Swan

Joined

• started 139 topics
• posted 3,163 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by Swan

• 
  8

  Are there any people on this site who are gay and grew up in the truth?

  by PaulMarshall in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have decided to join this site and hopefully connect with some people who will know what my story has been.

  i guess it is best to read my profile, but the upshot of this new found technology is that i am no longer alone in my isolation.

  i can hopefully reach out and connect with people who really understand what it is like in my head!

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Swan

  Welcome Paul!
• 
  15

  Roots of human family tree are shallow (agrees with the Bible)

  by Deputy Dog in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  looks like the bible is right after all.. from:.

  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060701/ap_on_sc/brotherhood_of_man_1with the help of a statistician, a computer scientist and a supercomputer, olson has calculated just how interconnected the human family tree is.

  you would have to go back in time only 2,000 to 5,000 years and probably on the low side of that range to find somebody who could count every person alive today as a descendant.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Swan

  I don't understand. That article says nothing about the Bible or Adam and Eve. It is a hypothesis based on a mathematical model.

  It does talk about a common ancestor in Taiwan, Malaysia, or Siberia, not the Garden of Eden in Mesopotamia. (Wouldn't it be a hoot though if it was discovered we were all "Made in Taiwan")?

  It talks about origins in Africa more than 100,000 years ago. But the interconnections, basically, the number of ancestors a person can have mathematically, equals the population at approximately 3000 years ago, not 4500 or 6000 years ago.

  Also, the same ancestors are repeated in a persons family tree. So we are one big giant family. We already knew that.

  That's what the article is saying.

  Tammy
• 
  21

  Pets

  by sandy in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  i want to upload some pictures here of my dogs.

  will someone tell me how to do it?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Swan

  This is my baby Coco.
• 
  25

  Calling all activists

  by LennyinBluemont in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi, boys and girls!

  and all you wicked, naughty apostates out there!

  have been lurking for several weeks and posted once on freewilly's excellent thread about witnessing for newbies.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Swan

  Welcome Uncle Lenny!
• 
  70

  Is this site ever used for on-line dating?

  by frozen one in

  1. social
  2. relationships

  i was reading another thread that asked, "do you see yourself remarrying?

  " i noticed some of the replies mentioned that getting involved with another xjw would be interesting.

  i have thought that also.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Swan

  Welcome Witholding Peace!
• 
  70

  Is this site ever used for on-line dating?

  by frozen one in

  1. social
  2. relationships

  i was reading another thread that asked, "do you see yourself remarrying?

  " i noticed some of the replies mentioned that getting involved with another xjw would be interesting.

  i have thought that also.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Swan

  I know several people who have met here and gotten married. They could be a good matches since we are all a bit looney.

  Tammy
• 
  10

  What does the Bible Really Teach?

  by RainbowMonkey in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just have a querie about this book my jw freind gave me, its called "what does the bible really teach" i started reading and i found the first few chapters ok but further on in the book it seemed logical but just doesnt seem right, the best way i can describe it was kinda hypnotic, it just doesnt feel right... the other thing in the book i noticed was when it says "as you learn more from the bible, you may find that some well meaning people wil urge you to stop such studies.

  they may worry that you will change your beliefs.

  but dont let anyone stop you from forming the best freindship you can ever have.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Swan

  Welcome RainbowMonkey!
• 
  9

  A sense of an overall feeling of impending doom.

  by Steve Lowry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  do y'all (former jw's i'm referring to here), ever get a sense of an overall feeling of impending doom?

  i have had this strange sensation come over me almost as long as i can remember.

  i'm not sure if its watchtower conditioning or just something in my personal make-up that creates this feeling.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Swan

  Awww (((Steve))). I'm sorry you are going through this. It is a very difficult feeling to live with.

  A lot of people feel this who haven't been involved in a doomsday cult, but being in a doomsday cult is certainly a very good reason to have these symptoms. The MSN health site suggests that you are experiencing anxiety and stress which is leading to these feelings.

• Nervous system. If your fight-or-flight response never shuts off, stress hormones produce persistent feelings of anxiety, helplessness and impending doom. Oversensitivity to stress has been linked with severe depression, possibly because depressed people have a harder time adapting to the negative effects of cortisol. The byproducts of cortisol act as sedatives, which contribute to the overall feeling of depression. Excessive amounts of cortisol can cause sleep disturbances, loss of sex drive and loss of appetite.

For me this feeling happens when I am depressed, suffering acute anxiety, and feeling overly stressed. Surely this tied to a lot of my childhood problems and the constant fear that Armageddon was looming ahead. But not only was their the Big A to fear, we also had the Great Tribulation to look forward to coming before the final war. It's promise was starvation, beatings, persecution, temptations that we must resist, and the mental pressure of living in an underground society where any misstep could lead to exposing our friends and loved ones to torture by the government and police. Anybody we knew casually in the world and liked, including co-workers, relatives, doctors, hairdressers, and barbers, could now become our enemy and persecutor.

Fear of the government is a very big problem for me. When I got a call for jury duty recently, my first instinct was that I was being setup and that it was a trap. Then rational thought took over and I realized it would be okay and a chance to show my patriotism... and to learn be more normal.

Counseling has helped, along with medication for anxiety and depression. You may want to consider going to your doctor for meds and a referral to a therapist if this feeling becomes inhibiting to your enjoyment of your daily life.

Tammy