Posts by Jourles

68

Is your avatar you?

by Swamboozled in

jw
friends

i always assume that people with real pics for their avatars are pics of that poster.

obviously that's not always the case.

i'm curious about whose pic is really them.

Someone from Oregon "ME" - View on this James Kim event

by free2beme in

jw
friends

i spent last saturday about 10 miles out of grants pass bring some supplies to a friend who was in the search and rescue for james kim, and talking with people who were looking for him.

being a long time resident of oregon, i can tell you exactly where he was, as i have been down that road many many times.

it is a remote location, at best, and locals mainly use it for hunting a fishing access, or maybe a chance to go motorcycle riding through the mountains.

This story reminds me of a time back when I was living in CO up in the mountains. One of our cell sites was located at the top of a ridge over Glenwood Springs. Next to our site was an AT&T long distance microwave station. They would use a helicopter to get in during the winter. I had four modes of transportation to use throughout the year - Bronco, snowmobile, atv, and an Argo. During the winter, I pretty much used the snowmobile for most of my sites.

At this particular site, you have to park off one of the dirt roads and snowmobile the rest of the way. It's probably a 3 mile ride in to the site. YOU CANNOT DRIVE. Anyways, during one pretty frigid day, I was leaving the site and heading back to my truck when I come across two young guys, their dog, and a stuck Jeep Wrangler. They had been trying to dig their way out to get turned around. The snow depth varied all along the road, but I would say they got caught in about 2-3 feet of snow. There was no way they were getting out that day. I had to ride three up on my sled with their dog running along(and about to collapse from exhaustion) all the way back to my truck. If I hadn't been there at that particular time on that day, they would have been in a world of hurt. They didn't have any cold weather gear, no gloves, nada. Just their jeans and ski coats. If they would have walked out, I don't know what shape they would have been in. And there's no telling how long they would have stuck it out in their Jeep.

I ended up driving them to one of their homes and told them good luck on getting their Jeep out. I gave them my number to let me know how they were going to get their Jeep back. They ended up having to hire a guy with a large snowcat to go up there and get their Jeep pulled around and then towed it down back to the main road.

I'm not sure what the Kim's were driving, but it's quite possible that James Kim thought he could drive through anything. I have two other personal stories(where I got stuck on closed roads) that I'll have to relate some other time. I too thought I could drive my way through the snow to get to where I was going. Dumb dumb dumb.

26

Save Darfur!

by Sailor Ripley in

jw
friends

the below is the first page from this website at "save darfur.

" how do, anti-war "let's-just-talk-about-it" types condemn the us military in one sentence then ask for help in the next?

stars in hollywood are my favorites.. i don't get it.

Jourles

I think the US has a duty to look after other countries affairs. If they cannot govern themselves peacefully and without using violence as an end, then the US gov't owes it to their citizens to protect them. There is nothing wrong with overthrowing a dictatorial leader to save thousands, if not tens or hundreds of thousands of innocent lives. The US had a duty to take out Saddam. He was a threat to the world and especially to the region.

That's enough. I was going to write quite a bit more, but I'm about to make myself sick. (I bet some of you who know how I tend to write about such matters were thinking, "WTF is Jourles talking about?!?")

30

Please rescue me! I just got hit with a JW Mac Truck!

by truthsearcher in

jw
friends

oh my, i just had a visit from a jw who proceeded to, for an hour and half, try and cover every doctrine in the book, jump from scripture to scripture, half the time i was so confused about what was being said.

the other witness barely got a word in edgewise.

i quickly realized that there was going to be no discussion--it was sit and listen and try and look intelligent.

Jourles

I have just the thing you need ---

http://www.comedycentral.com/sitewide/media_player/play.jhtml?itemId=11879

24

who besides me turned a friend into the elders for something trivial?

by PaNiCAtTaCk in

jw
friends

i told on a girl for liking a worldy boy at school.

me and another brother actually waited down the street from the boys house to see if she went there after school, just to get some proof for the eders.

i cant believe i did that:( did anyone else spy on another witness like i did?

Jourles

I had a real dick of a boss(a jw) who lived in Lemon Grove, CA. He had an acoustical/drywall/painting business. Anyway, our main specialty was respraying acoustical ceilings(that cottage cheese look). There were numerous times when the previous ceiling needed to be scraped down(too thick). The problem with this is, on many homes that had acoustical ceilings put up prior to 1979, they contained asbestos. The entire procedure changes when you're dealing with asbestos - it must change, according to the law. We would go in and scrape any ceiling, regardless of the year in which the home was built.

Anyway, getting back to my boss. I don't recall now what prompted me to go to one of the elders in my hall, but I did. I told him about the OSHA requirements regarding asbestos removal and how we were not following it. I think I was more concerned with my health than anything. I was worried that I would eventually die of lung cancer - and I still fear that to this day(I breathed a healthy share of asbestos into my lungs, I have no doubt about it). So the elder in my hall contacts his elders. A few days later, my boss pulls me aside and grills me on why I ratted him out. I told him exactly what I told that one elder. Well, guess what? We stopped scraping ceilings on any house that was built prior to 1979. He rode me pretty hard after that and I eventually moved out to CO. This is the only time I ever went to the elders about someone else. But it wasn't for something petty. It was a very serious matter and was unlawful on his part.

28

JW says the end of religion is beginning to happen!

by awol in

jw
friends

when talking to my jw friend.... she asked me if i had seen the news about businesses now not putting up xmas deco's etc.

this is so as not to offend people of other religions ie jw's and muslims etc.. she said this is going to lead to (a start of) the banning of all religions worldwide!?.

i said i think it shows more tolerance and respect for other religions.... that is not how she sees it (or any other jw's that have been discussing it).. what are your thoughts on this.

Jourles

Absolutely not true. In fact, just last night on The Daily Show [with Jon Stewart], they proclaimed that the War on Christmas is now over. Wal Mart has reverted to their prior greeting of "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holiday's."

If The Daily Show says it's true, you gotta believe it...

23

My First Shunning ...

by exwitless in

a former good friend of mine (devout jw still) came into where i work.

i knew she was there, so i went right up to her and said, "hi".

she said "hi" with sort of a sick look on her face, and i said "how are you?".

Jourles

Well, other than my parents giving me the cold shoulder, I have only seen, not spoken to, two witnesses from a distance in public. The first time was at my gym when I saw an elder from my wife's hall. I was coming in and he was going out. I just caught a glimpse of his face and it took me a few seconds to register who it was. By the time we had passed each other, it was already too late to say something. His glance at me probably had him thinking, "Where do I know him from??" He probably realized who he passed after he went outside. The other time was when I was coming out of the grocery store on a Sunday afternoon on my way to the Y for my vb league. The sister and her two little boys were dressed up and likely just got out of the meeting. I just walked through the door and she was coming in from the parking lot. She didn't notice me though(I don't think she did - she never made eye contact with me).

I'm coming up on two years of being df'd and these are the best examples I have of being "shunned." lol

18

JW comments about blood

by startingover in

i recently had a conversation with a jw friend about the thing at the service meeting this week about blood.

i explained i don't understand how they can even be offering these fractions as a choice because of the stored blood situation.

here is a comment i got:.

Jourles

Arrrggghh!! But we have to remind jw's that this isn't a medical issue. It is a biblical one. A jw must agree with you on this point. If the ~~Watchtower~~ bible says a fraction/component is not ok to accept(which it doesn't), there should be no "medical" breakdown of what percentage is allowed. If a particular component is banned, there is no leeway on the matter. Accepting just a little bit of it is still breaking the ~~Watchtower's~~ bible's command to abstain from blood.

The biggest problem the WTS has right now is separating the medical issues from the biblical ones. They obviously cannot follow the bible to the letter or else they would fall back to the 1950's prohibitions. So what do they do now? They cloud the blood issue with "medical advancements." I think this is why so many jw's are conflicted with choosing what treatment they should go with. On one hand, they have been used to hearing "NO BLOOD" for their entire life, but on the other hand, the WTS is saying medical treatments have advanced to where it is now allowable to accept a wide range of "non-blood" alternatives - which is blatantly false. Their idea of "non-blood" alternatives is anything other than 100% whole blood. It's confusing as hell to the jw's to pick what their conscience allows. Your average jw is more worried about his standing in the hall if he happens to take the wrong item in surgery - not to mention... "Will Jehover kill me at armageddon for taking this fraction since it is derived from stored blood???"

I honestly think the blood doctrine will eventually be a huge catalyst in the future in getting more people to leave. If the WTS ever makes it all a "conscience issue," they will be screwed. They are getting damn close as it is now.

79

Who thinks Killing or Dying for your country is a good Idea?

by new boy in

jw
friends

well since maybe you are no longer a jw any more..............you have that option!.

good idea?.

giving your sons or daughters to the "gods of war" .

Jourles

OK ok. I didn't specify enough. This is the type of scenario I was thinking of but neglected to state in the beginning......

If I was in a bank, on a bus, on a plane, etc., and hijackers, robbers, banditos or whoever threatened to kill everyone unless one person was willing to sacrifice their lives on behalf of everyone else, I would step up.

Derek:

Why on earth would you value the life of a complete stranger above your own? You must have very low self-esteem.

It's obvious you've never met me or even know me for that matter. It's not that I don't value my life over a stranger - I do. But in some cases, the taking of one life to save many others, I feel, is by far the best gift you can give. Let's say for instance 20 of us from JWD meet up in a pub. We all come from a huge mix of cultures and hold various religious and atheistic views(you can even throw in some hardcore Bush followers - which I really can't stand all that much). A real wacko storms in and holds everyone hostage. He is out of his mind and is threatening to kill everyone in the pub. He does give one alternative though. He says, "I'll let everyone go right now if one of you steps forward and is willing to let me kill you instead of killing all of you. Once that person steps forward, the rest of you are free to leave. But, if no one steps forward within one minute, everyone will die." What would you do in this scenario, Derek? I believe I have already stated what my course of action would be. And if someone doesn't like my decision, that's too bad. I would much rather be remembered for saving someone else's life than being a cowardly narcissist.

In the end, if I'm dead, I'm not gonna care anymore. Sure, my death might bring about a temporary period of extreme mourning for some, but in time, I'll just be a memory. It's not like the world will stop revolving when I'm gone. It's a shame that some people think that will happen when they die.

20

For those baptized as a JW/minor, how did you feel on your baptism day?

by Gopher in

jw
friends

i was petrified that day.

i felt nervous and slightly sick that morning, so i couldn't even eat breakfast.. leading up to that baptism day ( i was only 16 ), i didn't want to tell anyone about it.

maybe because i came from a cold-hearted congregation where the other kids my age didn't like me (i was too serious), i didn't want anyone else to know.. i felt relief after the dunking was finally over.

Jourles

Prior to becoming submerged, I was expecting to have a feeling of elevated consciousness -- any feeling that would run through my body as evidence that jah's holy ~~shit~~ spirit was now upon me. Imagine my surprise when I came out of the pool and walked back to the changing room to get dressed again that I didn't feel any different.

The only thing that happened was when my parents and another family got together for lunch, guess who got to say prayer for the first time?