aarque

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Posts by aarque

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  155

  Whats the dumbest reason youve been counseled?

  by avishai in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  my friend was counseled for having a bad attitude because he wore white socks w/ his suit.

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  aarque

  The first time I was six years old and couldn't stay awake during a Service meeting that ran past my bedtime. The PO told me that I was going to die at Armageddon if I didn't pay attention during the meetings.

  In my teens I was talking to a young man my age before a meeting. It just so happened that at the previous meeting a single sister had been DF'd for being pregnant. I was pulled aside by the PO and told that if I didn't watch my step I would end up the same way.

  Years later a MS told me that "all married women should wear girdles". I was a good dub and didn't say anything, but it was on the tip of my tongue to say, "what's a married man like you doing looking at other women that way?"

  I left a couple of years later and never looked back.
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  46

  What song is stuck in your head?

  by El Kabong in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  .

  today, for some reason, i've had the kinks tune victoria stuck in my head.

  what songs are stuck in your head tonight?

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  aarque

  "Nobody's gonna break my stride...nobody's gonna slow me down...oh no..I've got to keep a-moving.."

  I don't remember who did this, but it kept me going while working full time and pursuing a BA part-time (which I earned in June 2001). It still haunts me.
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  2

  A second abuse charge

  by aarque in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i guess this speaks for itself.

  minister charged with child rape .

  jehovah's witnesses member accused of 1970s sex assaults .

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  aarque

  I guess this speaks for itself

  Minister charged with child rape Jehovah's Witnesses member accused of 1970s sex assaults By JOAO FERREIRA, Standard-Times staff writer This story appeared on Page A3 of The Standard-Times on January 3, 2003.

  
  

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  38

  Were you born into the jw faith?

  by nakedmvistar in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  how many of you on this forum were born into the jw faith?

  do you think this put you at a disadvantage when leaving the org.

  do you think that someone who becomes a witness later in life would have an easier time adjusting back to a "normal" life?

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  aarque

  I was born and raised a JW. Because my dad was not a believer, my mom and the five of us were treated differently by the PO than were families who were not "divided households". I could never accept the fact that my dad, who taught us about honesty and respect, worked hard all his life and supported us the best he could, rarely drinks, has never looked at another woman, has been by mom's side for more than 55 years will die at Armageddon because he is not a JW. More than 20 years ago, I was having a problem and went to the elders for help. They ignored me. I did a fade and they never bothered to contact me. My siblings are no longer members, either. My mom doesn't get around very well any more and seldom attends meetings. The elders never call on her, have never made arrangements for someone to pick her up so she can attend; no one bothers. She has been a JW for over 50 years.
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  89

  What does everyone here DO anyway?

  by In_between_days in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi everyone,.

  i am a new poster who is putting off their own personal story of finding this site for a while..... i find alot of people here utterly fascinating, and would like to know..... exactly what is everyones professional field of work?.

  i would like to be a full time poster on this forum, but alas, the $$$$ are quite light in that field of work.. apologies if this has been asked before.. just curious.

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  aarque

  I've been working in a bookie joint for more than thirty years...

  OK..OK.. I'm a librarian...

  When I first started to work in 1971, a MS approached me and said that I should refuse to find books for patrons if the topic violated JW principles, such as pro-abortion....another JW would make sure I was on the desk when she returned her overdue materials then refused to pay the fines she owed, saying it was "unChristian" of me to ask her for money. So, I began to "tag" her library registration card for the amount owed...over a period of time, it amounted to nearly $10...when it was time to renew her library card, she had to pay the the fines first before she could get a new one. She stomped off when I reminded her to "pay back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar".
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  57

  Where did you meet the love of your life?

  by Beck_Melbourne in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in yahoo chat?

  icq or msn?.

  while shopping?

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  aarque

  We met in a chat room in 1998 and met in person six months later. I was working full time and finishing up my BA part time. He waited two years and never complained. I graduated in June 2001, retired from my job in July, moved to upstate NY and we were married on August 11. He is an incredible person;I wish I had met him twenty years ago.
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  10

  Dumb Counsel

  by WildTurkey in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  what was the dumbest counsel you ever received?

  once an elder was at my house and saw the video beauty and the beast, he said you should throw that away, because it promotes bestiality.

  he got upset with me, because i just could not stop laughing.

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  aarque

  This happened more than twenty years ago, but it still rankles. There was a MS who would always give me that "look" even though we were both married. One day he pulled me aside and said "All married sisters should wear a girdle" I just walked away...but should have told him the first thing that came to mind: "Why is a married man like you looking at other women that way?" I faded away not too long after this incident. A few years ago I ran across him in a store; he smiled and looked me up and down, being very obvious. I gave him a look of disgust, then left the store.
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  41

  Where Would You Live If You Could???

  by LB in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have been many places.

  a few years ago i left california to move to oregon so life could slow down a bit.

  it has and i love it here.

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  aarque

  I lived in a coastal southern New England city of about 98000 all my life (forty something years) until last summer when I moved to the Adirondacks to marry a 'mountain man'. I love it up here....clean water, clean air, never lock the door,isolated village life (population 850). I now live an hour from the rest of the world and am right where I want to be.
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  13

  Childhood memories of the "Truth"

  by sleepy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  can you remmember any of the things you got up to or happened to you when you were a child growing up in the "truth"?.

  i remmeber once in a meeting throwing up all over an elderly sister.. also i remmeber the time when we were playing out side and there was this kid most of us didn't like, and a wall that had a very rought surface to it.boy and wall meet , blood goes every ware, parents run outside and panic.. the rest of us laught.. how about the rules you had to follow?.

  me and my brother were banned from drawing while the meeting was on.. that probably because we used to draw over all the walls.. also i remmember my dad smaking us before we went to the meeting , just incase we did something wrong.. yes it was different being a watchtower kid.

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  aarque

  This happened more than 40 years ago, but for me it was like it happened yesterday. The Ministry School/Service Meeting was on Friday nights and ran way past my normal bedtime. I was about six years old, and couldn't sit through the two plus hours after a full day of school. I was restless and my older sisters kept nudging me with their elbows, trying to make me sit still. After the meeting was over, the presiding overseer came up to me and said that if I didn't learn to sit still during the meetings, then I would die at Armageddon. Pictures of Armageddon from the Paradise book flashed through my head. After we finally got home and went to bed, there was a huge thunderstorm. I was petrified--I thought for sure I was going to die. For years afterwards I was terrified of electrical storms. My mom never knew why. (She wasn't at that Friday meeting, and didn't know the overseer had spoken to me) I finally told her about it a few years ago. She was shocked and told me had she known, she would have confronted the overseer.
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  23

  hello all--new to board; my story

  by razorMind in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hello everyone...hope all are having a great holiday season.. ***warning--kind of long***.

  i am 31 and have been "out" for an undetermined # of years...probably starting as soon as i moved out of the house at age 23. i just "drifted away".. i was born into the jw faith.

  my parents remain devout and "zealous" to this day.

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  aarque

  I've been lurking here a while. I was raised a JW but faded away when in my twenties. I always wanted to to go to college, but other things came first, until I found myself in an operating room facing cancer. That was my wakeup call. Six months later, I registered at a local community college. It took nine years of part time classes, but I stuck with it and received my AA in 1996. It took another five years of studying and attending classes part time at the local university, but this past June I walked across the stage to receive my BA magna cum laude. Yes,at first there were times I felt as if I were doing something wrong; there were times I thought "the end" would be here before I finished. My mom, bless her heart, even though still a JW, encouraged me. My advice: Do it. Go to school. Working full time and taking classes part time is tough...I can tell you from first hand personal experience. Sure, it took me 14 years to do it. When I received my degree I was a month shy of my 48th birthday. But, I stuck with it. Don't let anything stand in your way of what you want to do. I always remember the words of Langston Hughes: Hold on to your dreams/For if dreams die/Life is a broken-winged bird/That cannot fly