Kind of reminds one of that little phony moment in Catholic mass where each one has to turn to the side and "greet" on another...
if you have to legislate it, then it aint really the real thing.
james_woods
JoinedPosts by james_woods
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16
The showy display of one's "friendliness" at the Kingdom Hall
by truthseeker ini recently read the elder's manual, from the rexamine.org website.. there is an interesting article on how elder's train ministerial servants to "greet" people at the doors.
they are told to be friendly to the those in attendance and to arrive early and stay late to associate with the friends.. in other words, it would seem that the friendliness shown by elders and servants at the halls is more of a duty than a desire to get to know the brothers and sisters.. many times, elders and servants have been enthusiastic to me in their greetings only, but rarely stop to engage in conversation.
they are not interested in people, only an outward appearance of friendliness, which bolsters the image of the org as having genuine love..
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8
The time has arrived, I need your support!
by drew sagan inwell guys it has finally come down to it.
i think i am on my way out of the organization for good!
last time i posted about my situation i wasn't sure what to do and was actually thinking about moving ahead in the organization for more confrontation which i hoped would help me get out.
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james_woods
Congratulations... this too will pass. You have come to a great moment in life, and it will rest with you for many years as one of the best things you have ever done for yourself.
I think your significant other concurs, as well -
James
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97
What's the best way to let someone down gently?
by ballistic ini'm so used to getting dumped myself, now the situation is reversed i'm not sure what to say.
i don't want to do the chicken shit thing and ignore her.
i think she is a vulnerable girl.
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james_woods
Football couch told me to just give her a little slap on the buttocks and say "Good hustle, babe - now you go get em next time..."
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Empty Nest Survival tips?
by serendipity inmy daughter is 17 and it's occurred to me the chick will be leaving the nest in a few short years.
since i'm single, she's the sole focus of my attention at home, and it's hard to deal with her growing up.
it's so hard, that i get teary-eyed just thinking about it, and i'm not generally a weepy woman.. for those of you who have lived through this, how did you cope?
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james_woods
Sometimes when they all leave, a black and white kittykat will come up to your back door and cry for food...
You will know what to do at that time.
James
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Judah Ben Schroeder NOT finishing law school
by Seeker4 ina few weeks ago there were a couple of threads about the wts and higher education, and some stated that judah ben schroeder (son of the late governing body member al schroeder) was attending law school at columbia university.
i got an e-mail from a very reliable source today about some inaccuracies in those threads.
here are some quotes from the e-mail, which the writer asked me to share anonymously on jwd:
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james_woods
Let me put this on the record - I think J.Ben is older than 40: When I last saw him about 1970, he must have been at least 9 or 10 years old. That was 36 years ago.
The tragedy here is not that he is attending a college (finally - and good for him) but the sorry fact that it took so long and only happened because he was one of the special and privileged few.
Wonder what he might have been able to do for the society and those associated if he had been allowed to go do college in the normal way?
And, no - I do not mean as a Duke university Lacross player...
James
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15
Could You Just Imagine the View?
by XJW4EVR in.
what a great idea!
why didn't someone think of this before?.
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james_woods
I would be astounded if such a glass bridge could actually be built over that big a distance for only $30 million...
So, whats wrong with flying over it in a chopper or glass floor airplane?
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28
The Story of Adam & Eve
by LaCatolica ini learned that the story of adam and eve was exactly that, 'a story'.
i remember learning that in my religion class in high school.
i learned that the old testament was filled with tales and that none should be taken literally because these were stories of oral tradition.
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james_woods
Hi Tea4Two - I understand you must support creation over evolution, and I respect that view...but,
I am somehow not able to follow your point. Are you saying that two sexes are not biologically necessary and therefore would not have evolved? Most evolutionary theories maintain the two sexes serve the purpose of genetic transfer which tends to self correct dangerous mutations. Single sex reproduction would tend to perpetuate chromosome damage through the generations. It is interesting that clone-like budding style reproduction does exist in the natural world; but that bisexual reproduction (i.e. male/female) is much more common in higher organisms, even with plant life.
But, if the two sexes are not really needed, does it then follow that in any creationist theory two sexes are therefore sort of a frivolous act of God?
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JW's and the Vietnamese...
by james_woods inthis got inspired by some private conversations over the past few days...and because my life companion and her kids are vietnamese.. i had witnesses specifically call at our door a while back; they were an older vietnamese man and a young teenage girl.
the girl asks me if someone in the house speaks vietnamese - i assumed that they were just mai's friends from the local vietnamese community.. they were in fact jw's.
they were not going door to door - they had specifically targeted us and drove right up to our house.
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james_woods
Well, I reread my own rant so let me qualify it down a little...
Of course, they (Vietnamese speaking JW) are free to talk to whoever they want. Same for other languages.
What I think is grossly wrong is the obvious potential for sucking unwary vulnerable needy people into something of which they have no way to understand.
It's like handing out free crack cocaine over the fence at the Jr. High until you get them hooked and then start charging them the money.
(well, Ok, maybe still ranting some...)
James
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JW's and the Vietnamese...
by james_woods inthis got inspired by some private conversations over the past few days...and because my life companion and her kids are vietnamese.. i had witnesses specifically call at our door a while back; they were an older vietnamese man and a young teenage girl.
the girl asks me if someone in the house speaks vietnamese - i assumed that they were just mai's friends from the local vietnamese community.. they were in fact jw's.
they were not going door to door - they had specifically targeted us and drove right up to our house.
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james_woods
This got inspired by some private conversations over the past few days...and because my life companion and her kids are Vietnamese.
I had witnesses specifically call at our door a while back; they were an older Vietnamese man and a young teenage girl. The girl asks me if someone in the house speaks Vietnamese - I assumed that they were just Mai's friends from the local Vietnamese community.
They were in fact JW's. They were not going door to door - they had specifically targeted us and drove right up to our house. We think they found us because Mai's kids had an upstairs phone with their Vietnamese last name and showing a street address. It is fore shore gone now, of course. Mai does not know very much about my 30 years ago religious horror, so I had to explain to her who these morons were and why we needed to steer clear of them. (She got kind of pissed off at me at first because I sent them packing when I saw the magazines...the Vietnamese are very polite as a general custom.) She could have easily talked to them and let them influence her if I had not been home.
A friend recently told me that in fact this is common practice - they are specifically targeting Viet immigrants, especially ones who have limited English and probably with low education levels. They do in fact hunt through the phone listings for Tran, Nguyen, etc...also, if a Vietnamese family is found in ordinary door-to-door they are immediately passed on to the Vietnamese speaking hit team.
Well, needless to say, I think this just sucks. And, I am going to do something about it. Mai has extended family and friends in San Francisco, Dallas, Houston, LA, Oklahoma City, and Boston. They are a politically influencial family in their community. I am personally going to let all of them know who these fanatics are and try to get a warning out to innocent new Vietnamese citizens that they are being viewed as easy pickings for these predators. It might not hurt to compose a letter in the language to pass around - and I am looking to see if something can be published in their ethnic news papers.
If anyone is with me on this, give us a post if there are any better ideas on the subject...
James
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15
The Watchtower preparing to become Mainstream?
by lovelylil ini have heard a few active witnesses comment recently about the wt quoting more frequently from sources from other church denominations.
i know they have done this in the past, but it seems from the rank & file that it is happening even more.. has anyone heard about this trend?
also, do you think the tower is preparing those in the rank & file to accept new light regarding christendom (such as that they do teach some truth), and how do you think this will affect people?.
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james_woods
Is it possible that we are just seeing a cyclical thing - occasional crackdowns on the R & F, followed by a short times of relative niceness?
I suspect that they may have done a little panic mode because of the US numbers, busted some tail through the conventions and circuit visits, and then realized that the bleeding has not stopped.
So, maybe loosen the tourniquet for just a little while to avoid total gangrene, and then back onto the torture rack as usual?