i have been searching the net for some excellent sites on the masons.
this past weekend we went down to nc for a wedding and my wife and i broke the news to our nonjw family that we were no longer involved with jw.
i could not believe the open arm welcome my uncle and aunt were almost in tears- they told us we have seen you come home each yr from the main office in ny and then you got married and you would come home and we wanted to say something about the jw but you seemed to be so well respected by the local jw - whenever we would tell folks that our newphew was up in ny- the jw would get all excited- they told us they thought it was so sad for i only made $90 a month.
Big Tex
holy smoke!
That's the first 'real' information I have heard on Masons (ie, an eye-witness account). You have lots of courage. Thank you for sharing, man. It's a good thing to do; secrets can be so destructive, especially when they are wrapped up in little kids' heads.
Cheers to ya!!!
tal
one day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name.
then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down.
it took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.
teejay
What a great story, it's always good to be reminded of how special each moment, each person is.
When I did crisis intervention training, we were each given a large envelope that was thumb-tacked to the wall for the duration of the course (6 weeks). There were about a dozen of us in the class. Every week, we put a good thought about each of the others into her envelope (it was training for a rape line, so we were all wommyn). At the end of the course, we each had something positive to turn to when we might be feeling kinda useless and burnt-out after a particularly distressing call. Something to remind us of the good qualities that others see in us. I still have my envelope, just like the folks in the story, but haven't looked in it for a few years. Think I'll go dig it up.
Thanks for reminding me of this, teejay. I could use it right now.
You folk here are great! I'm happy I finally hooked up with some fellow exJWs and no longer have to feel like 'the only one I know'.
tal
my little girl goes to a babysitter 3 days a week.
she is 2 and the other little girl is 3. they were talking about their daddy's.
so they asked the babysitter where her daddy was.
sally
You lost your grandma - please accept my condolences. I miss both of mine very much, it's a special kind of love they give.
It's amazing how the little ones have such simple clarity about these issues. Just 'go fix grandma'.
As for going to Karen's when we die, well, hmm, ahh, we'll probably never know where that came from! I can bet Teryn was just too cute and serious in her telling of this. Very matter-of-fact, no big deal. I could picture it as I was reading yr story. Children, they're so great!
take care
tal
i've been thinking about writing this letter since my other step son...sean...went to visit his dad at the beginning of the summer...the good jw dad saw his son for a total of 3 hours out of the week he was there.. bxxxy, my step son who is still a slave witness told sean...who is attending classes to become a catholic...that the catholic church taught that jw's will go to hell.
here's the letter i've finally responded with...i haven't sent it yet...you can make suggestions...which i can reject if i wish.. sean mentioned to me that you said something to him on his last visit that has me a little concerned.
ive thought long and hard about writing this letter and decided (finally) to go ahead and write it and send it.. .
sorry, double post
i've been thinking about writing this letter since my other step son...sean...went to visit his dad at the beginning of the summer...the good jw dad saw his son for a total of 3 hours out of the week he was there.. bxxxy, my step son who is still a slave witness told sean...who is attending classes to become a catholic...that the catholic church taught that jw's will go to hell.
here's the letter i've finally responded with...i haven't sent it yet...you can make suggestions...which i can reject if i wish.. sean mentioned to me that you said something to him on his last visit that has me a little concerned.
ive thought long and hard about writing this letter and decided (finally) to go ahead and write it and send it.. .
Actual or implied threats of shunning him are emotional blackmail. I’m not saying YOU’VE done this…but I’ve seen it in Witness families more than once. No where does the bible command us to shun those who still believe in Christ. Leaving the Society…should Sean chose to do that, is not apostasy, and therefore not biblical grounds for shunning…
... since you asked. I might suggest leaving these sentences out. They may put him on the defensive since they are commenting on his beliefs and you really want him to 'get' the points you are making above about RC doctrine.
Yeru, this is a great letter, clear, concise and v. loving. We should all be so lucky to get this type of communication from our dads. I hope he can 'hear' you.
t
once upon a time a guy named jesus founded a new religion.. one of the things he - and his biographers - emphasized was "stop judging!".
he went even further, saying "stop condemning!
" (luke 6:37) the context of these.
One of the problems with this forum is that JWs are JUDGED as being uniquely bad.
proplog2,
I haven't seen a lot of judgement of individuals on this forum. It's mostly ex-JWs who are criticizing the ORGANIZATION.
And yes, the JW is a C-U-L-T. This is not an opinion I formed on my own. Go to your local library, look up books on religious cults. You will see that they are listed as a cult by most authorities in this field. And, imo, they are 'unique'.
UNIQUE CULT = UNIQUELY BAD
metatron,
will they ever change? Hell, no! If they stop judging others, then they could no longer be so 'self-righteous' and therefore the 'only true religion'. They could no longer exclude others (free thinkers) by shunning them. It would make the cult organization a lot less powerful.
talesin
i am climbing mt.
terry fox tomorrow!
a group of us is a goin' up yonder at 7:30 a.m. to climb the mighty mountain..... in honor of terry fox, of course.
shamus,
Wow, your mom was lucky to have such a friend. You all must miss her terribly. It's sad to lose friends, especially to cancer. It can be so painful and slow ... But they are, each one of them, heroes.
t
i was saddened to hear the news of the death of johnny cash, in his early 70's.
i was never a real fan of country music, but johnny was different , the only artist of the genre that i rated.
so long ,johnny cash.
It's hard to believe that he is gone.
For me, the 'man in black' has always been someone I looked up to. He was never ashamed of who he was, or what he did. He was just "hi, I'm johnny cash", no b-s, no spin doctors, just a REAL person.
bye, johnny ...
t
... and don't forget the classic,
"in the garbage disposal of your dreams, I've been ground up dear,
I've been flushed from the bathroom of your heart." :)
thunder called my sister today and she said the doctor said it would be as little as 48 hours before my mom passed away.
i am perplexed as to why they were giving her pain medication when she had no brain waves.
i do have to say that my two dysfunctional siblings are always able to hurt me even when i am not there.
{{{{sheila}}}}
Sorry about your mom, this is a rough thing to deal with.
Sorry to hear about yr vampire brother, I have one of those too. It's so hard to deal with this kind of crap. Don't let him get to you. Here's a big hug.
talesin
i am climbing mt.
terry fox tomorrow!
a group of us is a goin' up yonder at 7:30 a.m. to climb the mighty mountain..... in honor of terry fox, of course.
good luck, Shamus!
I went out to the highway and ran with Terry for a bit when he came through Nova Scotia. He showed us what a person with real determination could do! I am happy that you and others choose to honour him on this day.
talesin
