Xanthippe

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Posts by Xanthippe

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  19

  Conditional Love

  by Saethydd in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i've noticed several posts recently claiming that jw friends and family members give out conditional love.

  well, i'm not so sure that is entirely accurate, in fact, i would say they tend to be very steadfast in their love.

  the issue is this, they have been taught a poor form of love.

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  Xanthippe

  But what about those of us who've been out thirty or forty years? Our families know wild horses won't drag us back to that cult. Still they shun us. You can't tell me it's still about love. For some of our relatives it's about fear that we may shake their faith, for others it's about revenge for the pain we caused them. Love to help save our lives by bringing us back? No not after all this time.
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  8

  What if I'm attracted to the association of xJW's but not interested in JW topics?

  by IveBeenBitten in

  1. forum
  2. suggestions

  what if i'm attracted to the association of xjw's but not interested in jw topics?.

  i'm interested in talking with people that are xjw's but i'm not interested in talking about jw stuff.

  maybe sometimes, but is there a place to go where "jehovah's witnesses" don't have a topic?.

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  Xanthippe

  You can start a new thread about politics, world events, entertainment, dating, marriage, children, humour and so on. Have a look at the topics under ' new topic '.

  I've been out a very long time and occasionally get bored with JW subjects. Some of us like to talk about what we've been doing with our lives since leaving the religion. Sometimes people talk about travel, hobbies, what books, music or movies they like or even how to make friends.

  Start a new topic, I'll look forward to it.
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  42

  New here..help greatly appreciated

  by Confusedandangry in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  hi everyone i don't even know where to begin.

  i recently saw leah remini's series on scientology thanks to my husband (semi-active jw) and i felt like my eyes were being opened for the 1st time in my adult life.

  i felt shaken almost sick to my stomach with each episode i watched.

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  Xanthippe

  Hi and welcome Confusedandangry. Yes I went a bit crazy too when I realised it was all false. Just take it slowly, ask your questions and we'll all try and help.

  Think of it this way about your loss of years, people make mistakes all over the world or are born into horrible circumstance and regret their past. We're not the only ones. Just move on from now and look forward to all the freedom and fun you will have 🌷
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  41

  Witnesses really hate it when you appear to leave.

  by schnell in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i have a certain customer, whom we will call sally.

  i know sally only by face and only through work.

  i am a truck driver on a local dedicated route, and i often deliver to her work.

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  Xanthippe

  The reaction I get from my brother whenever I try and be normal like handing him coffees and sandwiches at my uncles funeral is absolute blazing anger. He seems so angry with me and yet I don't even try to phone him anymore and I certainly don't 'apostate' at him. I am doing nothing to him at all yet all this rage.

  My feeling is they get really angry because we've got away and they haven't. We're free and happy, they hate that. We should be miserable, living in poverty and having a terrible life.
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  3

  Another JW factoid.

  by DATA-DOG in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i went to visit my parents recently, and my mom went for the kh.

  well...she told me that the visiting speaker from "po-dunk" usa, related a factoid.

  of course it was "da troof" to her, but my demonic, critical-thinking mind started dissecting the account.

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  Xanthippe

  Air Pollution Control Act was 1955 in the US. Clean Air Act followed in 1963 with various amendments in that decade.

  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_Air_Act_(United_States)
  
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  47

  What did you regrettably not do because you were a Jehovah's Witness ?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  jehovah's witnesses cannot do a lot of things.

  i remember pioneers having to quit their jobs because they could not work in a convenience store and sell cigarettes.

  i know of a young man who was offered a scholarship to any college or university if he wanted to go to because of his football abilities.

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  Xanthippe

  

  I always wanted to go to Egypt and hoped the monuments would still be there after Armaggedon. 🙄 Now it's not safe and I may never see them. I wish I'd gone to university then for free (in the UK) got a job and travelled the world. Trying to catch up but not enough time and the world is less safe.
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  7

  to all a thank you

  by notalone in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  to all on this site who from their hearts participate, thank you.

  you encourage thought, offer support and share laughs, thank you.

  you may never know what point has touched a heart or opened a mind.

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  Xanthippe

  Thank you notalone, it's good to know what we say here helps people. There are so many different personalities and varied experiences of that organisation here usually someone can relate or advise. I hope you and your family are enjoying freedom and your daughter is doing well.
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  45

  What's preventing YOU from stopping meeting attendance?

  by nicolaou in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  we all 'exit' in our own way and at our own pace but i'm curious, why carry on stuffing yourself into that stiff suit and tie or meeting dress years after you realised the truth about 'the truth'?.

  they kept you a prisoner, what's stopping you from leaving now that you have the key to your own cell?.

  loved ones?

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  Xanthippe

  It's been twenty-eight years with no change from my brother and sisters so if I'd sat through meetings that whole time waiting for them to realise it's all bs I'd have wasted my life.

  Don't get me wrong the cut was damned painful at the time but I've lived a life full of interesting stuff and yes Nic seen my daughter grow up free and go to uni. I haven't given up hope, who knows they may leave one day, they know where to find me.

  It's different if it's your partner that's still indoctrinated. That must be really hard to cope with.
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  63

  Is it possible to decline preaching in the carts?

  by Skepsis in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi folks,.

  i have a difficult dilemma.

  since i'm not pioneering any more, i'm reducing my hours wasted at that artifact known as cart or trolley.

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  Xanthippe

  Couldn't you say you prefer to actually talk to people, that you feel guilty counting time standing by a cart and you'd rather go door to door? Pretend you're taking the moral high ground and want to be a really good JW. Theocratic warfare if you like, beat them at their own game.
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  210

  Morality Without Deity

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  one of the most persistent arguments for belief in god centres on the necessity of an ultimate law-giver and epitome of goodness.. a softer version is seen in the genuine concern that a loss of faith will result in a corresponding loss of a moral compass - a more strident argument links the existence of good and evil with proof of the reality of god.

  it is often asserted that without god, moral decisions degenerate to nothing more than personal preferences and the victory of "might is right".. i want to succinctly lay out my response as an atheist, and show that a supreme being is not required for objective morality.. it is helpful to distinguish between absolute morality, objective morality and subjective morality.

  christian apologists frequently conflate the first two, and secular debaters often fail to point out the difference.. theists who disagree on everything else, are unanimous that god is perfectly good.

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  Xanthippe

  The problem - sometimes referred to as the Euthyphro dilemma - was identified by Plato when he posed the question of "whether the gods love the pious because it is the pious, or whether the pious is pious only because it is loved by the gods". If god commands good things because they are intrinsically good then goodness exists independent of god and we can discover moral truth without him. If on the other hand things are good because god commands them then morality is not based on anything other than god's unpredictable whims.

  I'm glad to see you've been reading Plato, Cofty. I've been banging on about his excellent philosophy for years on this forum. Euthyphro is one of his best dialogues about the ethical dilemma of a man taking his father to court for letting his slave die tied up in a ditch. There is so much discussion in that dialogue on what it means to be a good person. This from a man, Socrates, who is famously executed because he doesn't believe in the gods.

  What we actually see is theists sanctifying ethical positions they arrived at by other means, claiming that their opinions reflect the goodness of god.

  Yes exactly, five hundred years before Jesus the Greek philosophers were discussing what it means to be a moral person. Confucius and others introduced the Golden Rule (treat others as you would be treated) at around the same time. Theists have hijacked their ideas and ascribed them to a deity