Posts by startingover

i was thinking that i would like to post this in hope it will help anyone out there who might have the same problem.. after leaving the wts, one of the most difficult things i've had to get over was depression and anxiety.

for many years before and after i left the wts i would fall into terrible depressions or experience terrible anxiety about.... whatever.

you name it and i could become seriously anxious about it to the point of being paralyzed and unable to address the situation.

startingover

Thanks for the post Elsewhere. I can relate to your feelings. Excellent advice!

34

GOOGLE EARTH

by snowbird in

a dear poster .

i had no idea that you could enter an address and actually get a picture (not a diagram) of the area.. this is awesome and scary!.

agreed?.

startingover

Another neat site is Bing Maps, type in your address and click on birds eye if it's available.

70

Does anyone here believe that Jesus never existed?

by Newborn in

jw
friends

if so...why?.

i don't know what i believe so i'm just curious.

/newborn.

startingover

I think there might, and I emphasize might...have been a man named Jesus who the stories were based on. Just another one of the many messiah figures that existed then. Surely if a man, an actual son of god existed that did what he is claimed to have done, you would expect lots of evidence from many sources. From my research, it just doesn't exist.

110

wife took it pretty well i guess...it's over...

by oompa in

jw
friends

i guess it only took three years, but they were hell in so many ways for both of us...she was not happy and lived in denial as much as possible...i was not happy and lived in a bottle as much as possible and glad that is over for me....but it was one of the saddest things i have ever experienced in my life....as was the visit to my parents before i told her....but yes...she said she kind of expected it...was thinking something was going to happen soon as she noticed i had more and more trouble saying i love you back to her when she said it on the phone at the end of goodbyes...and when i was leaving the house...i had noticed it for over a year and it was killing me..... i told her how sorry i was for changing so much again....and that she still walks on water...and is a great person and so pretty....and that she will be ok because she was happy single before me for many years and had all she needs for that again...her closeness to jehovah and her freinds in the congregation...she is very close to both and will be ok i hope...it was very surreal....very calm...very sad.

my bitterness and disdain for wt rules came through when talking to my parents and i was very open about how i feel as to their upcoming shunning of me, and how it feels to my son since he was just 17....and how the fear of losing them had kept me trying in my marriage for the past few years...dad was firm in his position of future action....mom said they will still always love me...and will still talk to me until i get dfd.....oh how this hurts.....dad said there is a name for people who only live for themselves and deny god but could not think of what it was....i told him i was not living just for myself...that i am a good person and there are values from him and the bible i hope i always have....i cry so hard as i type this and tell you just so you can know how painful this is....i told him i so loved the rule of treating others how you want to be treated and have always done that...even allowing myself to be wronged on so many occasions to keep peace....... he said that was a good rule....i agreed and said it was a big one too....and that while i could do it...treat him the way i would like to be treated...he would not be able to!.......left as i became emotional...big hug from mom, but i just barely put an arm on dad............oompa.

startingover

Oompa, you have a PM

5

Pastor Deacon Fred preaches to thousands of Atheists... Funny stuff.

by whereami in

jw
friends

i'm sorry if this offends any religious folks out there, but this is some of the funniest satire i've heard.. enjoy :-).

.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=necgkqlftpo.

startingover

Thanks for the post! I discovered this site listening to him http://www.bettybowers.com/index.html

100

WTS attends as a NGO to OSCE in July- 4 branches present!

by yknot in

so i was just cruising www.extj.com/foro.

mary received a interesting bit of osce information via a brother (peter) from germany....... http://www.extj.com/foro/showthread.php?t=14643.

here is the pdf she has uploaded..... http://www.osce.org/documents/odihr/2009/07/38763_en.pdf.

startingover

Shameless bookmark

6

Spirituality?

by startingover in

as a jw, i'm sure we all realize now that our "spirituality" was gauged by your meeting attendance and how many hours you put in field service.

to jw's it seems to be a mechanical thing.

as a jw i could relate somewhat to the word because of what it meant in that scenario, but now that i'm out and an unbeliever i cannot relate to the word in any way.

startingover

Thanks for the comments, and especially the link Nic. I think I lean towards Terry's comment: "I prefer the term AESTHETIC instead of SPIRITUAL"

6

Spirituality?

by startingover in

as a jw, i'm sure we all realize now that our "spirituality" was gauged by your meeting attendance and how many hours you put in field service.

to jw's it seems to be a mechanical thing.

as a jw i could relate somewhat to the word because of what it meant in that scenario, but now that i'm out and an unbeliever i cannot relate to the word in any way.

startingover

As a JW, I'm sure we all realize now that our "spirituality" was gauged by your meeting attendance and how many hours you put in field service. To JW's it seems to be a mechanical thing. As a JW I could relate somewhat to the word because of what it meant in that scenario, but now that I'm out and an unbeliever I cannot relate to the word in any way. Sometimes I see posts where the person's "spirituality" is not connected to any religion and possibly without belief in a god. I cannot understand that, I have need for the concept, period.

In doing a search using the word, I came up with this:

Definitions of Spirituality on the Web:

spiritualty: property or income owned by a church
concern with things of the spirit
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
Spirituality is matters of the spirit, a concept tied to a spirit world, a multidimensional reality and one or more deities. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirituality
Catholic spirituality means that, once one has accepted the faith (fides quae creditur) by making a personal act of faith (fides qua creditur), then one lives it out through spiritual practice. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirituality_(Roman_Catholic_Church)
Concern for that which is unseen and intangible, as opposed to physical or mundane; Appreciation for religious values
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/spirituality
spiritual - religious: concerned with sacred matters or religion or the church; "religious texts"; "a member of a religious order"; "lords temporal and ...
spiritual - concerned with or affecting the spirit or soul; "a spiritual approach to life"; "spiritual fulfillment"; "spiritual values"; "unearthly love"
spiritual - lacking material body or form or substance; "spiritual beings"; "the vital transcendental soul belonging to the spiritual realm"-Lewis Mumford
spiritual - a kind of religious song originated by Blacks in the southern United States
spiritual - apparitional: resembling or characteristic of a phantom; "a ghostly face at the window"; "a phantasmal presence in the room"; "spectral emanations"; "spiritual tappings at a seance"
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
spiritually - in a spiritual manner; "the ninth century was the spiritually freest period"
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn
Spiritual - Spirituals (or Negro spirituals) are religious songs which were created by enslaved African people in America.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritual_(music)
Spiritualities is a term, often used in the Middle Ages, that refers to the income sources of a diocese or other ecclesiastical establishment that ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritualities
spiritual - An African-American folk song, or a song in that style; Of or pertaining to the spirit or the soul; Of or pertaining to the God or a Church ...
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/spiritual
Having to do with deep, often religious, feelings and beliefs, including a person’s sense of peace, purpose, connection to others and beliefs about the meaning of life.
www.mdanderson.org/patients_public/about_cancer/display.cfm

Considering the above, it seems the word is always tied into religion or believing in invisible beings. Is it something other than that to some? Using the above definitions it's no wonder I have no need for it.

Comments?