Nathan Natas

Joined

• started 723 topics
• posted 11,679 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by Nathan Natas

• 
  23

  Given your perspective, would you rank AA as a cult after reading this?

  by NeverKnew in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a very dear friend's husband is going to aa and has been successfully clean for a year now.

  he has attributed his success to aa.

  we are all very excited about his sobriety.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Nathan Natas

  That's a GREAT link!

  http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-cult_q0.html

  I've never been involved with AA, but I met a guy through work who was. We were attending a multiweek training for work and were located in a town far from both our homes. We had separate rooms in a motel and spent most of our time before and after class and over the weekend in each other's company. One of the first things my co-worker did was establish contact with the local AA group and he went to those meetings after work during the weeks were were in training. It seemed to me that AA encourages alcoholics to swich their alcohol addiction to caffeine and nicotine addiction. Is that progress? Maybe it is. At least thy're not driving drunk. Instead they stink and have the jitters.

  I encourage everyone to take a look at the link. Good material there.
• 
  33

  Do I have PTSD. I comment on three exjw blogs almost everyday

  by trujw in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i guess i have issues.

  or am i just soo awesome.

  please don't tell me i am becoming danny hazzards twin.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Nathan Natas

  I think maybe you have some really awesome issues.

  I doubt that there is anyone here who doesn't have "issues" of some kind.

  After you begin to get past your JW issues, you may find you'll have some XJW issues.

  None of us can please EVERYBODY all of the time. Not even me, and I am pretty awesome! But I lie alot.

  Keep a sense of humor and don't be too hard on yourself.
• 
  6

  Total Donations

  by turtleturtle in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  was just calculating how much $ i had given to the local cong & wt over the period of about 10 years.

  28,000 us baby!

  ouchie!

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Nathan Natas

  I have no clear recollection of putting anything in the collectios box during the nearlt 20 years I was associated.

  In the beginning, of course, I was just a kid.

  Later, when I started earning money on a newspaper route, shovelling snow, and ultimately getting a "real" part-time job, ALL of whatever I earned was handed over to mom to run the house.

  She determined if I got a small allowance from the money I brought in, even after I started pioneeering.

  Only after I moved out of her house was my money really mine, and even then she expected a piece of the action while she criticized me for not going to meetings and refusing to read her Watchtower and Awake! magazines.

  Eventually I put an end to that, but I shoulda done it sooner.
• 
  26

  tell me not to cry...

  by losingit in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  after more than a month of not attending the meetings, my girls will be returning to the meeting tomorrow.

  their father is taking them.

  i was so happy because my girls were free from the boredom, drudgery and mind control inflicted upon those that attend.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Nathan Natas

  LOSINGIT, you've got some good kids. I admire the determination your oldest is demonstrating to stick to what she was taught is right. Her integrity isn't a bad thing, it's just misdirected. Flipper offers good advice, as he usually does. I wonder if it might be possible for you to call Steven Hassan himself and get his suggestions on how to crack the nut of misdirected integrity.

  You are correct, though, that FIRST you need to "save yourself" by overcoming the GUILT that bubbles up whenever you catch yourself THINKING. This will take time. NEVER indulge in negative self-talk. If you find yourself being critical of yourself, silently repeat the word "cancel" three times, then congratulate yourself for having the courage to challenge your former erroneous beliefs. Form a picture in your mind of yourself walking out af a dark woods into a beautiful mountain meadow filled with sunshine and flowers. Don't think this sounds silly: try it.
• 
  32

  Mom calls out Jehovah

  by Poztate in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  an 18 year oul girl stabbed her mom to death with 79 stab wounds.

  her mom cried out jehovah during the attack to no avail.

  http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/judge-rules-18-year-old-isabella-guzman-of-aurora-will-be-held-without-bond-in-mothers-slaying.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Nathan Natas

  79 stab wounds?

  Why stop when you're so close too 100?

  Kids today are lazy.
• 
  1

  Interesting Dramatic Film on Jehovahs Witnesses

  by Watchtower-Free in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5_8vfjm9zo.

  1. 
• 

  Nathan Natas

  If I can appropriate (and modify) something that AngusOg says in his EXCELLENT book, "Quitting Jehovah's Witnesses" there are four categories of films of this type:

  (1) Personal experiences and anecdotes, which usually have a very limited audience and are seldom compelling.

  (2) "Conversion efforts" like this and other films from MacGregor Ministries that want you to replace the Watchtower tripe with another brand of tripe

  (3) Opportunistic and parasitic projects that either use their film project as a way to fleece XJWs - these never actually produce a movie, they just renew the funds-collection effort every couple of years. Nothing is ever produced except for continuing requests for funding.

  (4) Self-promotional projects used to build the reputation of film-school-graduates. These films are poorly written, doctrinally inaccurate, and offer "special advanced screenings" at a price substantially higher than commercial films. Usually the "artist" responsible will have an entourage of groupies who travel with "the artist", enjoying a "rock-star" lifestyle. These films don't appear on DVD or have any lasting value. The "artist" quickly moves on to his next project - one that will get him attention and groupies. This is a new take on the old traveling revival tent tour. The "gospel" changes with each iteration.
• 
  21

  WATCHTOWER BUILDING PROJECTS REVEAL HYPOCRISY ABOUT STRESSING URGENCY OF PREACHING WORK

  by steve2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  based on a letter elders in the united states have just received in the past week from the governing body, work on the warwick complex will take " a few years" to complete.

  concurrent with this, the organization urges the rank and file to urgently preach the "good news of the kingdom" because we are so deep into the end.

  so, why bother with the warwick project - or indeed the just advised project in the united kingdom to relocate the london bethel?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Nathan Natas

  We should all emulate the Watchtower in this regard: find better accomodations for yourselves NOW, because it might be handy "after Armageddon." (Nudge, nudge, wink, wink)
• 
  11

  Here comes September 11, 2013 (9-11) What do you predict will happen?

  by Nathan Natas in

  1. social
  2. current

  september 11, 2013 will fall on a wednesday this year.

  as you know, the peace-loving people of islam are seldom more peace-loving than they are on wednesdays.. what are your predictions, speculations and expectations for that day?

  should we share our thoughts with president clueless or let him golf without tedious interuptions?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Nathan Natas

  I'm wondering if folks here have more insight than our clueless chief executive.

  Shout out to Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh! Dittos, dudes!
• 
  26

  tell me not to cry...

  by losingit in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  after more than a month of not attending the meetings, my girls will be returning to the meeting tomorrow.

  their father is taking them.

  i was so happy because my girls were free from the boredom, drudgery and mind control inflicted upon those that attend.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Nathan Natas

  Have your kids ever seen a really scary movie? Maybe Godzilla, Frankenstein, The Mummy, Halloween, etc.

  When you have a chance to talk with your kids without interference from Dad, ask them if they remember seeing the movie, and explain to them thay some prople can't tell that the movie isn't real. In the same sense, a few years ago YOU thought that the story of Armageddon was real, and for a long time you believe it was real, and you even made the mistake of teaching THEM it was real, but you've recently rea;ized that Armageddon was only a story, that it isn't real and is NEVER going to happen, that it was meant to SCARE people into going to church.

  Anytime they even hint about Armageddon, remind them that it is just a story and isn't real. Reassure them that God (or Jesus) is LOVE and that people who are afraid of Armageddon have forgotten that god (or Jesus) is Love.

  Basically what they need to do is de-program themselves to get rid of the scary pictures in their heads.
• 
  18

  Improving Critical Thinking Skills

  by GloomySunday in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'm out of the jw religion, but still have trouble thinking critically.

  when i was in, i had no idea what a logical fallacy was, i used all sorts of false arguments, yes, even "if man evolved from monkeys, why are there still monkeys?".

  i would fall for just about everything.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Nathan Natas

  You are about to go from homeschooled to auto didact. Good work!