Spiral

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Posts by Spiral

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  17

  Looking back at the people I knew in the Jobos.....

  by punkofnice in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  ...there are very few if any, that i would have willingly associated with.. my 'worldly(tm)' friends are all brilliant people.

  they are nothing like the weirdos i had to put up with in the congregations.. what is your take on the people in the jobos as opposed to your associates now?.

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  Spiral

  @Punk, I agree. The forced friendships and subsequent emotional manipulation was extreme.
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  17

  Looking back at the people I knew in the Jobos.....

  by punkofnice in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  ...there are very few if any, that i would have willingly associated with.. my 'worldly(tm)' friends are all brilliant people.

  they are nothing like the weirdos i had to put up with in the congregations.. what is your take on the people in the jobos as opposed to your associates now?.

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  Spiral

  Back in the day when the Spirals were young, we had some good friends. We all were hard workers and had decent jobs. Most are divorced or gone, we've lost track of most of them.

  Now, almost four decades on (and having been faded for 12), I don't see anyone around with whom I'd like to be friends. Everyone here has family drama, prescription drug use issues, mental issues, and there are several that are hoarders (as in, can't even go over to their houses, it's so bad). Add to that the fact that the average age in the congregation is over 60, and no one seems to have saved for retirement, makes this once proud and high-functioning congregation just sad. There is no group of stable, prosperous, working (aka almost normal) people here anymore to provide a "backbone" to the group.

  Three of the great spiritual elderette sisters tried to "encourage" me when they realized I moved back, but soon gave up. (Such a rotten attitude I've developed!) They are all so weird you can't imagine why you were ever friends. Wait - It's because you were trapped in a religion that made you feel obligated to be friends with whoever was in the congregation, even if you didn't even like them.

  My one last PIMI friend here asked me a while back if I wanted to "do more" with this group, she was hinting around because maybe that would get me to go back to meetings.

  My reply was nope, not interested.
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  29

  Lack of zeal

  by road to nowhere in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i hear rumbling about the rank and file not having the same zeal they had when new.. lets see: door to door at the time least likely to find someone.

  waste of a whole morning.

  isolated.

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  Spiral

  And poverty (and lack of retirement funds) certainly doesn't create a zealous feeling.
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  89

  Do You Think “Higher Education “Is All That??

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as jehovah’s witnesses, we were regularly told how awful a college education is.

  i’m no longer associated with the religion but i am not so pro university.

  it’s not because i think you are better off without a degree.

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  Spiral

  Absolutely.

  I really wish I had been able to go when I was younger.

  As in all things in life, not everything is equal. There are wonderful universities and professors, and others that are not so wonderful.

  However - learning, and learning how to learn, and having critical thinking skills is key to life satisfaction. If those are developed, a student would know when to ignore a professor's personal opinions that may not be valid.

  Everyone should have the opportunity to be educated, regardless of what they do for a living. I feel the idea that only some need/deserve/should want a "higher" education, and that it should only be linked to what they do for a living, is a grave mistake. That is part of how the entitled stay entitled, and keep others out of their peer group (and poorer).
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  34

  Another High School Shooting ... Santa Clara California

  by RubaDub in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  at least at the moment it looks like no one is dead, but 6 injured (9:00 am pacific time 14 nov 2019).. i don't know if the school allows students to carry weapons, but many will think it would be a good idea for the students to carry concealed weapons to provide personal protection.. we shall see.. rub a dub.

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  Spiral

  The off-shoot effects of gun culture in the US, along with the emotional issues that seem prevalent in our culture, have run off the rails. So sad.
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  29

  JWs: No Infant Baptism! (just children)

  by neat blue dog in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  here's a new article that came out:.

  do jehovah’s witnesses baptize infants?no.

  the bible does not endorse infant baptism.

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  Spiral

  I was baptized at 13. I don't consider it valid now at my (very) adult age. It means nothing because I know I didn't understand what potential lifelong obligations it could mean. I just wanted to fit in.

  I think this is a form of child abuse. No one can make a lifelong decision at an age under 21.

  @ Rules&Regulations: i agree. It's as if the bOrg wants to take over all parental authority. So wrong.
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  45

  Why is Life Expectancy in the USA So Low Compared to Other Countries?

  by RubaDub in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was looking at the world health org.

  report and it shows the us ranks 37th in the world (tied with albania) for combined male/female life expectancy.

  the top 5 were japan, switzerland, singapore, israel and spain, all around 83 years.

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  Spiral

  And then there's what we feed our kids at school in the US. Food bought from big agrabusiness for our kids. Profit, yes, nutrition, no......

  
  
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  45

  Why is Life Expectancy in the USA So Low Compared to Other Countries?

  by RubaDub in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was looking at the world health org.

  report and it shows the us ranks 37th in the world (tied with albania) for combined male/female life expectancy.

  the top 5 were japan, switzerland, singapore, israel and spain, all around 83 years.

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  Spiral

  Rub a Dub, we actually have very sub-par health care here in the US. Many people have nothing.

  Just the health insurance red tape and treatment delays no doubt costs lives. People (in my family and my friends) waiting weeks for appointments, treatments, medicines (what you can get approved by the insurance company - you have to take what they'll allow you, even if your doctor has something better in mind), and the non-stop merry-go-round of being referred to different doctors and waiting weeks between appointments.

  We spend a good amount of our health care dollar on bureaucratic red tape. I know several people who spend hours every week managing this for the elderly people in their lives. Hours lost driving to appointments, waiting, being referred elsewhere, etc.

  Americans really have very little choice about health care. It's all about big insurance and big pharma. You can't do anything without permission from your insurance company, and you can't do it even a day earlier than approved.

  Shortens not only the life of the patient but of the caregivers too. But, statistically, this would be hard to prove.

  I just paid a hospital bill I didn't feel I owed (had already paid hundreds in co-pays invoiced over three months) and the provider couldn't even explain what the charge was even about. BUT if I don't pay they can sue me and ruin my credit. It's like being mugged.

  Do I sound bitter?

  And overall I'm healthy, managing my health in lots of ways that wouldn't ever be covered by that high dollar insurance I pay for each month.
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  4

  the watchtower--the more i think about it.

  by stan livedeath in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i grew up in the cult.

  mom converted first--then dad..i was just a kid--what did i know.

  dad and i got dipped together.

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  Spiral

  Yep.

  I don't believe there has can be one true religion. Religions are just a mental construct that humans enjoy, something about having religion is reassuring, I guess.
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  39

  The real dividing line isn’t between apostates and apologists it’s between...

  by slimboyfat in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  excellent observation from zizek about communist regimes: they didn’t care if people accepted the ideology or took it seriously, so long as people acted as if the ideology was true, that was the important thing.

  in fact the regimes were deeply suspicious people who took the ideology too seriously.

  people who took the ideology seriously were dangerous because they were prone to noticing the inconsistencies and flaws in the system.

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  Spiral

  joey jojo: "Someone else on another topic posted a comment that rings true about JW's, sorry I cant find the posters name.

  Basically, JW's claim to have deep-seated, personal convictions, but in reality it just isn't true.

  Their deep-seated, personal convictions are whatever the latest Watchtower tells them to have."

  These days, I think this is exactly the problem. A lot of JWs just seem totally disengaged from any sort of serious discussion. It's all about belonging to the megachurch (although, they still think they are above all that, which is really funny).

  There is so little real "knowledge" left that's it's all about belonging and pretending to be special. All noise, no substance. No thinkers are left, just followers.