Alligator Wisdom

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Posts by Alligator Wisdom

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  26

  "Is my life now more meaningful, and am I happier?"

  by Julia Orwell in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so the question is posed in this week's watchtower study at our former cult's houses of indoctrination.

  i should like to answer it, and i should like to hear your answers too.. the question is in two parts, and i shall address each one in turn.. q. is my life more meaningful?.

  my life is more meaningful.

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  Alligator Wisdom

  Hip-Hip-Hooray!

  Great to hear some real "good news".

  Alligator Wisdom (aka Brother NOT Exerting Vigorously)
• 
  5

  Facebook Friend

  by Pete Zahut in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  mrs. zahut made facebook contact with a friend she grew up with.

  the friend is from a large jw family.

  so far she's only sent the following brief message.. " ....no one in our family are jw.

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  Alligator Wisdom

  My JW mom raised four children as JWs.

  Me (inactive).

  My three siblings never got baptized.

  Alligator Wisdom (aka Brother NOT Exerting Vigorously)
• 
  40

  New here, just wanted to say "Hello"

  by Goldiver in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  hello all, it is nice to have a forum for former jw's and see i wasn't the only one out there having serious doubts.

  my parents got into it when i was about 4 years old.

  my family was part of the granville ny congregation.. my dad in time became an elder.

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  Alligator Wisdom

  Glad you are here!
  
  Alligator Wisdom (aka Brother NOT Exerting Vigorously)
• 
  31

  Where else is there to go?

  by snare&racket in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  when i left the jw's, close friends and some elders discussed my desicion with me,without fail they all concluded the same thing.... "but where else is there to go?!".

  at the time, the question just confused me, i could not see why it confused me or the very telling nature of such a comment.

  i never thought that once.. firstly, this indicates that many jw's remain jw's simply because of this tunnel vision perspective... everything in their periphery is valueless, but the wt on which they focus is everthing.

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  Alligator Wisdom

  BTTT
  
  snare&racket, your OP is exactly what I needed to read. An excellent dissection of the topic.

  Recenty I was asked the same "where" question by a well acquainted brother. I told him that it's actually "who".

  He responded, "Basically where and who are the same".

  I'm saving this thread because of all of the great responses and thoughts.

  Alligator Wisdom (aka Brother NOT Exerting Vigorously)
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  17

  John 14:14

  by InChristAlone in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  john 14:14, in most translations, says something to the effect of, "if you ask me anything in my name, i will do it.

  " (my emphasis on "me") the kjv (and relative translations) and the nwt do not have "me" in it.

  most of the translations that keep the word were based on the westcott and hort which has the greek "me", however the kjv doesn't because it was based on the textus receptus which does not have the greek "me".

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  Alligator Wisdom

  The footnote for John 14:14 in the large reference NWT notes that Jesus said to ask him anything in his name. I used this on several brothers in the congregation to suppport the fact that Jesus can be spoken to on a one to one basis. They couldn't refute this.

  Alligator Wisdom (aka Brother NOT Exerting Vigorously)
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  66

  My brother died yesterday

  by satinka in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  "albert" was 55 years old, and the fifth-born of seven children.

  i am the second oldest and babysat him often while he was growing up --- and while i was still at home.. yesterday, albert was out taking his usual morning stroll around his small town, when he collapsed on the sidewalk.

  the doctors said it was a heart attack.

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  Alligator Wisdom

  May you find strength and comfort during this difficult time.

  Alligator Wisdom (aka Brother NOT Exerting Vigorously)
• 
  3

  Reverse Witnessing Idea...

  by The Song Remains The Same in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  reading a couple of threads here about how to handle jw's when they try to witness to you, i was wondering if anyone had tried to give an everyday situation example with a couple of choices to a jw and asked them what the right answer is.

  then when they have picked, show them that the wt would have given the other, more shocking, answer.

  well.... let's say john works someplace, and finds out that there is criminal activity going on.

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  Alligator Wisdom

  I asked several in my congregation if turning in the field service (time) report was "voluntary" or "mandatory".

  After what seemed like an eternity of silence, the only two different answers I got for the question were either...

  (1) in between

  (2) it's the arrangement

  Alligator Wisdom (aka Brother NOT Exerting Vigorously)
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  13

  Blasting WATCHTOWER's disfellowshipping and shunning policy!

  by Newly Enlightened in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhc1sqiaqum.

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  Alligator Wisdom

  Thanks for sharing your expressions. I really see the harm of shunning and deplore this type of action.

  By the way, I noticed that you have Ray Franz's COC and ISOCF wedged between the NWT reference Bible and the Proclaimers book on your bookshelf behind you. Nice .

  More power to you!

  Alligator Wisdom (aka Brother NOT Exerting Vigorously)
• 
  26

  Marilyn Zweifel of the 800-why-1914 Helpline passed away yesterday

  by coffee_black in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  marilyn manned the helpline for many years, and touched the lives of so many effected by the wt.

  she will be missed.. coffee .

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  Alligator Wisdom

  When going to a DC in 1990/91, there were ex-JWs picketing out front and one sign caught my eye, 1-800-WHY-1914. So easy to remember. It was within a few weeks that I managed the nerve to make that call while I was at work. Being very nervous because of the warnings inculcated in my mind during my life's tenure as a JW, I hung up when presumably Marilyn answered the phone.

  But it wasn't in vain. In fact, it was the very start of me exercising my freedom to investigate the WTBS outside of the recommended publications that were encouraged to be the only source of research. I didn't have access to the internet because it was at its infancy, so I was unable to investigate through that avenue. It was shortly thereafter when I was assigned jury duty in a city 20 minutes away. I then went to the local library next door to the court house and checked up and read books written about JWs during every single one of my lunch breaks for the entire two weeks of my duty.

  Needless to say, here I am now. What a journey thus far!

  And yes, it all started with that picket sign 1-800-WHY-1914

  Alligator Wisdom (aka Brother NOT Exerting Vigorously)
• 
  7

  Do you sense and underlying serenity ?

  by Phizzy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  going forward from my other thread, on the unhappiness of jw's, and thanks for your contributions to that, do you sense the opposite with xjw's ?.

  not simply the happiness that we all exude, external and obvious, but an underlying serenity.. all that i have met face to face, and as far as i can tell those that are on here, have a certain serenity, due i think in the main to having the conviction that our leaving was the very best of decisions.. yes, we still have our daily struggles, perhaps the frustrations of trying to free loved ones, health problems, financial difficulties, personality faults of our own we are working on, any or all of these plus ones i haven't mentioned.. and yet i detect a peace, and contentment, that comes from being the real "you", no longer having to put on the cult personality, no longer having to suffer the noise of cognitive dissonance, no longer feeling we are not "doing enough".. that inner peace is what makes you all such lovely people..

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  Alligator Wisdom

  As Phizzy & losingit noted, building new social networks (friends ) is paramount in getting on with our lives.

  I'm at that point where my social circle can be counted on one hand, seriously. Yes, there are those non-JWs that "I know", but can't really be considered friends. However, I'm working on it. I found that once I started my fade, my interactions with strangers and those non-JWs that I'm acquainted with has been more quality with a sincere motive to really know them better. When I was an active JW, I was only cordial to these ones.

  Alligator Wisdom (aka Brother NOT Exerting Vigorously)