GrreatTeacher

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Posts by GrreatTeacher

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  9

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  by mrquik in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i can't help but think how many committee meetings this photo would have generated.

  this is on the caribbean side of cozumel at a quaint bar called mezcalito's.

  this side of the island is virtually deserted.

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  GrreatTeacher

  I really don't think that beach looks very naked, I mean it seems to be covered in dune grass and.......oh my god, you mean that naked man in the middle of the picture!!!
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  48

  How many here gave up having a family for the sake of the "truth"?

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this is a sensitive topic for many of us i know, but i am wondering how many here actually gave up the idea of having a family "in this system" for the sake of "kingdom activity or service"??.

  start the count here with my wife and i.

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  GrreatTeacher

  Maybe someone has a better understanding than me? Finklestein?

  What I recall was something about an assembly in the 1940s (maybe) where "John and Eunice" pledged to save their love for the new world.

  But, I'm really sketchy on the details. Anybody recall (reading about) this?
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  48

  How many here gave up having a family for the sake of the "truth"?

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this is a sensitive topic for many of us i know, but i am wondering how many here actually gave up the idea of having a family "in this system" for the sake of "kingdom activity or service"??.

  start the count here with my wife and i.

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  GrreatTeacher

  There was a time when they also encouraged people to hold off marriage as well, wasn't there?

  I wonder why this never stuck but the encouragement against children did?
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  36

  How do stop myself getting too Bitter?

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  you know, i always maintained that during this fading process, and while learning ttatt, i would not let myself get "bitter twisted and angry".... but, in all honesty, if i examine myself, i have become quite bitter toward the org, toward the false friends and the gb.. i have become angry as i see the extent of damage i feel being raised in "the truth" has done.... i feel hurt towards the lost opportunities in life etc.... how do i not allow myself to get too swallowed up by such bitterness?.

  i have always been a very happy, positive, selfless person.

  i can put people at ease, i am someone people feel comfortable chatting to.

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  GrreatTeacher

  That is a Big Question and those are difficult to answer.

  For myself, I've processed a lot of these emotions and I don't feel them so strongly anymore.

  But, they still do wax and wane to a certain extent. So, I just live through the feelings. When I feel good, I enjoy life. When I feel rotten and get stuck on negative feelings, I keep doing Life, knowing that the feelings will wane eventually.

  Being an XJW is like living life in the ocean with the tide rising and falling around you. One minute you're stuck in a trough of bad memories and sour feelings. But, the next minute you could be catching that Big Wave and surfing through life feeling excellent!

  Just ride the tides, my friend, there's always a new wave coming.
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  48

  How many here gave up having a family for the sake of the "truth"?

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  this is a sensitive topic for many of us i know, but i am wondering how many here actually gave up the idea of having a family "in this system" for the sake of "kingdom activity or service"??.

  start the count here with my wife and i.

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  GrreatTeacher

  My two best friends growing up each married young and have never had children.

  They are now in their early 40s and it's likely too late to change their minds, even if they wanted to.
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  5

  Unity or Uniformity?

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the feb 2015 broadcast finishes with a stupid "reminder" to remain united in worship etc.... the real definition of witness life though should be : uniformity!.

  there is no room for individuality....there is no room for anything except complete mindless adherence to whatever the 7 in power dictate!.

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  GrreatTeacher

  Maybe CONFORMITY is a better word?

  Uniformity indicates that we are the same, but CONFORMITY indicates not only do we believe the same, but we have to conform to WTs version of the truth.

  They would never conform to any other version of truth but their own.
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  9

  A form of healing?

  by New day in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  it has been mentioned on here by quite a few posters that when they let go of the pressure of living up to the standards set out in the wt publications, they felt relief from a strangulating set of rules and regulations which do not truly reflect the kindness and love displayed by jesus.. as more than a year has gone by since i first read the ray franz books and started reading posts here, i recently stepped back and thought about how i now feel.

  having always been a boy who can't say no (theocratically speaking) i have just now realized that, yes, i can refuse talks in the tms if i either can't do them or (gasp) don't want to do them.

  just last week a well-meaning but misguided elder put me down to take a fs arrangement without asking me, despite the fact that i resigned as an elder last year and had asked for the pressure to be taken off.

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  GrreatTeacher

  Good for you, Newday, standing up for yourself. And for your wife, too.
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  3

  A monster in our midst......

  by WingCommander in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am pretty stunned as i write this post.

  i guess i shouldn't be after reading years and years of similar incidents on these forums, but here i am nonetheless.

  he was convicted in 2001 of possessing child pornography and sentenced to 1 to 2 years in prison.. .

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  GrreatTeacher

  Glad he couldn't make bail.

  It's interesting that you said he had piercing eyes. They say the eyes are the window to the soul.

  Sometimes you can look at people and just see that their eyes are dead, no conscience, no human compassion.
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  45

  Characteristics of Narcissistic Mothers

  by rebel8 in

  1. social
  2. relationships

  http://www.geocities.com/zpg1957/narcissists.htm i've had some narcissistic types in my life and boy, does this article ring true.

  (this is not true of my mother but just like a mirror image of my sister.

  also reminds me of the dynamics of the wt org.

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  GrreatTeacher

  Though not every detail fits my mother, she did pull off an incredible incident of self absorbed behavior when she was staying with my sister to "help out" after my sister's first baby, a preemie was born.

  Her idea of helping out was to basically just take care of the baby. She never thought that helping to cook meals, wash laundry or just, in general help out with household chores should be something she should do.

  She lost her s**t when my sister asked her if she'd make lunch. She complained she felt like she was being "used." Then she demanded that my sister and she drop everything and have a discussion about how my sister's behavior made my mother feel.

  I caught this conversation and blew up, telling my mother that it wasn't about her and how dare she pull this crap when there's a new mother and a preemie that needed taken care of.

  She screamed back at me, telling me it was none of my business and that she would just leave if she wasn't wanted. She went and hid in a room and called my father crying about how she wasn't appreciated. Then she left.

  When I was driving home that evening, I called my father and told him the real story, that my mother was out of line, that she was acting unstable and that she really needed to see a doctor (again). He just listened non-commitally.

  So, years later, I found out that my dad took my mother's side (classic enabler) and I will yet again go down in the annals of family history as the black sheep.

  I was always the scapegoat. Maybe because I always have stood up to her. I have always felt the need to protect my little sister from her because she tends to be more conciliatory towards her and she gets hurt again and again.

  What works with people like that? Going low contact or no contact, especially after egregious behavior like the above. She's been behaving okay recently so I am in contact. My sister thinks she behaves better towards me now because I don't need her. And I don't. I can survive just fine without her. And that drives her self-centered self crazy.
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  11

  Do Kingdom Hall congregations communicate with each other?

  by Faithful Witness in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  when asked, my mom denies that they do.... do local congregations pass along gossip or reports on householders in the area?

  specifically, i am wondering if they might report on (unbaptized) family members that live in other towns?.

  since the abrupt ending of my bs with miss k, i have not heard from the jw's at all.

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  GrreatTeacher

  Well, Clambake and Aroq, you just don't have a good heart and you're not humble enough to accept the truth, doncha know.

  That's why they won't preach to you anymore. You've simply been written off as hopeless.