Posts by Xanthippe

52

Help with understanding

by Doltologist in

please take pity on me someone and help.. i was going to say that i suffer from aspergers syndrome but actually, i've come to rather enjoy it.. no, seriously, i really do have aspergers which is why my posts may seem a little odd to some of you.

ok, they may seem bloody odd to most of you.. my world exists in a binary frame.

things are or they are not.. i know that in the "real world" things might be or might not be as well as are and are not.

Xanthippe

Regarding primary sources for an historical Jesus, Tacitus says Nero blamed the Christians for burning Rome and 'Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus'

The Annals, Book XV, chapter 44.

There's little else there in that 'chapter' which is actually a paragraph apart from Tacitus saying this 'mischievous superstition' (Christianity) spread to Rome. Also It was written in 62-65 AD so not even a primary source for Jesus. You can get a copy from Amazon and read it yourself.

19

New to the site

by LexIsFree in

jw
friends

my name is alex.

i have been a reader/lurker of this site for over a year now.

first time i am posting.

Xanthippe

Welcome to the forum Alex. Wow you've been through a lot. I hope things are looking up for you now. Glad you are free of the cult.

28

The JW Family

by dubstepped in

jw
friends

maybe this is a bit obtuse, but see if you can follow me here and maybe throw in your own views.

as i see it, the organization as a whole is a family, and like most, it is dysfunctional.

you have the parents in those taking the lead (gb, elders, overseers, etc.

Xanthippe

I do see the JWs as a group of people who are dysfunctional in that they cannot function in the real world. Planet earth frightens them. They have built a dream of perfection in their minds. Perfect standards of behaviour that are impossible for anyone to live up to which make people ill in the attempt.

They want God to wave a wand and make the earth perfect, stop all the nasty things, make us all instantly happy. It's a silly childish dream which prevents them seeing that many really caring people are working hard to feed the hungry, provide clean water, protect children and look after the planet.

The leaders don't want the best for the congregations, they don't want the publishers to be happy, they want perfection. Perfectionism damages everyone. It's just not reality.

31

and Moses came down the mountain on his....DUCATI

by snare&racket in

jw
friends

worst day in the last ten years, was the day i hit 0.00 with one and a half years of university to go.

nobody to turn to, nobody to ask for help.

i was 32 and as an ex jw had two family members in contact with me.

Xanthippe

Snare, you deserve it! 🎉 💥👍

7

NEW EXJW BOOK By a former Pioneer

by Watchtower-Free in

new exjw book by a former pioneer and she is a qualified psychotherapist and trainer specializing in issues of abuse and neglect.. http://www.amazon.com/gifts-men-responsibility-patricia-sadio/dp/1508919623/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=utf8&qid=1433092341&sr=1-5&keywords=gifts+in+men.

Xanthippe

A book by a Brit ex-JW, looks interesting. Thanks Watchtower Free. Might be that there's no kindle version yet because it was only published yesterday.

23

Disfellowship, Disassociate, or fade. What would you do different.

by John Aquila in

hindsight: .

many times because of the shock of learning ttatt, a person loses it.

you want to scream and tell the whole world that the watchtower is a big lie.

Xanthippe

Sometimes I have regretted having DA'd and wished we'd faded. Then when I came on this site and read about the overlapping generations doctrine, I thought how could my brother, sisters and their families have swallowed that nonsense for twenty years!

What do I have in common with people that stupid? Would I want to be able to talk to them? What the heck would we talk about? Nothing that interests me that's for sure. Their brains must be mush.

Sorry if this sounds harsh but the things I've read on here have staggered me. There's no way I would stay with the crap the GB have rolled out the last few years.

Edited to say if you're young and growing up in this religion and have doubts I don't mean you're stupid. I'm talking about my family who have been in 50 - 60 years.

2

If "the World's a Stage" -Types - Antitype

by prologos in

"paul" and shakespeare agree " the world's a stage", we are audience, actors on display.

type: what is the biggest production?

: --the cosmos?, grandiose and well staged.

Xanthippe

'Better a witty fool than a foolish wit'

Twelfth Night Act 1, Sc. 5

14

How old were you? What was the happiest year of your life?

by Esse quam videri in

what year comes to your mind as the happiest?

maybe some special place you lived, being with special people, an unforgettable period that made it your happiest.

Xanthippe

The year 2000 was pretty good, I was 42. I finally got my driving licence! I was on the last year of my degree after eight years so the end was in sight. On the strength of the exams I'd already passed I got the job I really wanted.

That summer my husband, myself and our five-year-old daughter went to the south of France. It was only the second time I'd been abroad and we drove from north to south through beautiful scenery and camped every night.

I remember wonderful chateaux, fields of sunflowers, mountains and beaches. We drove into the Pyrenees and had lunch in Andorra with our first taste of pastis. Not our last either! Beautiful medieval Carcassone and all the little French villages with their markets full of fresh food, cheese and the most amazing bread.

We stayed in a tiny gite when we got to the south, with three floors and scary steep stairs. After exploring or taking out little girl on the beach, we made dinner in its tiny kitchen and ate on a tiny balcony with grapes painted on the walls. So many French wines, so little time.

A very good year. Thanks for asking, I enjoyed remembering that.

38

Was it worth it?

by John Aquila in

for those of you who left family and friends and had to start over from scratch just to get out of the organization, was it worth it?.

.

Xanthippe

When I see my twenty-year-old daughter confident, strong and having high self esteem I know it was worth it. I got out and had her post cult and she studied physics and maths before going to university where she is an active member of the feminist society. That makes me so happy because those GB idiots are still condemning 'women's libbers'. Who says that anymore, it's a sixties expression!

She's a strong woman who won't let anyone patronise her. She was always strong from being a tiny child but that religion would have broken her spirit like it almost broke mine. When I look at her I know it was worth it.

53

Spirituality

by Jonathan Drake in

if you are a current practitioner of some religious faith i would appreciate it if you abstained from this thread entirely.

im curious if anyone has had what could be discribed as a spiritual experience.

i'm currently reading sam harris book waking up and it's very good so far.

Xanthippe

I've re-read your post and tried to understand what Mr. Harris is trying to say. His definition of spiritual is his definition of spiritual. You can also find it in various dictionaries, almost all of which use words such as non-material, supernatural, soul, having the nature of a spirit. My point, which I believe is relevant to the overall topic and OP, is that spirit/spiritual/spirituality are primarily associated with the unseen god-like forces common in religion. - DJS

Spirituality is the praxis and process of personal transformation, either in accordance with traditional religious ideals, or, increasingly, oriented on subjective experience and psychological growth independently of any specific religious context. In a more general sense, it may refer to almost any kind of meaningful activity or blissful experience. There is no single, widely-agreed definition for the concept, and the term may be applied to a wide variety of practices.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirituality