acsot

Joined

• started 45 topics
• posted 1,347 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by acsot

• 
  16

  Why I'm Here...

  by Sara Annie in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  so many stories from so many people.

  i've read with them all with interest and sympathy, and felt that if i am going to stick around and be a productive member, i should probably tell my own.

  i know i am not the only non-jw on this site, and i wanted to offer the perspective of a 'never-was' as to why i am here and participating in the discussions.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  acsot

  Looking back, I now understand how easy it must have been for the JWs at my Aunt's door to draw her in. She was a lonely full-time parent in a small town, whose children were all in school and whose husband worked long hours. She had married young with only a high school education, and the group of ready-made friends with such "special" knowledge was appealing to her. Disillusioned with the church she had attended her whole life, she threw herself into the work of the Kingdom, and it seemed to make her happy. In my experience getting to know the members of her congregation in the years that followed, they impressed me as group full of other lonely people. They were social misfits, typically poorly educated and relentlessly self-involved

  Sounds just like the reasons my mother became a JW - you've described the org. extremely well! I am slowly extricating myself from the group-mentality, so it's refreshing to read posts such as yours from the "outside" perspective.

  Welcome!
• 
  29

  Blame Canada!!

  by gsx1138 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my wife and i are starting to look into moving out of the u.s. we are looking at both canada and australia but are leaning to canada.

  keep in mind we are just starting to do research so we haven't delved too far in to the politics or locations in canada.

  does anyone have any location suggestions?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  acsot

  I forgot a lot more stuff about Montreal - Tourists take note!

  During our many summer festivals some of the main downtown streets are completely closed to traffic after rush hour and thousands (at times during the Jazz Festival there are 100,000 people at the free street concerts) of people descend on the various locations. Everything is very well organized, lots of medical personnel walking around just in case (it gets really hot in the summer, some people get dizzy, etc.), lots of unobtrusive security people, food stands and free whatever:

  if it's the Jazz Festival, there are all kinds of bands playing for free - stages set up all over the place, even an area for kids to play, musicians from everywhere are in town. Then there are the paying venues with people like Diana Krall, Ray Charles, Tito Puentes, etc.

  during the World Film Festival there are screenings in just about every theatre, plus huge screens are set up outside the concert hall with free film screenings every evening after 9:00 p.m.

  during the Just for Laughs festival there are free skits, comedians, etc. besides the paying venues where Seinfeld or whoever are doing their thing

  during the Grand Prix weekend a few streets are closed, music blaring and every Lamborghini and Maserati and Porsche are displayed, plus Rolls Royces (price tags displayed if you're in the market). Paul Newman and such like ones are fairly regular attendees at the Grand Prix.

  Besides that there's Old Montreal, with artists doing their bit on the pedestrian-only cobblestone streets, as well as art galleries to stroll through. Cirque du Soleil is usually here once a year, then if it's raining there a whole underground shopping/theatre/restaurant complex which runs for blocks under the downtown core and connects many office buildings with the subway system.

  There's also the Botanical Garden, second largest in the world (I believe Kew Gardens in England is the largest), or the Biodome (four different ecosystems represented, i.e. tropical rain forest, the Arctic, where you're nose-to-nose with several varieties of penguins, etc.).

  Anyway you get my drift!
• 
  22

  Will they ever say "Peace and Security"?

  by JH in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  with all the trouble around the world, do you think that one day we will hear "peace and security".

  we heard this so often when we were in the jw's, but no one knew how it could happen.

  i don't see any peace in the horizon.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  acsot

  Just read your open letter to Ciro Aucilino re Peace andSecurity - what a great rebuttal! I sure learn alot from this site! Thanks.
• 
  18

  A BIG Thanks to My Family Here !!!!!

  by dottie in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i have been with the board now for a few months now, mostly lurking and posting occaisionally and i love the support and even the opposition that everyone has shown here.

  i know that most newbies do post their "story", and even tho i'm not technically a newbie here anymore, i would like you all that i meet in chat & on the board to know a bit more about me and my jw background.

  this could be a long post but thanks for taking the time to read it !

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  acsot

  (((((((((((((((((((((dottie)))))))))))))))))))))))))))

  You're absolutely right about this board helping improve our self-esteem and come to the understanding that it's not our fault, it's the Borg programming that did much of the damage. I don't usually get into chat very often because I'm at work, but would love to have the chance one day, hopefully sooner rather than later.

  What part of Canada are you from?
• 
  29

  Blame Canada!!

  by gsx1138 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my wife and i are starting to look into moving out of the u.s. we are looking at both canada and australia but are leaning to canada.

  keep in mind we are just starting to do research so we haven't delved too far in to the politics or locations in canada.

  does anyone have any location suggestions?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  acsot

  LadyLee: Unfortunately due to Quebec's onerous language laws, officially "on paper" one needs to speak French to find suitable employment here in La Belle Province, but at work I rarely use French, although I am bilingual. Most clients (we're a large law firm) are big corporations so English is the language of choice, many are based in Ontario, New York, etc. So in theory, yes, but in practice, no. Stupid laws. But if you visit you'll find English spoken everywhere, people are a lot less nervous and tense these days, the threat of separation is practically non-existent, the economy's booming, and people are realizing us Anglos aren't such a bad bunch after all!
• 
  9

  IDIOT AWARDS FOR THE YEAR.....

  by Mary in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  need a good laugh?

  here are the awards for idiots of the year........... .

  when his 38-caliber revolver failed to fire at its intended victim during a holdup in long beach, california, would-be robber james elliot did something that could only inspire wonder: he peered down the barrel and tried the trigger again.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  acsot

  Hysterical! Thanks for the needed laugh!
• 
  6

  things said at funeral

  by petespal2002 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  some weeks ago i attended the funeral of a jw sister.

  the service was taken by a brother who claims to be of the anointed, although he holds no position in the congregation.. at one point he looked directly at one of the elders in attendance and said, pointedly, "it does not matter what religion you claim to belong to.

  you could be catholic, lds, adventist, jw, or even the pope himself, but if you do not demonstrate love as jesus did you are not a true disciple and will not benefit from the biblical hope of ressurection.".

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  acsot

  Good for him!!

  The service was taken by a brother who claims to be of the anointed, although he holds no position in the congregation.

  No position in the congregation and was chosen over the elders? I'm sure the deceased's family know and love this old brother, and probably because he's known for coming out with stuff like that. Good for them! Maybe they've been visiting this forum!
• 
  22

  Will they ever say "Peace and Security"?

  by JH in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  with all the trouble around the world, do you think that one day we will hear "peace and security".

  we heard this so often when we were in the jw's, but no one knew how it could happen.

  i don't see any peace in the horizon.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  acsot

  Those who still attend, do they still talk about Peace and Security?

  I haven't heard it in ages. Maybe the scripture (paraphrasing here): "when they are saying peace and security, destruction will come upon them" actually means that it's the JWs who will have destruction come upon them. I mean, their interpretations are wrong about every single other thing, or at least 97% of the things in the Bible. Why not that? Okay, I'm tired, I'm at work and need to get home soon.
• 
  26

  what to believe now?

  by christopherceo in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this is my first time posting here or on any ex-jw forum but i want to know if anybody else is not sure what to believe anymore.

  paradise on earth sounds great and it was drilled into me for 11 years, it's just kinda hard to shake.

  what about armageddon?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  acsot

  Welcome to the board! I'm in the same boat as you - unsure of what to believe, but am I ever glad I don't have to go through the guilt trips the no-matter-how-hard-you-try-it-is-never-enough syndrome. I'd like to believe in God's grace (grace = Grace = Mouthy = the grandma on this board,maybe she can help you!) but don't even know if He/She/It/They exist anymore.

  When I first realized what I believed in was a lie, for a couple of months I felt as though I was on a tightrope with this great drop into nothing on either side of me. Then I was excited about learning about all kinds of stuff, Buddhism, evolution, getting into yoga, etc. etc. That's where I'm at now and the tightrope now has safety nets all over the place and it's really kind of fun.

  The "I don't know" and "I probably will never know for sure in this lifetime" scenarios are actually very liberating, it engages your thought processes, enables you to feel closer to the billions of people out there who aren't JWs, and conversations are much richer when you're trying to discover what life is all about.

  And when that gets a bit mind-boggling, pour yourself a glass of Beaujolais and go outside and watch the sunset.
• 
  14

  JWS Start New Religious Club

  by Voyager in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  good morning everybody, you all may have already seen this web, but i found that it was hidden behind another one.

  the jws have got themselves a little club going on, with terms of agreement and the whole scoop.

  check out http://jehovah.to/general/nazi/ when you get there, click on home.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  acsot

  Gopher said:

  If people's faith would be shaken by a few visits to the Internet, then it's really not much of a faith at all now, is it?

  I always thought to myself that the truth should stand on its own, the "truth" being what the WTS taught as I believed at the time. Well, guess what? It didn't! Surprise, surprise! What a fragile house of cards and what totalitarian rules are needed to keep it from falling down.