Posts by Silverleaf

Being a staunch evolutionist, I have to say the 'egg' came first of course. There were dinosaur eggs long before there were chickens and the mother of the first chicken was likely a flying reptile.

Silverleaf

15

Whats the aftermath for you?

by Brummie in

people who have never been jws seem to think we can simply walk away from it "get a life" and move on (as if we dont have a life or something).

i was wondering what consequences you peronally suffer for having been a jw?

depersonalisation, depression, keeping people at a distance, none...etc?.

I was never a JW but my association with one had a deep effect on my life for a long time and a lifelong effect on my views of religion. I might have once thought it should be easy to walk away from something if it maks you so unhappy but after having read a lot of the stories of people here who were actually in the organization and not just on the outside looking in, like me, I can see how it can be very hard to break free.

Silverleaf

52

Where are you going when you die?

by Mystery in

a questions that has been on my mind for 20+ years that i have been away.. and more recently - a friend of my sons was killed.

he ask me "mom where are you going when you die?

" i am worried because if you die, i don't know where you are going.

Silverleaf

I'm going to the Summerland to spend some time reflecting on what I learned in this life and planning what to do in my next one. Hopefully I will get to spend some time with my brother who died at 6 months of age, although I sometimes think he may be here in the form of my son.

Silverleaf

3

Pagan Daybook: Sirona!!

by gsx1138 in

jw
friends

here is a link to one site that has the pagan daybook for download.

it is good until the year 4,000 so you can use it when you're reincarnated as well.

http://www.mindworkshop.com/alchemy/pagan2.html.

Silverleaf

Thanks for the link, gsx.

Robyn,

Sea salt is good - but if you sprinkle it on the carpets, you have to vacuum it up too [I hate to vacuum]. To remove lingering negativity, you can light black [or white] candles and if you have a good broom, sweep out the house too.

Silverleaf

33

Who Do You Think Will Be The Next American Idol?

by Scarlet in

jw
friends

i love this show.

i did not watch the last one but this one has been quite good.

i really don't like corey.

Silverleaf

I like Clay - what a great voice, and he seems like a genuinely nice person. I think Ruben has a great voice but it annoys me that Simon told Vanessa and Kimberly to lose weight, and he even told Josh the same thing, but he didn't say word one to Ruben - bad double standard. I like Josh too, I hope his unit in the marines doens't have to ship out before the show ends.

I'm not thrilled with any of the girls this time. I don't like either Kimberly - they both have too much attitude and whoever dresses Trenyce should be shot, they have no respect for her. I was sad to see Vanessa go - she had such a happy attitude. And Julia and Carmen are just so-so. The other guys don't really register with me - once someone does a Michael Jackson song, it's pretty much over.

Silverleaf

23

What Would You Say If Someone Expressed Interest In Being A JW???

by minimus in

jw
friends

if someone told you that they thought the witnesses seemed like good people and that they were thinking of having a bible study with them, would you try to persuade them not to?

would you just keep quiet, hoping they would see things for themselves?.......if you are still a witness (technically), would you subtlely or overtly tell them to run??

?

Silverleaf

I would not hesitate to tell them everything I know from personal experience and everything I've read here. Several years ago my SIL expressed an interest - she was/is a young single mother without many prospects for a good relationship, a good job, good friends, and she met a bunch of JWs who offered to help her move into her new apartment, help watch her kids, etc. Not long after that she was forbidding her children to participate in Halloween and birthday parties. I told my father-in-law the long list of problems with the JWs and told him to be on the lookout. He relayed some of the info to her and of course she 'knew better.'

Long story short, her involvement lasted until Christmas. She told the family not to expect gifts from her and we all said, no problem. Don't expect gifts from us either. When she realized she wasn't getting her usual stash of cash from Dad she bailed. Surprise, surprise.

Silverleaf

37

Who read the WHOLE bible at least once?

by JH in

jw
friends

.

how often did they tell us that we should at least once read the whole bible from cover to cover.. i never did that, why, because i was overloaded with meetings and field service, and my job.. did you??

?

Silverleaf

After studying Wicca and realizing I was Pagan, I decided to read the entire Bible just to be fair and see if there really was something I was missing about Christianity. I made 50 pages of notes, things that didn't make sense, contradictions and things that made me sick to my stomach. Reading it reaffirmed my belief in Paganism.

Silverleaf

12

Raising children in this world

by JH in

jw
friends

.

for those with kids growing up, do you worry about their future, in this upset world we live in?.

do you really think they will have a stable and happy life?

Silverleaf

1. The world has always been 'upset' in one way or another. Id much prefer my kids to live now than in the dark ages, during the plague or in 'cave men' times.

I have to agree with Blackout. Our children could have things a lot worse. In what we consider simpler times they might not have had as much access to education, medical care, even descent food. The world might be a harsher place by the time they grow up, but it might be a better one too, we can only see what happens.

I think if the world leaders stopped talking about weapons of mass destruction and sat down and talked about their hopes for their future for their children and grand children, we wouldn't be worrying about going to war.

Silverleaf

8

For those who became JWs as adults...

by Sara Annie in

before i begin, it would probably be helpful for me to (in a nutshell) explain that i am not currently, nor have i ever been, one of jehovah's witnesses.

my experience with the organization is peripheral in that my extended family became heavily involved several years ago.

in maintaining a relationship with that part of the family, i had relatively extensive dealings with the jws (for a "worldly" person) for many years of my childhood and beyond (if you're at all interested, you can read the details of my experience here: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/7/44589/626056/post.ashx#626056).

Silverleaf

Hi Sarah Annie,

I was never a JW but was involved with a young man [my former fiance] who converted as an adult. The emotional issue is extremely important, I think. My ex had been a rather neglected child and had a chaotic family history. When he met the Witnesses they became a surrogate family to him which was something he desperately needed. He was lost emotionally and they happily told him what to do and how to do it; he responded to that because no one had ever taken much of an interest in his life before that.

What amazed me was in meeting his Witness friends [who were interested in me for about five seconds - once I started asking hard questions they didn't want anything to do with me or want him to either] I found him introducing me to people from abusive homes, abusive marriages, people with former [and current] alcohol problems and severe emotional turmoil. I began to see that the "Truth" seemed like a haven for people who had terrible experiences in life and needed someplace to be where they felt safe. The problem was many of these people probably needed counseling [like my fiance] but they weren't going to get it because now the Watchtower was going to fix all their problems for them.

I saw that the promise of everlasting life and perfection played a big role also. Here was someone who had always felt inadequate and the prospect of someday being 'perfect' was extremely appealing to him. He believed that in paradise all the bad experiences of his life would be wiped from his mind and he would finally be able to be happy. That's a big draw for someone whose life has been miserable.

I hope you find this helpful, even though it's not my personal experience as a JW,

Silverleaf