Xanthippe

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Posts by Xanthippe

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  20

  What do YOU desperately need, but you've been putting it off?

  by TerryWalstrom in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i don't know why, but i put off getting a haircut way longer than i should.. i might go as long as 5 or 6 months between haircuts.. i desperately need a haircut.. what do you desperately need, but you've been putting it off?.

  (disclaimer: minimus is going to be jealous.

  this sort of question is his tradmark :).

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  Xanthippe

  I really need to do something different with my hair but I keep putting it off and having the same style. Thinking of maybe an orange Mohican, what do you think?
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  37

  inheritance

  by truthseeker100 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i have a good life and i am now worth around 3 million us.

  my two children have their university degrees and a promising future.

  what should i do with my money?

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  Xanthippe

  So Truthseeker100 what did you decide?
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  23

  3rd Gen DF'd finally writing

  by AFreeBeliever in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i've been reading many of the postings on this forum for a couplefew years, finally joined today.

  i think reading cappytan, and others like that, compelled me to share, it seems i might have a bit of a different outcome than many i have read, perhaps it will be hopeful/helpful to someone.. i was a born-in, 3rd gen jw, my entire family (parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and most all of my childhood friends) were in.

  some dropped by the wayside as the years went on, but many stayed in, and if they didn't, they still acted/talked as if they believed it was "the truth" and it was their weaknesses/failings that made them stop attending.

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  Xanthippe

  Welcome and thanks for sharing your story. I am not going to tell you what to believe just please keep reading, thinking and questioning. You don't have to decide anything yet while you're still 'limping'.  Once you settle on a belief system what room is there for new ideas? 
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  3

  We are not the only ones who have lost our faith

  by Xanthippe in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  it is not unusual to lose faith in the religion that you're born into.

  i actually think it's quite common to move away from you parents' belief system and find that you are a different kind of person to many members of your family.

  i have read in national newspapers of famous people including politicians who have left the faith of their birth and found family relationships very difficult, some of them have even been shunned by family.. quite often in local newspapers i see books for sale from one individual about eastern religions, philosophy, evolution and so on.

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  Xanthippe

  Yes it's true if you do go to a therapist or counsellor they do have experience of people leaving all sorts of religions and coping with the fallout from their families. I remember talking to my doctor, who is Indian, about it and he wasn't at all surprised that my family shun me. He may have been through the same thing himself. 
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  51

  Is this a discussion forum or a debating forum , which is it ?

  by smiddy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  do you get confused sometimes whether this site is a discussion forum or a debating forum ?.

  just asking.

  whats your thoughts.. smiddy.

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  Xanthippe

  As an atheist I want to reply to the above from James Brown even though this thread is going rather off topic. I am always offering suggestions on avenues of research for people who feel empty at having lost their faith.

  Also I am always offering suggestions for bringing spiritual things back into your life, for example, art, music,creativity, travel etc.

  For those who just want to sit at their computers and whine that we don't have any answers for you, news flash, we don't. If you want someone to tell you what to believe and how to live then you are looking for a high control religion. James Brown do you really want to go there again?

  To quote the late Douglas Adams, 'Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly,hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is'.

  Nobody has all the answers, if someone tells you they do, RUN!
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  51

  Is this a discussion forum or a debating forum , which is it ?

  by smiddy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  do you get confused sometimes whether this site is a discussion forum or a debating forum ?.

  just asking.

  whats your thoughts.. smiddy.

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  Xanthippe

  In a way they are like Jehovah's witnesses on steroids, they tear everything down.
  But offer nothing in its place standing over the ruins of faith.  -James Brown

  (Please see my next post in answer to this, can't seem to get out of quote on here on my iPad)
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  20

  My Day's Long and Arduous Journey

  by compound complex in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this, my day's long and arduous journey, is winding down as infinite night gracefully descends and takes me into her welcomed embrace.. i have no reason to fear the inevitable, my transition into a higher and more glorious estate than was allowed me upon this beautiful but angst-filled habitation.. what must be borne with calm, with dignity, with rejoicing, has been prepared for me from earliest times.

  its accomplishment requires nothing of me .

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  Xanthippe

  It's so lovely to hear from you CoCo and to see that you're writing again. Stay well dear CoCo, we need your calm voice of reason here 
• 
  33

  Losing Faith

  by cappytan in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i've always been a "spiritual" person.

  i've been an avid bible reader since as early as i can remember.

  i read the bible cover to cover for the first time when i was about 17 years old and have read it at least twice more since then.

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  Xanthippe

  What works for some people is to slow down in JW activities and if asked why say you are depressed and confused over all the changes in teachings. Then let your family try and explain overlapping generations etc. to you while you play dumb.

  Wish you well at this difficult time. It's hard to keep your mouth shut and let others teach you when you know it's all nonsense but sometimes trying to explain it helps them see it for what it it. As others have said it's your decision how you tackle it because you know your family best and we've never met them. Good luck.

  
  
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  3

  We are not the only ones who have lost our faith

  by Xanthippe in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  it is not unusual to lose faith in the religion that you're born into.

  i actually think it's quite common to move away from you parents' belief system and find that you are a different kind of person to many members of your family.

  i have read in national newspapers of famous people including politicians who have left the faith of their birth and found family relationships very difficult, some of them have even been shunned by family.. quite often in local newspapers i see books for sale from one individual about eastern religions, philosophy, evolution and so on.

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  Xanthippe

  This is the original topic. I suppose I should be flattered that a newbie liked it so much he borrowed it and 'made it his own'.
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  3

  We are not the only ones who have lost our faith

  by Xanthippe in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  it is not unusual to lose faith in the religion that you're born into.

  i actually think it's quite common to move away from you parents' belief system and find that you are a different kind of person to many members of your family.

  i have read in national newspapers of famous people including politicians who have left the faith of their birth and found family relationships very difficult, some of them have even been shunned by family.. quite often in local newspapers i see books for sale from one individual about eastern religions, philosophy, evolution and so on.

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  Xanthippe

  It is not unusual to lose faith in the religion that you're born into. I actually think it's quite common to move away from you parents' belief system and find that you are a different kind of person to many members of your family. 

  I have read in national newspapers of famous people including politicians who have left the faith of their birth and found family relationships very difficult, some of them have even been shunned by family.

  Quite often in local newspapers I see books for sale from one individual about eastern religions, philosophy, evolution and so on. It is not unusual for people to research what they believe and read many books on a variety of different subjects to try and find a new direction in life.

  Believe me I am not minimising the suffering of those of us who have lost loved ones after leaving this cult. I know there is a huge difference between slowly and voluntarily looking at new ideas and suddenly and shockingly finding TTATT and being thrown out of something that was our whole life. 

  All I want to say here is that after feeling lost and separated from everyone it was a revelation to me to find that the journey of losing faith and looking for something to replace it is not so weird. In other words, I found I have a lot more in common with 'worldy' people than I first thought.

  We are all just humans waking up on this planet after years of ignorance, superstition and darkness and trying to find a meaning. The more I read and the more I talk to people the more I realise many of us are so similar in our experiences of human life. It made me feel less alone.