Posts by Xanthippe

37

What Do You Think About Banning Plastic Bags?

by minimus in

jw
friends

we need to save the planet so we have to stop using plastic bags!

in massachusetts, the new law will be going into effect soon.

if you go food shopping, you only cat get paper bags.. what is your opinion of the state banning plastic bags?

Xanthippe

A lot of places outside the USA, already don't offer plastic bags and force you to bring your own bag or make you buy one if you don't have it.

That's what we do in England. We also have collection points at supermarkets to recycle the plastic carrier bags people buy. I agree with creating less waste that takes 500 years to biodegrade and is harming our sea life.

The amount of dead whales, dolphins and turtles that have been washed up with stomachs full of plastic is shocking.

It's not like it's difficult to take reusable bags shopping, I keep them in my car. I'm an intelligent life form, I can cope with that.

27

I am a Watchtower survivor

by Sour Grapes in

i really like calling myself a watchtower survivor.

it is not demeaning to other people and is not a negative statement.

when a jdub sees that term it may make them think about why i would call myself a survivor.

Xanthippe

'Oh I love cleaning toilets, I get such pleasure putting my arm right in, deep down and going up the bend and round the bowl'
Oh Marina poor you. Years of therapy right there. Not you, u-bend guy!

57

Prince Andrew & Jeffrey Epstein, WTF

by Simon in

in fact, several "wtf"s, not least - why were you visiting a convicted pedophile after his release from prison, never-mind having any contact with him in the first place when his preoclivities seemed to be an open secret.. and the best he can some up with is "i don't remember"?

you don't remember?

there's a fucking photo of you with one of the victims and accessories to the crimes you dumb fuck!.

Xanthippe

It's a reflection of how the British upper classes have always been. Get the parlour maid pregnant, throw her out on the street. The kitchen maid's son looks exactly like the Lord of the Manor, deny deny, deny.

They're still above the law because the old boy's network is still in charge. It's difficult to be prosecuted when your old Etonian pal is the judge. Or for that matter if your mum's government approved his appointment.

5

Mental Health and Ex-JWs - My interview with ICSA

by dubstepped in

i was interviewed by the international cultic studies association and the video from the live stream a few weeks ago has been released.

if you're an ex-jw i'd encourage you to watch and share.

the objective of this video is to help those that leave jehovah's witnesses to identify patterns and psychological problems that may be present in their lives and to help professional therapists and coaches to do the same.

Xanthippe

Thanks Michael, I found many things to identify with. Shame, lack of ability to share emotional intimacy so as to make friends. Along with lack of trust in others after our experience in a religion where the guillotine was always ready to fall if we did or said the 'wrong' thing.

I like your definition of shame that guilt is feeling that we did something wrong but shame is being made to feel we are wrong, the wrong sort of person, wrong through and through. As we were made to feel in the JWs.

Being vulnerable, we have needs and we are not either psychologically useless or at the other end of the scale, arrogant for admitting we have needs, things that we want from life for our own happiness.

Looking for a therapist that is willing to do some research into the JWs so we don't have to explain the past we want to get way from before they can understand us enough to help us get away from it!

Finally that we've lost a lot of time already and life is short so let's get help to enjoy the rest of our lives.

Thanks that was very helpful.

52

How Much of the WT Teaching Did You Believe?

by Ding in

some people on this forum have said that they never really believed any aspect of wt teaching, that they couldn't wait to get free of it all.. others seems to have been really gung ho, believing it all until something happened that got you questioning "the truth.".

i would say my own high water mark was about 50%, which put me squarely on the fence, trying to decide if i should be in or out.. how about you?.

Xanthippe

I always struggled with the ransom teaching. I thought human sacrifice was barbaric, like throwing babies into the burning lap of the statue of the Canaanite god. Yet in my religion my salvation was based on a human sacrifice, of god's own son!

I've always thought in the JWs the teaching was used to emotionally blackmail people to give their whole lives and their money to the religion, because after all look what Jesus did for you. Think about those six inch nails!

39

The real dividing line isn’t between apostates and apologists it’s between...

by slimboyfat in

excellent observation from zizek about communist regimes: they didn’t care if people accepted the ideology or took it seriously, so long as people acted as if the ideology was true, that was the important thing.

in fact the regimes were deeply suspicious people who took the ideology too seriously.

people who took the ideology seriously were dangerous because they were prone to noticing the inconsistencies and flaws in the system.

Xanthippe

In fact the regimes were deeply suspicious of people who took the ideology too seriously. People who took the ideology seriously were dangerous because they were prone to noticing the inconsistencies and flaws in the system. Then they become rebels and dissidents

Yeah I totally agree which is why I don't bitterly regret pioneering and being absolutely genuine in my faith because this is what got me out. Once I saw the truth and left I was free, no indecision, no going back, that's what being authentic does for your life. We shouldn't be ashamed of it.

46

Canadians and Europeans, what do you think of your national health care ?

by RubaDub in

jw
friends

we have been in a battle over health care for so long here in the us regarding public, private, gov't subsidized, obama care, medicare for all, and just about every permutation of the above.. we hear the horror stories here that people wait 20 years for a check-up (ok, bit of an exaggeration), but you get the point.

one side tells us that canadians flock across the border when they are sick and need to see a doctor.

the other side says that is simply not the case.. so tell us, if you live under one of the government systems would you replace it?

Xanthippe

I find surgery under the NHS in the UK is excellent, I've had six operations. Good aftercare and generally compassionate nursing. For anything else I have found the NHS poor.

I was subjected to two biopsies after a routine breast scan didn't look quite right. After waiting over a terrible Christmas holiday for the results, they told me everything was fine and it was probably moving to digital scanning machines that had given a false scan result! Try telling that to my teenage daughter who thought she was going to lose her mum after losing her dad!

Mental health care is appalling. I know someone who was sectioned, put in a psychiatric ward for several weeks and basically was just fed and given somewhere to sleep. As if they were an animal. No occupational or talking therapy, only seeing their psychiatrist once a week, no treatment at all beyond anti-anxiety meds. Plus they are now on a list whereby they get called into see their doctor for a mental health check every year even though they have been better for years and they can never be taken off this list, it's the law. Like they are a sex offender!

14

Set ptermber AT study article: "Armaggedon Is Good News!

by Room 215 in

omg, is this the apotheosis of bat-shit craziness or not?

.

Xanthippe

It's good news for all those waiting to take over their neighbourhood big houses. Once they've buried the bodies. Of course there'll be no power, water or plumbing but a miracle or two will fix that surely.

46

On the Subject of Demons, I Have a Story to Tell.

by snugglebunny in

i have posted the full story on a fb site.

so my apologies to anyone who's already read it.

some of what i've written is what was told to me by my father.

Xanthippe

What a lovely photo snugglebunny. It sounds like you're having a great time travelling and enjoying your family. What a great result for an evil apostate!

18

The Evolution Of The Watchtower Cult

by pale.emperor in

since waking up from the cult i've been curious about where the cult is going and how will it end up?

will it fizzle out or become a little fringe "religion" like plymouth bretheren or the shakers?.

we've already seen the cult evolve from:.

Xanthippe

My somewhat jaundiced vision of the JW future is in JWTV evangelism.

I agree with Half banana this is the way the wts is going, tv evangelism and selling salvation for donations. They're grabbing KHs for money and JWs sit at home watching their leaders on video already.

They said for years when they have to beg for money it's time to stop because the God of the universe doesn't need to beg. They now never stop begging for money and the GB already live in gated communities and have a rock star life style.

Compare them to Jimmy Swaggart who is only worth ten million which is peanuts to the wts. They got that just for the buildings in DUMBO.