Xanthippe

Joined

• started 104 topics
• posted 4,713 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by Xanthippe

• 
  18

  Conditioned responses: Have you been conditioned to feel judged, or guilt etc that has spilled over into your exjw life?

  by Diogenesister in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  this youtuber, an exjw and psychologist, may be familiar to some of the old guard.. i'm posting for newer members really.

  yet still, despite being out some time, it was a shock for me to realise that some of the crippling guilt i have felt over so much of my life, even long after being awake, was due to the dominant "conditioned response" i felt as a believer - guilt.. guilt that i could never do enough.

  guilt that i was responsible for the life of anyone i didn't preach to...anyone i may have stumbled, anything i did that wasn't caring for the needs of others.. even my job i choose to fit in with trying to expunge the guilt i felt at not meeting the needs of others.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Xanthippe

  but when a partner/employer/ whoever - in taking the place of God - doesn't respond to reason, the conditioned person quickly slides into the familiar feeling they know so well. That of being in the wrong and judged for their imperfection.

  Yes I do sometimes find myself thinking up reasons why I did something, getting quite a detailed explanation ready ...... just in case. I suppose I'm expecting someone to criticise me and they almost never do.

  It's a conditioned response after thirty years of getting constant criticism, you're right. It's stressful and makes me anxious. I'm aware of having more anxiety than I should but not always sure why. Thanks for throwing some light on that Diogenesister.
• 
  14

  Would you?

  by Half banana in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  would you join a religion which punishes you if you later on change your mind and choose to leave it?.

  would you join a religion which claims to be the only one guided by god and yet has always got their prophetic utterances entirely wrong?.

  would you join a religion which changes its beliefs every few years?.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Xanthippe

  No of course I wouldn't! The big question is, would I be allowed to leave such a religion after I found out it had lied to me and become disgustingly corrupt? Yes, but I would have to leave 11 members of my family behind and never see my nephews grow up, get married and have babies of their own.
• 
  32

  Scary Effectiveness of Assembly Videos

  by Captain Schmideo2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well, i got to see the final day of this years regional convention.and i saw something that disturbs me.. the final, "summing up review" video.

  it disturbs me because it was so well done.

  (i wish i could remember the title of the song), to the strains of a solo vocalist singing in a fine "irish tenor", we see the actors from the previous videos of the last few days all assembling together in a clearing.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Xanthippe

  So is the regional convention like the old circuit assembly or is it like the old summer convention because it seems a bit early, they were usually in July? This is the last thing at the end of the convention is it?
• 
  51

  I just watched the final video from this years convention. OMG!!!

  by NikL in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am shaking all over right now.

  i think it's worse that the bunker video.. i used to think there was no way that these people would actually "drink the cool aid" if you get my drift, but seeing this video i am now not sure it could never happen.. having a wife who i love dearly trapped in this cult is really freaking me out right now...

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Xanthippe

  People are going to come after them with machine guns? How does this fit in with the UN turning on religion? Is this what they think UN peacekeepers look like? It's just so dark and paranoid, they really think this world is an evil place, or at least the GB want them to believe that. So leave your husband, refuse medical treatment, leave a naughty movie so you can end up in a field being shot at by ...whoever they're supposed to be. Weird.
• 
  39

  Neanderthals - Meet Your Ancestors

  by Earnest in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  tonight (sunday, 13th may) at 20:00 on bbc 2 ... for neanderthal believers, agnostics and deniers.. this first programme in a two-part series investigates what neanderthals looked like and and how they lived in their ice age world.

  it turns out that almost everything we thought we knew about them is wrong.

  they weren't hunched, grunting, knuckle-dragging ape-men at all.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Xanthippe

  Yes I remembered it was on again, thanks Ernest. Interesting that Neanderthals may have become extinct because they didn't travel like Homo sapiens do so they couldn't get away from drought-stricken areas.

  Neanderthals would not cross an ocean if they couldn't see land but homosapiens spread across the entire planet, the program said. The scientist that sequenced the Neanderthal genome made me smile when he said Neanderthals wanted to stay alive but homosapiens are mad, they'll go anywhere. So I guess we were more successful as a species because of that even though it meant loss of life to individuals at sea and so on. Interesting.
• 
  63

  Did You Care About The Royal Wedding?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i don’t get it.

  who really cares?

  in the usa, it’s such a huge newsworthy event.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Xanthippe

  Harry and William and Catherine have all done a huge amount of work for mental health awareness. Harry particularly has worked hard as he's been an active serviceman and has brought awareness of mental health in ex-servicemen with the Invictus games and other projects.

  We saw him lose his mum, he was only twelve. He walked behind her coffin in a horribly public event when he must have been in agony inside. Something which he had no choice in. I enjoyed seeing him happy today. She seems like a really strong, intelligent woman, interested in working for a better world which she has already been active in. I'm not usually a royalist but I wish them happiness.
• 
  17

  Meghan Markle Will Omit 'Obey' from Her Wedding Vows to Prince Harry

  by AFRIKANMAN in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  when meghan markle says her royal wedding vows to prince harry on saturday, she’ll be following in the footsteps of princess diana and kate middleton by choosing to omit the traditional promise to “obey” her husband, the palace confirms.. during the ceremony, officiated by archbishop of canterbury justin welby, meghan will tell her royal groom: “i meghan, take you, harry, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward; for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part; according to god’s holy law.

  in the presence of god i make this vow.”.

  the decision doesn’t come as a surprise: meghan has long been a vocal feminist, working with organizations like one world vision to learn about the challenges facing women and girls living in dubai and mumbai.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Xanthippe

  I am enjoying seeing everyone so happy and excited about either the wedding or the footy. The weather is gorgeous too, been enjoying it since six thirty in my garden. Hope they'll be happy, it's hard for a kid losing a parent, she will be good for him I think.
• 
  8

  Nice thought for the day ...

  by neat blue dog in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just thought i'd share what i found in my fortune cookie.

  (i know, fortune cookies are inviting demons, just like lucky charms cereal 😜) well actually it's more of a proverb, like most of them are nowadays:.

  "as one grows to understand life less and less, one learns to live it more and more.".

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Xanthippe

  Great quotes. It's such a breath of fresh air to be away from that suffocating belief system where everything unexplained was Satan and everything beautiful and amazing in the natural world, God did it.
• 
  15

  Unbelievable!

  by The Fall Guy in

  1. social
  2. humour

  witness: yes.

  attorney: and what were you doing at that time?

  witness: yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Xanthippe

  😂😂😂 Oh god I laughed till I cried.
• 
  24

  I Went To My Brother’s Memorial Service at the Kingdom Hall

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have to say that the talk was very good.

  instead of just repeating a jw manual , the speaker actually spoke about my brother!

  there were a few scriptures with the jw hope but 80 % of the talk was actually about the life of my brother.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Xanthippe

  I'm so sorry you lost your brother before you lost him Minimus. What a lot this cult has to answer for. I'm glad the memorial was mostly about your brother and that the JWs were generally kind to you. Take care of yourself now as you grieve.