lauralisa

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Posts by lauralisa

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  27

  What are the three best things you did in life?

  by Skeptic in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in another thread, i stated the three best things i ever did with my life, but i thought the topic would make a good thread.. what are the three best things you did in your life?.

  mine are:.

  third best: divorcing my first wife.

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  lauralisa

  1. I didn't give up.

  2. I never gave up.

  3. I resolved to never give up.

  lauralisa
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  11

  Role Play among the Dubs

  by Duncan in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  dear all, .

  this is my 100th post, and i decided to repost something i originally did as a post on h2o a couple of years ago.

  it was a reply to somebody, and buried miles-deep in the thread, so hopefully it wont have been read by too many already.

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  lauralisa

  Hi Duncan,

  What comes immediately to mind for me is the following:

  As a still-enmeshed dub, dependent upon the few conditional relationships I managed to acquire with some of the sisters in the congregation, I was always intriqued with the 1975 thing.

  I was not "encouraged" to even ponder over the issue. It was taboo. Power Pioneer sisters, during a typical day in FS driving around aimlessly, during their aimless gossip and analysis of all other people and their children and their relatives and anyone else, would sometimes emphasize an particular individual's "spiritual weaknesses" by recalling their behavior during "1975".

  I was newly ensnared, not afraid of looking at "stumbling blocks" straight in the eye; in fact, I felt that as in proper scientific approach one should accept challenge to accepted "truths" and see how they held up.

  When I inquired about just exactly transpired during "1975", I was given loving, motherly advice, with lowered voice tones and through narrowed eyelids and a warning grimace, that I was much better off not knowing about it. Of course, that just made my curiosity level blast off even higher.

  The salient memory, relative to your post, is that there was a collective agreement that to talk about "1975" was tantamount to talking about beastiality or necrophilia or something. You just didn't "go there". That was the rule.

  Now I know better.

  Thank you for an interesting post.

  lauralisa
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  19

  Social Security and Jws

  by badboy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am a severly disabled adult who receives disability benefits.. i understand sometime ago the watchtower said in one of its magazine(probably watchtower)that a smaller pertentage(sic)of jws claimed the dole in france(this was, i believe during the problems with the french government)as opposed to a higher pertentage(sic)of roman catholic etc etc claiming the dole.. in view of what paul says in one of his letter`he that doesn't work, shall not eat' should jws be claiming the dole if they truly follow the bible.

  discuss.. i believe a social security system should provide for the disabled and pensioners.

  (i don't think the present uk social security system will survive in its present form with accelerting(sic)costs etc etc)

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  lauralisa

  Hi badboy,

  A couple of comments:

  First of all, the "watchtower" magazine is NOT an appropriate source for information if one is trying to decide whether their lifestyle is consistent with the principles in the bible. It is simply one tool of many in the WTBTS arsenal to control the thinking and behavior of its members. It is propaganda at its finest.

  PLEASE. Do your OWN thinking, based on your OWN research, and I implore you to read a huge range of material from many different sources. Anyone limiting their research material to that which is promulgated by the WTBTS is ..... well, it is tantamount to doing research on mosquitoes and using "Raid" labels as source material. It's dumb.

  Second, disability benefits exist for a purpose. Some people would have no recourse but to expire from lack of medical attention and financial help without it. (Of course, it is abused by certain individuals just like any other social program, but that does not mean the benefit program is inherently bad in and of itself.) Each country you referenced has strengths and weaknesses in their disability programs, but it's difficult to make a case for comparing them as they are based on different economic dynamics.

  What is the issue that prompted you to post this topic? Are you a jw who is being made to feel guilty for your disability status? Are you in fear of losing your benefits, or what?

  Just curious. I've been on disability since 1993. There's more story to tell here, but time does not allow.

  Welcome to the board, btw.

  lauralisa
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  5

  My brother's anniversary (*spoiler warning)

  by lauralisa in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i posted this previously.

  tonight is the anniversary of his suicide.

  sorry to any who are unduly provoked.

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  lauralisa

  I posted this previously. Tonight is the anniversary of his suicide. Sorry to any who are unduly provoked. I am very sad tonight.

  My brother's name was Paul.

  ___________________________________________________________

  When I found the "truth", I told someone I knew very intimately about what I had learned. He lived in another state, but he was sufficiently intrigued so as to seek out the local kingdom hall in his area.

  He was battling with excruciating depression, alcoholism, addiction to cocaine (free-basing was then the "new" thing; this was way before crack).

  Within a few months of his intitiating a bible study, he was convinced. He attended all of the meetings, he changed jobs (a good thing: his employment was very "enabling"), he broke up with his girlfriend, he slowly stopped associating with all of his "bad" friends. He sold his stereo equipment to pay his old drug debts.

  He had just become a publisher. He was having a difficult time making ends meet with the markedly reduced income resulting from his job change, and he was extremely lonely. He was a 27 year old man with no relatives within the congregation, and was finding his new lifestyle spiritually and intellectually rewarding, but replete with gaping holes in terms of a social structure. There was no one, NO ONE, in his immediate area, who was able to relate to him or assist him in this unfathomable transition. He was discouraged from the study conductor and local elders from participating in any 12 step programs.

  I kept in constant touch with him, encouraging him, reinforcing the pearls of 'truth' he was embracing, supporting him in his lonliness, relating my own difficulties and sharing my own newly-found "scriptural" reasoning to continue fighting.

  He was supposedly very close to baptism, and I was so thrilled. I mean it. I was so proud of his integrity and self-control; it seemed like there was so much evidence of "god's power" working in all of this. It reinforced my own faith. Not many people can pull off what he did; it reflected incredible courage and strength, the way he withdrew from the things in his life that had sustained him through incredible pain... but these very things, we reasoned, kept him from achieving an "approved" status with god.

  Not long later, he filled up the back seat of his car with as many individual gallons of gasoline that his back seat would hold. He chose a good time: 4:30 am.... not many people on the highway at that time. He drove directly along a perfectly planned route, smashed his car into a telephone pole, resulting in it rolling down an embankment, where it exploded into flames. One witness gave a florid description of what they had seen. There was very little collateral damage, but his body was burned such that they had to identify him by dental records.

  He was my brother. He was only 27.
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  47

  Let's have a baby shower!!!

  by Julie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as most of you know one of our long time posters, "mommy"/wendy, is expecting a baby in the very near future.

  as some of you may not know (and i hope she doesn't plot my murder for discussing it) wendy is going through some real tough times.

  she could use a few things for the baby considering getting by with two other children is difficult enough!.

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  lauralisa

  Thank you for posting this Julie; I can't wait to go "shopping"!

  Wendy,

  You have my admiration, respect, compassion and support in anything I can do. How you are holding up with such dignity and positive determination is amazing and wonderful. I hope you know you are dearly loved.

  laura
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  16

  The other perspective

  by silentlambs in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i recieved this email today.

  i certainly shows another perspective.. how would you respond?.

  silentlambs .

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  lauralisa

  My immediate response to this person's alleged experience is that he/she must be either related to someone in a position of extremely high visibility and ties to the society, or is in such a position him/herself.

  What is described certainly indicates preferential treatment. In all of the stories I have read or have heard personally, it is extremely unique.

  QUIT FEELING LIKE THE VICTIM AND GET ON WITH YOUR LIVES

  As to this remark, I can only imagine it coming from a person who has been trained very well to supress, deny, or transfer a typical "normal" emotional response to injustice, violence, and especially abuses of power. Unfortunately, the price one pays for intentionally ignoring their feelings and responses in one area because those particular feelings are intolerable is that they must also become numb in all other ways; I wonder if this person is capable of intimacy, joy, or empathy.

  The calculated and callous disregard for the difficulties endured by thousands of other

  survivors

  can be indicative of someone who goes on to perpetrate others.

  I'd be grateful, Bill, if you post your response to this person on the board.... and my heart goes out to you for being a safe voice.

  Thank you

  lauralisa
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  3

  Abandoned JW Attempts Suicide

  by MadApostate in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this 1997 news article well illustrates that "jehovah's earthly organization" has neither the will nor established procedure to assist jws that genuinely need help beyond what they could ever repay to the borg, either $$$$ or in human capital.. people who are no longer an asset to the borg are forgotten and abandoned.. .

  as a jw you are worth only as much as your last and next fs report.

  yun ja kim's story.

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  lauralisa

  termite 35, no offense meant, please... but

  as the society lurks here ,no doubt they'll send her some monies to help with rehab and bills. At least she has someone willing to help her

  I DON'T THINK SO

  I'm sure they would rather have her dead and "safe" (whatever) in "Jehovah's memory" than having to be in the position of actually being in any way OBLIGATED to helping her in any way. They only "help" people who assist in promoting their agenda, and then, ONLY if it promotes said agenda in a positive direction. In the best of cases, their "help" consists of someone bringing maybe a dinner or two over to someone's house.

  Mental illness (and its incapcitating side effects) is an arena in which the WTBTS has absolutely, completely, tragically intruded; they would deny such a thing but their demands on any individual who wishes to become a jehovah's witness are such that it intrudes upon one's ability to get competent medical help or to live in a manner which accommodates their 'limitations'. One is constantly pushed to conform to some kind of 'acceptably spiritual' performance. Some people will NEVER, no matter how hard they try, have the ability to live up to such a thing.

  Since "spirituality" is defined by the borg in terms of performance, individuals who suffer from mental illness usually have difficult issues with "status" within the congregation; of course there are issues with poor self-esteem. And again, since "Jehovah" will meet ALL of their needs, seeking help outside of the organization is not looked favorably upon.

  Individuals who are mentally ill, who have no relatives within their congregations, are not 'pioneers' or super-achievers, who have no prospects of being involved famililially with other members, who do not come into the 'truth' with multi-language capabilities or nobel prize winning expertise, etc. are simply future case histories in loss and tragedy such as the person described in this scenario.

  I know.

  I hate what has happened to this person.

  I hate the Watchtower Bible and tract society of new york, NY, and would be happy to see them melt down in disgrace.

  lauralisa
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  1

  Essex, Maryland-- Winchester, Virginia

  by SoulJah in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  any one out there attend the essex cong between 1972 - 1988. or the winchester cong between 1985 - 1990?.

  post here or e-mail me.

  thanks , mike

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  lauralisa

  Neither of those individual congregations, Mike, but since I've lived in both northern VA and Baltimore, I've been to a lot inbetween.

  lauralisa
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  15

  trouble for my friend

  by Mulan in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have posted many times about my jw friend, who still talks to me.

  for years we have maintained our friendship, because i have never been df'd or da'd.. she called me this morning to tell me that her husband is being called in for a meeting, by the elders, to discuss her association with me.

  we are wondering, now, if a lurker on this board has turned her in.

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  lauralisa

  Hi Marilyn,

  The other night my significant other and I were so bored that we watched the movie "Titanic".

  When it came to the part where they were beginning to climb onto the lifeboats, I had a strikingly weird moment!!!

  It was when Rose's mother (the upperclass, simpering void of a person who felt entitled to whatever) expressed concern over whether the lifeboats were going to be "seated according to class". She shuddered with repugnance and horror at the mere thought of having to endure proximity to a steerage passenger - before graciously planting her butt into the first boat.

  What struck me was the similarity between her behavior and that of a typical jw (usually an appearance-obsessed wannabe, at least that is my experience) who has to "associate" with a "worldly person". They don't want their precious social standing to be besmirched. Hardline "shunners" who ostensibly wish to protect their "spirituality" have displayed demeanors identical to what I saw onscreen. I realized it was just another form of bigotry.

  Hope things turn out somewhat comfortably for your friend, and for you as well.

  I don't even want to start THINKING about the issue of their calling in her husband first..... arrrgghhhhrhg

  lauralisa
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  31

  This web site, your comments as evidence

  by joelbear in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in the case of silent lambs versus the christian congregation of jehovah's witnesses.. did you ever think that discussing these cases here accompanied by your vitriole against all things watchtower could be used to:.

  1. show that ex jehovahs witnesses harbor such a hatred for the watchtower society that they will say anything to discredit them.. 2. show that there is a network of ex jehovahs witnesses that may have helped to create these abuse accusations in the alledged victims' minds or at least have encouraged them, even unwittingly, to exaggerate their claims.. i guarantee you that the watchtower society has documented every word anyone here has said, especially on this issue.

  i can easily see a defense team using it to, if not exonerate accused molesters and the watchtower society, to at least create a reasonable doubt regarding their guilt.. if your hatred of the watchtower causes you to join in irrational behavior and accusations, you have to contemplate the fact that you may be adding to the future grief of any real victims.. i present this for your thoughtful consideration.. as always, i wish all here peace.. joel

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  lauralisa

  JanH!

  Thanks for making me smile... I loved your illustration. What I know about math I can count on all six fingers on one hand. Even so, I am endlessly facsinated by numbers; they can be so useful when used to define a single value, and that they can represent an "absolute".

  The really interesting part is what happens when someone tries to utilize numbers as "tools" so to speak, in order to explore the unknown, and how uncooperatively they behave if they're not in the mood. I used to be just blown away by some of the stuff my Einsteinesque ex-husband used to wrestle with: page upon page of martian hieroglyphics. (Sometimes I'd see a "5" or a "7" and it would be really exciting)

  He would explain to me, patient with my blondness and proclivity to repeat the word "why?, how after a certain point, numbers defy logic; mix enough of them together and math becomes theoretical and hypothetical and (he was loathe to use the term!) even metaphysical. Yet, he continues pushing the limits of those numbers to this day.

  Thank you for keeping it lighthearted, and yes I was trying to make an analogy between math and "real life". It strikes me that when numbers are messy in their irrationality, human beings are so much more messy......exponentially messier times infinity times eleven, especially on days that have an "r" in them.

  May your rationale be well,

  lauralisa