Yes I do. It's usually because the post has become too negative or too revealing about someone else or because I've rambled and gotten too far away from the original topic and I don't feel like trying to edit it and make it relevant to the topic of the thread.
maxwell
JoinedPosts by maxwell
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22
do you ever write posts but not post them?
by dh ini find that i do it a lot, often to do with politcal threads, i read some of the stuff people write and i want to rip into it so badly, of course because i know i am right all of the time and everyone else just thinks they are, so i write a post, then i read it and don't bother to post it... i figure, why destroy everyone elses illusions that they are right?
that just wouldn't be nice.. sometimes i spend a while writing a long post, then i just hit ctrl+a followed by space bar, and back in my browser... does anyone else do this or is it just me?
i am particularly interested to hear from other people who like myself are right all of the time but would feel guilty about shattering everyone else's illusions.
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22
how has your life changed in the last 10 years
by dh in.
ten years is a long time, what changes has your life undergone in the last 10 years?
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maxwell
10 years ago, I was 17 and near the end of my junior year in high school. Yes a lot has changed. The biggest change was leaving the JW. But of course, there were many other changes that just happened because that is life. Leaving school and figuring out what to do with my life and how to take care of myself. At 17, I was having fun in school and just being a teenager, but I'm also having fun now and I'm glad I'm no longer worrying about whether I will ever get out of my parent's house.
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What effect did, being called "Brother or Sister" have on you?
by JH ini remember a month ago, receiving a slip at my door, saying that the memorial is this coming sunday, and it was signed by an elder, saying "your brother" elder so and so.
it was as if he and i were at the same level by writting "your brother".
the first reaction i had, seeing "your brother", acted as if we had a special bond, with a responsibility attached to it.. do you think that being called "brother or sister" is a way of manipulating you, a way of getting more out of you?
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maxwell
I was raised a JW. I addressed most of the grownups I knew as Brother or Sister {lastname}. It was mostly school teachers and some people I met in fieldservice with whom I used the titles Mr., Ms. or Mrs. So I kind of grew up with the feeling that Bro. and Sis. were equivalent to Mr. and Mrs. etc. within the JW. At congregations I attended growing up, when someone was called on from the platform to answer a question, they made a point to call new ones Mr., Ms. Mrs. until they were baptized. Children were called on by their first name or little or young bro or sis. {parent's last name}. So I kind of had a little bit of pride when I was first called on as Bro. or Sis from the platform. Most people in my old congregation where I grew up called me by my first name. But when I moved out to a new congregation most people called me Bro. It just felt like a formal way to address me and I was a little too shy and quiet to ask them to call me by my first name although I did get to know a few well enough that they just naturally started calling me by my first name.
When I was in my late teens and early 20's, in field service, I sometimes felt awkward at doors when working with adults a generation or more older than me. I still felt young so I addressed most adults as Bro. or Sis. So when I went to doors I would introduce myself and them and it would seem natural to include their formal title, but then Bro. or Sis. kind of felt like a strange thing to say to someone outside the JW. So sometimes I would say Mr. or Mrs. but that would seem strange for someone I always addressed as Bro. or Sis.
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If I had a million dollars or 2
by Junction-Guy insometimes i just wish i could come into several million dollars, i would do so much good with it.
i would start up a college scholarship for those who were raised jw and never had the chance to go.
i would help out silentlambs.
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maxwell
Are there islands that can be bought with only a million? Two million wouldn't be enough to buy some houses around here. A million or two would also be gone quickly if you wanted to put a message on billboards all over the country. I suppose a million or two would be a good start for a scholarship fund if you did some good investing and were selective in the awarding process. On the other hand several million could cover a lot. :) Not that I'd be complaining if I got a million. But I wouldn't be quitting my job at my age and any unselfish acts would be limited.
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maxwell
Just deciding to be happy.
But outside help can come from music or riding my bicycle through some nice weather or seeing other people out having fun just to name a few.
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You ever just stop and listen to dubs and the way they talk?
by doodle-v ini went to get my hair done and my beautician happens to be a dub.
she has known me and my family for a long time and she has an idea that im "inactive" but thankfully she hasnt been really nosy otherwise i would take my business elsewhere.
anyway, i've long since faded and when i do go to get my hair done i manage to avoid all "jehoober" related conversation and have so far been successful.
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maxwell
Yes I think those that feel they are really "spiritual" can sound humurous at times. JW and holy rollers of other religions can also sound very boastful at times. As in "I have Jesus and others who don't have Jesus are not living right and I know what's best for everyone else in the world." That general attitude of I have the correct answer for everything and its better than anyone else's answer can be at times annoying and at times humurous.
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Question to shunned persons
by HesterPryne inhello everyone,.
if your jehovah's witness relatves came to you and said..... "praise jah, there has been 'new light" and we can associate with you again!".....
what would you say or do?
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maxwell
I'd say okay. There's no hard feeling here. Things might not go back the way they were immediately and there would be some catching up to do with some family members.
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We saw the President today
by Mulan inwe just got home from visiting friends and family in new york state for 5 days.
we spent a few days in buffalo (dirty city, grungy and depressing) but we did have a great lunch yesterday, of buffalo wings at the original restaurant where they first served them.
and we saw the president's plane arrive this morning about 40 minutes before we boarded our flight.
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maxwell
I think its a cool plane. There was a documentary on the plane that played on PBS several times. It's an amazing operation to move the president. I've never seen the plane, but I've seen his helicopter Marine One flying in and out of DC to Andrews Air Force Base where the president gets on AF1.
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RIDDLES
by Sassy inimagine yourself driving along on a wild stormy night.
you pass by a bus stop, and you see three people waiting for the bus.
1. an old lady who is about to die.
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maxwell
Neat question. After reading the question, I answered the old-lady, but after I read down, I recognized the correct answer was what desi said. I wouldn't have thought that way. In real life, I also don't believe there is a perfect man/woman for anyone, but this is a hypothetical question. So to play along, yes if this situation were to exist, now I know the correct answer and hopefully my mind is a little bit more flexible now.
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Did the second-class status of JW women ever bother you? Does it now?
by True North inif the jw organization were considered a normal business operating without the protections of being a religion, it obviously would have to make some big changes in order to avoid being sued out of existence for sex discrimination.
i wasn't raised to think that women should be relegated to second class status or that they should have less opportunities than men or be relegated to a limited set of life roles.
however, when i became a jw, i freely accepted all the sexist nonsense that came with the territory without ever being bothered by it.
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maxwell
No it didn't bother me. This post seems to be more about women's position in the congregation or the organization, but I'll also comment on their position in the home.
I believed what the bible said and the bible says wives are to be submissive and there's that scripture in Timothy that says women are to be quiet and not to teach. JW aren't the only ones to interpret those scriptures literally. I remember women from Southern Baptist churches coming on the news and bragging in a sort of way about how proud they were to be submissive to their husband and obey everything he said because that is what the "Lawd" says after attending one of their conventions. And then there are the Muslim religions and their teachings about women.
Another thing to remember is that the bible says that husbands are to be heads of their wives just as christ is head of the congregation. So husbands were suppose to follow christ's example. If it was pleasant to be under christ's headship, then, in theory, it was supposed to be pleasant to be under men who were executing their headship just like Christ. That was part of JW interpretation. Of course, in reality this situation never existed.
I was raised from birth a JW. My parents bought fully into this. If my mom felt repressed by this arrangement, I never saw it. One thing my father told me was whenever you are in charge of or leading other people, you should always give in to their preferences as long as their preferences are not wrong even if you as the leader prefer things another way. In other words, the only time you exercise your headship, leadership or authority is when those you are leading are about to do something wrong. I also remember early marriage advice that I should put up with a woman's irrational behavior because that was a woman's way. So no the second-class status of JW women did not bother me because I did not see it that way in many situations and because I believed what the bible said. No they can't give talks, be elders, etc. But in the home, proper exercise of headship, according to their teachings and counsel I received, seemed to give the woman most of the power in end.
Does it bother me now? Not really. JW are a religion and not a career or job, despite JW insistance to the contrary about pioneering. I don't choose to follow any religion so what they do is of little concern to me. Some women choose to follow JW religion and some choose to follow other religions with second-class woman teachings and some even choose to follow the 'woman is second to man' rules of the religion. Others choose to follow the religion and ignore the second-class woman rules. Other women choose not to be involved with any religion having any kind of second-class woman view. (Then there are those who are into BDSM Oh that's another topic. ) Now, at home, I don't assume any headship duties. Sometimes I go with my own preferences and while trying to be aware of the differences between a man and a woman, I don't make any excuses (e.g. a woman's viscissitudes (sp) or that time of the month) for childish behavior. If a man or a woman insists on acting like a child because they are upset about something, either I wait till they can think calmly and rationally or I move on. I have been exposed to plenty of intelligent, strong and strong-willed women outside and even inside the JW's so I know that women are not inferior in any way. The second-class woman view simply will not hold up when operating on the job or in society in general these days. I've seen women blow the socks off men in physical, mental and creative occupations. So I didn't really have a big change in my mind to make regarding women in general when I left the JW's.