Matt,
My thoughts are with you as you face the next days and weeks. As you say, growth is sometimes painful, but always worthwhile. To brighter days ahead!
SNG
seattleniceguy
JoinedPosts by seattleniceguy
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183
It is finished, or is it just beginning?
by IP_SEC inwell i am no longer one of jehovah's witnesses.
i had fully intentioned to disassociate myself from the platform today, but i decided that if i wanted a chance to save my marriage that i'd better tell my wife.
she immediately went to to one of the elders.
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270
Are you an atheist?
by hibiscusfire inwhy are we here?
what is the purpose of life?
an atheist has many questions but no answers.. .
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seattleniceguy
This thread is an unbelievably well-illustrated example of how canned responses allow a person to totally stop thinking.
SNG
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270
Are you an atheist?
by hibiscusfire inwhy are we here?
what is the purpose of life?
an atheist has many questions but no answers.. .
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seattleniceguy
Two friends proclaimed themselves to be atheists.
When mortal sickness came to one of them, the other came to see him.
Perhaps a little afraid lest at the last he should abandon his atheism, said to him,
"Stick to it, Bill!"
"But," replied the stricken man, "there is nothing to stick to!"
hibiscusfire,
This is a totally self-indulgent, absurd depiction of atheism. I'm going to be frank with you: You are not attempting to understand the valid and rational positions of those whom you try to convert, and this makes you look like a fool. Try to engage your brain before you begin cranking out cliches.
SNG
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14
*Sex* & the Evolution vs. Creation debate
by tetrapod.sapien ini was just looking back over some of the evolution vs. creation debates that have taken place here on jwd in the recent past.
and i was struck by something.
sorry if this has been done already.. practically all posts (i could almost safely say "all") in the debates are authored by males.
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seattleniceguy
Interesting question. My girlfriend is pretty interested in evolution. She reads my threads on the evidence with great fascination.
SNG
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44
Why do you post here?
by seattleniceguy infor me, it's mainly the money and the women, i suppose.. no, but seriously, i was thinking the other day about why i post here.
in september it will be two years since i left the organization.
i don't much care for doctrinal debates anymore, and i usually pass on threads that are concerned with he-said-she-said kind of stuff inside the organization.
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seattleniceguy
Hi all. What a good thread. Thanks for so many great replies!
SNG
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44
Why do you post here?
by seattleniceguy infor me, it's mainly the money and the women, i suppose.. no, but seriously, i was thinking the other day about why i post here.
in september it will be two years since i left the organization.
i don't much care for doctrinal debates anymore, and i usually pass on threads that are concerned with he-said-she-said kind of stuff inside the organization.
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seattleniceguy
For me, it's mainly the money and the women, I suppose.
No, but seriously, I was thinking the other day about why I post here. In September it will be two years since I left the organization. I don't much care for doctrinal debates anymore, and I usually pass on threads that are concerned with he-said-she-said kind of stuff inside the organization. So why do I post here?
When I left the organization, I was dumbfounded and awestruck by the process of growth I went through and the realization of what the world really was. It felt like walking out of a small house and realizing for the first time that there was an entire universe on the other side of that door. I gradually came to see that not only Witnesses, but fundamentalists of all colors (including non-religous fundamentalists) were trapped in similar tiny boxes, and I wished I could help them see the same things that I had seen. I wished that for a moment I could make them see through other eyes, to understand through another mind.
I became determined to write. If I could somehow convey what I had learned to others who might similarly improve their lives, my experience would not have been in vain. I wanted to write a novel or a screenplay that distilled my experiences and framed them in a setting with broader appeal, probably a non-religious setting. I still hope to do this.
I realized the other day that the reason I post here is because of this urge to help others through writing. In this board, we have an incredible thing - the prospect of being read by hundreds or even thousands of other humans in a very specific target audience. A good discussion helps not only those who read it now, but others who may come later. The author of the thread hones their ability to write well, and the readers (including the writers on the thread) get a chance to consider new ideas.
I suppose if I were to frame this in JW terminology, I might say that it is "love of neighbor" that prompts me to write here. But it feels cheap and clichéd when put in those terms. In my case, it is not dictates from some supposedly holy book, nor peer pressure from a the social network in a religious order that drives me. It is a genuine desire to interact, to learn, to share, to see things though different eyes, and to allow others to do the same. This is much, much more than I ever experienced in field service as a Witness.
Sorry if I rambled. I suppose I'm feeling write-y today. What drives you to post?
SNG
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17
Evidence against Evolution part 1 (disparity before diversity)
by hooberus inaccording to the evolutionary teaching (of the descent of all life via universal common ancestry) diversity in the fossil record should precede disparity.
("disparity refers to the extent of morphological divergence among members of a group, while diversity refers to the number of taxa within a group.
" jim gibson geoscience research institute http://www.grisda.org/origins/23068.htm).
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seattleniceguy
doogie,
"100% Alligator" or "100% Seagull" or "All Mammal"
Just wanted to say I had a good laugh over this stuff. :-) "New mammal bars, with 100%, all mammal meat!"
SNG
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17
Evidence against Evolution part 1 (disparity before diversity)
by hooberus inaccording to the evolutionary teaching (of the descent of all life via universal common ancestry) diversity in the fossil record should precede disparity.
("disparity refers to the extent of morphological divergence among members of a group, while diversity refers to the number of taxa within a group.
" jim gibson geoscience research institute http://www.grisda.org/origins/23068.htm).
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seattleniceguy
Hey hoob,
Nice thread. Here's the way I understand the issue you describe and its cause.
The issue:
The Cambrian era gives us fossils representing many phyla, but with relatively few species per phyla. Gradualism predicts a greater diversity of species within a phyla. Therefore, something is amiss.The cause:
Imagine that Cambrian life is as life is now: many phyla, great diversity within a phylum. Eons go by - the Cambrian is long gone. Now, considering that fossilization is rare and we do not find every creature that lived, what do we find when we start digging in the Cambrian? We find a few representatives from many phyla.It would be like if we suddenly wiped out all life on earth today, and there was a one-in-a-billion chance of any particular individual being discovered later. Later archaeologists would probably find a couple species of monkeys, a couple cat species, a couple bird species, etc. It is more likely that species would be missing from the discoveries (they are smaller targets) than phyla. Therefore, a greater number of phyla would be discovered, and a smaller number of species relative to the phyla.
Doesn't sound like an issue to me.
SNG
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54
tonight is the night
by susu812 inso i am being announced (the new way) as being df'd tonight.
me and my ex--who wont show up so i will be there all alone.
i am still unsure of how i feel about the whole thing.
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seattleniceguy
susu,
I hope you stick around. There is a LOT more to life than the JW world. Please keep learning and growing! Hope to see you around.
SNG
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35
JW love in action: JWs fail to inform me when roommate of two years dies
by seattleniceguy inwhen i was a witness, i shared a house with an elder/pioneer named herb.
herb was in his eighties, and he had paid off his two-bedroom house long ago, so he would offer the extra bedroom to local brothers.
it was a good deal, and herb got some company at the house, so everyone benefited.. for being in his eighties, herb was exceptionally fit.
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seattleniceguy
OldSoul,
Thank you for your comments.
It isn't the "Official Policy" to do things that way, but the fact that they would choose that way of dealing with one of the few things on which there is no direct instruction from the Governing Body says a lot about the kind of fruit they really bear.
This is, I think, a critical point for JW lurkers to understand. As you say, there is probably nothing in print addressing this exact situation, so it could hardly be called official policy. However, the fact that normal people view the behavior of Witnesses as so outrageous speaks to the fact that the culture in the organization causes people to act this way. It is a culture that is clearly based on legalism and fear, not love or compassion.
SNG