We got Randy's newsletter Freeminds sent by mail from the US in 1989. I know I've said it before but it shone a light in the darkness. Thanks Randy, I hope you're okay.
Xanthippe
JoinedPosts by Xanthippe
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39
In praise of Randall Watters
by nicolaou inexjw's of a certain age will remember randy's site well.
freeminds was instrumental in waking me up along with ray franz's books.
if net soup and armageddon okies mean nothing to you you're probably under 30.. whatever caused randy to post what he did recently is something i can only guess at but it won't be what i remember him for.. randy, i wish you well and thank you for all you've done over the years .
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9
Don't let the sun go down on me.
by The Rebel inin appreciation of david bowie who died a year ago today.
also to george michael and all the other less famous people ( mouthy, school friend.
my aunt.
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Xanthippe
Victoria Wood, Alan Rickman, Carrie Fisher, my cousin Julie.
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33
Leaving the jws is a "lifestyle choice" according to a counsellor
by purrpurr inso i had my first appointment with a counsellor, of course i explained about being a born in jw, mentally leaving, the penalty of doing so and therefore the mental strain of pretending to be someone i'm not.
her response was that she couldn't help me with that because leaving a cult was a "lifestyle choice".
i tried to say to her that its a cult not a religion and how it brain washed me but no.
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Xanthippe
The first counsellor I tried thought I should join her group therapy. I explained that cults were very different from most traumatic experiences. She was rather indignant that I thought I had had a totally different experience emotionally to someone who had been through a divorce or had a miscarriage. I gave up trying to explain it to her.
My second counsellor knew about JWs because her relatives were involved with it. She said when she took her kids to their grandparent's house they were not allowed to play with their cousins whose parents were JWs. Her kids were viewed as a bad influence so had to play in another room.
As usual people don't understand this cult unless they've had first-hand experience of it. I strongly suggest you try another counsellor.
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Marking Talks are back!?!?! - New Name!
by thedepressedsoul inwhen i was younger i used to hear about "marking talks" given in the past.
i believe they stopped in the 80's or 90's.
basically, if someone wasn't baptized or doing something unrepentant, they would get a "marking talk" and be treated the same as a df person.
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Xanthippe
Anyway how does dating an unbeliever reflect badly on the congregation? In whose eyes? NonJWs don't care who you date.
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Which was the best century to be born in?
by defender of truth inhttp://www.businessinsider.com/10-reasons-2016-is-the-best-time-to-be-alive-2016-8/#1-there-are-much-fewer-hungry-people-in-the-world-1.
is the world getting better?.
in which century would you rather have been born, given the choice?
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Xanthippe
The world is getting better, there are so many amazing things in this century. Technology, medicine, travel, literature, ethics and morality, compassion and charities, a wonderful array of food but in some ways it is still primitive. Cults, materialism, politics and the multinationals dominated by sociopaths. I would have liked to see the twenty-third century, I think it will be awesome.
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Information Disparity
by doublespeak inthe scriptures reveal that god never takes advantage of the ignorance of anyone.. j.rutherford, jehovah, brooklyn, international bible students association, 1934, p.19.
would that the oligarchy followed suit.. tom..
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Xanthippe
Thank you Xanthippe. For some reason I cannot update my bio nor the avatar. So just briefly; Born in, thirty-something years later I finally came to terms with some life-long suppressed thoughts & doubts. I am now going through what seems to be a well told story on this forum. (grateful to be able to read about people in the same boat)
Try sending a pm to Simon who owns the site if you are struggling with it. I left at thirty too. Yes many have noticed the similarity between Orwell's 1984 world and the JW cult.
Looking forward to hearing more about your journey so far.
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A Question about Spiritistic Books
by schnell ini have a nearly academic interest in the occult, though i am not a spiritualist and remain a skeptic.
i've come to learn that demons are based on everything from dust devils in the desert, to diseases, to actual people.
probably most of all, demons are a tool of good ol' fashioned con artists and fear mongers.. but here's a question.
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Xanthippe
The only thing to worry about is if you still have the JW mindset that you are doing something dangerous, then you can frighten yourself. I found a book about near death experiences in a second hand book shop after I left the cult and it really surprised me. Since then I have read may books on this and also the paranormal. It's a time to catch up on stuff we were told not to look at. Just don't be afraid, books can't hurt you.
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Today vs Tomorrow in the JW World
by Funchback ini am a teacher and coordinator in brazil.
the school (it's for adults) i work for requires that our students donate food (rice, beens, pasta) or clothes or toys every month.
then, at the beginning of the next month, we take all of the donated goods and deliver them to places that exist on receiving donated items.. two months ago, we delivered the items to a home that cares for kids with cancer.
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Xanthippe
Fantastic post thanks! What a great school you work at. Yeah religion is all about the future when many people are in such great need now.
I agree helping others is a game changer. It empowers you and prevents you feeling the world's problems are hopeless. People power, it's real, it works.
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No updated Watctower's articles on Evolution
by opusdei1972 inas far as i know, the "creation" book is out of print ?, am i right?.
well, i was searching for new watchtower articles trying to debunk, for instance, human evolution.
so, i did my homework, for the first time, so as to read past and updated papers and books on human evolution.
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Xanthippe
We were told by a CO that if someone in FS mentioned Darwin we were supposed to say 'do you mean Charles or Erasmus?'. This was supposed to show them how clever we were and throw them of track. How pathetic.
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11
Jesus ransom or the sanctification of God's name the most important?
by Yesu Kristo Bwana Wangu insome time ago, during the mid-week meeting, the sanctification of god’s name was being discussed (chapter 4 in ‘god’s kingdom rules’).
in paragraph nine we read that in the early period the jw’s viewed jesus ransom sacrifice as the most important teaching of the bible.
then they said they gave overbalanced importance to jesus, and nowadays, they say the sanctification of god’s name is the most important thing in the bible.. .
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Xanthippe
They emphasise god's name because it is the thing that sets them apart from other religions. Other Christian religions have believed in the doctrine of atonement or ransom sacrifice for a very long time. Continually going on about god's name makes them look unique as if new truth was reavealed to them.