so nutty after all!!

  Marilyn
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  34

  Am I the only 'fruit cake" here?

  by Marilyn in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  before i confess to my rediculous weakness, i just want to assure everyone that i've been out for over 20 yrs - disfed for apostasy - that's true apostasy, as i stopped believing in god.

  i (& hubby) were disfed in 1981. never met another apostate or read anything apostate when we left.

  thought our way out unaided.

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  Marilyn

  Dear Prisca, Yes I can imagine it must be so difficult for you. There must be times you want to shut your eyes and submit. It's just not that easy though is it? Once you know the truth about the religion you cannot just shut your eyes and drift off into blissful ignorance. The seductive emotion is just transitory - it's just weird though.

  thanx for the nice words. I thought the program was excellent btw. That boy, the artist, was very impressive. So genuine.

  g'nite.

  Marilyn
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  34

  Am I the only 'fruit cake" here?

  by Marilyn in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  before i confess to my rediculous weakness, i just want to assure everyone that i've been out for over 20 yrs - disfed for apostasy - that's true apostasy, as i stopped believing in god.

  i (& hubby) were disfed in 1981. never met another apostate or read anything apostate when we left.

  thought our way out unaided.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Marilyn

  Before I confess to my rediculous weakness, I just want to assure everyone that I've been out for over 20 yrs - disfed for apostasy - that's true apostasy, as I stopped believing in God. I (& hubby) were disfed in 1981. Never met another apostate or read anything apostate when we left. Thought our way out unaided. I don't have much residual baggage (that I'm aware of). I think the WTS is barking mad - that's putting them in a kind light. But then that was one of the things I'd said to my brother who assisted the judicial committee.

  Yesterday I watched the video of the Aussie version of Dateline and Panorama. (excellent stuff btw) Anyhoo, when they show all those wholesome little dubbies sitting at the convention dutifully listening to the speaker I feel irrationally drawn in. I feel the old pull. It's like I'm transported back in time and I'm not thinking, I'm responding to old emotion. I believe my conversion to dubdom was very emotive. I was influenced by an ideal of what I thought they represented. When I found it was all smoke and mirrors I snapped out of it, but when I get a glimse of them, back at the coal face as it were, it seems to trigger a brief but undeniable warm fuzzy feeling. Then I listen to the speaker and then I snap out of it. Same old, same old, manipulation. THE antidote!

  I wonder if I'm alone in this momentary reaction?

  Marilyn
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  14

  Ozzie, Have you gone Completely Mad??

  by Stephanus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  what happened to panorama?

  ?

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  Marilyn

  Now I'll have to check my chronology. The seven times equals seven days from when the first program aired, right? That's seven days we've been faithfully preaching the next program would be televised. Mmmmm. Maybe the eyes of the wicked ones were blinded. The program about the Law Society was really the WTS. Stephanus - I'm hoping channel nine had too many balls in the air after the flood of emails they received. They probably needed more time. Just like the wicked world needs more time. thankfully God is patient with us as he desires all to attain to repentance. (if only we would keep still and stop being born and dying!!!)

  sorry about my sunday nite ramblings................

  Marilyn
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  21

  Dateline/Panorama/Silent Lambs, Whats Changed?

  by conoroberst in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so now in the space of a few short months television programmes on national networks in the us, uk, canada and australia.

  we see regular newspaper articles and radio phone ins on the subject.

  but is anything changing?

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  Marilyn

  They will never be held to account over anything. It's becoming their trademark. They are the true religion. Work back from that and the rest is Satan, apostates, sabotage and willful misrepresentation and bla bla bla bla bla bla bla bla........................ and more bla.

  Marilyn
  ps I don't quite know how you manage Field Service, but I'm trying not to judge you. I'm sure you have a very difficult time with balancing your knowledge with your situation.
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  3

  One for the Aussies + interested ones...

  by TheApostleAK in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  .

  just got a letter in the post from the south australian police minister.....he saw the sunday report and he's going to follow up on it and my letter..... i wouldn't call it a sucess yet put atleast the wheels are turning.... ak

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  Marilyn

  Well done AK. Every bit helps.

  marilyn
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  13

  SPEAK OUT! about emotional blackmail....

  by professor in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the watchtower society goons, in a power drunken stupor, are once again caught with their pants down, this time exposing their diabolical plan to undermine and exploit natural family love.. audacious, even for the watchtower, the message of the august 2002 kingdom ministry rings loud and clear to the rank and file: emotional blackmail can force your family back to us!

  "after hearing a talk at a circuit assembly, a brother and his fleshly sister realized that they needed to make adjustments in the way they treated their mother, who lived elsewhere and who had been disfellowshipped for six years.

  immediately after the assembly, the man called his mother, and after assuring her of their love, he explained that they could no longer talk to her unless there were important family matters requiring contact.

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  Marilyn

  I must admit that I've never understood their rationale. It's the same as twisting someone's arm behind their back and leading them into the KH. I guess if 'bums on seats' is all you care about then the end justifies the means, but to the rest of the thinking world, it's comes across as a very stupid way of getting members.

  I also have to wonder about all these people they claim were moved to return to the meetings after being told their family wouldn't talk to them any more. It had the reverse effect on me. It made me realise what a manipulative bunch of evil doers they really were. It's more likely that the family members in their story are fictional, or were pretending to believe just to keep their family. Now there's a shallow victory.

  Marilyn
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  9

  baptising minors

  by Marilyn in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  tonights news has made me think even harder about baptising minors.

  it's one thing to hold adults accountable for breaking wt rules, but it's not right to subject kids to the harshness of shunning for doing what their parents encouraged them to do - get baptised.

  when ever my kids screw up, i'm not that thrilled but i ultimately blame myself for my inadequate parenting - and yes i've been fairly inadequate at times.

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  Marilyn

  Tonights news has made me think even harder about baptising minors. It's one thing to hold adults accountable for breaking WT rules, but it's not right to subject kids to the harshness of shunning for doing what their parents encouraged them to do - get baptised. When ever my kids screw up, I'm not that thrilled but I ultimately blame myself for my inadequate parenting - and yes I've been fairly inadequate at times. Jehovah's Witnesses must be the only religion that expects their kids to always get it right. And if they don't, blame it entirely on them and make them suffer the humiliation of shunning just to rub their noses in it. It really is quite unrealistic to expect young people to never make serious errors of judgement. Surely this is another good reason not to baptise anyone before the age of 21, if not 25. Any parent whose child does something serious enough to be disfellowshipped needs to take a good hard look at themselves and their inadequacies.

  Marilyn