kgfreeperson

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Posts by kgfreeperson

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  9

  incidence of certain syndromes or diseases?

  by kgfreeperson in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have seen the study on an unusual percentage of schizophrenia cases coming to emergency rooms being jehovahs witnesses, but i wonder if there have been other studies on what diseases/syndromes jehovahs witnesses tend to have.

  i'm noticing, for example, a lot of fibromyalgia and depression, but i wonder if anyone has actually studied if the incidence is actually higher among jws than in the general population.

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  kgfreeperson

  Annanlas, I've seen lots of references to the two studies done in the mid-seventies (one in England and one in Australia) that indicated JWs have about twice the incidence of the kind of mental illnesses that bring people to mental hospitals than would be predicted by comparison with the population at large. When I have looked for newer studies and those considering other illnesses, all I find are anti-JW sites saying things like "studies have shown that JWs are much more likely . . . ." or "studies have shown that being a JW makes you mentally ill."
  
  I think medical understanding of mental illnesses such as all forms of schizophrenia is now that it is physiologically rather than environmentally based. But, some think, environment may cause the disease to be manifest (sort of like a person physically predisposed to acoholism, who never drinks will never become an alcoholic), but that most cases cannot be ascribed to environment.
  
  However, as I've read this site for a while now, I've noticed a lot of references to personal experience with depression, anxiety and various disorders that cause a lot of pain--such as fibromyalgia and migraine which may or may not be related to environment.
  
  So I am interested if anyone (maybe I should be looking at all cults rather than just JWs) has studied this in a disinterested way (just looking to see what is, rather than looking for proof--or at least suggestion--that being a JW significantly increases the chances for certain kinds of illnesses.)
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  9

  incidence of certain syndromes or diseases?

  by kgfreeperson in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have seen the study on an unusual percentage of schizophrenia cases coming to emergency rooms being jehovahs witnesses, but i wonder if there have been other studies on what diseases/syndromes jehovahs witnesses tend to have.

  i'm noticing, for example, a lot of fibromyalgia and depression, but i wonder if anyone has actually studied if the incidence is actually higher among jws than in the general population.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  kgfreeperson

  I have seen the study on an unusual percentage of schizophrenia cases coming to emergency rooms being Jehovahs Witnesses, but I wonder if there have been other studies on what diseases/syndromes Jehovahs Witnesses tend to have. I'm noticing, for example, a lot of fibromyalgia and depression, but I wonder if anyone has actually studied if the incidence is actually higher among JWs than in the general population.
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  6

  Dan Rather has done it before.

  by JeffT in

  1. social
  2. current

  http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/morse200409150552.asp

  the first rathergate

  the cbs anchor?s precarious relationship with the truth.

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  kgfreeperson

  National Review=Washington Times=Fox news
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  105

  I'm a Neutral Jehovah's Witness

  by Martini in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  dear brothers and sisters,.

  i martini, will confide in you that i have become a neutral jehovah's witness.

  i wonder if i'm not coining a new phrase here!.

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  kgfreeperson

  Actually, he last posted June 14, so he probably stops in every now and again and will be happy to see the topic he started continues to mean something to newer comers.
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  5

  thanks

  by sometimeleft in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i"m taking this time to thank all for welcoming me to the board.

  this is more welcome than i got at the kh on most occasion lol .

  i have lots to tell but don't know where to start -and don't tell me : " from the beginning " lol.

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  kgfreeperson

  You know, this makes absolute sense to me. The Watchtower knows that once someone has doubts, they are going to share those doubts with their "friends" if only to get an explanation and/or reassurance that things are really okay. The Watchtower also knows that things aren't okay and that if they don't insist on shunning, the doubt will sweep through congregations and, in no time, there will be no followers at all.
  
  And probably most JWs know that, too, so they are protecting themselves from the devastation of having someone point out how much of their lives they have wasted in service to a lie.
  
  This seems to me a self-limiting strategy, but does that mean The Watchtower will fall within 5 years or 50 now that there is the internet? Who knows, but I continue to believe as long as Scientology can find and keep believers, The Watchtower is safe.
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  31

  Watchtower Opts to Make Service Meetings Even Worse

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the recent august kingdom ministry contains instructions on deepening the ennui.

  and sophorific potential of service meetings.

  they are ordering that before the circuit.

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  kgfreeperson

  Circuit Assembly time is upon us, no? Can anyone point me to the schedule?
  
  Thanks!
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  33

  'Neath The Tower Of Fear: Video

  by Corvin in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i put this little video together to get my mind of recent events.

  it sort of expresses my disenchantment and awakening since leaving the organization.

  i hope you enjoy it.

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  kgfreeperson

  Watching that right after reading the Falling Man essay has just about done me in.
  
  Just adding my voice to the chorus of "that is one powerful piece of work!"
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  29

  JWs and 9/11

  by kgfreeperson in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i couldn't find anything using search, so maybe somebody just needs to point me in the right direction.

  but i don't remember any discussion about what jws thought was happening when planes started flying into buildings and the hysteria in the nation began to build.

  i do know about the reaction of the watchtower, locking their doors against people in need.

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  kgfreeperson

  Again, I am just struck by how much the actual event resembled the illustrations in various Watchtower publications and yet no one appears to have been even momentarily convinced that they'd been right after all!
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  29

  JWs and 9/11

  by kgfreeperson in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i couldn't find anything using search, so maybe somebody just needs to point me in the right direction.

  but i don't remember any discussion about what jws thought was happening when planes started flying into buildings and the hysteria in the nation began to build.

  i do know about the reaction of the watchtower, locking their doors against people in need.

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  kgfreeperson

  I'm sorry. My response must have seemed very rude. For some reason, the responses were not coming up so I was responding to blondie's first posting of the Watchtower response.
  
  Sorry.
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  29

  JWs and 9/11

  by kgfreeperson in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i couldn't find anything using search, so maybe somebody just needs to point me in the right direction.

  but i don't remember any discussion about what jws thought was happening when planes started flying into buildings and the hysteria in the nation began to build.

  i do know about the reaction of the watchtower, locking their doors against people in need.

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  kgfreeperson

  And that's it? This is fascinating to me. There was no buzz in the congregations? No nothing? I'm getting the feeling that no one else is surprised by this which indicates what I thought I understood, I don't understand, about how JWs keep themselves on edge about the end being near. Soon. Does anyone have anytheories?