Cicatrix

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Posts by Cicatrix

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  22

  Finding serenity after leaving the JWs

  by NaruNaruChan in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  tonight was such an interesting and profound night for me.

  i went to class... well, specifically a class that i enjoy a great deal... with a professor who has inspired me since i began college...

  so i'm sitting there, listening to him lecture, watching him walk back and forth across the stage with this huge projection of the u.s. territories in the background... and for the first time in what seems like ages, my soul spoke to me.

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  Cicatrix

  {{{Naru}}}
  Thanks for sharing
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  66

  Please!! Who is there to teach me the ways of Christ Jesus?

  by Celtic in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  please!!!!!!!!!!!!

  cos i'd really like to know more than anything else!!.

  please.. please.. please..

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  Cicatrix

  "Farkel. trust me to use a wrong spelling, But then I am magical ( wink,wink)"
  
  Mouthy, I just had to do it-I had to look up your word.
  
  Illusion: b 1)Perception of something objectively existing in such a way as to cause misinterpretation of its actual nature
  
  You ARE magic!! ;) You summed up the whole thread in one word!
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  108

  My Story... please don't freak out on me...

  by Big Shooter in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  my story .

  well, i am new here, and i have a very long story.

  i don?t even know where to begin.

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  Cicatrix

  Welcome, Big Shooter!
  
  Thank you for sharing your story. It took a lot of courage for you to write that. When I first came here, I was hurting and terrified, too. I lurked for awhile before I got up the courage to post anything. In the meantime, I read a lot of the posts, and learned a lot.
  
  There are many folks here who know how you feel!
  
  I hope you and your family find the peace that you are looking for.
  
  Regards,
  Cicatrix
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  9

  What do I see Christians this way?

  by spiritwalker in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  okay, since leaving the witnesses and christianity.

  i have become very open to learning new faiths and religions.

  i have studied many and found something to be very interesting.

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  Cicatrix

  Hi Spiritwalker,
  I've been out of the organisation for a couple of years now, and have been doing a lot of research. Not only of Christianity, but of other faiths as well. I try to remain neutral while I search, but being only human, I do have certain prejudices and past experiences that color the way I view things. I admit, I have a big problem with Christianity, due to its patriarchal structure. Having "submitted" myself to men to the point of abuse in the past, I am very hesitant to support any religion that denotes any sort of class system,so that pretty much rules out most of organised religion;)
  
  One thing I have been interested in, is the difference between the words of Jesus and those of Paul. It's almost as if they are promoting two different belief systems.
  
  I have been studying many of the pagan faiths, also. I would like to say that they all offer a freedom of practice that isn't available to Christians, but this often isn't the case. It seems that the more organised the faith is, the more rules, written and unwritten, the adherents are expected to follow. Sure, you are free to read whatever you like, and to proclaim that you practice this and that, but just see how fast you will be called a "fluffy bunny" if you admit that you really enjoyed a certain author that those who consider themselves to be serious practitioners and guardians of the faith have decided aren't "authentic" (as if we can ever know what is authentic history from the periods of oral tradition). Or that you eschew book learning and prefer personal experience over someone else's opinion (you will be lectured about how dangerous it is to practice without first gaining knowledge from someone else).Or admit that you are "eclectic" and have reconstructionists and adherents of various faiths tell you that you need to make up your mind and stick with one pantheon or path, as the Deities are offended by those who mix and match, and you are stealing the culture of the persons who practice that faith in its entirety. After witnessing episodes like this, I don't see where paganism per say is any less dogmatic, and it seems to me that dogma and political strength are what leads organised religions to the idea that they need to subdue other faiths. There are zealots in every faith, including Pagan ones. And unfortunately, they are often the ones who end up in leadership roles.
  
  Centuries ago, it was the Pagans who were executing the Christians and Muslims, as they considered their new religions to be heretical to their own faiths. Eventually, the Christians and Muslims grew enough in number that they could overthrow the Pagans. Now the Pagans seem to be growing in number again, and some Christians and Muslims are very worried about this. Many of these Christians and Muslims are convinced that their religions are the only true religions,that anything else is evil, and that they have a duty to preserve their traditions, using war if necessary (afterall, both faiths are based from the same Middle Eastern warring sky God beginning). To me, it seems to be a cyclical thing. It will be interesting to see if there is a pandemic resurgence of Paganism, and if the adherents of organised Pagan faiths continue to state that all religions are respectable and that their adherents should be free to practice how they wish to practice, as long as they aren't hurting anyone else.
  
  As far as putting an end to religion, I don't think that will ever happen. Many people have a need to worship, and will do so if it is illegal or not. There may come an attempt to make organised religion illegal, but we saw what happend with this in the Soviet Union. As soon as the government policy changed, the religions that had gone underground began to practice again.
  
  BTW, I am in no way criticizing your path or Paganism in general (I've been considering a pagan path myself)-just pointing out some of the things I've observed, and I do understand your frustration with the rampant militaristic attitudes of many adherents of the Christian and Muslim faiths. Sept. 11th was definitely a result of Muslim zealots, and the current president's invasion of Iraq, and his views on the role of the United States in the world concern me greatly.
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  8

  The Truth and a Hot Bath

  by richard in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  "coming into the organization is like getting into a hoth bath, one does it gradually".

  (w.c. stevenson "year of doom, 1975", page 89).

  would you agree on this observation?

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  Cicatrix

  As in getting burned? Yeah, I agree with that.
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  130

  What does your user name here mean?

  by LyinEyes in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i don't know what eles to call it , i guess it is the user name....lol.......so what does yours mean?.

  i think awhile back i might have asked this,,,,,,,but it was way back and so many new ones here that i am just getting to know, and ones who came in here while i was not here as much.

  there may be a thread on this in the last recent months, i am not sure,,,,if so, if there are any new ones who want to tell why they choose their user names,,,,,please do.. i will tell you why my name is lyineyes,,,,,many have asked me that here lately.

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  Cicatrix

  cic·a·trix A scar left by the formation of new connective tissue over a healing sore or wound.
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  38

  Englishman's absence

  by Englishman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  mike sends his regards and apoligies for his absence for a few days.

  he is in hospital having a few tests done and doesn't have access to computer facilities at the moment.. his 'ticker' is misbehaving - i think it must be short of beer!

  everything else about him is working perfectly normal - so he has all the nurses running around and is thoroughly enjoying all the attention!

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  Cicatrix

  Best wishes for a speedy recovery to Englishmen! HL-take care of yourself, too, hon.
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  88

  Would You Return To The Organization If You Were Given Total Amnesty?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if you knew that the policy was that there would be no more witchhunts, no more disfellowshippings or shunning of any kind, would you be tempted to go back?

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  Cicatrix

  Wednesday, A friend of mine just said the same thing not too long ago when I told her I had DAd myself. For years, I tried to convince myself "I'm not here to serve imperfect people, I'm here to serve Jehovah." But the scripture "by their fruits you will know them" kept popping into my mind. It did the other day, too.
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  53

  Tips For People Who Visit the South

  by Tatiana in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  tips for visitors to the south .

  if you are going to live, or visit in the south, you .

  we stop when it's red.

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  Cicatrix

  LOL! With the exception of the red clay, the grits and greens, and the gators on the golf course (we had a different kind of rattler, but they were there, nonetheless), this could be my old northern town. BTW-be sure you never refer to hogs as pigs when you are talking to a hog farmer;)
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  21

  Armageddon to come next March

  by Sassy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was told by one of my sons tonight when i called to check on them that their uncle (who is still a jw, they are not) had been studying the prophecies and has figured out that armegeddon is going to come next march.

  of course i laughed when he said that.. and he told me no really, his uncle has even been in touch with the governing body and they agreed with his findings.. .

  now don't get me wrong, this man is very intelligent and i can see him coming up with some reasoning that may sound intelligent, but come on.... what i got the biggest kick out of it, was that he thought the gb was going to take him serious.. first off, i am sure they don't take serious anything someone nobody says to them.. and second of all, this man has been dfd for yrs and only back in recently.. .

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  Cicatrix

  It looks like Elsewhere is going to get to retire afterall:)