my name is russ, i'm 40 years old, from the uk, and i left the jws nearly 5 years ago.
i've been a member of the yuku board throughout that time, so there are probably some on here who know me already.
there seems to be more activity over here at the moment, so i thought i'd pop in and say hi.i was raised as a jw, started questioning it when i was 16, but there was no internet back then (well, no www anyway) so i got sucked right in and got baptized when i was 18. auxiliary pioneered on and off for a couple of years, then became a ministerial servant.
True, terry! It seems like only other ex witnesses really know what it's like. I think I must have driven people crazy when I was coming out of it. Or they thought I was crazy, maybe...Wanted to talk to everyone I met about it. People next to me on a park bench etc. :D
I've toned it down now I think...I can have a conversation with someone without necessarily mentioning it, anyway...maybe coming here a lot earlier would have helped!
ok guys, this is long, so i am sorry, but i think it is important to publish.
this is a glimpse into a 4 page letter (love that song) from my uber elder uncle.
as some of you may know i got tired of being in an email chain and finally lost it and lashed out.
Freemind, yes, Pharisees, and stuck in the Old Testament without fully accepting the new. I can't even understand how they don't see that they're Pharisees.
He put a lot of effort into his letter to you, thank him, assure him you're not in any strange new religious cult (you're really not! Not your uncles and not any other!) and thank him for his love and you will think about what he said. Don't let this risk your fade. Come here to vent!!!
for those of you familiar with ayn rand and her ideas on morality, rationality and reason, what is your opinion of those ideas?.
i'm talking about her actual ideas, not the ideals that libertarianism has adopted and, in some cases, perverted.
do you think she's a charlatan?
I feel that she was a person of her times. It's easy to judge her now that we've gone down the path of history a bit and see more of what has happened in the world since communism's heyday when issues seemed to be more black and white... communism vs. capitalism, and seen that the more successful societies are more socialist than capitalist. (Not that everyone here would agree with that, but check out statistics of happiness, sense of security and prosperity in socialist countries. Not that there's not problems there too, and socialist ideologies don't necessarily attract independent types like many of us.) A balance is needed, and I think many countries are working on getting that balance right and I feel progress is being made in many countries, while others are backsliding or being driven by religious extremists like ISIS.
but even considering her a person of her times and circumstance which drew her to her conclusions, she still had an abnormal lack of empathy for people in different circumstances than her own. I hope that after she did accept Medicare from the government her eyes were finally opened that a government program to help people needing it is a good thing!
first off i want to say that i'm a teenager which makes my situation interesting.
i don't want to give too many details in case someone i know reads this but i'm between 14 and 18, homeschooled, and i've been awake for around one or one and a half years.
i already have a plan to attend usc or wisconsin university if i'm smart enough to get in and then move to san jose and try and get a job working for a hs football team or with a soccer team, since i want to coach sports or be an agent.. now, this all sounds great in theory but there's one thing i've been thinking about that makes me doubt my plan.
first off i want to say that i'm a teenager which makes my situation interesting.
i don't want to give too many details in case someone i know reads this but i'm between 14 and 18, homeschooled, and i've been awake for around one or one and a half years.
i already have a plan to attend usc or wisconsin university if i'm smart enough to get in and then move to san jose and try and get a job working for a hs football team or with a soccer team, since i want to coach sports or be an agent.. now, this all sounds great in theory but there's one thing i've been thinking about that makes me doubt my plan.
some years ago (the year when i got baptized), i was at a district convention (or whatever they call them these days) with my best friend.
he had a part in one of those acting parts at the convention (i have no idea the term jw's use for them in english).
anyway, we were both seeing through the bullshit of the borg but weren't aware at the time of this forum or other "apostate" groups, nor of the full extent of the perversity of this religion.
first off i want to say that i'm a teenager which makes my situation interesting.
i don't want to give too many details in case someone i know reads this but i'm between 14 and 18, homeschooled, and i've been awake for around one or one and a half years.
i already have a plan to attend usc or wisconsin university if i'm smart enough to get in and then move to san jose and try and get a job working for a hs football team or with a soccer team, since i want to coach sports or be an agent.. now, this all sounds great in theory but there's one thing i've been thinking about that makes me doubt my plan.
I totally agree with finally awake and sowhatnow. You aren't a believer anymore...she most likely will stay in, unless you've talked to her about this and know you are both of the same inclination. If you do stay and date her and she's a real witness, you might be hot for her, but eventually it WILL be miserable not being i agreement about the religion. You will want to live your life, she will want to not let you. You will be pressured to get married very soon, because you will want to get physical.
If you've talked about the religion and are in agreement, your chances are better. But in either case, GO TO COLLEGE. When in college write and text her and stuff. See if she is agreeing with you. Talk about meaningful things. If she's witnessy, you might meet someone else you like just as much. Your pond is currently pretty small.
some years ago (the year when i got baptized), i was at a district convention (or whatever they call them these days) with my best friend.
he had a part in one of those acting parts at the convention (i have no idea the term jw's use for them in english).
anyway, we were both seeing through the bullshit of the borg but weren't aware at the time of this forum or other "apostate" groups, nor of the full extent of the perversity of this religion.
i really think that he is.
not that it's a bad thing...
for those of you familiar with ayn rand and her ideas on morality, rationality and reason, what is your opinion of those ideas?.
i'm talking about her actual ideas, not the ideals that libertarianism has adopted and, in some cases, perverted.
do you think she's a charlatan?
I would add to oubliette's list
brave new world
