Posts by I Want to Believe

9

Never having received a birthday greeting from your parents.

jw
friends

my wife turned fifty five the other day and i pen this from her perspective.. "happy birthday".

a harmless, yet meaningful expression of recognition from one's parents that they appreciate having brought you into the world.

for many it is a special day to be remembered, and to acknowledge that you are remembered.. in all her years of life my wife has never been given a birthday greeting from her parents.

I Want to Believe

I never cared about my birthday or any of the holidays, and even now don't have any desire to join in celebrating them. I feel like I missed a lot of things growing up JW, but all the expected/mandatory gift recieving/giving I could happily do without.

This year, my parents tried to do a "Family Day" for all the children and grandchildren, with wrapped presents and everything, and if that's what birthday/holiday parties are like, I didn't miss much.

I won't be holding my son back from such occasions anymore, but still don't see what the attraction is.

183

What are your favourite movie lines/quotes????

by karter in

jw
friends

''well there's one thing you got ta ask yourself punk....you felling lucky...well do ya punk".....clint eastwood dirty harry.. "it's life jim but not as we know it" capt kirk star treck..

I Want to Believe

Now, when talking to Witnesses, I think of this quote from Billy Madison:

"What you have just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul."

17

I'm feeling rather lonely and down today.

by PaintedToeNail in

jw
friends

i'm rather down today, feeling like my relationship with husband is sad, we don't have anything in common anymore.

i'm feeling outmoded, old and lonely.

just verbalizing what i can't say to anyone else.. .

I Want to Believe

I'm really sorry to hear that, PaintedToeNail. I can certainly empathize with your situation; we're very similar. For what it's worth, I'm sending you comforting vibes right now (that's at least as good as prayer, right?).

26

IS THIS For REAL? Need someone with French watchtower to verify!

by Dogpatch in

jw
friends

i just received an email from france that, i quote:.

"new subliminal picture in a french jehovah's witnesses magazine (a very scandal)".

"reveillez vous" of 2011 april page 32. http://upload.is.free.fr/upload/mgf41rec.gif.

I Want to Believe

@Band on the Run

Don't worry, there's nothing to see. Like a Rorschach test, "subliminal images" say more about the receiver than the artist.

37

Do Jehovah witnesses exploit the most vulnerable in society?

by Blind_Of_Lies in

jw
friends

during my final few years being active with the jws i noticed that the vast majority of people who were studying or joining the group in general where those that the rest of society would consider disabled and/or severely mentally ill. now by disabled i dont mean i lost my leg in nam kind of disabled... in some cases these people were mentally retarded, had the minds of children, were severely abused as children or even as adults and as a result had personality disorders that put them on the edge of society.... and then we had the full on crazies... about 15 years ago one of the brothers who worked at the local welfare office somehow started a study with a person who was a paranoid schizophrenic.

he met her because she was a client of the welfare office.

she got handed off to a sister who studied with her, then started driving her to her doctors appointments, and to get grocerys, and took her to congregation events.

I Want to Believe

We only had one such person in our hall, but I hadn't seen her for a few years. She would stand while giving her comments (yes, they called on her during meetings) and every comment always had some weird angle about eggs and ovaries or something. She'd raise her hands and wave them during song (and during a few talks) and always sat in the very front. She'd come for a few months, brothers would stop calling on her to answer, she'd be gone for a while, a new conductor would take over, she'd come back, etc.

40

The gal I'm dating frequents match.com - advice?

by UnConfused in

i am dating a gal that i met on match.com - we saw each other first last summer, but she didn't think we were a 'match'.

after the "pressure" was off we started hanging out quite a bit with all the benefits that go along with it.

this went on for months.. i became smitten with her, but we weren't a couple, which she pointed out a couple of times.

I Want to Believe

Taking profiles down is a hassle. I still have a MySpace profile floating around somewhere, doesn't mean I ever check it. It's far easier to forget about old profile than go around deleting them all. And if you're that certain you will be together you're entire lives without dating anyone else ever again than why not just get married already? But you said she's not actively looking, so what's the problem?

51

I can't remember the 'Most Important Date of My Life!' Can you?

by Diest in

jw
friends

i honestly cant remember the exact date when i was baptized.

it does not bother me one bit.

i didnt have it stamped in that shitty reasoning book/babel that i got at the time, so i guess the only place i could find it would be my cards, which are far away..

I Want to Believe

A few days ago I looked in my Bible and saw the date, Sept. 29, 1996--so I put a dash next to it and wrote Jan. 24, 2012.

27

When will they merge the BS, TMS, WTS, T into one meeting ?

by mP in

it seems to me with all the times being cut from talks, you could save further time and simply smash all the meetings into one on the weekend.

this would also save the need for those extra kingdom hall songs, and one trip to the kh.

with all these savings, jws could easily double their ministry..

I Want to Believe

If they did, they'd lose more control. Less demands on your time means more time for other pursuits--just think how many parts they've had about the family worship night, trying to beat it into people's heads that it's not supposed to be free time. Remember, good mind control needs repetition and a monopoly on your time. Going a whole week between meetings would give too many the chance to snap out of it.

28

CELEBRATE WITH ME!!!

by Notreadytorun in

ok so if you look at my membership and post history im very much a new member here, but have been researching things for some months on and off, so i have not made any sudden decisions..... i have been reading heaps of reasoning here as to why many of you have left jws, particularly those of you who have left for reasons of conscience.

i have just read crisis of conscience, which has become the proverbial "nail in the coffin" for me.. for many reasons i am no longer one of jehovahs witnesses in my heart, but i still identify myself as a christian, and will continue to uphold bible principles in my life.

the two big realisations for me is that: one: i do not have to compromise my bible trained conscience to make this differentiation, and it does not make me a true apostate, although loyal jws would label me that.

I Want to Believe

Congrats on your new and improved mental outlook! It really is such a weight off isn't it? There will probably be some ups and downs, especially when you keep going to meetings, but getting over that first mental step is the hardest.

47

What the devil is capable of

by StopTheTears in

jw
friends

through the years i and many of my companions have seen quite a few things done by devils that are not specifically mentioned in the.

bible including things similar to this:.

i received an im from some unknown source telling me that a crystal ball was going to be delivered in our church building.

I Want to Believe

So... the Devil sends IMs and gives out free glowing balls? Ooh, such evil power!