talesin

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Posts by talesin

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  12

  How did you find the truth? - the loaded question.

  by user100 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  had dinner this weekend with a jw family and met a bunch of new jws.

  one of them who was not very talkative at all and out of the blue asked me how i found "the truth".

  i answered how my family has always been starting with my great grandfather.. then he clarified his question.. he said something about how this is a great question and people always talk about their spiritual heritage.

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  talesin

  To the OP.

  Perhaps your friend has an emotional need that is not being met. He may have problems you are not aware of, and is seeking an anchor in life. This is often how the JWS win adult converts. They are taught to 'comfort those in need', to preach at prisons and nursing homes.

  When someone may be bereft of family, or has endured great loss, or suffering due to poverty, illness (including addiction), they may be easily enticed by the love bombing and great display of brotherly love (excuse me, I just threw up in my mouth a little). They are unaware of the severe consequences of shunning for the most minor infraction (depending on who you know), etc.

  Does that help you wrap your head around it any better?
  
  My former comment was a bit wry, but truthfully, I think there may be more going on with your friend. Perhaps s/he could really use a listening ear at this time.

  xo

  All the best with it. There are more folks here, who can give you some really good insights, so let's keep this bumped.

  :sunglasses:
  
• 
  12

  How did you find the truth? - the loaded question.

  by user100 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  had dinner this weekend with a jw family and met a bunch of new jws.

  one of them who was not very talkative at all and out of the blue asked me how i found "the truth".

  i answered how my family has always been starting with my great grandfather.. then he clarified his question.. he said something about how this is a great question and people always talk about their spiritual heritage.

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  talesin

  I got really sick after my friend hung himself (he was gay, a cross-dresser, and a born-in JW), and was in a coma-like state for several months.
  
  When I recovered, I realized I had discovered the Truth! The JWS had been lying to me all my life, and there was no capacity within me, to live a lie. Within a month, I had been evicted from my parents' home, had a job, my own apartment, and a new, albeit solitary, life. I was 18.

  :)
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  50

  How do Americans feel about Canadians and Britons interjecting their opinions onto hot localized political topics: gun laws, abortion, ect?

  by adjusted knowledge in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in addition to the above question, why do citizens of the two above mentioned countries, or other countries, feel the necessity to tell americans how they should interpret the american constitution for localized issues?.

  i fairly much have an idea what the general population in the usa feels in regards to the first question.

  this could be one of the possible reasons cnn piers morgan poor ratings and eventual firing.

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  talesin

  ^^^ everything Max Divergent said. :)
• 
  14

  Living in the era of "Generation Me"

  by campaign of hate in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this really got to me today at the wt study.. i am not ashamed to admit, i am part of that "generation".. you get one role of the dice in this life, you got to take what you can now, in order to have a good quality life later.. i agree, we need to help and show love to our fellow man.

  but, not when this becomes the priority above our own needs, wants and aspirations.. welcome to "generation me" wt, this is my time.. peace out..

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  talesin

  Indeed jwfacts!

  Fear

  Obligation

  Guilt

  wash, rinse, repeat!

  Flag Dislike Like
  

  
  LOL LOL LOL !!!!!
• 
  14

  Living in the era of "Generation Me"

  by campaign of hate in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this really got to me today at the wt study.. i am not ashamed to admit, i am part of that "generation".. you get one role of the dice in this life, you got to take what you can now, in order to have a good quality life later.. i agree, we need to help and show love to our fellow man.

  but, not when this becomes the priority above our own needs, wants and aspirations.. welcome to "generation me" wt, this is my time.. peace out..

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  talesin

  They are, of course, recycling an old phrase that someone else invented. My generation, the Baby Boomers, was dubbed the "Me Generation", and I well remember the WTS railing on about the selfishness of this 'generation' when I was young.

  from Wiki:
  
  

  The "Me" generation in the United States is a term referring to the Baby Boomer generation and the self-involved qualities that some people associated with it. The Baby Boomers (Americans born during the 1946 to 1964 Baby boom) were dubbed the Me generation by writer Tom Wolfe during the 1970s; Christopher Lasch was another writer who commented on the rise of a culture of narcissism among the younger generation.[1] The phrase caught on with the general public, at a time when "self-realization" and "self-fulfillment" were becoming cultural aspirations among young people, who considered them far more important than social responsibility.

  
  

  So, don't feel so bad - they hate ALL young people who want to have a life!

  
  

  xx

  tal

  
  
• 
  55

  Are we pro-shunning or against it?

  by Simon in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  just to continue my theme about religious freedom and how we approach criticizing the wts, i've also been thinking about 'shunning'.. i think shunning is the most unifying complaint that most ex-members of religious groups that practice it have in common.

  it is the layer that runs under every other complaint - whatever the reason for leaving it seems "... and i was shunned" can be added to it as the final rap on the charge sheet.. of course it seems like a no-brainer to many of us and we hardly ever stop to really think about it - shunning is bad, the watchtower believes in shunning therefore the watchtower is bad.

  they need to stop it.

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  talesin

  To address the OP and this:

  For the record, I think shunning is wrong except for cases when the person should probably be removed from society as a whole (making their shunning largely irrelevant) and it demonstrates that any group who does it fundamentally knows their beliefs are weak and cannot stand up to any questions.

  Asked and answered. Even people who commit heinous crimes against humanity (eg, sociopaths who are obviously unhinged) have family members who accept their mental illness and still love them, may communicate with them either in person or through other means.

  Shunning in the JW sense is more akin to (imo) the practice of making someone an outcast, and leaving them alone, in the wilderness, to fend for themselves, merely for disagreeing with the group-think.

  So, on two points, I say the argument is moot, before it gets started, points being;

  a) comparing people who are mentally deranged and need to be isolated for the safety of others, to 'innocents' who are outcast for no good reason, is 'apples and oranges'

  b) even the above 'mentally deranged' usually have family that support and love them.

  
  

  Succinct and to the point. Big scores in the TMS. Just kidding! It's only my 2 pence.
  

  :P

  tal (imagine smiley with sunglasses, I'm TTTC)
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  16

  Don't you just love a great quote?

  by stillin in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have seen a few here on this forum.

  i just came across on in a book i'm reading that i thought i would share with you, appropriate to the forum.. "men think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one".

  charles mackay in extraordinary popular delusions and the madness of crowds (1841).

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  talesin

  And one of his students, Walt Whitman, said this, and it is imprinted on my soul.  From "Leaves of Grass":

  “re-examine all you have been told in school or church or in any book, and dismiss whatever insults your own soul; and your very flesh shall be a great poem, and have the richest fluency, not only in its words, but in the silent lines of its lips and face, and between the lashes of your eyes, and in every motion and joint of your body."
• 
  16

  Don't you just love a great quote?

  by stillin in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have seen a few here on this forum.

  i just came across on in a book i'm reading that i thought i would share with you, appropriate to the forum.. "men think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one".

  charles mackay in extraordinary popular delusions and the madness of crowds (1841).

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  talesin

  And Walt Whitman, a student/contemporary of the great RWE ,,,,,,,

  
  

  “re-examine all you have been told in school or church or in any book, and dismiss whatever insults your own soul; and your very flesh shall be a great poem, and have the richest fluency, not only in its words, but in the silent lines of its lips and face, and between the lashes of your eyes, and in every motion and joint of your body."

  
  

  
  
• 
  50

  How do Americans feel about Canadians and Britons interjecting their opinions onto hot localized political topics: gun laws, abortion, ect?

  by adjusted knowledge in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in addition to the above question, why do citizens of the two above mentioned countries, or other countries, feel the necessity to tell americans how they should interpret the american constitution for localized issues?.

  i fairly much have an idea what the general population in the usa feels in regards to the first question.

  this could be one of the possible reasons cnn piers morgan poor ratings and eventual firing.

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  talesin

  To answer the OP "Who cares?"  :P  

  
  

  
  

  (JUST KIDDING!)

  
  

  But seriously folks, if Americans want to preach that they are the bestest, and they are running the world ,,,,,,,, well, if you can't take the heat, stay out of the kitchen!  

  
  

  xoxo

  
  I rarely give any opinions about that particular subject in this forum, I mean, it's the INTERNET, why bother?  It's not like we are a close, intimate group, and political discussions can be civil.  Flame wars are so *yawn* ......... 

  
  

  Do I care about America's actions on the world scene?  Hell YAH, what YOUR country does,. affects us all.

  
  

  Do I think it's my business, about your President's and their pecadillos?  Your scandals and race wars?  Nah,,, as long as you keep it at home - HAVE AT IT!  
  
  When you start sending my fellow Canadians to Syrian torturers, yes, THEN I will speak up.  

  
  

  Let Monsanto destroy YOUR crops, let Coca Cola give YOUR kids diabetes.  Keep your cultural imperialism at home, and stop saying you're the "BEST" and the "SMARTEST".  
  

  
  

  When I think of American Exceptionalism, I think .........  Seriously?  Really?

  
  

  lol, and peace, love and happiness to you!

  
  

  t 

  
  
• 
  16

  Don't you just love a great quote?

  by stillin in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have seen a few here on this forum.

  i just came across on in a book i'm reading that i thought i would share with you, appropriate to the forum.. "men think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one".

  charles mackay in extraordinary popular delusions and the madness of crowds (1841).

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  talesin

  “The sun illuminates only the eye of the man, but shines into the eye and the heart of the child.”

  
  ― Ralph Waldo Emerson