i'm sure the more discerning of you thought that the silly, green, wooly-headed avatar called "humbled" that strolled on the scene here looked familiar....... it is i, nac, with a new given name come back for a visit since i have internet for a while.
i have missed you these three years.
i've been in a far away land--the ozark mountains of nw arkansas.. because i've been blessed with anal canal cancer (nothing so hum-drum as rectal cancer) circumstances allow me to share your company 'til my sad bum can get radiated more-or-less back into shape.. any quality potty-humor (no naughty bm's---oops!---.
When my husband taught 4th grade, one of his students wrote an essay called "Asparagus." He wrote it from the asparagus's point of view, describing the agony of being chewed and swallowed, then wending its way through the digestive system.
The last line: "Five hours later, I hit the water!"
that article about jehovah's witnesses having the lowest retention rate for born ins keeps popping up every now again ... i'm just curious if any of you have noticed that this is actually the case.
in the congregation that i grew up in, i'm going to say that 95% of the young people in their teens to mid twenties are either regular pioneering, regular auxiliary pioneering, serving in foreign language congregations or where the need is greater.
both of my younger sisters are regular pioneers - and the young people in their hall even organize 8 pm to midnight service on friday nights of their own accord.
This is not a representive sample, but of my circle of dub friends when I was a teenager, 7 out of 10 eventually left the cult.
And this was back in the relatively permissive WTS atmosphere of the 1970s.
i am so unsure.. .
i am sure that my misery will spread to my potential wife and kids.. .
decisions, decisions... .
I've suffered from bouts of major depression ever since my twenties (I'm now in my sixties). During my first bout, I had to be hospitalized because the drugs available for depression back then were only moderately effective.
Nowadays, I take Celexa when I sense depression coming on (you know the symptoms -- weird sleeping patterns, withdrawal from others, sense of hopelessness, inability to cope, thoughts of suicide). The meds they have now are amazing.
I also regularly see a psychiatrist, who monitors my mood level and adjusts the meds accordingly. This is very important.
And, BTW, I married in my twenties, am still married to my loving husband of 40 years, and we reared an incredibly wonderful, depression-free son, who is now married and has a child of his own. Life is good.
Get treatment!
Parakeet
for example, they pride themselves in what they don't believe such as immortal souls, the trinity, hellfire, etc.. some exjws still believe it is the "truth" and support the basics.. .
I still don't salute the American flag, but not because of belief in the WTS's reasons.
It's the expection that I must make a public display of my patriotism on demand that riles me up.
i am curious what the reaction would be, would anyone notice, like if you had some green on, either it be a green tie, or green shirt, do you think anyone would say anything?
to everyone on here happy st patricks day!!
!.
<------------- I wear green every day, even though I'm not Irish. Or human.
as a "faithful witness", i never had to deal with this on a personal level.
i imagine the pressure must be extreme with the elders and others "supporting" you to do the right thing.. do you think you would have given blood to your family member, especially your child if you were in that situation..
My instant insight when my son was born -- that I would never hesitate to give blood to save his life -- was the moment I decided to get out of the cult.
i was raised atheist and never believed in any religion.
i've been studying the watchtower religion with a younger jw couple for some months now.. my main motivation was the fact i knew nothing about christianity, they knocked on my door and offered their "bible" study... so why not learn something, i thought.. .
and yeah, this is one crazy cult.... .
"But honestly they ARE good humans, and I feel sorry that they are destroying their life and children with this ##"
The very fact that they ARE destroying their children's lives demonstrates that they are NOT "good humans." Also consider that they will let their child die before allowing a life-saving blood transfusion.
AND, if anyone leaves their religion for ANY reason, these "good humans" will act as though that person never existed, even if it's one of their own family.
"My question is, are these people so brainwashed that they are unable to think anything without the watchtower?"
Yes, they are that brainwashed. Read some books about cults -- you'll recognize the braindead dub profile immediately.
"Is it possible to plant small seeds of doubt into their mind?"
You can try, but don't hold your breath waiting for them to change.
"Or should I just say thanks but no thanks and let them figure it out themself (doubt that will ever happen)"
If you enjoy baiting dubs, keep going with the study. At the very least, the time they spend with you is time they don't spend with someone who might actually buy into their crap.
yes shunning is good for you!
i did not understand this before, but i know it now.
sometimes when i'm feeling a little down-in-the-dumps, a little depressed, i go outside for a little fresh air and some shun-shine.
Shure glad you have a good attitude about shunning, OODAD!
Trying to extort someone back into belief (as if that were possible) -- it's a clever policy, WTS.
But it has nothing to do with love.
any suggestions to bring a end to the attacks on us who have.
left the borg and continuing efforts to alienate our love one still.
in the borg.. how about this, we all send letters to hq, flood the mail room with.
Suggestion: For every letter that goes to the WTS, make sure that at the bottom you put:
cc: New York Times, Washington Post, ABC, NBC, CBS, BBC, etc., etc.
Making sure the media gets the message will make it much more difficult for the WTS to shred and forget.
TS: "It doesn't have to be like this and it wouldn't be so if all of you would come back to Jehovah. Taste and see that he is good."
I wouldn't taste him if he showered for an hour and was dipped in chocolate and rolled in nuts.
sorry it's cut and paste ...................... .
nature 14 march 2013modern birds have two fewer wings than their ancestors.. instead of two wings, the first birds might have used four feathered limbs to stay aloft, according to research published today in science1.birdlike dinosaurs, such as microraptor and sinornithosaurus, are known to have had long, sturdy feathers on their hindlimbs2.
but until now, researchers were not sure whether the earliest birds had already abandoned this extra plumage when they emerged to take to the cretaceous skies over 100 million years ago.. the researchers, led by xing xu, a palaeontologist at the institute of geology and paleontology in shandong, china, found evidence of feathers on the hindlimbs of 11 basal bird specimens (gathered from the lower cretaceous jehol group in china)3. on some of the individuals, these feathers appeared to be veined flight feathers that stood perpendicular to the leg bones, similar to those in the basal bird archaeopteryx.. one specimen, attributed to the sapeornis genus, had at least one hindlimb feather longer than 50 millimetres.
It's feathers I need, more feathers
for the life to come. And these iron teeth
I want away, and a smooth beak
to cut the air. And these claws
on my wings, what use are they
except to drag me down, do you imagine
I am ever going to crawl again?
-- Edwin Morgan,
The Archaeopteryx's Song (1977)
