Mazza

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Posts by Mazza

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  19

  How long out? Why still here?

  by hillary_step in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  some posters to this board, who perhaps are bored posters, have been out of the wts for a long while, some for decades.

  i think i understand why you still feel the need to meet here but just wished to hear from you personally.. how long have you been out?

  why do you still feel the need to discuss and involve yourselves with jw issues?

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  Mazza

  Hi Hillary, I guess I qualify for being "out" a loooooooong time. D'fd in 1981 for apostasy. My family are all JWs - and losing them to a hypocritical belief system hurt me a lot. I've never really got over the sadness of it. So I pop in here from time to time, to hang out with others who've suffered as I have suffered. I don't spend much time here though, because I've come to realise that it doesn't really help. All the ranting and raving, reasoning and logic changes nothing. If anything it's only made it harder for me, since learning just how bad the Organisation is, my loss seems even more pointless. :-(

  "The best form of revenge is to live well". I've done this!!!! I am not at all religious and have had a great life since leaving the Org.

  kind regards
  Marilyn
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  18

  Cars...our first true love?

  by Billygoat in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just for fun - and on a more fun/lighthearted note - i have a few questions to pose:.

  1. what was your very first car?.

  2. what car are you driving now?

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  Mazza

  A Morris Minor was my first car. I couldn't do a hill start, so I kept a brick in the car and my pioneer partner used to have to get out and put the brick behind the back wheel, then pick up the brick and run up to the top of the hill and jump in. I'm still useless but in much more creative ways!!!

  OUr current cars are a 1956 British racing green sports car (Francois I read your post!!!) - and a Saab (same as Sienfield's).

  The boyfriend I talked into becoming a dub back in 1970 had a Bugeyed Sprite at the time. We've got some nice pics - the car looks good, but our witnessing clothes looked terrible. In the end we sold the sports car because we needed to money - so we could "put the kingdom interests first". :-( My brother sold his MGTD for the same reason :-(((( What a crime!

  Marilyn
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  48

  Kent's Tabloid Journalism = lies??

  by Kismet in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  kent has recently undertaken posting more and more 'headlines' fashioned much like those found in tabloid rags such as the national inquirer.

  such headlines skirt the issue but rarely are an accurate representation of the real story.. case in point a headlines such as:.

  never marry a jw!

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  Mazza

  Dear Kismet, Sooooooooorry for using your name! I forgot! (put it down to age)! For what it's worth I think your topic is a good one, and well worth discussing.

  I'm wondering what's wrong with being bitter anyway? Why is it considered an insult? I can't say I'm thrilled about the lost years (over 20 now) without my loved ones, due to a really stupid religion. Bitter, yep, I think I've got my quoter. If it's not bitterness that keeps us here - then it has to be OCD. I personally lean towards the former, but I think some fit the latter. Niether of these qualities are a crime in my book.

  regards
  Marilyn
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  19

  OK, it's party time!!

  by ozziepost in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well not quite, but would you like to come to a bbq?.

  next sunday, near sydney (the olympic city).

  say around mid-day to start.. we could have a great time sharing experiences, no i don't mean the type you get first up each day at a district convention!

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  Mazza

  I believe logical would be a great addition to any exjw party. Prisca I wish I could make it up to Sydney for the bbq. :-( Another time though, for sure!!!

  Marilyn (in melbourne on Sunday)
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  26

  Loss or gain?

  by Deacon in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  on sunday, i sat outside the local kingdom hall waiting for the meeting to start.

  being disfellowshipped, i was gonna go in late.... 20 minutes later.. i went to a starbucks instead.. i think im over it....i really do.. its a shame.

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  Mazza

  TMS, Was it something they said? What an odd time to leave. But I guess one moment in time is as good as another. Hubby and me kept going to meetings even after we'd stopped believing. It was just a few months but it seemed easier than stopping - "old habits die hard". Meanwhile baby no. 2 arrived. He was a real shocker - took one look at the world and started screaming and didn't stop for a year. I didn't subject myself to too many more meetings after the screamer arrived. I guess we make our decisions in our head and eventually the body follows suit.

  As for Deacon - I never had any urge to go back - well apart from to tell them a bunch of lies, just so my family would accept me again - but it seemed too much trouble for too little reward I think we are truly over it when we can go into a KH and feel comfortable. I don't think many of us can lay claim to that. But some can. I remember reading the post of one exjw who took himself and his girl friend on the Bethel tour. He had to duck and dodge people he knew. Had the meal and asked lots of dumb questions etc. He had so much front it was unbelievable.

  I hope you are doing well,
  Marilyn
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  48

  Kent's Tabloid Journalism = lies??

  by Kismet in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  kent has recently undertaken posting more and more 'headlines' fashioned much like those found in tabloid rags such as the national inquirer.

  such headlines skirt the issue but rarely are an accurate representation of the real story.. case in point a headlines such as:.

  never marry a jw!

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  Mazza

  Hi Johnl, There is a part of me that worries about the sometimes sensational headers and information that Kent presents - I suppose it puts a few off. The 'delicate flowers' out there. I certainly hate to think it puts off those who are ready to learn and change, such as Waiting mentioned. But for the most part I'm glad of the level playing field on the net and I tend to have a simplistic view of things. If people are ready to come out, they wil,l regardless of the OTT sites. All the logical, rational approaches and facts, aren't worth diddly squot unless people are ready to think.

  I suppose I just love Kent. I admire him greatly. In every walk of life we have our eccentrics, and Kent is ours. I remember Kents first comments to us when we got on the net in 96' - he has a magical sense of humor and he's deeply compassionate at times. I do not have his drive to fight the WT but I'm really thankful of those who do. For what it's worth, I think Kent will take note of your post. I'm sure he doesn't mind being reeled in accasionally.

  warm regards
  Marilyn
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  10

  Craziness and JW's

  by joelbear in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a simple question.. does being a jehovah's witness drive people insane or are insane people attracted to being a jehovah's witness?.

  drooling hugs.

  joel

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  Mazza

  +++++++++ There is an overriding feeling of guilt and fear that permeates the whole movement, and a feeling of isolation from the real world around,

  Trevor, But surely that's balanced by them knowing that they are God's special people, set aside for great things? They aren't too negative about the numbers they anticipate being axed at Armageddon, because most of what is anticipated is IMHO a bit like a dream state - it's not real! Maybe I'm more crazy than them, but I suspect that most JWs know it's not going to happen. I asked one recently this very question, and of course he told me that 100% without a doubt that it was going to happen <SOON>. Well I knew he was going to say that, but I still think that deep down JWs know it's a big ol' game of pretend.

  My history and the history of those I conned into joining, convinces me that being a member turns JWs minds. It's temporary and quickly passes when JWs exist the faith. It's just a cloud of craziness that JWs live in and quickly come out of once they've shaken off the JW fairy dust!

  Marilyn
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  36

  I Find it all interesting!

  by glode in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  before i startm let mejust apologizein advance ifmy spacekey doesnt work properly!

  !damn keyboard!

  anyways, i have been lookingthru theposts here for several weeks, i findmany of theopinions well thought out.

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  Mazza

  Hi Pat - Nice way to put it. Leaving for intellectual reasons. For 20 yrs I've always said I stopped believing - but didn't think of it as an intellectual process. Of course it is. Another stupid practise the dubs have is saying that disfellowshipping will help you to see the error of your ways. Well - this really demonstrates the depth of their ignorance. Let's not deal in facts here friends - let's just emotionally blackmail you into believing again. Yeah - belief is something that comes from persecution isn't it? Just ask the Chinese how well it worked during the Cultural Revolution.

  Glode has two choices. He can run away, or he can test his religious beliefs out, honestly.

  Btw I'm Marilyn from H20 - I thought I remembered you posting there.

  warm regards
  Marilyn
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  36

  I Find it all interesting!

  by glode in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  before i startm let mejust apologizein advance ifmy spacekey doesnt work properly!

  !damn keyboard!

  anyways, i have been lookingthru theposts here for several weeks, i findmany of theopinions well thought out.

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  Mazza

  Glode, You just lost my support. "Those d'fd are usually guilty of something"! You are an ignorant kid. You know nothing.
  Trust me - we did nothing. We just stopped believing in religion. Our real sin was being honest about it. We were young and popular in the congregation, and when the elders came to ask us what was wrong, we opened up. We did not seek out other members of the congregation to promote our ideas. We just stopped meetings and association with Witnesses. And for this - I've been cut off from my family for 20 yrs. Clearly you are too shallow to understand the significance of this - the pain and sorrow that followed - you have NO idea!!! Or is it that you are just so damned selfish that you can't see past your own life and how things affect you?

  When you grow up a little maybe you will mature enough to put yourself in the shoes of others and learn some empathy for those around you. On the other hand if you stay in the Organisation, your ability to care about others will remain stunted - that's how they (the WT elite) like it.

  Since leaving the WT I no longer blurt out one liners in the judgement of others. I see the world in shades of gray. Not black and white. For example. Timothy McVeigh. Much like you with your religious beliefs, he was mislead into a mind set that led him to make some serious errors of judgement. The mind is a trecherous thing - it can make YOUR viewpoint seem overwhelmingly right. And guess what? It's not. It's just all screwed up. I feel great pity that Timothy's life's experiences steered him in the wrong direction. I don't think Timothy was wicked as much as mentally betrayed. Something that might have corrected itself when he grew up a bit and saw the bigger picture than the one he was caught up in.

  What my point is, is that people aren't all bad - but they are products of their environoment and experiences. It's not a case of being born with a good heart condition or a bad one. Even had I done something note-worthy and deserving of being disfellowshipped - shunning is a fairly lousy way of dealing with a people in need of support and help. In my case though - well "the elders are imperfect" - so it's ok if they break up a few families, it will all come out in the wash eh? We don't want to hold imperfect men accountable do we? We only do that with the Catholics and false religions!?

  Marilyn
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  36

  I Find it all interesting!

  by glode in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  before i startm let mejust apologizein advance ifmy spacekey doesnt work properly!

  !damn keyboard!

  anyways, i have been lookingthru theposts here for several weeks, i findmany of theopinions well thought out.

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  Mazza

  Hi Glode, Welcome to this discussion forum. Of course you realise that we all now have to put you right? :-)

  It sounds like you have a good attitude AND an open mind. Cripes, are you sure you are in the Watchtower Society? Like Gopher says - standards are different around the world - clearly. Especially in places where the culture will not tolerate too much family interference. I am writing from Hong Kong. When I first visited the Branch Overseer here to ask if I could visit my JW father who had just suffered a massive heart attack - the BO gave me his blessing and wondered why I would even ask him such a thing. When I turned up in Australia to see my father, the elders there were p'd off that the BO in HK had given me the ok. To cut a long story short the Branch Overseer eventually got told the score on how the Society treats disfellowshipped family members. I guess the BO hadn't processed this WT ruling, because the Chinese are very big on family relationships - the Society would have to tone down their attitude here, if they want to any recruit for their local congregations . ( I was disfellowshipped cause I lost faith in the WTS and God - I wasn't a serial murderer or anything yukky!) Just a normal decent person who couldn't keep up a life that no longer made sense to me.

  I've gone 20 yrs now - cut off from my family for the crime of daring to leave The Sect. I have not met some of my siblings grown children.

  Doesn't that strike you as rather OTT (over the top)?

  Anyway - I'm looking forward to your no doubt barrage of responses. I hope you will give as good as you get! :-)

  Do you want me to send you a new key board? You might need one if you plan on sticking around!

  Marilyn