Scully

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Posts by Scully

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  28

  Something I struggle with mentally. Anyone Else?

  by thinking_1 in

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  2. friends
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  Scully

  mindseye:

  these people can take control of their lives, and when they do clean up it's all really in them. Really? I remain skeptical. I've seen similar situations when people with rough backgrounds go into the army. Some people just seem to need some imposed structure of an organization.

  Personally, I think everyone needs some kind of structure/organization/framework from which to function. At the very least, most of us rely on the structure we call "time" - it is essential in relating to other people, to accomplish things. Can you imagine what your life would be like if, all of a sudden, you decided "To hell with this freakin time thing. I hate Mondays so I'm going to remove them from my life. From now on, the week will consist of 6 days of 28 hours each, and Mondays will no longer exist." It would be a helluva job keeping all your appointments in order, from job, to school, to dentist, to your kids' school plays etc. especially since nobody else has bought in to your paradigm. Well, maybe you can bring your spouse on board, and then the kids will likely follow, and then they go to school and find out you're a kook, or they watch TV and hear about Mondays from there....

  All I'm saying is that for the person who requires *that much* structure/regimentation in their lives that the military is a viable alternative to the JW lifestyle, there's probably something going on psychologically (OCD, or addictive personality, for example). I'd venture to guess that in those individuals, they are merely trading one addictive lifestyle for another, and the trade may not be upward.
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  28

  Something I struggle with mentally. Anyone Else?

  by thinking_1 in

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  Scully

  I know people of both "types" that you describe.

  I maintain a fairly tenuous relationship with JW relatives because I made the choice to expose some immoral/illegal behaviour that was happening right under their noses. I wasn't doing it to embarrass them or prove their beliefs were wrong - I was protecting people I care about who were unable to protect themselves - yet embarrassed they were, and offended they were that I was (as they perceived) trying to demonstrate that JWs were no better than what they make the Catholic Church out to be. [Imagine that!]

  So, other than that, I have made no attempts to help remove them from their belief system. I figured that if they were going to stand behind their beliefs in the face of the same kind of perversions that they like to crow about regarding the Catholic Church [which thus prove it is not the true religion, dontcha know], there wasn't much more that I could do to help them.

  By the same token, I am kind of disappointed at their complete lack of effort in trying to keep me from leaving the JWs, or trying to win me back. They spend far more energy on trying to convert total strangers than they do trying to regain those of their own flesh and blood.

  The other "type" you mention, the The-Truth™-changed-my-life-for-the-better kind of individual, I know a few of those too. What they fail to understand, and what needs to be emphasized to them in any attempt to de-convert them from the JWs, is that while the JW belief system may have been the catalyst for their transformation, they were the ones who did the work. They changed themselves. Their lives may have changed further - their being clean/sober/law-abiding citizens is a reward in itself. If their motivation was so that they could Live Forever In Paradise On Earth™, then that was a pretty selfish motive, imo. The fact that their life change brought benefits to them in the here and now (a loving spouse, beautiful children, a job that they are proud of, better health, sense of community betterment, etc.) shows that their transformation was not for nothing, it wasn't a waste of time or effort to clean up their lives. They have to stop crediting the WTS for their transformation, because it was the person who changed, the WTS doesn't deserve the credit for their efforts at all.

  However, you bring up an excellent point, that some people are happy with the life they lead as JWs, despite acknowledging that the belief system is flawed. Why try to take their happiness from them?

  I'll reserve my efforts on the ones who genuinely want to leave, and need help sorting through the details and the emotional turmoil.
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  86

  I wish I was dead ...

  by talesin in

  1. jw
  2. friends

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  not much to follow that .... day-umn, life is hard sometimes .... .

  feel free to encourage me ... i need it.. .

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  Scully

  wow. proof that Janet and Michael Jackson are indeed two different people. lol
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  25

  Thank you note from Circuit Overseer

  by RayPublisher in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  notice how thankful we should be to "the slave"... he said that expression dozens of times in his recent visit, over and over and over ad nauseum.. .

  can i barf now?.

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  Scully

  the CO loves him his ampersand key, doesn't he??

  The wannabe teacher in me would love to take a red pen to his prose and give that nonsense a big fat F.
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  6

  Hurricane Irene and a KH build

  by PaintedToeNail in

  1. social
  2. current

  the northeastern usa is under hurricane warnings, evacuation notices, people are being told to have emergency supplies and that the east coast will have possibly 10 million or more without power...and yet they are still planning on doing a hall build in our area.

  we are listed in the 'to be hit by irene area'.

  does anyone else think this is a ridiculously foolish thing to do?

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  Scully

  The fact that these brothers will be able to escape being labeled "irregular" without actually doing any preaching at all is a loving provision from the governing body...

  Wow. That Privilege™ of being able to count time without actually going Door-to-Door™ used to only be reserved for Circuit and District Overseers™, Elders™, Regular and Special Pioneers™ working at conventions or on construction sites. I used to get so annoyed when they asked me to spend a morning making sandwiches, snacks and baked goods (paying for it out of my own pocket, too) and then delivering the food to the construction site plus serving it and cleaning up afterward, and then find out that some of the Brothers™ were allowed to count their construction related time, but I was not. Assholes.
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  91

  Awake! November 2011 - correct cover

  by processor in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  there was an error on the latest awake!

  cover.

  here is the correct version.. .

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  Scully

  Nickolas:

  I've recently finished reading "The Selfish Gene". The book is 35 years old already but it blew me away. Insights into how evolution works I never had before. I am now into "The Greatest Show on Earth - The Evidence for Evolution" and it is even more mind expanding. The more and more you learn about evolution through natural selection the more you come to realise sentiments like the one expressed on your modified Awake! cover are right on target.

  I've got a few of Dawkins' books in their audiobook format, including The Selfish Gene, The God Delusion and The Greatest Show on Earth. I find them even better that way, with Dawkins' himself narrating, along with his wife, Lalla Ward, rounding it out for many quotations. Their enthusiasm and love of teaching/explaining evolution is made clear in the narrations - Dawkins is instrumental in unlocking so many of the thought-stopping creationist babble that I was surprised still existed in my mind. Currently in the midst of Unweaving the Rainbow on my e-reader, and loving every bit of it, but will definitely be getting it in audio format when it's available.
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  86

  I wish I was dead ...

  by talesin in

  1. jw
  2. friends

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  not much to follow that .... day-umn, life is hard sometimes .... .

  feel free to encourage me ... i need it.. .

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  Scully

  Sorry you're feeling this way, sweetie. Just wanted you to know that I care.

  What are you doing up at this undogly hour? (I know, I know.... the pot-kettle paradigm rears its ugly head LOL)
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  30

  Would you have left if b-days and blood were okay, and DF-ing was rare?

  by respectful_observer in

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  Scully

  No matter how much they tried to polish the turd that is the WTS, it is ultimately still just a turd.
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  4

  Was the Green River Killer, Gary Ridgway a JW?

  by jamiebowers in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was channel surfing this evenng and happned across a movie about him.

  see the following article:.

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/gary_ridgway.

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  Scully

  His history in Salt Lake City, UT and the navy would suggest that he was more likely to be Mormon than JW.
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  9

  Baby Wild Bunny eats a small flower

  by Iamallcool in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sqbds0xkv4.

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  Scully

  I bunnies!

  In French, dandelions are called "pisenlit" (piss-in-bed) because they are mild diuretics and they can, if eaten, make you have to get up in the middle of the night to go pee.