Posts by Thirdson

I have a very similar background to you. You have to look at the positive things you have gained even if few. Life is isn't over, there is still a lot more to do, acheive and enjoy.

I will send a PM with some more personal stuff. Welcome to the board.

THirdson

28

Did you give your children 'Bible names'?

by nicolaou in

i have to admit that we gave our first two kids 'hebrew' names.

i don't want to identify my children online but suffice to say that we had at least some sense in that we opted for safe names of the samuel and daniel type - no melchizedeks!.

however, in our city we had a javan a samson [gen 10:2] and even a zechariah!

Thirdson

No. Even as a JW I didn't feel compelled to use Biblical names. Neither of my son's name are found in the Bible. I just liked them.

My siblings and I all have Biblical names except for one brother who was named before our parents became JWs. All are common names even my sister's which is actually the Spanish form of a Biblical name.

3rd

82

What's your ethnic background?

by Joker10 in

jw
friends

.

it seems that light skinned ex-ws speak out more against watchtower than people of a darker skin color.

what is your ethnic origin?

Thirdson

Anglo-Irish.

I have a French/Norman derived last name but the Normans were Viking descendants. The rest is a mix Celtic Irish, Angles and Saxons, I guess. My son is part Anglo-Irish from me and Anglo-Afro-Caribbean from his mother. His heritage is the product of British colonialism from both Jamaica and Ireland. Part of my Irish ancestry is a result of British soldier (my grandfather) who married an Irish-Catholic (my grandmother) prior to the 1922 Irish free state (actually before WW1).

3rd

31

staying out of school assembly!

by happehanna in

does anyone else remember how awful school was because of the dreaded school assembly.. my whole school life was blighted because i couldn't go in.

my young son can goes in and it is the best part of his day, he loves the hymns.

how glad am i that i came to my senses before my son suffered like i did as a child.

Thirdson

Pep rallies????? The only thing wrong at my son's school (in some staff opinion) was the treatment of freshmen. Not that it did anything this year to curb the chanting of "freshmen suck!" I guess JWs should avoid pep rallies in case the student body chants "Watchtower Sucks!"

3rd

31

staying out of school assembly!

by happehanna in

does anyone else remember how awful school was because of the dreaded school assembly.. my whole school life was blighted because i couldn't go in.

my young son can goes in and it is the best part of his day, he loves the hymns.

how glad am i that i came to my senses before my son suffered like i did as a child.

Thirdson

Mulan,

Those of us educated in the UK most likely went to a state school. A religious assembly is part of the day and a small amount of religious instruction is part of the curriculum. The Church of England is the state religion and state schools follow Anglican traditions in worship. For JWs it is a no-no to worship with other religions and the school system allows for students to opt out of assembly. Since very few students do opt out there is little or no provision for JW kids.

3rd

31

staying out of school assembly!

by happehanna in

does anyone else remember how awful school was because of the dreaded school assembly.. my whole school life was blighted because i couldn't go in.

my young son can goes in and it is the best part of his day, he loves the hymns.

how glad am i that i came to my senses before my son suffered like i did as a child.

Thirdson

When I was very young I did go into assembly. I only remember two hymms that were sung, one of which was "All Things Bright and Beautiful." At 7 I had to stay and explain to everyone why I didn't go into assembly. I blamed my parents, afterall it wasn't my choice. Elementary school wasn't bad and I wasn't alone. There were lots of Muslin kids who didn't join in the religuious service held in school.

The first year of high school I stayed out and that was far worse. There were 3 of 4 kids of JW parents and we were the only ones who sat out assembly. Not only did we have to suffer jibes because of our religion we missed a lot of important annoucements. After that first year I didn't bother to sit out. No-one except the headmaster sang during assembly so I was harldy joining in a worship with the rest of the school.

Missing assembly, not singing the National Anthem, and not saying the Pledge of Allegiance are all things the Watchtower has decreed to make members different and to induce persecution. Sometimes these induced a huge amount of stress. School is hard enough as it is without deliberately going out of the way to be different. It's a wonder we survived and are not even more unbalanced.

3rd

12

Join the Great Crowd today!

by UnDisfellowshipped in

jw
friends

come one, come all -- come join "the great crowd of other sheep" today!.

look at all the "benefits" you will receive (taken directly from watchtower publications):.

* you will not have jesus christ as your mediator between you and god.. * you will have the "faithful and discreet slave" as your only mediator between you and jesus and god.. * you will not be born again.. * you will not be in the kingdom of god.. * you will not be baptized by the holy spirit.. * you will not be anointed by the holy spirit.. * you will not have the holy spirit abide in you.. * you will not be one of the saints or holy ones.. * you will not be adopted as "sons of god" until you pass the final test at the end of the 1,000 year millennial reign of the 144,001, and then, if you pass that test, you can still be destroyed if you rebel against the 144,001, even though the "anointed ones" are given immortal life immediately upon death, and they never have to pass any future tests.. * you will never be immortal -- you can always be destroyed by god in the future for "apostasy".. * you will not be viewed as being perfect in god's eyes until after the final test at the end of the 1,000 years, even though the anointed ones are viewed as being perfect at their baptism.. can anyone else add any additional "benefits" to this list?

Thirdson

The only Great Crowd I belong to is the great crowd of people who had some past connection with JWs. Whether it is ex-members who joined, ex-members raised in, chidren raised by JW parents, ones who studied and attended meetings for a while or spouses of members, the number of people touched by this religion and who are no longer associated numbers in the millions. Truly a crowd, so great, no man or woman can number them.

3rd

15

TV Presenter Caron Keating has died

by Simon in

jw
friends

she was a presenter of kids tv (blue peter) and some daytime programmes.. .

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3625457.stm.

pictures:.

Thirdson

It is very sad. It is a very sad time for her family, her children and mom.

I was never that familiar with her having watched BP during the time of Noakes, Purvis, Singleton and Judd and I haven't watched UK TV in nearly a decade. I read the news item today on the BBC news site and in the Daily Telegraph...41 is much too young.

3rd

25

Do you ever find yourself singing old kingdom songs?

by MicStroz in

jw
friends

it's been over 12 years and every once in a while i .

catch myself sing kingdom songs.......only religious.

songs i've ever knew.

Thirdson

A few days ago I caught myself humming God's Own Book - a Treasure, not the recent version but the old Christendom tune from the pink song book. It used to have a nice melody but the WTS deemed to have it rewritten because it wasn't a JW composed tune. Even as a faithful JW I used to quietly sing the old version because I much preferred it to the new version of the song.

3rd