Abigail

It is posts like this one that make me really glad Paw is keeping this place open. Yeah, the terms psychological trauma may carry a negative connotation to some. It may imply a victim mentality to some. But, at least some people were victims. Some people were victims before they came to TWI and TWI was just another way they re-played that trauma. The fact is, some people do have victim mentality (or did). It takes recognizing that in oneself to overcome it and stop being a victim. If we don't talk about it - - if we refuse to acknowledge it, if we put down the person who suffers from it, how do we possibly overcome it or help someone else overcome it?

Bold added by me. Talk about an ego run amuck! This guy is going to uproot the devil's kingdom all by himself??? Pretty amazing. And BTW, wasn't the Word already Over the World?? OMG Wayward, I just checked out the links you posted. That is down right creepy!!! <shivers>

Hi SirG! I was thinking of that when I was posting, but couldn't remember what it was called. My mom asked me those questions when I was a kid and she was in college.

Morality is an interesting thing, and is often determined by the eye of the beholder. For instance, Ham, there are many things you would never do in the name of the god-money. But, what wouldn't you do to protect your children??? See, I'm thinking that table can get turned around real quick, depending upon the circumstances. Which brings me to another thought. In TWI "good intentions" were never good enough. Road paved to hell and all. But is that the case with God or does God not look upon the heart? Now, I think good intentions mean a lot!

ExC, understanding a past that makes one vulnerable can be useful in protecting yourself in the future. It still doesn't justify or condone someone taking advantage of that vulnerability to hurt you. None of it was your fault. VPW was a pig, plain and simple. You were/are the innocent one in this.

ExC, what happened to you was not your fault. That responsibility is VPWs. Don't ever stop talking. You help me to remember that what happened to me was also not my fault. :)

If charges were filed, someone could do a FOIA request and get copies of all the court documents. Of course, they would need to know which court to look in . . . .

Socks, This post should be pinned at the top of the forum permanently. I know it was written to ExC, but so many of us could take it to heart. Very beautifully said!

I'm glad you made it back before it closed to John. We all got a little testy from time to time. I know I did.

Someone on your friends list tried to invite you back into the group. She got a message saying you left the group. When that message comes up your friends cannot simply bring you in by inviting you (if they could it would mean you might never be able to leave if you wanted to). You will have to send a request to join to the GSC page and then Bramble will approve you. Perhaps you inadvertently hit the leave group when trying to add friends or something?

I had Bramble remove me from being an administrator. As I said at the start of this, you are both welcome to the grop and no one blocked you. Neither of us knows what happened, but if you want in the group you are welcome and now you don't have to worry about sushi or I removing you and I don't have to worry about being falsley accused.

Cindy you are mistaken. My husband does not have access to my facebook account and I did not remove you. and BTW, facebook would never have revealed that even if I had. So. . . I do not know what happened. I told you here, I told in 2 PMs you and your husband are welcome to the group. I do not know what happened, but I did not remove you. Beckie did not remove you. NO ONE has been blocked from the group. EVER.

Cindy, there is something weird or wrong here. I checked the block lists in the GSC on facebook and no one has blocked you or anyone else. To my knowledge, there are only two of us at GSC who have access to block people . . . me and Bramble. I haven't talked to Bramble yet, her husband is in the hospital, but I cannot imagine she would have blocked you. There are two ways into the group. Someone who is already in the group and on your friends list can bring you in or you can request to join. If you ask to join, I will approve the request. I do not know what happened. I do know facebook can be glitchy and sometimes I will get notifications that 3 or 4 people have asked to join and when I go to hit the "button" that allows access it will only give me 1 name. Whatever the case may be, if you want back in I will approve the request.

Thanks Sunesis. Things are settling down into something akin to a routine again. Hoping to get the oldest back to school when the break is over. FWIW - you and ClayJay . . . . everyone gets mad sometimes. I have been moderated too. Everyone gets that.

Hi Mike. Nice to see you are alive and well.

John, I'm pretty sure I never moderated you. In fact, I got involed as a moderator, in part, to defend voices like yours and Oldiesman. I may not agree with you on very many topics, but I always believed you had a right to voice your opinion (as long as you did so respectfully). I also believed you had a right to be treated with respect when people responded to you. Believe it or not, as much as your opinions angered me at times . . . I angered a number of my friends defending your right to express them. I should qualify that by explaining that I did not so much have to defend you to other moderators in my moderator hat. It was more an issue of defending you to other posters in my Abigail hat.

Kit, I sent you an email. Or, if you want you can private message me. If you are interested in the facebook group but nervous about the privacy issues, I can talk you through how to set up your page so that your privacy is as intact as it can be on facebook.

I was reminded tonight of the years I have spent here. The pages upon pages on which I have poured out a lifetime's worth of words. I came here newly out and married to someone still in. There were so many people who helped me in those early days. Pamsandiego, Belle, Oakspear, Mandii, Satori, ExC . . . . more than I could name. As I explored my relationship with God and my religious heritage . . . Clay, SirG, Bramble, again more people than I could name. Then there were the chatroom food fights with Hope, Shellon, Sushi (of course), Hap . . . . Here I grew from a frightened and confused little girl to a woman who can stand on here own two feet and take on the world, when necessary. And among the many friends I have made, I owe a gigantic debt of gratitude to Paw for providing me with a safe place to pour out my thoughts and heart as I explored who I was and who I wanted to become. My life story is hidden among the back pages of the many faces of Greasespot. Thank you Paw, more than words can say, for allowing me a place to pour out my inner most thoughts within the safety of anonymity, until I no longer felt the need to hide. :)

For those of you who do not often stray into the Open Forum, you may want to go there and see Paw's thread on the State of the Spot.

I honestly don't know where I would be today, if it hadn't been for the cafe. Here I recovered from the horrors of TWI. Here I began my journey into logical and critical thinking. Here I received the inspiration and encouragement to return to school and to explore my religious heritage. Here I received the love and support to get out of an abusive marriage. Here I met my wonderful husband and many true friends. Paw, thank you for all you have done for those of us exiting TWI. I will miss this place, but I am also glad that you are finally willing to remember that it is okay to take care of yourself. :) We should at the very least do a chatroom meet up on New Years Eve as part of the send off. However, I need someone to help me figure out why I cannot get into chat on my laptop. I know it is something in my security settings, but I haven't figured out what yet.

Yes, but poptarts r2

Okay, Garth, I'll take a crack at it.

I had no particular results in mind. Really just a food for thought kind of thing. I thought it was pretty cool that even a Rabbi as orthodox as this one appears to be, does not condemn homosexuals.

My cousin posted this article on Facebook and I thought it was worth sharing here. Keep in mind the reference to wearing tefillin would indicate this rabbi is pretty orthodox. The article can be found HERE Here are two parts I especially liked: There are 613 commandments in the Torah. One is to refrain from gay sex. Another is for men and women to marry and have children. So when Jewish gay couples come to me for counselling and tell me they have never been attracted to the opposite sex in their entire lives and are desperately alone, I tell them, “You have 611 commandments left. That should keep you busy. Now, go create a kosher home with a mezuza on the door. Turn off the TV on the Sabbath and share your festive meal with many guests. Put on tefillin and pray to God three times a day, for you are His beloved children. He desires you and seeks you out.” and I have numerous gay friends whose greatest fear, like so many straight people, is to end up alone. Should we merely throw the book at these people? Does not the same book, the Bible, also say, “It is not good for man to be alone?” And all I’m asking from my religious brethren is this: Even as you oppose gay relationships because of your beliefs, please be tortured by your opposition. Understand that when our most deeply held beliefs conflict with our basic humanity, we should feel the tragedy of the conflict, rather than simply find convenient scapegoats upon whom to blame all of America’s ills. Emphasis added by me.

ROFLMA - Ann Arbor! Seriously? I wish them all the luck (yes, I said luck) in the world (that evil, evil world) in Ann Arbor, they are going to need it! Lets see: Economy in Michigan, in the tank. No jobs to be found. Cost of Living in Ann Arbor, very expensive college town, no cheap housing there. General atmosphere of Ann Arbor, very liberal (i.e. not inclined to give the time of day to a fundy group). College town to be sure and we know TWI likes to try to recruit those young college kids. But these aren't just any college kids. U of M is a very difficult school to get into. You have to maintain a pretty high GPA in high school and score high on the SATs to get into that school. This means these kids are no dummies! And, again I say liberal and not inclined toward the fundy mentality. The President of the student body is (gasp) a homosexual and the students are rallying behind him in the face of personal attacks from an nutjob who works for the State Attorney General. The college as a whole is rallying behind this kid and has banned said nutjob assistant AG from their campus. Yeah, I wish them all the luck in Ann Arbor - roflmaopmp. They are going to be chased out of town so fast their heads will be spinning! ahahahahahahahahahhaaa Doing what? I want details on this one. I live near Ann Arbor and have family there. I'm dying to know what kind of work they found and if they will earn enough to cover the cost of food and housing. Or is TWI subsidising the disciples these days?