Posts by StoneWall

8

What attracts/draws/pulls you toward some groups,associations,organizations,memberships? What repels you from others?

by StoneWall in

jw
friends

in light of whats been going on in the last few days it got me to thinking about what is it that drives us to want to be a part of something and yet reject other things.. for instance for me i highly value words such as truth,facts,honor,integrity,liberation and find that i'm attracted to endeavors which pursue these things.. so for me personally, jwfacts.com was a website i felt drawn to because it appealed just in name only at first, but then the more i read the better i liked it.. but the first thing had to be the name to get me drawn in to investigate.. next i thought of randy's site that i like called freeminds.org.

just the name sounded so liberating,so refreshing from all the control that i experienced as a jw.. also i got to browsing my bookmark page and realized that the vast majority of my bookmarks were mainly sites that dealt with facts such as nasa.gov, various news websites and history etc.. then i started wondering about why there are some websites others liked but i wasn't that impressed with them.. what did they see that was interesting to them or of value in their eyes?.

what draws you to a company/corporation, or a cause or what is it that makes you want to either get involved with something or pass?.

StoneWall

Stubborn Disbeliever said:

Not sure if that's the answer you're looking for, but that's how I took the question

Really there's not a particular answer I'm looking for because we each have our own likes/dislikes.
It's more along the lines of what captures your interest enough to want to be a part of something. I think your reply was satisfactory.
So looking over your response the things you look for are friendships and companionship. That is what motivates you then. (Your examples of JWN and local farmers market help to illustrate this)

wha happened? said:

I look at all organizations with a grain of salt.

I can understand this because I do as well to an extent. But the fact we both are posting on this forum shows that something caught our attention enough to check it out, then something held value enough to make us want to stick around.
What do you think it was? (The obvious answer is it had a direct connection to JW's but so do other sites)

34

The JW life is good!

by Julia Orwell in

jw
friends

for some people.

i think of the old man who has no family and lives in a nursing home, and the only time he gets out is when he's picked up for the meetings.

he lives solely for that.. or people who love routine and busy-ness, people who need to be led.. george orwell wrote that the party is best able to impose its worldview on those least likely to understand what it is that's being asked of them: orthodoxy is unconsciousness.. i believe a lot of jws swallow the party line and it passes through them unharmed, like a seed pooped out by a bird.

StoneWall

What were some things you did enjoy?

I enjoyed the "Quickly built" kingdom halls I helped on. Was always fun to join with others and erect a hall in 3 to 4 days back then.
Liked the congregation picnics we sometimes had and "FishFry's".
When I was young and single it was always a great time to go to CA's and DC's to scope out all the lovely ladies from other halls. :)

Some things I didn't enjoy...

Getting up early on Saturday's for field service or early on Sunday's for the meeting.
Seeing a DF'd one come in and set in the back row and no one even acknowledging their existence.

8

What attracts/draws/pulls you toward some groups,associations,organizations,memberships? What repels you from others?

by StoneWall in

jw
friends

in light of whats been going on in the last few days it got me to thinking about what is it that drives us to want to be a part of something and yet reject other things.. for instance for me i highly value words such as truth,facts,honor,integrity,liberation and find that i'm attracted to endeavors which pursue these things.. so for me personally, jwfacts.com was a website i felt drawn to because it appealed just in name only at first, but then the more i read the better i liked it.. but the first thing had to be the name to get me drawn in to investigate.. next i thought of randy's site that i like called freeminds.org.

just the name sounded so liberating,so refreshing from all the control that i experienced as a jw.. also i got to browsing my bookmark page and realized that the vast majority of my bookmarks were mainly sites that dealt with facts such as nasa.gov, various news websites and history etc.. then i started wondering about why there are some websites others liked but i wasn't that impressed with them.. what did they see that was interesting to them or of value in their eyes?.

what draws you to a company/corporation, or a cause or what is it that makes you want to either get involved with something or pass?.

StoneWall

In light of whats been going on in the last few days it got me to thinking about what is it that drives us to want to be a part of something and yet reject other things.

For instance for me I highly value words such as truth,facts,honor,integrity,liberation and find that I'm attracted to endeavors which pursue these things.

So for me personally, JWFacts.com was a website I felt drawn to because it appealed just in name only at first, but then the more I read the better I liked it.

But the first thing had to be the name to get me drawn in to investigate.

Next I thought of Randy's site that I like called FreeMinds.org
Just the name sounded so liberating,so refreshing from all the control that I experienced as a JW.

Also I got to browsing my bookmark page and realized that the vast majority of my bookmarks were mainly sites that dealt with facts such as Nasa.gov, various News websites and history etc.

Then I started wondering about why there are some websites others liked but I wasn't that impressed with them.
What did they see that was interesting to them or of value in their eyes?

What draws you to a company/corporation, or a cause or what is it that makes you want to either get involved with something or pass?
What has to be apparent right at the start to make you even care to look into it?

What would be some things that would be a big warning light and if you saw would hinder you from joining?

Feedback on any of these questions is appreciated.

22

New GB pic 2013?

by Joliette in

jw
friends

i saw a new gb pic on a youtube channel i tried doing a google search for 2013 pics but nothing came up.

man, those guys got old fast!

they all look much younger in 2009..

StoneWall

Well at least they got a Black bro on the GB finally these last few years....before that it was all whites.(only took what a 100 years)

Now I wonder how long it will take before we see an Oriental or a Latino on there. I'm guessing it won't take another 100

42

Is it GOOD that God KILLS BABIES??? Help needed in debate

by Bloody Hotdogs! in

[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>normal</w:view> <w:zoom>0</w:zoom> <w:punctuationkerning /> <w:validateagainstschemas /> <w:saveifxmlinvalid>false</w:saveifxmlinvalid> <w:ignoremixedcontent>false</w:ignoremixedcontent> <w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext>false</w:alwaysshowplaceholdertext> <w:compatibility> <w:breakwrappedtables /> <w:snaptogridincell /> <w:wraptextwithpunct /> <w:useasianbreakrules /> <w:dontgrowautofit /> </w:compatibility> <w:browserlevel>microsoftinternetexplorer4</w:browserlevel> </w:worddocument> </xml><!

[endif]hello all,.

my wife and i are atheists, raised and living as jehovah's witnesses.

StoneWall

Maybe reason with her along these lines:

Are we made in God's image?

If so then according to Romans 2:21-22 it says this:

"do you, however, the one teaching someone else, not teach yourself? You, the one preaching “Do not steal,” do you steal? You, the one saying “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You, the one expressing abhorrence of the idols, do you rob temples?"

So along these same lines of reasoning couldn't you say, you the one saying do not murder, do you murder?

Then point out Romans 12:17 " Return evil for evil to no one. Provide fine things in the sight of all men."

So does God not hold himself to the same standards he expects of others?

21

Quick and easy 607 question

by breakfast of champions in

really, this should be easy if you have the cd rom (i don't).. somewhere in the societies publications, they try to denigrate the reliability of an ancient tablet by citing a source which shows big gaps in the translation (lots of [] and .

's) evidently because this tablet was so beat up and broken, half the words are missing, thus secular historical records are worthless, trust the bible.. if i remember this correctly, the actual source of the quote goes on to say something to the effect of 'fortunately the obverse side of the tablet contains all the information in tact' - a fact the wt conveniently leaves out.. i had thought this quote was either from insight or the all scripture book, but i can't find it in either.

anyone know what publication this is from?

StoneWall

Is it the Nabonidus Tablet you're referring to?

Insight on the Scriptures Volume 2:

What does the Nabonidus Chronicle actually contain?

Also called “Cyrus-Nabonidus Chronicle” and “The Annalistic Tablet of Cyrus,” this is a clay tablet fragment now kept in the British Museum. It primarily depicts the main events of the reign of Nabonidus, the last supreme monarch of Babylon, including a terse account of the fall of Babylon to the troops of Cyrus. Though it was no doubt originally from Babylon and written in Babylonian cuneiform script, scholars who have examined its script style say it may date from some time in the Seleucid period (312-65 B.C.E.), hence two centuries or more after Nabonidus’ day. It is considered almost certainly to be a copy of an earlier document. The tone of this chronicle so strongly glorifies Cyrus while presenting Nabonidus in a disparaging way that it is thought to have been the work of a Persian scribe, and in fact, it has been referred to as “Persian propaganda.” However, while such may be the case, historians feel that the circumstantial data it contains is nonetheless reliable.

In spite of the brevity of the Nabonidus Chronicle—the tablet measures about 14 cm (5.5 in.) in breadth at the widest point and about the same in length—it remains the most complete cuneiform record of the fall of Babylon available. In the third of its four columns, beginning with line 5, pertinent sections read: “[Seventeenth year:] . . . In the month of Tashritu, when Cyrus attacked the army of Akkad in Opis on the Tigris, the inhabitants of Akkad revolted, but he (Nabonidus) massacred the confused inhabitants. The 14th day, Sippar was seized without battle. Nabonidus fled. The 16th day, Gobryas (Ugbaru), the governor of Gutium and the army of Cyrus entered Babylon without battle. Afterwards Nabonidus was arrested in Babylon when he returned (there). . . . In the month of Arahshamnu, the 3rd day, Cyrus entered Babylon, green twigs were spread in front of him—the state of ‘Peace’ (sulmu) was imposed upon the city.”—Ancient Near Eastern Texts, p. 306.

It may be noted that the phrase “Seventeenth year” does not appear on the tablet, that portion of the text being damaged. This phrase is inserted by the translators because they believe that Nabonidus’ 17th regnal year was his last. So they assume that the fall of Babylon came in that year of his reign and that, if the tablet were not damaged, those words would appear in the space now damaged. Even if Nabonidus’ reign was of greater length than is generally supposed, this would not change the accepted date of 539 B.C.E. as the year of Babylon’s fall, for there are other sources pointing to that year. This factor, however, does lessen to some extent the value of the Nabonidus Chronicle.

While the year is missing, the month and day of the city’s fall, nevertheless, are on the remaining text. Using these, secular chronologers calculate the 16th day of Tashritu (Tishri) as falling on October 11, Julian calendar, and October 5, Gregorian calendar, in the year 539 B.C.E. Since this date is an accepted one, there being no evidence to the contrary, it is usable as a pivotal date in coordinating secular history with Bible history

2

My NEW Theme song - gotta put it on my phone

by dreamgolfer in

and oldie but goodie - sharing the love!.

.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnzmregz_gi.

StoneWall

That ones good..

But I have to say I prefer Bon Jovi's "It's my Life"

Lot of the lyrics are almost like they were wrote with ex-JW's in mind

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx2u5uUu3DE

423

I have just been disinvited to my brother's wedding - Thanks AAWA!

by Sic Semper Tyrannis in

i am an inactive jw.

i havent been on this forum for a few months and have been lurking in others.

i have met a few people in real life and online, both on this forum and on others.

StoneWall

sinis said:

...because I can show you story after story after story on here and elsewhere, where people are fading for YEARS and are as miserable as they were on day one! ...and usually in the end they lose something or someone, they were trying to avoid for all those years...

And I personally know of many that are "fading/faded" for years that are happy and no longer attend meetings but still get to talk to their families.
I will include myself in this. Not DF'd or DA'd.

Some of my family don't have as much to say to me since I haven't attended meetings in years. But I guess that is understandable since we don't have as much in common anymore. Their life revolves around the WT and telling/talking about it, whereas my life revolves around enjoying each day to its fullest. We still extend courtesy to each other but if they start bringing up the religious aspect I either change the topic or say I'm happy for you and hope you can be happy for me.

But I will point out that if my circumstances were different and didn't have so many family still in, and it was just me ....I would have said "GOOD-BYE" to them long ago and could care less then if they DF me or not.

So I can see it both ways. For those without as much to lose it probably is better to cut the cord (DA/DF) but for those with so much more at stake I'd say the "inactive Fader" way might be the more prudent choice. But each will have to decide on their own circumstances.

7

For any that may have been "Outted" on Facebook regarding joining a particular "Association"

by StoneWall in

jw
friends

i can relate to what you're going through because i'm still in the "witness protection program" so to speak, due to family etc.. i would just like to make some recommendations/suggestions to help you with damage control because i hate knowing that you are having to face this in your lives at this time in addition to whatever else you're currently dealing with.. to me it is imperative that you take a proactive/preemptive stance in being able to get through this realtively unscathed if possible.. and it can be done.. first post on your wall on fb that you found out the hardway that facebooks privacy and security settings leave a lot to be desired.. let your friends/family know that you were not aware that others, without your knowledge or consent could add you to many groups out there whether you wanted to or not.. make sure not to name this particular "association or organization" in your message so as not to draw even more undue attention to you or/and it.. this way it further distances you to any perceived ties they may have that linked you with it.

by not using the name it also shows that there are others groups you may have been added to without permission not just this one.

that way it is all inclusive and it will help in your defense to draw attention away from what that one's main focus is.. then you can finish up by stating that you have taken steps to remove your name from this group as well as any others that someone may have added your name to without your knowledge.. you may also want to add that if anyone see's where your name has been added to a group that they would find hard to believe that you would join, to please send you a pm since everything doesn't show up on your personal wall and you may have no knowledge of it.. this is only my suggestions and you can use it to your advantage if so desire.

StoneWall

Just bumping this up again in hopes it can help any since I saw more threads relating to FB.

If you feel you have been compromised, don't rely on whoever may have put you in that situation to get you out.

No one will look after your interest better than "you".

If anyone else has some suggestions or feedback that may help these ones please feel free to share.

14

A very important petition!

by sooner7nc in

jw
friends

http://www.petitiononline.com/casec/petition.html .

StoneWall

Didn't Texas already try something similar to this same thing?

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57548931/rick-perry-dismisses-texas-secession-talk/

And now its California's time to try....as posted above,good luck on that.