Gypsy Sam

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Posts by Gypsy Sam

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  18

  JWs in Florida and California. Is there really a difference?

  by BU2B in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have heard over the years from many different people about how jws in those states are unlike elsewhere.

  the parties they have, the way they dress and the permissive attitude.

  i just heard from a sister that is from florida, that if you are not "spiritually strong" you will "fall out of the truth" down there.

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  Gypsy Sam

  Lol, yes I would say there is a huge difference. I grew up in MA, moved to Florida in the 90's and immediately saw differences. Back home denim skirts, going without nylons, flip flop shoes, tank tops were all frowned up for even book study night. There were huge dance parties regularly held when I moved to Florida. Sometimes there would be a formal event up north, but nothing like the dance parties here. Wearing a one piece to the beach was not typical in SWFL.

  Visiting California, I saw the same "liberal" JW attitude. Going back home to see my parents was always a chore as they disapproved of so many of the clothes (that were still modest) that my daughter and I wore.

  Witnesses in my area in Florida were very open about reading Harry Potter, going to the movie and seeing Wicked when it was here. I'm not saying everyone in the hall was happy about the lax clothing "rules" or open entertainment ideas, but no one was ever counseled that would have been up north.

  Just my experience.

  My mom calls Fl Sodom and Gommorah for witnesses. Lol, the couples I was friends with were all okay with not having WT approved bedroom lives and the women had adult toy parties.
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  5

  Where's The Bylaws And Due Diligence?

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://factn.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/church-by-law-recommendations-memo.pdf.

  if the above is an emerging standard of legal protection of churches, where is it in congregations of jehovah's witnesses?.

  due diligence about children.

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  Gypsy Sam

  This could make a great Facebook post, asking something like, before we join any group do we check the following...?

  Between watching Blackfish last night and this great post, I'm motivated to get some JW's still on my Facebook thinking.
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  63

  What are your turn offs in a guy or girl?

  by Iamallcool in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  one of them is nose rings/piercings.

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  Gypsy Sam

  YY,

  It's neither ignorant nor stupid. It's a personal preference. If I lived elsewhere and had grown up exposed to a different norm, perhaps I'd feel differently. People are allowed to have a higher level of attraction to certain physical aspects than others, without being insulted about it. I'll pass on the photo you referenced. Clean cut, to a bit of scruff is more my style :) Taye Diggs, Jack Johnson (the singer) types.

  For the record, the guy I was dating at the time, warned me in advance as it had proven to be an issue for him with each girl he'd dated. You can believe what you want but this is an issue for many women I have personally known, in the U.S.

  I'm well aware of FGM, which I find a sickening and different practice.
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  18

  Our throw-away society

  by zound in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  check out this video if you have 20 minutes to spare - it really is awesome.

  anyone want to add their thoughts on how to change societys throwaway mentality?.

  the story of stuff.

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  Gypsy Sam

  I love this video. I've watched it several times and follow them on Facebook. I've made a huge shift this year in not having consumer mentality. It feels good to declutter, but better to not need to. Their is beauty and peace in simplicity. It really frees up the evenings and weekends, to just enjoy nature, yoga, social events or read in peace at home.

  Like anything, I think each of us doing our part and trying to motivate by our example, is going to make a difference.

  I work in an office and it takes someone being motivated and following through on the recycling front, in a NON critical way, to get others on board. We have a ways to go, but we have improved over the past year.

  I often think, if people had thought differently in the past 50 years, would we have become such a throwaway society? If all those living that didn't care about their personal environment had accepted that some guy in the sky wouldn't make it all magically better for their special enjoyment, would they care about what they bought and threw away the ?
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  67

  Raising kids - JW mother, agnostic father

  by Zana in

  1. social
  2. family

  my wife and i have two wonderful children aged 1 and 3. i was raised as a lutheran but stopped believing in my late teen years.

  my wife is what i would call a liberal jw (yes, i believe such people exist .

  sooner or later our children will have questions about religion and the differences mom and dad show towards it.

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  Gypsy Sam

  Ooh, this was my situation. A regular pioneer out of high school, married outside "the truth". I became a liberal JW a few years ago, knowing I wanted my daughter to attend college etc. While I'm now awake to TTATT and faded last year, my now exhusband is an atheist. When I told him I was leaving JW, he was so happy. I also told him how I could have woken up much sooner if he'd handled things differently. He never read Steve Hassan's book and would basically trigger my "cult self" every time we spoke of religion. He continues to lose his temper when people don't agree with him.

  I agree with the posters who mentioned you can't be passive. The JW parent will impose their way and only be liberal so long. When their child isn't hitting the same JW milestones as others, they'll likely become more absorbed in the religion, to set a better example for the "wayward" child. The love a JW parent feels for their child is conditional. Sometimes, the parent will stick by the child no matter what happens, but I know way too many instances where the relationship is very strained if the child doesn't follow JW "rules".

  Tread lighlty and read Hassan.
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  63

  What are your turn offs in a guy or girl?

  by Iamallcool in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  one of them is nose rings/piercings.

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  Gypsy Sam

  Smoking, excessive drinking, not being circumcised, not being in a similar financial situation, not willing to try new things.

  I'm 37 and do not, under any circumstances, want more children. I'm ready to travel and work on my Masters. The last few men that were interested in me wanted to have children. It's an immediate deal breaker.
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  9

  Another night, another JW dream

  by MrMonroe in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  such a ripoff when you dream you're back at the damn meetings.

  i once dreamed a local (rather liberal-minded) elder, jack hoogendoorn, was smoking a cigar while he was giving a talk on the platform.. last night i was back there again: one elder who suddenly decided he was going to be "encouraging" gave me the latest stats on baptisms, while someone else i was meant to go witnessing with was not-so-subtly probing me about how many magazines i'd been placing lately.

  i chose not to tell them i had decided against placing mags any more.

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  Gypsy Sam

  Interesting. My best friend has many jw dreams/nightmares since leaving. I feel so bad for her as they leave her quite drained.
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  19

  Movie BLACKFISH Reminds Me of Watchtower Corporation

  by OnTheWayOut in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  you can google it to learn more but blackfish is a documentary about killed whales in captivity.

  particularly a male named tilicum who wound up killing trainers, the last one in 2010.. i had to bite my tongue when my jw wife said "whad did ya think?".

  i answered but wanted to say that seaworld giving the impression that trainers were most highly educated was a lie, telling the public these were isolated instances of trainer error was a lie, and all their actions and area tions made me think of wts.. trainers were typically not marine biologist but just young eager excellent swimmers.

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  Gypsy Sam

  I'm watching this now...finally. It's even more disturbing than I was expecting it to be.
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  43

  New Atlanta Assembly Hall Has raised 3.4 million Dollars... GONE

  by James Jackson in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  they announced last week that the new atanta assembly hall has thus far raised 3.4 million dollars.

  my local told that will become the society's come may 1. i wonder how that will go over with the ones who have been contributing to this fund..

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  Gypsy Sam

  I doubt "the friends" will even question the new arrangement.

  As for Ray Nagin (cutest mayor ever), he made news over here in SWFL.
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  20

  Electronic KMs Now Being Provided By Org to R&F?

  by pronomono in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i received a call from my book study conductor the other day asking for my email address so that he could start sending electronic copies of the km to me.

  has anyone else received calls like this?

  i've missed quite a few meeting (it's been nice) so am unaware if any letter has been read.

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  Gypsy Sam

  Isn't the current KM what one of the JW dating sites uses as a question to login? For example, they ask a simple question for the current KM that you have to type in for access.