Pete....you just made me cry. Honestly. Because you expressed exactly what I'm feeling. We were so deeply ingrained with not drawing attention to ourselves that it seems wrong somehow to have others celebrate our milestones. I too, could never understand the ban on birthday celebrations. The "well, the only birthdays mentioned in the Bible were times when people died" bullshit reasoning never ever resonated with me. I found myself embarrassed trying to defend it when confronted about it in field service. Damn them for taking away something that should have been a happy part of our lives!
charonsdog
JoinedPosts by charonsdog
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18
Birthday
by charonsdog inby the time i finish this post, i will have turned 50 years old.
i spent over 40 years of my life not celebrating my birthday, and it never seemed like a big deal to me.
three years ago, i received a cake and some friends sang "happy birthday" to me at a dinner party that was for a different event.
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Birthday
by charonsdog inby the time i finish this post, i will have turned 50 years old.
i spent over 40 years of my life not celebrating my birthday, and it never seemed like a big deal to me.
three years ago, i received a cake and some friends sang "happy birthday" to me at a dinner party that was for a different event.
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charonsdog
By the time I finish this post, I will have turned 50 years old. I spent over 40 years of my life not celebrating my birthday, and it never seemed like a big deal to me. Three years ago, I received a cake and some friends sang "Happy Birthday" to me at a dinner party that was for a different event. It was nice. The very first time since I was three years old. Two years ago, I spent my birthday in Thailand, finishing up my PADI open water SCUBA diving certification, getting a relaxing massage, then spending the last couple hours of the evening drinking and going home with a woman I met earlier. Last year, I was surrounded by strangers in Laos at a hostel, who put candles in some donuts they bought for me, sang the birthday song, then took me bowling.
I never thought much about my birthday. Never really missed it, because it was "pagan" to celebrate it. Just another day. However, this one seems like it should be special. But I didn't know how to tell people about it. It just seems self-important to be announcing that you have a birthday coming up so hopefully someone will plan a party. I don't really have any close friends here yet, so inviting them to a party that I plan seems desperate.
So, I'm ringing in my half-century mark pretty much alone. I have some immigration papers to take care of during the day, a class to teach in the evening. Then I'll probably just go home and get ready for the next day. I'm not trying to have an "oh, pity me" moment here. I'm just wondering how the rest of you deal with your birthdays after leaving the organization.
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5/6/18 cleveland ohio circuit assembly notes
by nowwhat? inwilloughby assembly hall.
1400+ attendance 5 baptised a robust 0.38 growth!.
$11k expenses however 1st.
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charonsdog
1,400 in attendance and 5 dunked. What the hell? I remember when you could generally count on it being 1.5% of the total attendees being baptized. Can nobody else see the slowdown? "Jehovah is speeding up the work?" Jesus Christ!
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Brilliant Medical Advice from the Slave
by Vanderhoven7 innot sure where i picked this up:.
self explanatory science and medical advice from the faithful and brilliant servant class in brooklyn________________________________________thomas edison, the inventor and electrician, of phonograph and telephone fame, has been experimenting with the new light "x-rays.
" and has succeeded in taking a photograph through oak eight inches thick.
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charonsdog
Great to see how the Holy Spirit was giving food at the proper time. Most of this crap was during Rutherford's tenure. What a fucking nutjob.
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What is the strangest book or craziest book the JWs have ever printed?
by blownaway inwhat do you think the crazies or strangest book they ever printed is?.
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charonsdog
"Is There A God? Who Cares?" Okay, the first question mark I added. But that's always how I thought of that booklet.
As far as the "Family Happiness" book and other books/publications/articles about family life go, I always felt that the WBTS was very misogynistic. And I was a young boy at the time. LMAO @ "The whiners and the naggers" in FH. Women wearing headcoverings. Deferring to a 12-year-old boy because he got dunked. The "privilege" they have of doing a sit-down demo with another sister on the TMS. I guess they didn't need to learn to read aloud in public.
I always questioned the inner workings of the mind of the 'Apostle" Paul. Narcissistic, misogynistic, angry, insecure, and anything but Christ-like. I firmly believe that Jesus would have told him to calm the fuck down.
To be honest, the entire frikkin' Bible is the craziest book they've published. To be sure, it wasn't their creation, at least not the majority of it. But it's supposedly the basis for all of their other publications. Twisted scriptures, cherry-picked verses taken completely out of context to support their teachings, and the exalting of assholes like King David and the former Saul of Tarsus...makes for a shitty belief system.
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Even LEGO must obey jesus command to keep doing this
by Kevin McFree inhttps://youtu.be/vdtwrqvgcv0.
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charonsdog
LMAO. Black Sabbath, Smurfs, and guzzling the emblems after it's over.
(Just a minor continuity issue...smurf walks out, but is still there for the end)
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O neg universal doner
by bikerchic inso i donate blood because i can.
i donate every 4 months when the bloodmobile comes to my place of work.
i know it helps.. what about you, do you donate blood?
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charonsdog
Good on you, Bikerchic. Sadly, I have no clue what my blood type even is. All those years of indoctrination made me think that it was irrelevant to know. Next time I get a physical and blood work done, I'll be sure to ask.
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Roll Call for the benefit of Newbies and Lurkers. In One Sentence tell why you left the Org.
by Wasanelder Once inroll call for the benefit of newbies and lurkers.
in one sentence tell why you left the org.
not 2 sentences.
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charonsdog
I finally saw through the smoke-screen hiding the fact that it was simply about control, and all of my previously suppressed doubts suddenly made complete sense.
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Make the Truth Your Own
by neat blue dog inthis is something that hit me just relatively recently.. the phrase "make the truth your own" is a very famous catch phrase in jw culture.
it was a pet philosophy of daniel sydlik and has been used and is used in talks, literature and song.
every witness knows this trope.
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charonsdog
13 hours ago13 hours agoit's telling how a phrase can be repeated so often they start believing it's straight from the Bible.
Also, how many of us were led to believe that Karen Keeping was a dear sister in need....?
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You Know You're in the Wrong Religion When....
by Vanderhoven7 injust thought a review the following material many have contributed to might be helpful .
you know you are in the wrong religion:1. when the all important question is not: "do you believe in the lord jesus christ?"....but....
"do you believe in the "faithful and discreet slave" appointed in 1919?"2.
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charonsdog
....when you plan your wedding reception and are told by the elders that serving alcohol would be very unwise, as the groom would be responsible if anyone drank more than they should (field sobriety determined by the local BOE), but it's nobody's business if the same elders have five slices of cake after the dinner.