Interesting.
What is the source for these figures?
an update on the canada branch hasn't been made (i think).. year-over-year, canada's equity decreased by 11 million in 2012, 17 million in 2013.. however, the 2014 report shows a huge increase (20 million) in the cost of "purchased supplies.
" with the shrinkage of the mags, and the push to online, how the heck did this go from 39 million to 58 million?.
even with this number, the equity in 2014 went down by a staggering 56 million.. what the heck is going on?.
Interesting.
What is the source for these figures?
it has been 2 and a half years since my departure from the religion.
i was told by my parents from the start that i would never speak to them until i returned to jehovah dog.
a few months later they told people they hoped i died before the end came, then all of this culminating in them telling my inactive / fading sister that they don't consider me a child anymore and they have given me up to satan.
GreatTeacher: I think on some level they know that they have issues. So they like to surround themselves with people that tell them how wonderful they are. They're like good mirrors. Then, when you call them out on their bad behavior, you become the bad mirror, reflecting back to them their own brokenness. And they can't stand it and they lash out.
Great point.
Leaving the religion doesn't necessarily mean overcoming our "issues." In fact, there is no reason to believe that we would--without a great deal of careful introspection and hard work--overcome those issues. Even this it is hard slogging.
People generally continue to act as they were raised. It's classic operant conditioning and behaviorism.
it has been 2 and a half years since my departure from the religion.
i was told by my parents from the start that i would never speak to them until i returned to jehovah dog.
a few months later they told people they hoped i died before the end came, then all of this culminating in them telling my inactive / fading sister that they don't consider me a child anymore and they have given me up to satan.
POM, I'm sorry I even bothered to offer advice to you. Clearly, you don't take any criticism well.
Self-indulgent fantasies of revenge may seem cathartic, but they don't help a person grow. I'll admit, the sci-fi twist on torture you wish upon your mother is creative, but it really is just a high-tech version of hell.
The eternal punishment and humiliation you describe betrays a mindset that is no different from the vicious desert god, Jehovah, which you claim to hate.
That you would devote so much vitriol against me merely because I described your version of justice and retribution as "mean," tells much about you.
You have taken offense to my personal opinion about one aspect of your OP and made that the sole focus of your comments directed at me. Yet you have failed to respond to any of my comments intended to be constructive and helpful.
I'm glad you were able to "save" your family from the cult.
Your mean-spirited comments about my children are very unkind and hurtful. But I guess that's just who you are.
Oubliette
it has been 2 and a half years since my departure from the religion.
i was told by my parents from the start that i would never speak to them until i returned to jehovah dog.
a few months later they told people they hoped i died before the end came, then all of this culminating in them telling my inactive / fading sister that they don't consider me a child anymore and they have given me up to satan.
Paul, no one needs any special training to know that you are responding in kind to your mother.
You need to let it go if you are ever going to move forward. The way you are now, you are just being like her.
Attacking me changes nothing. It actually proves that you know I'm right.
I hope you get better.
it has been 2 and a half years since my departure from the religion.
i was told by my parents from the start that i would never speak to them until i returned to jehovah dog.
a few months later they told people they hoped i died before the end came, then all of this culminating in them telling my inactive / fading sister that they don't consider me a child anymore and they have given me up to satan.
POM,
You obviously have a lot of anger as do I.
I do think the WT leaders are fuckers and need to be held accountable for their actions. I thought that then and I still think that now. I also think your mother should be held accountable for her actions.
I also know that holding on to anger is not good for us. I speak from experience. I'm not judging you and so there is no need to be defensive.
My degrees are in business, music and education. I have a masters in education and teach science at the high school level: biology, chemistry and physics. Although I do not have a degree in psychology, my training as a scientist has helped me to approach a study of subjects outside of my academic study with the same methodology and rigor as those I studied in university.Psychology is a subject that I have studied extensively for many decade, particularly in reference to how a person can fall victim to manipulation in interpersonal relationships and religious organizations.
I am only trying to be helpful. Your defensive responses suggest I hit a nerve.
Oubliette
it has been 2 and a half years since my departure from the religion.
i was told by my parents from the start that i would never speak to them until i returned to jehovah dog.
a few months later they told people they hoped i died before the end came, then all of this culminating in them telling my inactive / fading sister that they don't consider me a child anymore and they have given me up to satan.
POM: You go right ahead and keep loving that type of person if you want.
I didn't say you should love her or even forgive her or keep her in your life. I said your response was mean.
We can't heal if we allow abusers to remain in our life. Toxic relationships need to end.
I'm encouraging you to not respond in kind. Clearly you are not ready to get there, but given the abuse you've received that is not surprising.
Oubliette
over the years, i have seen a change in heart with the country i grew up in and the general view of what they perceive as how everyone should view things in relation to morality.
a strictly religious country for centuries now forever changed within a short number of years.
i have also seen the viewpoint on this site gradually change in many ways.
Since this is your "very last post," I suppose there's no real point in responding to you. So I will write this for lurkers:
This site is for ex- and want to be ex-JWs: people that have come to learn that this religion is a scam, its leaders are liars and hypocrites, people that need affirmation and comfort and maybe a little guidance and direction.
The question in the OP is a false dichotomy.
The world is most definitely NOT getting worse, all assertions to the contrary are based on delusions, not reality. This not to say that there are not a number of very serious issues which mankind should deal with--ironically almost all self-induced--but it is to say that in fact we are as a species evolving and getting more rational and less violent.
If you don't believe that it is only because you refuse to accept reality.
it has been 2 and a half years since my departure from the religion.
i was told by my parents from the start that i would never speak to them until i returned to jehovah dog.
a few months later they told people they hoped i died before the end came, then all of this culminating in them telling my inactive / fading sister that they don't consider me a child anymore and they have given me up to satan.
paulmolark,
What your mother did, and has done, to you is evil. She is clearly fully indoctrinated into the cult.
But what you said in response was just mean.
Please try and outgrow the need to respond in kind. Doing anything else destroys your soul.
Oubliette
help from a loving jehovah's witness elder part 1. this elder is clearly out of touch with all emotion period as this poor girl pours her heart out to him.
can these untrained, unloving, pharisees possibly be fit to represent a god of love?
a god of anything?
[I'm posting while I'm listening to the recording ....]
From a practical standpoint, if anyone REALLY wants to get reinstated--for whatever reason, I'm not judging--please learn this lesson from this poor woman's experience and take my advice: UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES YOU MUST NEVER TELL THE ELDERS HOW YOU REALLY FEEL.
SIMPLY TELL THEM WHAT THEY WANT TO HEAR.
help from a loving jehovah's witness elder part 1. this elder is clearly out of touch with all emotion period as this poor girl pours her heart out to him.
can these untrained, unloving, pharisees possibly be fit to represent a god of love?
a god of anything?
This woman is clearly in need of serious psychological counseling and help. She is an emotional mess.
The problem is that both she and the elders think that she can get that help from the elders. This is wrong.
You might as well go to a mechanic to treat your asthma or see a janitor for dental issues.
Practicing psychotherapy without a license should be a crime, unfortunately it is not.