has anyone else seen the jdubs at the shopping mall ??
they sit at a table with all of their wares displayed hoping to lure people away from pottery barn and macy's.
i did a double take when i saw this and then had to stand back and observe for about 20 minutes -- what i observed is that no one stops at the table except what appear to be fellow jdubs.
Ok.. when I saw the picture I just threw up a little in my mouth..
knew one woman who literally hand wrote hundreds of letters and then mailed them out to random people in the phone book ; -- she raked in the hours with that scam.
You would think more people would have a reality check when they have to resort to scamming time to report on their time cards. That is the biggest exercise in futility EVER.
i looked to see if there was a welcome thread for leftbehind...sorry if i missed it.. but, welcome anyway.
we are not what you think or was taught we are.
you are welcome here, and if you choose to stay around, you will no doubt find what it means to have unconditional love and respect not just for and from others...but for yourself.. wlg
Welcome! I sincerely hope you decide to stick around and get to know us- there's a lot of really sweet, intelligent people here. I know I have really learned alot since I joined the board!
as some of you may recall from other threads i have started on this topic, my sister is engaged in a battle for my 15 year-old nephew's mind, with her adversaries being her pentecostal ex-husband, his wife, and their church.. i wish i could say that my sister is a great parent and that this is purely a black and white issue, but unfortunately i have to admit that my sister leaves *much* to be desired as a parent.. my nephew, who is a pretty typical 15 year-old boy, is often in need of gentle correction for his sometimes thoughtless behavior.
but gentle correction is not what he gets from my sister, not in the least.
what he gets from her is constant anger, screaming, accusations, and the like.. a couple of examples:.
(I'm really a pretty funny guy, but it probably doesn't come across on this board
Actually... the beanie gives you away
You mentioned she complains that he's antisocial and only wants to interact with friends and on the computer?
Has it occured to her that this is because his friends make him feel good about himself, whereas she only tears him down? I think I'd rather keep company with the garbage can over someone so negative as her. (no offense, I know she's your sister and you love her!)
i can remember being an attendant at one of the circuit assemblies in nottingham, where a group of pentecostals were picketing out by one of the gates.
i was intrigued for a short while, until a guy in a motorised wheelchair type thing, tried to get into the assembly by ramming himself into us.
i could of quite happily baptised him in the trent !!
Apostates were talked about in my family and congregation in the same hushed and fearful tones that demons were discussed in. I think I feared Apostates more than Armageddon... well not quite, but close.
I remember my Dad making a comment about my Mother, who was disfellowshipped (and remarried) saying that based on thus and such, she was "leaning towards being an Apostate". That scared the crap out of me.
my brother is a self proclaimed apostate.
i see now that there is a wide variety of posters here.
so to those that have left the witnesses what would it take to get you back?
It's probably a little hard for you to see this now, but your brother deserves respect for being able to stand up for what he believes. Wasn't it the Witnesses who taught him that?
He has probably been on quite a journey to get him to the point he's at now, and I'm sure the road was extremely rough for him, and bound to get worse once his family starts shunning him for his beliefs. It's hard to stand up to your family, and even worse to have to face everyone and everything you've ever known and tell them that you no longer agree. He knew the consequences of his decision. Good for him for having the integrity to live by his conscience.
Believe it or not... many of us know where you're coming from. I had an aunt that I loved dearly and was a mentor and role model to me leave the Organization when I was in High School. I HATED her, I hated what she became (or what I assumed she became) and I hated those I thought led her astray. What I didn't know was that my anger was only directed at her because it had no where else to go. What was really causing the anger was the frustration I felt in not being able to have a relationship that was appropriate with her. I had no control over how I could treat her anymore, I had no choice but to withhold my love and affection. I felt trapped, and because of how I was brought up my anger was misdirected toward her.
I hope you can eventually understand and appreciate the level of strength and integrity it takes to stand up for what you believe, and love your brother even more for it, even if you can't agree with the letter of his belief system.
our child goes to an after school child care provide by the local y. it's right at her elementary school, so after class she just goes there to another class room with the other kids and they play games, do homework etc, till we pick her up after work.
she's gone there for two years and liked it.
she has lots of friends at school and gets along with just about everyone.
You've gotten some awesome advise so far, I think the most notable being "Document Everything".
Most child care facilities require parents to sign some sort of disciplinary agreement that says essentially in part- If your child is endangering the welfare of other children they will take measures to correct said behavior. If those measures don't work, they will have to take further action leading up to and possibly including expulsion. I think this most definatly would apply to the mental and emotional welfare of your child. They are dropping the ball in not following through with their disciplinary procedures. Do whatever it takes to force them to expel these children. They are ruining the place for every other child there.
Good for you for getting on top of this situation right away. There's no excuse for this to happen.
if you could sum up your time in the borg with just one word, what would it be and why?.
for me it would be guilt.
guilt about not doing enough ministry, not enough study,doing too much secular work, the list seems endless.on the odd occasions i felt i'd done quite well you can bet we'd have a talk saying more,more more!.
Repression
Of natural thought, tendencies, emotion and true self.
of 1 to 12. one being almost no true spirituallity, and 12 being as spiritual as possible in this life?.
i give them about a three.
really like a third grade spirituality.
I'm with Mrs. Jones on this... although I would give more of a 2 based on the fact that some JWs make at least a small attempt.
I think of my "spirituality" as based on my personal, internal relationship and dialouge with God. JW's are too busy fearing their headship to be able to develop any kind of true relationship with Him. Their spirituality is defined by their adherance to a set of rules and appearances, which in my opinion... is missing the point entirely.
.
what would you consider to be the basic, intermediate and advanced obligations of a parent?
i am very interested in your opinions.. jeannie.
My short reply would be the safety and emotional and physical welfare of the child. But the fact that there are whole books written on the subject tells me that there are really no short answers to this.
I feel my obligation, in short, is to do my best to make sure my children grow up in a safe enviornment to become thinking, caring and responsible adults. This to me means exposing them to different viewpoints (not just my own) and helping them to develop reasoning and empathy skills. Hopefully, this sets them up to be able to deal with anything life throws them.
I hope this is kinda what you were looking for...
WIne : Reisling, Spatlese
Coffee : There's a specialty roaster up here, Alaska Coffee Roasting- they have a "Papua New Guinea" Blend *drool*
Beer : I'll only drink the kind with "Roots" in it!
Pizza : "Abby's" Taco Pizza
