Will Power

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Posts by Will Power

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  46

  Good News no GREAT NEWS!!!

  by Lady Lee in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my application for disability has been approved!!!!!

  yes i feel like screaming out loud for joy.

  it's been a year and a half of fighting for this.

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  Will Power

  Very happy to read this Lady Lee. Great News.
  
  Just started your story
  ((insert hug here))
  
  mac - no toys on this board. :-(
  
  wp
• 
  9

  "Maintain a Threefold Cord in Marriage,"

  by Will Power in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  "maintain a threefold cord in marriage," .

  can anyone give me some info about this talk .

  day 2 of assembly @ 3:45 (lol) .

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  Will Power

  "Maintain a Threefold Cord in Marriage,"
  Can anyone give me some info about this talk
  Day 2 of Assembly @ 3:45 (lol)
  
  As an WTunbelieving wifemate (obviously not a lifemate) - I'd like to know in case the topic comes up in therapy.
  since another title is "Staggering to the Slaughter" - wouldn't mind a few comments on this one either
  
  Thanks
  WillPower
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  23

  An intriging tale of corruption in the congregation {Mark Heber Miller}

  by sf in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  http://www.nazarene-friends.org/pubs/confessions/000.htm

  i haven't read marks story in a while and was looking for the part where he states ted jaracz went out in field service with him and a few other brothers back in the 70's, in newport beach/ balboa island, for another thread here.. if you grew up in southern california as a jw, you might find it a very intriging tale of just how the elite congs were being run.

  i know for myself it is like trying to fit pieces of a puzzle.

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  Will Power

  BTTT
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  4

  Do you want to know how many kh's wt owns in mexico & Belize?

  by flag in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  some of our relatives visited us from mexico and i saw the km for the month of may.. the title was:.

  an inportant fase of our holy service.

  construction of kingdom halls.

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  Will Power

  when I was in belize earlier this year, we stopped at the hot tourist area on the shore where you book snorkeling etc and there were a group of JWs selling tours with watchtower mags on the backs of the binders with tour details. :-(
  
  I spotted them right away then went up and recited www.freeminds. ..... over & over. I got a funny look but just kept saying it quietly over & over (while pointing to my head. They were trying not to seem like they were hearing me, but were a bit uncomfortable - kind of like how I felt knowing that a tour booked with them could turn into trackable BS time for them. grrr.
  
  So if you're from beliz and you're lurking - Hi again!
  
  wp
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  3

  JW's and the problem of pain

  by Check_Your_Premises in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  most jw beliefs and practices i have been able to trace down to some basic motivation of belief.

  one that still eludes me is how the jw address the issue of reconciling the idea of a benevolent creator with the fact of human misery that nobody can expect to be immune from.

  i am not talking about the kind of stuff we bring on ourselves by living self destructive lives.

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  Will Power

  Hi CYP
  
  C.S. Lewis (Mere Christianity) has a book called "The Problem of Pain"
  are you reading it?
  offers many angles to this dilema.
  course, I can't remember any off the top of my head.
  
  wp (dusting off the keyboard)
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  55

  MY DAD HAS LEFT THE ORGANIZATION!!

  by freedomlover in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hold on everybody....ready for this.... .

  if you've been reading my posts over the past few months you'd see the research and progress my dad (a former elder) has been making.

  he and my stepmom were visiting us this weekend and he told us he's done with the jw's.

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  Will Power

  Awesome news!!!!!!!
  
  You are keeping the hope alive in all of us!
  
  wp
• 
  33

  Hey everybody

  by ColdRedRain in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i'm not feeling too good and if it wasn't for my mom threatening to put me on suicide watch, i would be dead by now.

  anyways, i think i might have to get hospitalized soon.

  i'm sorry to all of those who i put through pain.

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  Will Power

  Please get the help you need.
  You have a huge support group here.
  I'd attach some of those little red flowers, or smiley faces if I could
  
  wp
• 
  2

  Toronto Stop Sexual Abuse Walk story & pics

  by morrisamb in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  the walk was success despite the rain and cold.

  very empowering experience!

  here's a story and 76 photo gallery .

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  Will Power

  The ACTivist magazine
  
  
  Youth Rally and March to Stop Child Sexual Abuse
  Written by John Bonnar
  Wednesday, 24 May 2006
  
  photos by John BonnarOn Sunday, May 21st, 100 supporters and survivors braved the rain, wind and mid-April temperatures as they walked from City Hall, four kilometres west along Queen Street and back, in the first annual Walk to Stop the Silence to stop child sexual abuse.
  
  Participants chanted ‘Stop Child Sexual Abuse, Stop Hurting Our Youth’ as they marched along the sidewalks. Passersby stopped to listen to their message.
  
  "We have to stop child sexual abuse and find ways to protect our children," said event organizer Joanne Vannicola of Youth Out Loud. "This event is designed to raise awareness and get people talking about the issue."
  
  "We have to teach children how to speak out against sexual violence," she said. "Governments have to make a huge shift in dealing with this issue because it is an epidemic."
  
  Vannicola said we need to keep protesting until our governments, social and criminal justice systems change they way they operate. "It’s time to start putting youth first. No second chances for pedophiles."
  
  photos by John Bonnar"We need to tell our youth it’s not only important for them to disclose, but when they do we must do everything in our power to help them find better ways of living, love and nurturing support," she said. "The system’s broken but we can fix it."
  
  Vannicola added that every two in three girls and every one in four boys, before adulthood, will have been sexually violated.
  
  One of the problems is that victims of abuse keep quiet too much, said a group of grade 10 students from Cawthra Park Secondary School in Mississauga. They said that in their civics class they discuss and debate a range of issues including sexual abuse.
  
  "I don’t think enough attention is paid to child sexual abuse by the media or by the people who govern the country", said supporter Mark Johnson wearing an ‘I’m Walking to Stop Child Sexual Abuse’ sticker.
  
  "Personal issues such as shame and lack of esteem contribute to our silence," said Donald D’Haene, a survivor of 11 years of child sexual abuse at the hands of his father. "Our abusers count on it."
  
  "My disclosure, in 1981, began my road to freedom," he said. "My refusal to remain silent is the only reason why I’m speaking here today. I went from a weak wallflower to an extroverted, charismatic dominant force to be dealt with, from a mouse to a mouse that roared."
  
  D’Haene said that if you break into your neighbour’s house, you’ll receive a longer sentence than if you abuse your child.
  
  He said that sexual abuse isn’t just a physical act that ends when the abuse stops. You’re sentenced to be a victim for life.
  
  "Children are taught to be quiet their whole life," said human rights activist Shaila Kibria. "How then does a 6 year old abused girl go to her mum and say ‘Mummy, he just put his hands down my pants’ without being labeled a troublemaker."
  
  She said they do this to vulnerable girls and boys because they think they can get away with it.
  
  photos by John BonnarRick Brazeau, a survivor, stood at the rally holding a picture of an 11 year old boy who was abused three months before this picture was taken in 1963.
  
  "I like to carry this picture around to show people that it wasn’t me being abused," said Brazeau. "It was this little child who couldn’t speak and was told not to speak."
  
  Brazeau was abused by his Sudbury parish priest when he was an altar boy. It happened only the one time, in the sacristy where he changed. The priest masturbated against him before serving Mass.
  
  "I don’t remember serving Mass," he said. "I only remember ringing the bells at Communion."
  
  Brazeau said he remembers going home and lying on his bed wondering what he had done to make this priest do this to him. He said his mother was very religious, a good follower of the church, and he didn’t think he could talk to her about this incident.
  
  "I hid it for 41 years," Brazeau said. "I became a drug addict and an alcoholic. I went through three marriages."
  
  He’s been in therapy for three years and said it’s been an amazing experience. He’s been able to think about who he was, who he is and what happened.
  
  "It’s been really hard but it’s been really rewarding," he said. "It’s been the first time in my life I’ve felt any peace."
  
  Brazeau confronted his abuser and said he took the shame he felt for 41 years and gave it back to him.
  
  Irene Deschenes came to the rally carrying a photo of herself taken by her abuser, a priest, when she was 10 years old. For two years, she was abused by him at St.Ursula's School and Church in Chatham, Ontario.
  
  "My memories were repressed until 1992 when my daughter turned the same age I was when I was abused," said Deschenes. "Ever since then I’ve been trying to fight for justice and healing."
  
  Her case is currently before the courts.
  
  "I was raped in infancy and abused through adolescence," said psychotherapist and artist Dr. Michael Irving, designer of the Child Abuse Survivor Monument slated to be displayed at the Air Canada Centre. "I started making art, writing about my art and my child abuse and it helped me heal."
  
  Irving said this day is about speaking out because it heals.
  
  That’s the premise behind his Child Abuse Survivor Monument.
  
  In 1990, when he visited the Vietnam Memorial, he realized how it healed American society around the war issue.
  
  photos by John Bonnar"The war issue is very much like child abuse," said Irving. "It’s covered in distancing, denial and post traumatic stress disorder."
  
  He said every one of us is, in one way or another, touched by child abuse through the enormous taxes we pay to deal with health care, prison and unemployment related issues of survivors.
  
  For five years, Irving spoke with survivors about what a Survivor Monument should be. They told him it needed to be collaborative, personal and storytelling. Hundreds of people from across Canada have contributed their ‘hands’ to be placed on the outside and inside of the monument. A message is drawn or written, on or around the outline of each hand.
  
  Sixteen year old Vicky Avramopoulos suffered sexual abuse for a few years of her life. Prior to the abuse, she said she was a pretty normal, happy kid.
  
  "I was made to feel as if I was worth nothing," said Avramopoulos. "I grew very powerless and weak because of what this man did to me. What hurt the most is that I thought I couldn’t tell anyone."
  
  "I was made to believe that I deserved to be sexually abused," she said. "One of the hardest things I had come to terms with over the last two years is that I am not to blame. I have no reason to feel guilty for his actions."
  
  She said she was only looking for love, comfort, support and someone to talk to. He wanted a lot more from her.
  
  photos by John BonnarFor two years, Avramopoulos said she shut herself down, grew numb and detached from the world around her, and felt alone, ashamed and embarrassed. She sank into a deep depression, began her own cycle of self abuse and even tried to take her life.
  
  "I went through many days unable to look at myself in the mirror," said Avramopoulos. "I felt so disgusted to what I was becoming."
  
  Her world was falling apart and she had no control over it.
  
  She said she felt proud about breaking free from the power of control by coming forward and speaking about her experience.
  
  But she admits that she’s still overcoming obstacles to this day.
  
  Proceeds from today’s walk will benefit the Toronto Child Abuse Centre, Central Toronto Youth Services and Youth Out Loud.
• 
  17

  Bible Students, JW posters, and lurkers, please respond

  by AuldSoul in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i wrote this to someone else, but i think this demonstrates perfectly why i was outraged when i first found out that jehovah's witnesses do not teach that jesus is the mediator for all mankind.

  it is true that they possess a different doctrine entirely, but to me the outrageous thing was that they do not actively teach any doctrine regarding jesus mediatorship.

  this thread presents indisputable proof of that fact.. in my opinion, it is very important to remember that religions do not tell you the harshest doctrines or the most difficult doctrines to accept during the initial indoctrination phase.. do you have a copy of reasoning from the scriptures?

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  Will Power

  This is a great topic AuldSoul and the way you've presented it gets ya thinking.
  
  A few years ago, as I witnessed the gradual indoctrination of my husband, I brought up this exact point.
  He was adamant - that the bible said Jesus was his mediatior - and that yes, that is one thing he truly believed.
  I challenged him to ask an elder, his mentor, and he said sure - but he knew that I was waaaaay off in my "accusation".
  Well, a few days later, he realized that he hadn't understood the bible properly or something like that AND
  what mattered was "If this was not from God it would fail" (canned response heard so many times I've forgotten the exact words lol)
  Needless to say I was fast-tracked to the "outer limits" of his inner circle.
  He was most certainly warned of the danger that lurked within the arms of his wife.
  
  At that moment I knew in my soul that I'd never ever come across anything so ______________ .
  
  (((((Auld Soul))))
  wp
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  21

  Going to meet with an elder

  by drew sagan in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hellow again everybody, i thought i might share with you some updates of some things going on in my world.

  i've had another long discussion with my wife again.

  she is now convinced i need to speak with the elders and then see what happens.

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  Will Power

  Instead of thinking "its not the truth", or no longer believe it is the truth...
  
  you might impress on the elders that you know - the truth about the truth
  
  meaning the .... using 2 weights of measure, deliberate misquoting, rehearsed love bombing, convenient shunning,
  demand non-profit status AND deman copyrights to protect profits. on & on & on