we are up for a new kind of persecution in the future.
a new form that was unheard of for us.
in australia, disfellowshipped and dissasociated are planning on suing jw for emotional and mental hardship for being cast out completely.
Oh what horrible persecution that the WBTS could get sued for causing psychological harm by d'fing and shunning people and that they may have to put aside prejudice and perform gay marriages. So shocking! Poor Possums!
Where do these guys get off! This mentality is sooo f##ked up. But the r&f will lap it up. Them playing the victim makes me so angry.
here's a click to the cultic studies journalissue concerning jw women.
[url] http://www.csj.org/pub_csj/csj_vol14_no1_97/abs_wifely.htm#top[/url]
Oh crap - I just saw that Brian's one and only post was three years ago so not much chance he will see my post. TG-Jasper - thanks for bumping this important thread.
here's a click to the cultic studies journalissue concerning jw women.
[url] http://www.csj.org/pub_csj/csj_vol14_no1_97/abs_wifely.htm#top[/url]
Hi Brian - I see you have been lurking for 4 years and this is the first time you have had the courage to post. So well done and a belated welcome!
But please don't just parrot what the organisation tells you to think and say - start thinking for yourself.
Look around the congregation and observe the women - try and look behind the happy mask and see how things really are for them. Women have no status and no authority in the organisation (though elders wives try to do so through their husbands). They are second class citizens and those like my wife who have UBMs are lower still. As for psychological damage the organisation has caused my wife - it is palpable - low self-esteem, depression and anxiety. I believe that women may be more susceptible to the guilt and shame that the WBTS peddles as its stock in trade.
I spend a lot of time trying to help my wife with her self-esteem that has been so badly damaged by growing up in the oppressive environment you know of as 'The Truth'.
Get out of denial and open your mind and maybe you might even start to see clearly for the first time in your life. Good luck
Cheers Fraz
i had my first real birthday party yesterday.
call me an irredeemable pagan, but i was massively excited about this, the whole thing was very special, i got a little emotional and i think my friends must have found it a little strange but it was just nice to be creature worshipped.
when i was a child my parents always used to tell people i didn't miss out by not celebrating my birthday but i did miss out.
Happy Birthday Laika! I am glad you enjoyed your first celebration.
i try ... i really try to watch football (soccer) ... it's world cup time ... i really do try.. i just don't get it ... i really don't.. yes, it's a world-wide sport.
in most countries it is the number 1 or number 2 sport ... no doubt about it.
it's maybe number 5 in the usa for professional sports.. from an american's perspective (i think i speak for many), we just wonder if these guys actually have testicles.
Arguing about which sport is best is an exercise in futility because it is so cultural based but what the hell I will join in. I grew up playing football but it bores me to tears to watch on tv (watching an EPL or La Liga game is something entirely different because of the atmosphere which is amazing) because there is so much build up and so little fulfilment (goals being scored) which I think explains hooliganism (it is an expression of the pent up frustration). My preferred sport is rugby - lots of physcial collisions without the stage acting injuries - but the same level of stamina and athleticism (not so stop and start like American fooball) and a decent amount of scoring and mucher higher levels of respect for the referees. No hooliganism because the violence is all on the field. The problem with rugby is that it is very technical and so not accessible to those who have not been brought up on it and so it is not apparent to those who are unfamilair with it, what is going on and why players are doing what they are doing (football is much easier to understand in this regard). Decision making (that is the exercise of the right option from a large range) in a split second in rugby is important and udnerstanding how that works is one of the things that makes the game interesting.
how time flies......... ..... and armageddon still hasn't come..
Happy anniversary - I like your low key approach
take this 72 yes/no question test to find out.. http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp.
It is striking how many Apostates are Ns. To venture a speculative theory about why that may be the case, I wonder wheterh the ability to tap into one's intuition about something being wrong with life as a Witness and what the WBTS teaches is important in learning TTATT.
take this 72 yes/no question test to find out.. http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp.
I am also ENTP like cofty. I also did it years ago and got the same result. While Myers/Brigg is accepted as a useful tool, it is not scientific in the sense it is not based on experoimental research. It is more something that was developed based on intuition that is now widely accepted as having some validity. Its main useful is as a tool to show that we all have different preferences in how to do things and interact and that by understanding this it can reduce our sense that there is something wrong with people who don't think, act or interact in the same way we do. There is anothe similar tool called DISC which divides people up into Dominant, Inspirational, (I don't remember what S stands for) and Compliant. I guess most active JWs would fall into the C category. I think I read somewhere that members of a cult have almost identical Myers/Briggs profiles but when tested before joining or after leaving the cult they have very different profiles which sort of makes sense.
i took up cycing a couple of months ago just to get fitter and lose a bit of excess weight.. i bought a second-hand hybrid bike (weighs only slightly less than a truck) and fitted road tyres.
four or five times a week i will go for a ride after work for an hour or so.
i am fortunate enough to live in rural north england surrounded by limitless quiet roads.
Also I did a 4 day cycling trip with my elder son on the West Coast of Ireland in June 2012 - beautiful scenery but two days spent cycling in driving rain detracted from the enjoyment a bit. It makes you enjoy the pub for lunch and at the end of the day that much more enjoyable. Also did a 6 day cycling trip in the Cotswolds in 2009 which was also very nice. It is a great way to spend a holiday. I also have bad knees (too much running and rugby) so can't jog for exercise any more hence the reason I got into cycling.
i took up cycing a couple of months ago just to get fitter and lose a bit of excess weight.. i bought a second-hand hybrid bike (weighs only slightly less than a truck) and fitted road tyres.
four or five times a week i will go for a ride after work for an hour or so.
i am fortunate enough to live in rural north england surrounded by limitless quiet roads.
Nice photos cofty - As I live in South London I do most of my cycling in the North Downs around Biggins Hill. It is lovely that within 20 minutes of being on my bike I am out of the burbs in a rural idyll. Unfortuantley family responsiblities mean that I don't get out nearly as much as I should. I did a 100Km Sportivo last year which included Box Hill. Very hard but also very satisfying - we finished with a racing lap of the old Olympic Velodrome at Herne Hill. Cheers Fraz
