BlackSwan of Memphis

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Posts by BlackSwan of Memphis

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  10

  Talked to my Ex. from 35 years ago.

  by Decided in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i found my first wife's telephone number on the internet and called her.

  we talked for a while and she told me why she divorced me.

  she couldn't stand the controlling jw life that we had.

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  BlackSwan of Memphis

  Go buy her some flowers with a kiss.

  yah, I'm in agreement. Flowers, chocolate, nice fine wine....whatever floats her boat. Do that thing that reassures her :)
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  16

  Validation and defense mechanisms, or why it's ok for billions to die

  by zoiks in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  more and more i have been thinking about the mindset that considers the idea that billions are to be destroyed at armageddon as perfectly ok. farkel's articles on freeminds.org really helped to bring it home for me.

  as jws, we do (or did) think it was perfectly reasonable that billions will have earned a death sentence simply for not accepting religious literature from an uninvited person at their doorstep.

  how do otherwise good people (for the most part) come to accept genocide as an acceptible, even good, solution to the problems they see and experience?.

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  BlackSwan of Memphis

  I was just explaining to a friend yesterday how JW imagery is so dark. Even the Book of Bible Stories much of the imagery is dark and scary. Even though the KH are fairly bland, the publications are filled with pictures of people dying horrible deaths or being chased away by exploding volcanoes. Further so much of it is heavily peppered of nonbelievers being evil drug abusing, Satanists who reject God. Of COURSE they deserve it.

  The whole notion of non JW people being for the most part, loving, kind, generous and remotely acceptable to God is so completely foreign.

  They teach Not to unnecesarrily associate with non believers. It was us vs them.

  They deserved to die because they were not one of us.

  It was pounded into our brains to see them as the outsiders, as the ones who are not worthy. There is no logic, there is no reason. There just is.

  How did we justify it? On a personal level.....

  I dont' know that I ever did. Being a JW since birth (so to speak) it isn't like my thinking was given an opposing view to consider. Plus, for me, I had a horrible time in school with the kids and I'm sure that reinforced that worldly kids were bad kids....

  Maybe that is one of the keys....... I wonder if we did a poll, how many of us had rotten experiences in life and were looking for some Utopia and so believed the JW's to be it?

  Hm, hope this makes sense, it turned into a bit of a ramble...
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  22

  I never believed in demons

  by drew sagan in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  for the entire time i was a jw (1999-2007) i never believed in demons.. a few times i remember this getting me into small confrontations with jws.

  a jw would talk about how demons were scary and powerful.

  i would argue that i've never seen a demon, and that to be affraid of such things was silly.

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  BlackSwan of Memphis

  are ALL Ouija boards demonized from the factory (ALL smurfs too?) - or do they have to be put through some special demonization after the point of sale?

  I toured the parker brothers facility once, and they have a special room just for the demonization process. Only they can't let anyone in, so they let the demons bring the boards to the packaging plant. The door is locked and it's anyone's guess what exactly goes on in there.....
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  19

  No windows

  by BlackSwan of Memphis in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  a couple years back i read posts re the lack of windows in the kh.

  i think at the time i was still so close to the situation that i thought it was a bit extreme and surely it couldn't be anything like it was being made out to be: conspiracy on the part of the organization.. flash forward to recent days.

  i have been attending our local unitarian universalists church (or universalist unitarian?

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  BlackSwan of Memphis

  @ moshe, lol. yah, they would see way too many people counting ceiling tiles, whispering, sharing candy and gum, drawing toons of the speaker or defacing their Sunday watchtower.

  mouthy: you've got it babe :)

  cameo: ohhhhhhh there is some interesting stuff going on in that thread! thx for sharing!! I feel a little like nerd for not going further back in the discussion posts (i almost wrote topics of discussion, shudder)

  diana: yah, the new weaponry of cultism :)
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  35

  Since Leaving The "Truth" Have You Been Naughty or Nice?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was raised in it.

  for the most part i was an exemplary jw.

  i'm a very social fun loving person.

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  BlackSwan of Memphis

  AtBoth I guess. The baddest of the bad that I do or am, is that I do up Halloween like no tomorrow. Yep, I'm a regular, evil yatch.
• 
  10

  Talked to my Ex. from 35 years ago.

  by Decided in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i found my first wife's telephone number on the internet and called her.

  we talked for a while and she told me why she divorced me.

  she couldn't stand the controlling jw life that we had.

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  BlackSwan of Memphis

  Is she mad at you for calling or is she mad at you for not talking with her about it before you did so with the intention of finding out her feelings on the matter?
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  19

  No windows

  by BlackSwan of Memphis in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  a couple years back i read posts re the lack of windows in the kh.

  i think at the time i was still so close to the situation that i thought it was a bit extreme and surely it couldn't be anything like it was being made out to be: conspiracy on the part of the organization.. flash forward to recent days.

  i have been attending our local unitarian universalists church (or universalist unitarian?

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  BlackSwan of Memphis

  Unitarian Universalists church Believes a lot like the WT ieLike rejection of the Trinity
  The also veiw Jesus as a mere man,but a secondary divine being.
  It was formed in 1961 by the merger of the American Unitarian Assoc:
  ( the principal religious body teaching)Its churches exhibit an eclectic blend of
  liberal Christianity,humanism,atheism,& neopagenism.

  Just encase you are not aware of their teachings....I thought I would
  look it up in the Book EXPOSITOR Index of CULTS & Religions....that is part of
  of it readings above

  Yah, I just had a Presbyterian friend say the exact same thing to me. She was trying to get me to come to her church. I sorta listened and at the same time waited for the best moment to change the subject. I've found what I needed, at least for the time being and it works for me.

  I think the concept of UU is that it is welcoming to everyone. Some people there do believe Jesus is God and whatnot, but they also are very liberal in how they view the concept of salvation.

  I think they are the exact OPPOSITE of the JW's in that they don't believe you have to believe WHAT they Teach in order to be saved by anyone or anything. But I also have found, that most Christians that I have met and their churches do not outright teach anything like the JW's in the concept of shunning and one True Church Organization.

  Most of my friends are Christian and we get along beautifully. We accept each other and embrace one another for our differences and from what I recall that is the kind of Christian you are. So keep on keeping on.

  love, light and bright blessings to you

  And as for the concept of the Windows......HM then I am going to have digress as it sounds like this is Not a universal jw thing.

  Who works out the layout for the KHs?
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  19

  No windows

  by BlackSwan of Memphis in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  a couple years back i read posts re the lack of windows in the kh.

  i think at the time i was still so close to the situation that i thought it was a bit extreme and surely it couldn't be anything like it was being made out to be: conspiracy on the part of the organization.. flash forward to recent days.

  i have been attending our local unitarian universalists church (or universalist unitarian?

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  BlackSwan of Memphis

  A couple years back I read posts re the lack of windows in the KH. I didn't think too much about it. I think at the time I was still so close to the situation that I thought it was a bit extreme and surely it couldn't be anything like it was being made out to be: conspiracy on the part of the Organization.

  Flash forward to recent days. I have been attending our local Unitarian Universalists church (or universalist unitarian?) and was able to get my husband to come a service.

  Afterwards we were talking about how much we both really like it, and the natural flow of the conversation took us to the differences between that and the Kingdom hall.

  Something he really liked was how the windows looked out into the gorgeous scenery outside. There are several acres of land which allow for a few paths that go through the woods. The playground is right outside as well. You can go and sit and listen to the pianist and stare outside and find yourself mellowing out. It is awesome.

  My husband says to me that it is so different from the KH where there were never any windows because they want your FULL attention. They don't want you to be distracted by anything. He noted that is one of the ways they brainwash you. You can't think of anything else, because they don't want you to.

  For those of you who don't know me or family, my husband was never a jw (I married OUT of the faith) and came with me to the meetings occasionally.

  Looking back, I really had to agree. It's scary to think that Yes, there really is that much that goes into the planning of how to indoctrinate.
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  31

  Trying to annul your baptism, WT says forget about it.

  by cattails in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the koolaid wt issue for february has an interesting article about when your baptism can be considered invalid.but the main thrust of the article is aimed at making it super clear that if you were present at your bapt.

  talk and answered the two questions then forget about it, elders are put on notice to not let anyone off the hook.but... if you were committing a serious sin and hid it at the time of your baptism, then it was invalid, and point is, they'd still announce you not being "one of j.w.s" so if you plead your case to walk away from the wt saying you didn't know what you were getting into, it will do no good, but it will be grounds for an announcement.just ol' mother wt tightening up loose ends.

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  BlackSwan of Memphis

  This is where I wonder if its' necssary for elected officials to step in.... but it's a sticky situation, I admit what with freedom of religion here in the states.

  I know kids who were baptized before they even hit the mark of ten years old. How the f*** can a ten year old even begin to comprehend what he's being asked to do?

  The fact is, they can't. A baptism in the eyes of the JWs is so completely different than what the rest of the world thinks of. A baptism in the eyes of the GB is more like a contract between a person and a legal corporation.

  In that sense how can they possibly be allowed to let children enter into a legal contract without the protection of someone who can make sure they aren't going to be exploited or harmed?

  Blows me away....
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  40

  My Resignation Letter

  by AllTimeJeff in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i never did post this here.

  i am posting it now for posterity's sake.

  its been a few years, but, its good food for thought.

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  BlackSwan of Memphis

  That was really well written.