SPAZnik

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Posts by SPAZnik

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  28

  New CO 70 yrs old, "youre not doing enough" school. Sigh

  by monkeyman in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  got our new co. old school guy, 70 yrs old.

  mo is "youre all not doing enough".

  sigh.. three yrs of this asshole..

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  SPAZnik

  Billy. You nailed it.
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  12

  Dealing with reality after leaving the witnesses

  by lancelink in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this afternoon i was reading newsweek, and smithsonian magazine online, and there were two video's on the sites that really caused a massive conflict in me.. one video was about the 3rd and 4th generations of children living in viet nam who had grandparents, and great-grandparents who had to deal with agent orange back in the 1960's.

  sorry i can't find the video now.

  then i was reading the smithsonian magazine and there was a vidoe about illegal wildlife trade in the world:.

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  SPAZnik

  You'll never really know until you try.
• 
  12

  Dealing with reality after leaving the witnesses

  by lancelink in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this afternoon i was reading newsweek, and smithsonian magazine online, and there were two video's on the sites that really caused a massive conflict in me.. one video was about the 3rd and 4th generations of children living in viet nam who had grandparents, and great-grandparents who had to deal with agent orange back in the 1960's.

  sorry i can't find the video now.

  then i was reading the smithsonian magazine and there was a vidoe about illegal wildlife trade in the world:.

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  SPAZnik

  The first time I volunteered for a non-jw charity, it was for this place that simply made sandwiches for workers below the poverty line.

  I was terrified. I even used a fake name. LMAO. But it was enjoyable enough that I did it twice.

  There are lots of people that leave the JWs and go on to lead fulfilling lives. I think it's cool that you are motivated towards charity stuff. I say research in your area what you can do. My city has a whole database of volunteer opportunities. That or a lot of schools teach courses about how to get into the "non-profit" industry in a bigger (paid) way.

  Keep us posted as you go along, if you're so inclined. It would be nice to hear how things go as you spread your wings a bit.
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  12

  Dealing with reality after leaving the witnesses

  by lancelink in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this afternoon i was reading newsweek, and smithsonian magazine online, and there were two video's on the sites that really caused a massive conflict in me.. one video was about the 3rd and 4th generations of children living in viet nam who had grandparents, and great-grandparents who had to deal with agent orange back in the 1960's.

  sorry i can't find the video now.

  then i was reading the smithsonian magazine and there was a vidoe about illegal wildlife trade in the world:.

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  SPAZnik

  Start small.
• 
  12

  Dealing with reality after leaving the witnesses

  by lancelink in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this afternoon i was reading newsweek, and smithsonian magazine online, and there were two video's on the sites that really caused a massive conflict in me.. one video was about the 3rd and 4th generations of children living in viet nam who had grandparents, and great-grandparents who had to deal with agent orange back in the 1960's.

  sorry i can't find the video now.

  then i was reading the smithsonian magazine and there was a vidoe about illegal wildlife trade in the world:.

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  SPAZnik

  As for how long it takes ... it's really up to you and your circumstances to decide what you are ready, willing, and able to do. Everyone is so different.

  I recommend studying up on "change management" because it's a pretty big change. In some ways, it's also comparable to what migrants go through when they switch countries, so I'd recommend reading up on culture shock or things along that line.

  Other than that, my only recommendation is to listen to your instincts. They're your instincts for a reason (even though the WTS would have been just as happy to beat them out of people). Most of all, I still think do what you love. Just take a few deep breaths, give yourself a break from all the life and death seriousness of everything, and get busy exploring new frontiers that you've always wanted to try out. :)

  I've also found it helps to look at religion much like you look at sports teams. They all think God is on their side and they're simply in competition with one another. Reading up on anthropology helped me a bit. It's fascinating to get a bird's eye view of the fact that gods really are made in man's image and not the other way around.

  Oh, and don't worry about the A word. JC wuz was one too, remember? :o)

  All the best,

  SPAZnik
• 
  12

  Dealing with reality after leaving the witnesses

  by lancelink in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this afternoon i was reading newsweek, and smithsonian magazine online, and there were two video's on the sites that really caused a massive conflict in me.. one video was about the 3rd and 4th generations of children living in viet nam who had grandparents, and great-grandparents who had to deal with agent orange back in the 1960's.

  sorry i can't find the video now.

  then i was reading the smithsonian magazine and there was a vidoe about illegal wildlife trade in the world:.

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  SPAZnik

  Hi lancelink,

  I can totally relate to your comments and appreciate the way you described the very real feelings of cognitive dissonance like a little voice. One thing that's helped me is to rethink the "morals" to certain "scripts" as it were, such as that one about the "master" that leaves his "slaves" in charge and comes back to see what they did with their "talents". He was not happy with those that said we just hid our talent in the sand because we were afraid of how mean you are. In my experience, this is exactly what JWs do with their interpretation of things. Hide their talents in the sand because Jehovah is such a vengeful god. So they run circles around the word talent to justify why they don't take care of this planet.

  Not sure if that helps or just becomes more confusing by using the scripts of our upbringing. But it helped me to rethink that one, so I thought I'd share. :) I guess you could say that change takes time. :)
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  26

  Ruminating in the tool shed...

  by Gregor in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  actually i'm hiding out.

  here's what happened 30 mins ago.... .

  ... been busy all morning preparing to go to our son's house next door.

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  SPAZnik

  Women remember because they have emotions.
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  17

  Can you and I make a difference?

  by compound complex in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.

  indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

  margaret mead.

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  SPAZnik

  I love that ghandi quote, chickpea. It's one of my favorites.

  Coco, great quote re change and making a difference.

  I'm finding that change and difference is achievable and possible at every moment.

  Whether a change or difference we perceive as positive is received by others the same way, and how negative ripple effects or off-shoots of change will be managed and handled, is another matter entirely. Evolution (change) seems really slow to me for this reason. But start small and the thing can be done.

  Ironically, all of this sort of talk reminds me of a quote about a mustard seed. :o)
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  27

  Are humans programmed to belive in god?

  by highdose in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  this is somthing the gb likes to assert.

  but they ignore the many atheists in the world as they do so.

  i have been coming more and more to terms with the fact that i don't blieve there is a god out there, gradually i am accepting this..

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  SPAZnik

  Are humans programmed to believe in god?

  I don't know.

  I believe humans avoid death and stay alive using whatever tools they can access and utilize to whatever degree or capacity at their avail that will hopefully allow them to sleep peaceably at night. I'm beginning to believe that there are essentially as many "religions" as there are people on the planet and then some, depending on various alliances for survival.

  Then again, I believe I mostly identify as agnostic, which to me means that I don't really believe there is any way of knowing such things for certain. I might even go so far as to say that it seems increasingly risky to life to cling to public opinions about such things, so I may begin reserving mine more often.

  Still, God seems like a conscience concept regarding staying alive or causing death (and the various options and consequences in between). Sometimes god/conscience can be employed individually and sometimes it's a group collective thing that factors in that which is unknown to us or out of our command.

  I'm not sure it's about God and I'm loathe to disrespect others' Gods. For me, it's about life. I hope everyone has a nice one.
• 
  26

  Ruminating in the tool shed...

  by Gregor in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  actually i'm hiding out.

  here's what happened 30 mins ago.... .

  ... been busy all morning preparing to go to our son's house next door.

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  SPAZnik

  Tsk, tsk. Naughty. Feeling a bit riske were you? :o)