Did ya hear the one about the 2 sisters out in service who are invited inside a big old Victorian house by a sweet little old lady who takes them into her parlour, has them sit down, and then asks if they want tea? They say, "That would be lovely, thank you very much," so she claps her hands and says in her sweet little voice, "3 cups of tea please." They assume she's calling to a person in another room who works for her... until a silver tray with three cups and a teapot comes floating into the room and settles on a table. The old woman says, "They're always doing nice things like that for me."
MerryMagdalene
JoinedPosts by MerryMagdalene
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38
Believable Or NOT!!!!
by Sweetp0985 ini don't know about everyone else but i just want to get these stories of godly/demonic intervention out of my system.
hope it doesn't bore you but some are a good laugh now but i truly believed them and some i still believe.. 1. don't open that cabinet- one day my dear step mother was cleaning the kitchen and needed something out of a cabinet that was rarely used.
there was a plastic cake dish that makes this very audible noise when trying to close it(lil cheap cake from winn dixie).
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This board.... How did you find it?
by hubert ini am wondering... how did you first come across this board?
..... searching the web?
a friend?
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MerryMagdalene
I saw a show about the child abuse cover-up scandal-- I think it was called Suffer the Little Children-- and I couldn't get it out of my head. Even though I hadn't been a Witness for several years, I was horrified and in shock for days. The phrase SilentLambs stayed with me and when I finally got access to the internet I searched for it to see if there were any updates. The site was down for some reason and I ended up at the Rick Ross Institute. From there I made my way to freeminds.org and then HERE. I lurked for several days and nights, had a bizarre reaction...loved it so much I kept coming back for more and then vowing never to return because it brought out alot of old insecurities I didn't know I still had. I'm getting over it and am grateful this place (and these people) exists.
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Why can't I...
by MerryMagdalene in...stop thinking just long enough to read a wtbts publication cover to cover?
ever since i was a kid, it would take me forever to get through a study article or book chapter.
red flags bearing/baring doubts, suspicions, and lots of extra questions were always popping up ( i guess my jw-installed pop-up blocker was non-functional).
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MerryMagdalene
Thanks alot, to both of you -- Lee and TB. That does help! I am grateful for this site and the wonderful, interesting people that post here and help others so freely with their knowledge, experience, and encouragement. Blessings!
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my emotions are a roller coaster
by karategirl inwhen i first got on this site a few days ago i felt so much relief and joy.
i was even trying to help others right away because i have been out for ten years already.
now i am finding that other people's comments and memories are bringing up so many of my own that i have suppressed for years.
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MerryMagdalene
karategirl... you're not the only one! I'm not the only one! Cool. I seem to have come down with a pretty bad case of JWDitis myself and feel like I'm processing way too much too fast but don't know how to slow down. I seem to be ravenous and fevered. I guess that's partly because my JW mom is pushing me to bring my daughter to meetings and to start leaving her with her for extended periods of time. I so do not want her to start trying to indoctrinate my innocent one with that stuff, so I need to find a clear, concise, and very nice way of telling her why (and there is just no nice way to say some of this stuff, I fear). And I gotta do it quick. I can feel it building (the push) and I want to be ready.
Sorry for running off at the keyboard like that. What I meant to say was W E L C O M E . It sounds like we may be going through similar emotions in discovering this site. Look forward to reading further posts from you...! --MM
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Peering into my past - Snippets from my early life
by Mysterious ini was going through my things the other day and i came across a journal i used to keep at quite a young age.
the mentality there is just scary.
i was quite the budding writer with my big words but can you see all the canned thoughts and phrases lifted from the dubs and dropped into my grammar and writing style.
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MerryMagdalene
I empathize with everything your child-self expressed (thank you for sharing) and what you are feeling now in confronting it. I remember writing things that were similar. My mother still tries to slip old notes and letters to me that I wrote to people in that phase of my life. I found it quite discomforting to be faced again with the blind beliefs I once espoused and the whole-hearted devotion I invested in all of it. I remember being in a child in tears and praying for my inactive stepfather and for my best friend (who refused to be taken in by any of it), even trying to bargain with God and convince him that if Armageddon came and they still hadn't done what they were supposed to do to be spared, he should take my life in trade because I loved them so much and knew they were truly good people.
Remember to be proud of your child self for caring about others so much! You believed and did the best you could with what you were given. I hope focusing on that will help alleviate some of the more negative (and embarassing) aspects of what we experienced and who we were, and can also help us empathize with those still trapped in those very same well-meaning but naive mind-sets. The one's I do not feel that towards, however, are those at the "top" of the organization. Maybe I should, and maybe I will some day, but not now. I'm still processing too much shock and anger at the betrayal of it all (theirs, not mine).
All my best to you...at every age
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JWD's growth rate trounces that of the JWs
by seattleniceguy incheck it out.
i signed up on december 15. i am member 11210. members signing up the middle of this month were in the mid 14400's.
that means in 8 months, we've had about 3200 additional people show up.
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MerryMagdalene
We need a President nobody voted for, a Governing Body made up of men who only make direct posts on special occasions and the rest of the time post anonymously (using ghost posters) as desired, and a bunch of Committees to do whatever it is that committees do. Chat times should follow a regular schedule, three times per week, with participation mandatory for those in good standing. Question and answer scripts will be needed to make sure everyone makes approved comments only and does not inject any independent thinking.
Women should not be allowed to attain the higher rankings, should only post to each other, and should not be permitted to start their own threads (unless no male members are available to do so, and then the eldest or most qualified woman can substitute but must wear a head covering).
We're also going to need to be wired for sound so that we can sing songs none of us wants to sing. I guess one of the committes could be responsible for finding the people least qualified to create the songbook for us. Mediocrity is of utmost importance. Under no circumstance should Terry be allowed any imput because then the songs might end up being too intensely beautiful and detract from the message... oh, yeah! Message...We need an irrefutable message that can be proven to anyone in 52 easy steps (if they are right-hearted).
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Questions For Jehovah's Witnesses Regarding Doctrine
by Corvin inrecently, xlaurax asked for some good questions to ask jw's when they come to visit.
the following is taken from ray franz's book, crisis of conscience, pages 330 and 331. these are very good questions and should do the job nicely.. .
what plain statement in scripture could anyone, governing body member or anyone else, point to and say, "here, the bible clearly says":.
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MerryMagdalene
I feel out of my element posting on this thread but, in considering that last sentence..."I am what I am today"... I guess maybe we're all "God", or one with "God", or little bits of "God"... the "I am that I am" of Exodus. According to Fritjof Capra: "The conception of physical things and phenomena as transient manifestations of an underlying fundamental entity is not only a basic element of quantum field theory, but also a basic element of the Eastern world view. Like Einstein, the Eastern mystics consider this underlying entity as the only reality: all its phenomenal manifestations are seen as transitory and illusory." And Chief Seatle, I think, is quoted as saying something to the effect that there is no death, only a change of forms.
I guess I wouldn't actually bring any of this particular stuff up while asking JWs questions regarding doctine but it sure has made for some interesting reading and contemplation. Amazing imput on resurrection, Leolai!
"..if I only had a brain..."
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Dinosaurs...What are your thoughts?
by Crooked Lumpy Vessel inthe "why do animals die" thread got me thinking about the dinosaurs.
why would god create a species of animals and then completely destroy them or allow them to be destroyed.
would he do that to humans too?.
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MerryMagdalene
After reading Leolaia's comment,it dawned on me It doesn't really matter what happened to the dinosaurs in their old form-- they were probably reincarnated as insects! Same with the other poor extinct creatures-- recycled-- among us in another form. Or, maybe (if that's too pagan), the Biblical God in His infinite and unknowable wisdom and mercy will resurrect them. I think the Society should start including them in their pictures of Paradise , just to show he is just and loving after all and does not desire that any should be destroyed.
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Why can't I...
by MerryMagdalene in...stop thinking just long enough to read a wtbts publication cover to cover?
ever since i was a kid, it would take me forever to get through a study article or book chapter.
red flags bearing/baring doubts, suspicions, and lots of extra questions were always popping up ( i guess my jw-installed pop-up blocker was non-functional).
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MerryMagdalene
...stop thinking just long enough to read a WTBTS publication cover to cover?
Ever since I was a kid, it would take me forever to get through a study article or book chapter. Red flags bearing/baring doubts, suspicions, and lots of extra questions were always popping up ( i guess my JW-installed pop-up blocker was non-functional). I was never content with the Q&As supplied at the bottom of every page.
Apparently nothing has changed (with the publications as well as with me). My ever-loving, long-suffering mother asked me yesterday to please read the current "study book"-- Draw Close to Jehovah-- as she is certain it will answer some important questions for me.
But, almost immediately, it brings up the conflict over the meaning of God's name ("He Causes to Become" vs "I am that I am") and my brain flashes to an article I recently read on that very subject that disagrees with their conclusion: ( www.freeminds.org/doctrine/jehovah.htm )
"Okay, keep reading," I urge myself. Next comes the simple, non-controversial statements (emhasis mine) that "In the Bible, a bull often represents power....A lion...often pictures justice....Eagles......God's far-sighted wisdom....Man, made in God's image...love." I remember being taught this but can't seem to remember anything in the Bible that supports it and there are none of the usual scriptural references the writers usually include to back up their statements. Once my curiosity is roused, I have to go looking. So I did and, to my actual surprise, found...nothing.
If anyone out there knows where in the Bible they get their support for this interpretation of Ezekiel 1:4-10, please set me straight. I no longer have a Strong's Concordance and the index entries for these creatures in the back of the NWT give rather different shades of meaning to them than those listed above (bulls = sacrifice; lions = roaring and tearing; eagles = power, high position, escape; man, in the context of being made in God's image = dominance and subjugation).
SO, WHY WOULD I NIT-PICK ABOUT SOMETHING AS HARMLESS AS THIS??? Maybe because "The person faithful in what is least is also faithful in much and the person who is unrighteous in what is least is unrighteous also in much." (Luke 16:10) If they would lie about, invent, or misrepresent the little things (to which they devote several paragraphs), what else are they lying about/making up/misrepresenting???
----of the idiot-for-trying-to-make-my-mom-happy-and-failing-miserably class
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Cult fear and indoctrination - Service Meeting -Respect Jehovah's Authority
by truthseeker inthe september kingdom ministry, for week beginning october 4, discusses the video "respect jehovah's authority.".
i have seen this video myself, and for those still on a guilt trip, it will serve to re-inforce that the society is backed by jehovah.
if you are in the organization and are on a collision course with the soverign of the universe then you need to develop your loyalty to jehovah .
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MerryMagdalene
PS-- Excellent, excellent point, Sabrina!!!
Major belly laughs, Ohiocowboy!