I wish it occurred to me at that age. It didn't really cross my mind that they couldn't do anything about it.... actually that's not true... you still could be effectively disfellowshipped even w/o being baptized back then (late 80's).
HarryMac
JoinedPosts by HarryMac
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10
Paris Jackson Puts Her Foot Down! No More Going Door-To-Door As Jehovahs Witness
by iamwhoiam inhttp://radaronline.com/exclusives/2013/05/paris-jackson-prince-michael-jackson-jehovas-witness/.
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22
ambition is not a dirty word
by snare&racket ini can't decide if it is based on jealousy, class or the watchtower.
that shameful cult turned the word ambition into a dirty word.
it made the idea of self reliance and self worth a tainted thing.
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HarryMac
If I thought about the things I could have... well.. the opportunity cost of sitting in those meetings... I... I .. can't think about it.
Congratulations on your accomplishment.
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This dude!
by Theredeemer inso my still in friend started dating a "worldly" girl.
he, mind you, was only still pretending to be in for his parents.
in the meantime, doing whatever he wants on the side.
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HarryMac
Wow, a lot of froggy throats.
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Seeing the Strange in the JW Familiar
by laverite inthere are times when we manage to step outside of our own identities, perspectives and world view, and look at ourselves, our situations or certain lived experiences almost as an outsider.
sociologists call it seeing the strange in the familiar.
an anthropologist by the name of miner wrote a fascinating piece involving this very concept (see http://www.ohio.edu/people/thompsoc/body.html).
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HarryMac
When armageddon comes Jehovah is going to kill all the unbelieving babies.
The dink studying with our family asked me as a 13 yr old boy 'Why does it bother you so much?'
I find it strange now that this issue got tabled in my brain. I don't know how he got around that one (I held up two or three whole 'studies' to wanting an explanation for that). I should have held my ground. Yeah, strange and embarrasing.
Visualize Jehovah's business card: Baby Killer.
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103
Do some x witnesses shock you despite being one?
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HarryMac
I'm going to chime in with what other have said.
I'm more shocked at the behaviour and beliefs of those in. Like, after a while you forget what is was like. Then you speak to them and they mention how they have to 'ask the elders' as if they are children, etc.
Also, something that I find hard to reconcile is one of my inlaws went back after reading 'Crisis of Conscience'. That's a head scratcher. He has control issues ... but still.
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There are *good* people out there! Yes -gasp!- in the "world"!!
by Muddy Waters init is still a wonderful discovery and pleasant surprise to continually keep finding that there are some awesomely *good* people out there in the "world"!.
it's such a neat thing, this (slow, yet very rewarding!
) process of making new, non-jw friends.... i recently had my first meal at the home of one of these new wonderful people we've just met and i just must share this!
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HarryMac
I remember my wife being more surprised about this than myself. ie: There are really nice worldly people!
I wasn't as surprised or awestruck by this... I think the difference is that I wasn't a born in.
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Sense of reality
by d insince leaving the jw's in 2008 i still struggle with a crisis of meaning at times.
i feel like at times life has no set purpose and we are just empty humans floating in space.i struggled a lot with this when i left in 2008 but so no much any more.. i feel like my set version of reality was falling apart and i felt at times i was falling into a deep abyss.. .
did any of you feel like that when you left the jw's?.
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HarryMac
Return of the Parakeet:
Imagine a songbird caged since a chick and then let loose. It's where it should be, but at first it will feel bewildered.
This feeling will eventually leave you. Cherish it -- you'll never have such a sense of freedom again.
Wow! Great poetic way to put it!
Or something that Raymond Franz said (don't quote me)... being at the ocean's edge.(?).
Regarless, like yours more.
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EX going bonkers for Jehovah, stated kids.
by jam inmy son (not a jw) and my daughter (a jw) visiting their.
mom.
watching the news on tv, their mom gets up, take.
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HarryMac
I told a JW once that the music they find so pure is being played on Satan's radio stations and he shouldn't be listening to it.
The reply I got: "Whatever". *eyeroll*
It was so refreshing to come across as the goody, goody!
Regardless, I think my point went right over his head.
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How can you tell?
by free2beme inafter seeing this time and time again on facebook.
i have an answer.. how can you tell someone is vegan or a vegetarian?.
answer - you wont have to, because they will tell you every single day over in over in food post, recipes and bragging about how good they feel.
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HarryMac
....mmmmm.... Nigella.
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So, you left the Watchtower.................but.........did it leave you?
by Terry inif you grow up speaking english and you move to mexico you don't automatically speak spanish, know customs, understand currency, possess skills.
for self-support or have any special insight into latino mindset.. .
why would you expect leaving jehovah's witnesses would leave you any less ill-equipped to navigate the real world?.
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HarryMac
It's still affecting me. In ways I'm aware of and I'm sure in many ways I've yet to discover.
Intolerance.
Defensiveness.
Passive Agressiveness.
Suspicous of others with truly good intentions.
The list goes on... working on it. Maybe it's just that I'm psychotic and nothing to do with the WT, lol.