GrreatTeacher

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Posts by GrreatTeacher

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  20

  A Hummingbird in My House

  by Oubliette in

  1. social
  2. current

  we just had a hummingbird in our house!

  it flew in through an open door.

  i had been cleaning my back patio and left the screen open for a few moments when i was putting stuff away.

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  GrreatTeacher

  We have gorgeous irridescent green ones around. Kind of rare, but what a precious sight. They show up when my gladiolias bloom.

  Once had a bat fly down the chimney into the house, but that was nowhere near as exciting I'm sure...
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  65

  Richard Dawkins espouses Militant Atheism: "Mock them, Ridicule them." Attack Religious People with Insults!

  by MagicMItchJensen in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  richard dawkins has said frequently if we don't agree with religious or spiritual people we need to "insult them!

  " tell their their out of their "fucking gourds!

  " and make sure you really show them how stupid they are for believing in something they can't prove!".

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  GrreatTeacher

  Good point, truthseeker. What's common sense to one person might not necessarily be so for another.
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  81

  The incredibly white NAACP leader

  by Simon in

  1. social
  2. current

  this is a bizarre story.. there is a woman who is the local leader of the naacp who is obviously trying to mislead people into believing she is black who is actually white.

  very white.. she obviously gets a tan regularly but looks more orange.

  yes, orange really is the new black!.

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  GrreatTeacher

  I doubt there is a crime here. I find it interesting. There seems to be some kind of backstory going on that no one can figure out.

  Acting as if you're a member of another race is common. But showing pictures of people who are obviously of another race and claiming them as your own to bolster your racial identity is deceptive. It's flat out lying about who you are. Not illegal, but something weird is going on there. If I had a friend who showed me fake pictures of a father and a son who I found out were not really hers, I'd drop her like a hot potato because of her dishonesty both because it's simply unethical and also because it seems mentally ill.
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  65

  Richard Dawkins espouses Militant Atheism: "Mock them, Ridicule them." Attack Religious People with Insults!

  by MagicMItchJensen in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  richard dawkins has said frequently if we don't agree with religious or spiritual people we need to "insult them!

  " tell their their out of their "fucking gourds!

  " and make sure you really show them how stupid they are for believing in something they can't prove!".

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  GrreatTeacher

  No one is asking anyone to believe in atheism because Dawkins said so. It's a conclusion many have come to after considering much evidence from many sources.

  Dawkins doesn't do anything for you? Great! You've still got to do your homework; what evidence do you have for a god?
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  81

  The incredibly white NAACP leader

  by Simon in

  1. social
  2. current

  this is a bizarre story.. there is a woman who is the local leader of the naacp who is obviously trying to mislead people into believing she is black who is actually white.

  very white.. she obviously gets a tan regularly but looks more orange.

  yes, orange really is the new black!.

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  GrreatTeacher

  I get the feeling she has some sort of mental issues. She's not just been appropriating black style and culture; she's been chronically lying about it. She claims a black man is her father. I've heard she's been pretending one of her adopted brothers is her son. She's fictitiously created her black "family" so her race won't be questioned. This seems pathological.

  Just a hunch, but with a name like Rachel and brothers with the names of Ezra and Isaiah, I'll bet this was a screwed up fundamentalist family. Adopting the younger children fits the pattern. I've seen a picture of her that looks as if she's wearing an old fashioned dress. I'll bet she is estranged from her parents for that reason. She grew up in a screwed up religious family and was mentally scarred by it. Another religious fatality.
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  90

  After 2 years my parents make contact. The end result is that I promise them to cryogenically preserve ONLY their heads

  by paulmolark in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  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.

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  GrreatTeacher

  Religion is my mother's drug of choice when she self-medicates the pain of her psychiatric condition that remains undiagnosed because she has convinced her doctor that she only has chronic depression.

  I'm sure this doctor has never heard the more sordid parts of my mother's story. I'm sure the doctor has no idea about the cult she's involved in either.

  I'm betting on borderline personality disorder combined with features of narcicism. Also, possibly bipolar disorder because when patients get manic, one of the symptoms can be hyperreligiosity.

  But, no, no, she has taken care of her mental health issues by seeing a psychiatrist who has diagnosed her simply with depression. So, she's all good, thank you. But, more importantly, let's talk to you daughter about your serious bipolar disorder diagnosis and all the medication you have to take to stay healthy. Such a shame, but it runs in the family, you know.

  Notice the complete lack of self blame for raising me in a toxic environment that likely set off whatever genetic predispisition I might have had. So, of course, there's no more work for her to do with a therapist because there's nothing wrong with her other than a touch of genetic depression.

  God only knows the omissions and lies and self-deceit involved in her doctor's visits.

  Frustrating because I've had to work very hard, for years for my sanity. And, I'm the one to be pitied?

  It's the smugness that drives me crazy. The attitude that Mom's got her life together, but daughter doesn't. Infuriating.

  Sorry to take over the thread, Paul. It just brings up so many bad memories of similar bad behavior on the part of my mother, with the religion enabling them.

  I just know that I wont tolerate bad behavior from her anymore, and I'm glad that you're not, either.
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  90

  After 2 years my parents make contact. The end result is that I promise them to cryogenically preserve ONLY their heads

  by paulmolark in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  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.

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  GrreatTeacher

  Yeah, because there were times my mother could be wonderful. We took many wonderful vacations. When we were small, we were like props to her play.

  When we became teenagers and she couldnt control us any more she got nastier. She told us she didn't like teenagers. Well, developmentally, teenagers start to separate from their parents and, as a narcissist, my mom thought every person in her life is there for her benefit.

  So, the act of growing up felt like a betrayal to her. And she treated us resentfully, trying to keep every last piece of control she could. She actually denied me a razor when I started growing hair under my arms. Because she wasn't ready for it.

  Oh, the crazy, so much crazy!
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  52

  i committed the unforgiveable sin

  by 060702015 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  everyday i wake up with knots in my stomach and trouble breathing.

  my life continues to go into a downward spiral.

  in the past, i had my dependence on god.

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  GrreatTeacher

  Welcome to the forum.

  We care about anybody and everybody who has been hurt by the Jehovah's Witness religion.

  We have been hurt as well, but have become stronger.

  You will too!
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  90

  After 2 years my parents make contact. The end result is that I promise them to cryogenically preserve ONLY their heads

  by paulmolark in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  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.

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  GrreatTeacher

  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.

  Eventually, I used her religion against her. I told the elders, excepting my father because I was tattling on him, the way my parents fought violently with each other and so they relieved my father of his position. My mother lost status in the congregation because her husband wasn't an elder anymore.

  So many memories. She once tied me up for some reason or another. My father came home from work and was livid when he found me tied to one of the kitchen chairs. She used my own jumprope. I was about 7.

  She had one of her rage attacks and I ran away after being screamed at for hours and hours. This enraged her even more, so she drove the car after me and yanked me into the car off the side of the road, ripping my clothes in the process. I was maybe 12. She couldn't stand not being in control.

  I locked myself in my room once and pushed the furniture up against the door. This enraged both of my parents. So, they took the door off the hinges. I jumped out the window and tried to run away. I didn't even get out of the yard when my father knocked me down to the ground. I screamed for help and he stuffed grass down my throat so the neighbors couldn't hear. I was about 14.

  My mother could no longer physically manhandle me, so my father took over. He was whacking me once when I was about 17. We were downstairs and I physically drug him upstairs trying to get away from him. He finally ended up slamming me against the kitchen counter repeatedly when I got away. I had a car by then and before I drove away, I told him if he ever touched me again I would call the police. The violence stopped then.

  And, they wondered why I left as soon as I could at age 19.

  But, boy, all sweetness and light at the meetings!
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  90

  After 2 years my parents make contact. The end result is that I promise them to cryogenically preserve ONLY their heads

  by paulmolark in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  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.

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  GrreatTeacher

  They call them the Dark Triad of personality disorders: psychopathy, narcissism and borderline personality disorder.

  My mother was likely borderline and there were lots of narcissistic traits, too. The rage was incredible. She could rage for hours, for whole days. My sister and I would huddle together at night while my mother and father screamed.

  She could turn it off like a faucet, though, if the phone rang. She would be so sweet.

  One event I remember unfolded when I was about 13. My best friend, who I was lucky enough to attend school with, had an unbelieving father. My mother always talked bad about him and how terrible unbelieving fathers were. So, I told my friend and after she continued saying these things and I continued telling my friend, my friend decided to tell her mother.

  Well, I'm sure you can understand how happy her mother was to hear that her husband was a terrible father, so she called my mother out on it. She literally called the house and confronted my mother and my mother denied it, sobbing and crying. Well, my mother was not used to getting called out on her bad behavior, so as soon as the phone was hung up, she called for me and hit me so hard upside the head I saw stars. Of course she screamed at me how terrible I was and how much of a liar I was. It was quite an ugly scene.

  The thing is, in her head, she never said those bad things. She was only commenting on the father's lack of faith and not saying he was a bad father. She is so freaking borderline or narcissistic or psychopathic that she lies to herself and believes her own lies!

  That's why these parents are extremely damaging to their children. They get their children to doubt their own reality. This is known as gaslighting. And it's beyond frustrating to a child who has no power. Because for the other half of the time, she's nice and she constantly compliments herself on her choice of career which was being a stay at home mom. So, mom ends up not being safe, physically and emotionally. And, that is job one for parents.

  So, paul, I'm not going to fault you for standing up to your bullying mother. These people are used to getting away with their crap, so calling them on their abusive behavior is pretty damn important in my book.