SusanHere

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Posts by SusanHere

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  7

  Has anyone seen "Population 436" ?

  by AK - Jeff in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  wow - the striking similarities to cults stood the hair on my neck.

  the pictures in the 'prophecy book' looked amazingly watchtoweresque also, and lead the lead character to immediately investigate 'biblical numerology'.

  i had seen it before - but there must be less and less fog in my mind nowadays - since i didn't see any of the same similarities i saw when i watched it last night.

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  SusanHere

  I thought the ending was really lousy. They should have gotten away.
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  16

  10/15/08 WT - (Finally) seeing the light on out of context quotes?

  by sir82 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in the 10/15/08 wt, page 16, there is a very small filler article on a 15th century german cardinal who used the name "jehovah" (or its equivalent in 15th century german, at least) in a sermon he wrote.

  sorry, no scanner.. anyway, part of that sermon he wrote, in which he references the name "jehovah", is quoted.

  but wait a minute, what's this?

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  SusanHere

  Only the geekiest of the geeks were on the internet

  Guilty as charged. I remember the good ole days surfing the internet from a C: prompt. LOL -- Me, too! I was into computers in the '70s when they were really not much more than massive oversized calculators. The early '90s were really fun... finding good sites were like striking gold. Now there's a plethera of good sites, lots of good people, and all the info --- both good and bad -- that anyone would ever want to find is right at your fingertips. My grandchildren know their way around computers better than I ever will, but they missed out on the early years when it was all so new and anything was possible. SusanHere
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  8

  THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR CARING ATTITUDES

  by SusanHere in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i'll miss this site more than i can say.. i do want to post what i consider to be a success story, due mainly to the information i've received over the years on this site.. .

  my sister is a long-time jw, a forever pioneer, etc.

  she's also poor, uneducated, and suffered a horrific childhood, but that's another story.

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  SusanHere

  Thank you for your kind responses. Yes, it is truly miraculous to me to see these changes in her. It gives hope for the others caught in her same situation. There are probably more of them than any of us realize.

  Yes, she does know these things she's doing are totally forbidden. They have come about so gradually, so cautiously, with many layers of excuses to herself for why it's okay to violate their inflexible rules "just this one time". Such as the birthday party. And the presents.

  She knows that none of the excuses would hold up should anyone in her congregation ever find out what she's been doing. She's banking on distance protecting her, that nobody will find out.

  So this is where it stands for now. I have hopes for more progress in the future, but even if this is as far as it goes, it's amazing and awesome to me and I thank you all for your help. I couldn't have hoped to ever reach her without the information you all shared.

  Thank you,

  SusanHere
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  8

  THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR CARING ATTITUDES

  by SusanHere in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i'll miss this site more than i can say.. i do want to post what i consider to be a success story, due mainly to the information i've received over the years on this site.. .

  my sister is a long-time jw, a forever pioneer, etc.

  she's also poor, uneducated, and suffered a horrific childhood, but that's another story.

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  SusanHere

  I'll miss this site more than I can say.

  I do want to post what I consider to be a success story, due mainly to the information I've received over the years on this site.

  My sister is a long-time JW, a forever Pioneer, etc. She's also poor, uneducated, and suffered a horrific childhood, but that's another story. The JWs made her feel welcome, included, and successful. Hence, her undying devotion to all things JW.

  Because of this site, I was able to learn how to talk to her, mainly via letters, in ways that allowed her to drop her defenses and open her heart and mind to the concept that maybe, just maybe, other religions had some good in them, too. It has taken more than 20 years to reach this point. Without this site, the wide and icy gulf would have remained intact at least for many years to come, if not forever.

  Thank you for the good that you do.

  My sister came to visit just recently. The barriers were down in ways I never would have believed possible. She attended a women's dinner with me at our non-JW church. She attended ALL of our Sunday meetings, including a baptismal service in the evening. She sang ALL the hymns, and prayed along with the rest of us during ALL the prayers, ending with an audible "AMEN" after each one. She read the scriptures along with the class during Sunday School, and participated in all that was said and done.

  AND

  She partook of the Sacrament.

  Our discussions were more open than ever before. She is searching beyond what the JWs have, beyond what they allow, and regretting the way she raised her children, the restrictions and the strictness of the JW childs' lives.

  Before coming here she attended the birthday party of her grandchild, with pictures to prove it showing her in party hat and holding balloons as she ate the cake. She also sends birthday and Christmas presents to nonJW family members.

  She is feeling like the promises made, of Paradise being just around the corner, were empty since they are still not being fulfilled. She's still waiting, but seems to finally accept that she will never see the big changes in her lifetime.

  I don't believe she is alone in these changes of thought and of heart. She's gone back home where she will continue to pretend to believe in everything they say and teach. Maybe she'll even tell herself that she still does. But her actions speak volumes, whether she allows herself to believe it or not. How many others are doing the same, slowly and secretly fading away.

  Thank you to all on this site who did what I asked of you, namely, helped me to understand the mindset of the diehard JW Pioneer, so that I could free her mind a little at a time. It has already paid great dividends.

  I'll miss you.

  SusanHere

  Edited to add:

  If I've put this in the wrong topic, or if there is a better one where it should be, please move it for me. Thank you!
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  36

  Is this fair?

  by nbernat in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this is my take on the whole inherited sin thing:.

  let's say your parents committed a crime and were sentenced to life in prison, let's say 140 years.

  now, they died 90 years short of their sentence.

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  SusanHere

  The obvious assumption being made here is that man was meant to remain in the Garden forever, being like happy little butterflies flitting around the flowers without a care in the world.

  Instead, we have more opportunities than that. There is also no indication that they ever would have had children in the Garden, since it wasn't until after partaking of the forbidden fruit that their eyes were opened and they realized they were naked. Up until then they were in a childlike innocence that could have gone on indefinitely.

  Personally, I think they got a bum rap being blamed for all the evils in the world.

  SusanHere
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  27

  How can I prevent harrassment to my kids from self-righteous dub relatives?

  by candela in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i live with my hubby and children outside of my native country.

  we will be going home for a vacation soon after many years.

  we're faders and most of our jw relatives have adopted a don't ask-don't tell policy about our decision and we are perfectly fine with it.

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  SusanHere

  Having dealt with this type of thing the entire time we raised our children, I second everyone's suggestions. Excellent.

  May I also suggest you take the time to prepare your children for what they may hear from those relatives who will appear to agree to leave the kids alone, but will instead take every sneaky opportunity to get their digs in and "plant seeds" in their little minds.

  We always told our children in advance the things the relatives might say and gave them a script for answering, or empowered them to withstand such unwanted intrusion with a flippant reply that stops the conversation cold. One or two of those and the relatives will decide your children are already beyond hope and simply leave them alone.

  That way you won't have to keep one ear open trying to hear what's being fed to your children by people trying to "save them" from your child-rearing choices.

  You won't always be around when people try those tactics with your children. Empower them and they'll be safer. Good luck and God bless!

  SusanHere
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  25

  30,000 US troops to go home in July.

  by BurnTheShips in

  1. social
  2. current

  http://66.111.34.180/look/english/article.tpl?idlanguage=1&idpublication=4&nrarticle=82678&nrissue=2&nrsection=1.

  weird!?

  for some bizarre reason this news didn't make any headlines in the us today.

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  SusanHere

  Meanwhile I have two sons who are both training this very week for redeployment over to the war zone in the near future. It isn't over yet.

  SusanHere
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  25

  30,000 US troops to go home in July.

  by BurnTheShips in

  1. social
  2. current

  http://66.111.34.180/look/english/article.tpl?idlanguage=1&idpublication=4&nrarticle=82678&nrissue=2&nrsection=1.

  weird!?

  for some bizarre reason this news didn't make any headlines in the us today.

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  SusanHere
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  38

  Dog Owners: Can you help choose a dog for an older person........

  by restrangled in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  we suddenly have had many breakins during the day in our neighborhood.

  it's getting worse by the week.

  my mom is alone in a large house with many glass doors and windows.

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  SusanHere

  German Shepherds are great dogs, but big time shedders. Labs are great dogs, especially for people with children who will romp with them. We have one. A HUGE one. Not fat, just huge. Purchased from a kennel of hunting labs by my son and his wife. Six months later the dog became ours. 60 pounds (at 7 months) of muscle and dragging ability. I took him to obedience school, worked him to death at home, and he did well.

  Watchdog? Yes, he races around barking wildly at everything from a car on the road below our house (which he can't even see) to turkeys in the garden (big threat there) to goldfinches landing on the back deck. He also likes to jump in the lap of unsuspecting visitors. All 110 pounds of him.

  He is our first and last labrador.

  To be fair, though, he was bred to hunt, not to be a house dog, from a hunting kennel. Poor choice. He needs children who will run and play with him 24/7. We don't have any left at home. And he is an American Lab, not an English one. English labs are much quieter.

  Also, I didn't raise him from a puppy. He had six months of dragging little kids around, totally untrained, before we took him on. And he is a really loving, devoted dog. When he isn't racing around barking.

  He's a real lovie. And our neighbor didn't sue us for the back injury. Yet.

  SusanHere

  P.S. Ever consider a shetland sheepdog? They look like miniature collies. Very alert. Females shed much less than males. Just don't get a nervous one.
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  68

  What makes someone so sure...

  by loosie in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  that a surpreme being is gonna help us?.

  on another thread that i started i asked what is wrong with the new age ideas.

  some people seem so afraid of it.. one poster mentioned that new age stuff is incorrect because jesus is for sure gonna come take us away from this world.. now i am opened minded.

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  SusanHere

  This is the best explanation I can come up with off the top of my head.

  I believe there are things in this world that we don't want to talk about. Namely, evil, sin, and free will. I do believe there is a devil and he causes evil to happen in the world. People get to choose to do evil or to do good. Unfortunately, if God intervened every time someone did something evil to someone else, then He would be taking away the free will and the choice from the one doing evil. So, horrible as it sounds, if we don't want to be automatons with every move controlled by God, i.e., if we want to be able to have free will, we have to know that some people are going to make poor choices that affect others negatively.

  Evil exists. I can't look around my world and think it doesn't. Good exists. I can't look around my world and think it doesn't. God gave the angels free will and some of them abused it. God gave humans free will and some of them abuse it. It's the way things are. It sucks, but it's the way things are. IMO.

  StAnn

  Beautifully put, StAnn. I couldn't agree more. There are those who consider this utter nonsense, as many on this thread have already expressed. That's their right, the same as it's my right to believe your words to be 100% on the money.

  A lot of this is just where we are in our life's journey. Everyone is in a different place. Our perspectives vary widely, yet so many refuse to understand why everyone doesn't see things exactly as we do ourselves. That expectation make no sense at all. Never has, never will.

  I saw the clear marks of truth in your story, and have more than one very similar experience of my own that could add weight to your story. No real point though as the same ones who understood yours would understand mine and those who mocked yours would do the same to mine. Just know that you are not alone and that you are believed.

  To hear a voice like you did is the rarest form of the Holy Ghost guiding someone and almost always is when someone is -- or is about to become -- in a life-threatening situation and immediate, urgent action is needed. One time in my case that audible voice said only one word. I stopped cold, not sure who spoke to me. The same voice spoke again, exactly as before.

  Sometimes one word is all that's needed. Sometimes two or three words. For sure, there are never any long, elaborate instructions given in these cases. Only the barest of words. No details. You didn't need more. I didn't need more. Like you I knew for a fact who had spoken and I will never doubt that to my dying day.

  Thank you for sharing your story.

  SusanHere