BeautifulMind, good email. I wrote the same thing to a friend who sent me the Return to Jehovah booklet. That I spent years trying to persuade people to examine the religion they were raised in and then it was my turn to do that. I asked her had she ever examined her religion, ever. Were they even allowed to do that now? That my reason for leaving wasn't being stumbled or feeling guilty but having studied and thought deeply, finding I no longer believed. But that reason isn't an option is it? I haven't had a reply either.
Xanthippe
JoinedPosts by Xanthippe
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23
"I thought About You" Email
by BeautifulMind inhey everyone!!
i hope everyone is doing good today.
i don't share or comment often, but i'm in the mood to do that today.
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5th Columb : We need a signal to identify each other
by Deltawave ini have been thinking, it is a lonely place in the real world knowing ttatt but if we have a phrase we can unite, support and help each other.
the question we will ask is:.
what's your favorite bible verse?
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Xanthippe
Columb? Have you got a code in de doze? -
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Alan Rickman's Passing
by TipsyMangoTea inalan rickman, best known to my generation as prof. severus snape from the harry potter film franchise, has passed away due to cancer at the age of 69.. growing up with a witness mother, anything related to science fiction and fantasy was looked down upon, so, naturally, i was a rebel rebel (oh david bowie...).. just wanted to let any potterheads know the news and that even if you feel like you'll never be free of the deadly watchtower, you're not alone and there's hope.. always..
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Xanthippe
Such a lot of sadness at work today over Alan Rickman. Watching Love Actually at Christmas is a tradition with me and my daughter. So sad, he and his wife have been together about forty years, not the usual showbiss relationship. He will be missed.
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Who is your favourite thinker?
by The Rebel inhaving recently read orwells 1984, i was impressed with how he understood that both politicians and people abuse language.
this further confirmed to me how the w.t had deceived me by using words to distort reality.
the book 1984, also contains many other great thoughts of george orwell.. of course there have been many other great thinkers, buddah, darwin, freud, einstein and marx come to mind.
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Xanthippe
Now my observation is that most of the great thinkers mentiond are considerd correct in their thinking. So my question is do you think to be a great thnker it is necessary to be correct in ones thinking?
The Rebel.To be thought of as a great thinker it is only necessary for many people to think you are correct. It doesn't mean you are.
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A Big Hello From Mouthy/Grace and.....
by label licker ina special message to her daughter, ann marie if you are watching this site.
your mother is eighty-eight now and her memory is going fast.
please call her, ann marie.
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Xanthippe
Anne Marie please telephone your mother. Don't fool yourself that her decision has put you in a difficult position, you have decided to shun her. Take some responsibility for your actions and phone your mum before the day comes when you cannot phone her anymore, please. -
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Remembered what I was called years ago on here
by Lostandfound inwas looking up ron drage on search facility on.
this site when icameacross a topic iremembered starting!
then i was known as core.
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Xanthippe
I expect Peter Ellis is still in Muswell Hill congregation where my husband was from. He was close friends with my father-in-law, who was an elder there. Strange to think of my FIL being an elder there because he's now more of a fan of Richard Dawkins than anyone at bethel. -
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Who is your favourite thinker?
by The Rebel inhaving recently read orwells 1984, i was impressed with how he understood that both politicians and people abuse language.
this further confirmed to me how the w.t had deceived me by using words to distort reality.
the book 1984, also contains many other great thoughts of george orwell.. of course there have been many other great thinkers, buddah, darwin, freud, einstein and marx come to mind.
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Xanthippe
Very difficult to choose but, Leonardo da Vinci, Michel de Montaigne, John Stuart Mill.
Leonardo for his amazing inventions and art. Michel de Montaigne for being the first essayist on many different subjects from family to politics and his condemnation of the religious cruelties of the Reformation. Mill for Utilitarianism, the principle of the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people and also trying to get women the vote.
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shunning is bad
by Sabin inso i had a phone conversation last night, i'm not proud of myself but that is how the cookie crumbles.
started off all well & good then up came the arc which i was informed was all propaganda & the oct 2012 polices i got from the internet are apostate & not true.
so i lost the plot, completely lost it, & let out everything i was feeling.
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Xanthippe
Sabin I understand your frustration with talking to family about shunning. My nonJW cousin phoned me after Xmas. She said my (JW) sister and her husband had just been to see her. She apologised to them for still having her Xmas decorations up because she knows they don't believe in it.
She said my sister said they don't mind Xmas decorations and apparently my brother in law was admiring her tree and her cards. I said you do realise that they shun me for celebrating Xmas don't you. They are just hypocrites I said.
She does know this. She knows they shun me. She can't understand how they can visit her who has never been a witness and she is invited to their house for meals but I have never been invited and they've never been to my home.
Yes they do talk in their literature about giving people the silent treatment being wrong but they do it everyone one who leaves. Hypocrisy.
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Would I lie to you?
by slimboyfat ingiven recent posts on the forum and discussion, maybe we could play this game: would i lie to you?
in the uk we have this tv programme where minor celebrities tell weird or embarrassing stories about themselves and the rest of the participants have to guess if it is a true story or made up.
when the others have voted then the person reveals if the story is true or false.
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Xanthippe
Huh. Has this game started or are we still arguing if we're going to play it or not? I remember this, I think it was on the playground. Is Lostwun pretending to be an ex -JW who is upset about pretending to be something untrue? Or is she being real? Oh boy! I thought it would be quite mentally stimulating. Not much chance of that, think I'll go read a book instead. -
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Share Your Personal Experiences Please!
by LaurenM inso since leaving the borg i've made quite a few stupid mistakes, hurting myself a lot..but i finally feel like i've learned and i think, in time, i'll find my happiness again...even more happiness that i could've ever had being a jw.. but my question to you guys is, what was your experience like leaving the borg?
did you struggle at all?
how long have you been out?
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Xanthippe
Hi Lauren, my husband and I got out 27 years ago. We were a mess for about two years but we saw a psychologist and it helped. Then my husband got a paid job instead of window cleaning because we had been pioneering for years. Then I got a job in a clothes shop, which I hated but my colleagues were very friendly which helped me a lot.
Then we both did a distance learning degree. I don't know if you're in the UK. It was the Open University. My husband got a physics degree after six years and did projects within his next couple of engineering jobs to become a Chartered Physicist and then a Chartered Scientist. I did a history degree and a computing diploma to help me get a job. I even learned a certain amount of computer programming, which was fun.
My husband worked full time while doing his degree and I worked part time so it was hard work but we got there in the end. We both ended up with jobs we liked and my husband travelled a lot for his work. He went to Europe and America and Brazil, so lots of interesting experiences and getting to know how to deal with normal people, not cultists.
Then six years after leaving we had a beautiful baby girl. She brought so much joy into our lives. My sisters didn't acknowledge her birth. My brother heard a rumour I was pregnant and phoned me going all around the subject but I knew why he'd phoned. He and his wife finally came to see the baby. After cancelling five times. She was one year old by then, they didn't come again. My dad was never a JW so we took the baby to see him although my mother was not speaking to us. She was ok but made it clear we were there on sufferance because she was being a dutiful JW wife.
We didn't care. We had a wonderful time raising our little girl. Christmas trees, birthday parties - oh what parties we had. Enormous pass the parcel packages I made. Sleepovers for her friends. Dress-ups at Halloween. Wonderful. The great thing is my husband's parents left too after we did so they joined in and loved having a granddaughter which made up a bit for my family.
My daughter is in her last year at university now and she'll do her Masters after that. She's wonderful, she's made all the struggle worthwhile. Her dad died of a brain hemorrage seven years ago so we looked after each other. She is on the student union council and an active member of the uni feminist society. I'm so proud, can you imagine after the way I was treated as a JW woman that my daughter is an ardent activist for women's rights.
Life is good, we both have friends and it's all been worth it. Lauren, whatever is happening in your life and whatever struggles you have to keep your freedom from the cult know that it is worth it. Lots of luck and love to you.