Posts by Xanthippe

14

How can I succeed in life not being a jw again?

by victory in

jw
friends

when i was a jw, i was taught that i can never succeed in life if i leave the sect.

now that i am no longer a member of the fold, how can i succeed in this only life i have and achieve my dreams?.

Xanthippe

You need money to live on obviously. Not a fortune but enough for a roof over your head, decent food and clothing and holidays. For that you need a job that pays well which requires education or training.

Money isn't everything though. We need a few friends, relationships, interests, hobbies. Things that make life worthwhile.

I depends what your dreams are but I will just say don't follow the crowd, live life your way. The West is entrenched in blind materialism and buying stuff for the sake of it or to impress other people is just boring. Find what you're passionate about and go for it no matter what anyone else says.

32

AUSTRALIA - Petition to Cancel the Charity Status of Watchtower and Jehovah's Witnesses

by jwleaks in

a petition has been launched in australia to coincide with the child abuse royal commission's adverse findings against watchtower and jehovah's witnesses.

the petition is to the australian charities and not-for-profit commission to cancel their charity status.. https://www.change.org/p/australian-charities-and-not-for-profit-commission-acnc-cancel-the-watchtower-bible-and-tract-society-s-charity-status.

[quote].

Xanthippe

darkspliver I was merely asking why change.org were saying they needed 80something signatures to get it to 500. What's the significance of 500? Does it mean something on the charity watchdog site in Australia if they are presented with a petition of at least 500 signatures from change.org? It didn't seem much to me when you need 100,000 for a parliamentary debate with no guaranteed action after that. Anyway glad you had fun, if I can make someone happy....

32

AUSTRALIA - Petition to Cancel the Charity Status of Watchtower and Jehovah's Witnesses

by jwleaks in

a petition has been launched in australia to coincide with the child abuse royal commission's adverse findings against watchtower and jehovah's witnesses.

the petition is to the australian charities and not-for-profit commission to cancel their charity status.. https://www.change.org/p/australian-charities-and-not-for-profit-commission-acnc-cancel-the-watchtower-bible-and-tract-society-s-charity-status.

[quote].

Xanthippe

I've signed it, but what happens when it reaches 500 signatures? If you get 100,000 in the UK parliament will discuss it.

102

Any atheists here? Have you come to terms with your new reality?

by kpop in

jw
friends

alone, without my safety net of "god" being there to remember me when i die.

after much consideration, examining science, history and using logic, i have come to the conclusion that there is no "god" at least certainly no loving, personal "god.

" shortly before my final conclusion was reached, i read an excerpt from an expression attributed to marcus aurelius, .

Xanthippe

Hi kpop. I am content that there isn't a god. I live each day as it comes and try to be happy. I'm not afraid of death but I believe there is a distinct possibility consciousness can exist beyond physical death. If I'm wrong, then I won't know or care.

I think we should live ethically, do the right thing even though no one's watching and treat other people with respect. I don't need a god for that. I hope you're coping with your changing beliefs, it can be challenging.

9

For any victims of abuse by Elders/Watchtower

by nicolaou in

if you are still holding on to your story and struggling alone please, please consider speaking up now.

the australian royal commission into child abuse has shown that these enquiries are not toothless and can in fact make a difference, but only if they are empowered by brave individuals like you.. now it's the turn of the uk.

yes, there's been a few false starts but now is the time to tell them what happened.

Xanthippe

Although I appreciate your sentiments Nic I think if people don't want to speak about being sexually abused that's up to them, that's the way they need to deal with it. I particularly object to you telling them to be brave. Don't you think someone who was raped continually as a child and then managed to grow up, have a life, have a sexual relationship as an adult and not kill themselves has already been very, very brave.

31

Endure or Enjoy??

by stuckinarut2 in

have we ever noticed how witnesses are constantly being told that life is something that needs to be "endured", rather that "enjoyed"?.

life is always so tough, so hard, so difficult in "these last days".

"persecution and trials abound".

Xanthippe

I pulled him up and said "why wouldn't she be nice? Why did you draw that negative conclusion that because she was not a witness, that she might not be a "Nice" person!

Yes Stuck I'm glad you pulled him up on it. It's so bad for their mental health to have an us and them attitude to people. No wonder so many JWs are depressed. People are never a sea of faces, they're individuals.

30

ARC report released today.. and phew!

by zeb in

"the response of the jehovah’switnesses and watchtower bibleand tract society of australialtd to allegations of childsexual abuse".. this report is 110 pages.

it is imperative to look it up on the arc website each and every one of you.. http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/getattachment/c2d1f1f5-a1f2-4241-82fb-978d072734bd/report-of-case-study-no-29.

Xanthippe

Thanks Zeb, there's a lot to read for later but I'm just putting up the ARCs conclusion for now. So I suppose this will be submitted to the Australian government and then we will see.

We do not consider the Jehovah’s Witness organisation to be an organisation which responds adequately to child sexual abuse. We do not believe that children are adequately protected from the risk of sexual abuse for the following reasons:

The organisation relies on outdated policies and practices to respond to allegations of child sexual abuse. Also, those policies and practices are not subject to ongoing and continuous review. The policies and practices are, by and large, wholly inappropriate and unsuitable for application in cases of child sexual abuse. The organisation’s retention and continued application of policies such as the two-witness rule in cases of child sexual abuse shows a serious lack of understanding of the nature of child sexual abuse.
The organisation’s internal disciplinary system for addressing complaints of child sexual abuse is not child or survivor focused in that it is presided over by males and offers a survivor little or no choice about how their complaint is addressed.
The sanctions available within the organisation’s internal disciplinary system are weak and leave perpetrators of child sexual abuse at large in the organisation and the community.
In deciding the sanctions to impose and/or precautions to take in relation to a known or suspected perpetrator, the organisation has inadequate regard to the risk that that perpetrator might reoffend. This demonstrates a serious lack of understanding of the nature and impact of child sexual abuse.
The organisation’s general practice of not reporting serious instances of child sexual abuse to police or authorities – in particular, where the complainant is a child – demonstrates a serious failure by the organisation to provide for the safety and protection of children in the organisation and in the community.

24

My Son's wish granted from Make A Wish

by azor in

jw
friends

we leave friday for his disney cruise wish.

he's also a big star wars fan, and they have a star wars day on one of the seafaring days.

to say we are all looking forward to this is an understatement.

Xanthippe

Azor that's fantastic. Hope you all have a great time you really deserve it. Hope your wife is well now too. What a great charity, some amazing people in this world.

9

paradise could last twice as long elsewhere

by waton in

6 planets around the dim, slow burning star trappist-1, have the temperature to permit [almost better, longer] "everlasting life" in paradise.

this distant "sun" will give light for another ~ 10 billion years, unlike our sun, which is already half done., with only ~ 4 to go.

everlasting, overlapping life on our planet: naturally impossible.

Xanthippe

Do the JWs wonder if that system had an earth-like planet with an Adam and Eve, a Satan, a Jesus, the issue of universal sovereignty. Do they think there must only be life here?

29

The true cost of being raised as a witness

by stuckinarut2 in

how do you view your upbringing as a witness?.

most of us who were raised as witnesses would appreciate that some aspects of our upbringing were ok. a foundation and measure of stability came with it.. but, it struck me too, that we also lost so very much!

and we lost a lot of potential.. by this i mean, we need to look at not just what we lost, or what was deprived of us, but what that ended up costing us as adults into the future.. if i take $10 from you, you have lost just $10.. but, if you were going to use that $10 to buy something that would end up earning you $1000, then i actually took $1000 from you!.

Xanthippe

When I go to a big party and I'm introduced to the host's family, their old school friends, friends from college and old work colleagues from way back, then I know what I've lost.

Plus the fact I'm a tense person who finds it very difficult to relax because as a small child I was told everyone in the 'world' is bad, not to be trusted and invisible beings are trying to hurt me. Why would that make a child tense! Go figure!