Posts by Gollum

132

I have a hard time blaming the Watchtower

by spiritwalker in

jw
friends

" if the watchtower said it, and the men on the platform preached it, then it must have been true.

so it was very hard to accept as an adult, that they were wrong.

i blame myself.

Gollum

To a certain extent, my take is that ?S**t happens?.

Even if we are born into the WTBS (like I was) so what? People are born into worse situations every day. So my folks had some wacky believes that caused me in many ways to ?waste? most of my young adult life. So what? I was also born to a poor Idaho stump farming family. That probably affected my life more in some ways. And what affected my life the most was that I was born into a loving, caring family. Loving, caring families happen everywhere and don?t happen everywhere. That?s the luck of the draw.

While I think it can be said that there is a certain level of coercion involved in being a dub, the same thing can be said of any social construct, including society in general. Most of the time, and for most of the people, we sleepwalk within these constraints, hardly aware of them. They are as invisible to us as the air we breath. That's why there are many happy witnesses. We accept them as the natural order, that it?s just the way things work. Occasionally we look up and discover that perhaps the emperor has no clothes and can no longer sleep walk thru our previous constraints and start to push back at them.

Now, having said that, there is more coercion in dubland than say the ?average? modern day Catholic, but we are not talking Jim Jones here either. People overcome worse stuff every day. Our situation is hardly unique.

25

Did doctrine matter to you? Does it matter to most dubs now?

by nicolaou in

minimus started a great thread a few days ago asking what was "it" that finally made you leave the "truth"?.

the replies showed that, for the most part, it was the unloving, uncaring attitude displayed by most of the 'brothers & sisters' - elders particularly.

some posters even made the point that this lack of love drove them out despite them harbouring fears that they might actually be leaving the truth.

Gollum

As a born and raised third generation, I'd have to say it was doctrine that did it for me, though somewhat indirectly.

I always thought some of the doctrinal issues were silly, such as the plauges of Revelation being Assemblies in Cedar Point in the twenties that nobody cared about. However, I don't think this is at all unusual among faithful witnesses, including Elders, CO's and DO's. It's just never talked about.

However, that didn't bother me. Every belief system has some weirdness that you have to live with. What got me was gaining an understanding of some of the orginal intent and methodology of who and how the bible was written. That and realizing that it was just another mythology system. I just couldn't fake it anymore.

I always got along with most of the people.

15

Is a University or College education still frowned upon today?

by Richie in

jw
friends

after about 8 months of "silence", i took the initiative to visit my daughter, who is an active jw - i wanted to see her, as i bought some good nutritional supplements which i wanted to give to her for her children.

she was kind but somewhat distant - we embraced each other and then talked a little bit about non-essential things.

she showed me my granddaughter, who is about 10 months old - very cute and so pretty.

Gollum

I also remember a drama from the late 70's or early 80's that was pretty hardcore about how evil college was. Seems like they came on real strong in that situation, since a drama is not in print, thus giving them "plausible deniability"

If I remember correctly, the horrible, horrible outcome for the bad boy going to college is that he decided to become a playwright. You'd thought he was sacrificing children to Bael right there on the stage, the way it was presented.

I thought it was a bit ironic at the time, considering the fact that the drama could have really used a playwright. Sort of like the Awake condemming someone who went to school to write.....oh never mind, that's also too ironic to consider.

35

Avoiding df by threatening suicide!

by avishai in

jw
friends

i have heard the rumor more than once that people have avoided df'ing by threatening to kill themselves if they are df'd.

has anyone else heard of this?

Gollum

Stacy,

HMB was interesting. Very close knit, yet as far as hall's go, some more relaxed people. Probably going there, and then back up to North Seattle by the UW with the students kept me in longer than I would have otherwise, which of course, is a bad thing.

There were a few people that were pretty cool in HMB, but of course, as always, that was offset by some wacko's. My problem was that I could always ignore/filter out the wackos pretty well, so I hung in there a lot longer than I should have.

Which brings up an interesting point. I think I see some difference between those that were able to filter their reality a bit, and those that couldn't. I'm not sayin one is better than the other, but it seems that it is a difference in how long people hang around.

35

Avoiding df by threatening suicide!

by avishai in

jw
friends

i have heard the rumor more than once that people have avoided df'ing by threatening to kill themselves if they are df'd.

has anyone else heard of this?

Gollum

I know of one case in the North Seattle area (same area as Mulan) where this worked. That was due to a previous sucide after a DF, and if you threatened it in that same hall, and kowtowed to the elders, you could pretty much get away with anything.

Speaking of location based specifics, Stacy, I saw in another posting that you were in Pacifica. Before I moved back to Seattle and did my fade, I was in the HMB hall (which pretty much gives away my ID, but I've decided I just don't much care anymore)

Gollum

52

Single and Happy

by RubyTuesday in

can people be single and happy?

the older i get the more i believe that being single is the way to go.there are so many advantages.just to name a few;.

you can finish that college degree, go to the neighborhood bar anytime, do charity work, join a night class, stay out all night, flirt with anybody you please.

Gollum

"Statistics show that married people live longer"

Actually, it just seems that way to them.

33

New "Most Wanted" Cards Issued

by ThiChi in

jw
friends

the ace of spades is none other than french prime minister chirac, saddam husseins partner in crime of 30 years, and includes his most infamous quote: our position is no matter what the circumstances, france will vote 'no.

' the washington times new revelation that france helped saddams top goons escape shows just how relevant and useful this deck is.

the deck of weasels also includes many other notables, weasels such as nafta partners vicente fox of mexico and jean chretien of canada, and others in our own senate such as teddy kennedy and robert kkk byrd.

Gollum

Oh, I much prefer the Bill Bennett playing cards

36

Hands up those who don't give a rats arse about religion / spirituality.

by Holey_Cheeses*King_of_the juice. in

jw
friends

.

is it just me, or there others who have no room for religion in their lives?.

i appreciate that others are entitled to their beliefs and opinions concerning such beliefs, but i am amazed at the number of posters, who, after years of being oppressed and mislead by religion, still manage to garner some sense from the whole notion of god / religion / spirituality.. cheeses the cynic.

Gollum

Short answer: Currently could care less about either right now.

Long answer: At the moment, I am so burned out on both that I don't think my brain could handle any new infection. My immune system for these sorts of beliefs is on high alert at the moment.

Now, having said that, I could sort of imagine looking into some spirtual topics in a few years, probably more eastern in flavor than Judeo/Christian. The rational part of my brain would try to prevent it, but I find the rational part of my brain (as I suspect is true with many people) is a thin layer sitting on top of a deep, dark cesspool of irrational fears and believes.

On the topic of religion, never again. Though I will say there seems to be a strong need for people to belong to something bigger than themselves. I think adherence to a cause(for those on the left,mostly), and certainly the nationalistic fervor (for those on the right, mostly) that we see so many people adopting is a form of religion. And I sometimes wish they would go back to religion, instead of worshipping the state. At least there was the possibility of some counterbalance and tension between the church and the state. When you combine the two, you end up with people doing terrible things to other people for all the right reasons.

30

Burial or Cremation?

by Francois in

jw
friends

i got the idea for this thread from one jessika posted and which contained a response from dede.. which form of final resting place do you prefer and why?

personally, i want to be cremated and have my ashes scattered at a particular place on the beach on deserted st. catherine's island, a barrier island on the georgia coast.

my children could get there by boat (the only way) and visit my spirit there - even though i know my spirit won't be there, i believe that somehow i will know they're there and what they're saying.. being buried in a box six feet under to lie in the same position througout all eternity doesn't appeal to me in the least.

Gollum

I can only go along with John Prine on this subject, especially the part about my stomach.

Lyrics

Please Don't Bury Me Down in the Cold Cold Ground by John Prine Woke up this morning, Put on my slippers, Walked in the kitchen and died. And, oh, what a feeling! When my soul went through the ceiling And on up into heaven I did rise. When I got there they did say, "John, it happened this-a-way, You slipped upon the floor and hit your head, And all the angels say, just before you passed away, these were the very last words that you said:" Please don't bury me down in the cold cold ground, No, I don't wanna have them cut me up and pass me all around. Throw my brain in a hurricane, and the blind can have my eyes, And the deaf can take both o'my ears if they don't mind the size. Give my stomach to Milwaukee if they run out of beer, Put my socks in a cedar box, just get 'em outa here! Venus de Milo can have my arms, look out, I've got your nose, Sell my art to the junk man, and give my love to Rose. Please don't bury me down in the cold cold ground, No, I don't wanna have them cut me up and pass me all around. Throw my brain in a hurricane, and the blind can have my eyes, And the deaf can take both o'my ears if they don't mind the size. Give my feet to the footloose, careless, fancy-free, Give my knees to the needy, don't pull that stuff on me, Hand me down my walking cane, it's a sin to tell a lie, Send my mouth way down south, and kiss my ass goodbye. Please don't bury me down in the cold cold ground, No, I don't wanna have them cut me up and pass me all around. Throw my brain in a hurricane, and the blind can have my eyes, And the deaf can take both o'my ears if they don't mind the size.

112

I'm Done With This Site

by LB in

jw
friends

back when i joined the site i had lots of concerns and i was given some great advice by some special people here.

i'll miss you.

but the time has come for me to move on.

Gollum

Don't Go!!!

I've been waiting for you to mention when you were going to be up at Edmonds diving again!! I go there all the time to dive and wanted to see if you wanted to hook up next time you were up! I think a couple of the Ling Cod down there are thinking about studying and we need to talk them out of it!

Gollum