fulltimestudent

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Posts by fulltimestudent

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  6

  A Graphic History of the World in Nineteen Minutes

  by fulltimestudent in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a great animation, showing the spread of humans across the globe (something like a troublesome rash spreading over your body).

  then, on to the gradual poltiticisation of humanity.

  interesting to watch the animated hi-speed spread of the mongol empire, which scared the sh*t out of europe.. the animation doesn't show religious brands (except islam, which was both a religious brand and a political brand).

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  fulltimestudent

  • Scratchme1010 : How cool! Love it. I'm actually going to use if (with permission, of course) for a course I'm designing.

    
    
  • I forgot to say that it comes from a web-site called Open Culture.
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  40

  Older JW: not happy

  by Gorbatchov in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this week i visited my sick father in law.. then an old elder from my far away congregation came in for coffee.

  did not see him in 15 years.. nice chat.

  had a lot to say, is alone, his sick wife disabled and away from home.. he told me: "living alone is so hard.

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  fulltimestudent

  Yeah OK - I do not know any (still-in) jws anymore (outside of immediate family who seldom talk to me anyway).

  But I realised in the decade after 1975, that Proverbs 13:12, was soon going to apply to a lot of witnesses

  "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life." NIV,

  And, I am more confident than, ever that bloody old YHWH and his piss-weak son are not ever going to bring a paradise (on earth, or in heaven) to anyone who thinks of following them.

  I am quite aware that (now I am undeniably in "old age") I will die in the not too far off future. I totally regret wasting so many bloody decades trying to be like Jeeeezus. (What a bloody fool thing to try and do). In the meantime, I am quite happy, have a reasonably good life, with intellectually satisfying things to do. Even though some good friends have already died I seem to be able to make a few new ones.

  I'm so glad thatI got out when I did !

  
  
• 
  6

  A Graphic History of the World in Nineteen Minutes

  by fulltimestudent in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a great animation, showing the spread of humans across the globe (something like a troublesome rash spreading over your body).

  then, on to the gradual poltiticisation of humanity.

  interesting to watch the animated hi-speed spread of the mongol empire, which scared the sh*t out of europe.. the animation doesn't show religious brands (except islam, which was both a religious brand and a political brand).

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  fulltimestudent

  A Great animation, showing the spread of humans across the globe (something like a troublesome rash spreading over your body).

  Then, on to the gradual poltiticisation of humanity. Interesting to watch the animated hi-speed spread of the Mongol Empire, which scared the sh*t out of Europe.

  The animation doesn't show religious brands (except Islam, which was both a religious brand and a political brand).

  But if you watch the general Palestine area you'll realise that YHWH and his JESUS sidekick, are a piddly little nothing until the Eastern and Western Roman Empires decide to spread their poison.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1124&v=-6Wu0Q7x5D0
  
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  19

  You might surprised how many JWs are homosexuals

  by Roger Kirkpatrick in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  contrary to common belief, neither the bible nor the watchtower condemns homosexuality; however, they do condemn the practice of fornication.

  homosexuality is same sex attraction whether such attraction is acted upon or not.

  leviticus 20:13 describes a man having sexual relations with a man, or the act of fornication.

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  fulltimestudent

  Roger Kirkpatrick: Two elders actually told me that one who is not sexually active is neither heterosexual nor homosexual, but are virgins which are considered the same as eunuchs.

  I would think that these elders (in that half-arsed way that semi-educated Jws go about Bible study) were referring to Matthew 19: 11, 12. The NIV translates the verses this way:

  10 The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.”
  11 Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. 12 For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”

  The problem is that terminology can change, not just in translation, where precise matches may seldom be found for clouded concepts, but in the way that different cultures interpret what they see in different ways.

  In our contemporary world, the word 'asexual' is being used increasingly. One definition of that word when its used as a noun, is:

  noun - 1 a person who has no sexual feelings or desires.

  But even if someone calls themselves an asexual, what do they mean?
  

  An Australian national media group (SBS) (government owned) published this overview of research conducted at the University of British Columbia. Part of it reads:

  While there are a number of differences between asexual and sexual groups in terms of patterns of masturbation and sexual fantasy, as well as in contents of sexual fantasy, the similarity between the groups on several of these measures is striking. For example, nearly half of asexual women and three quarters of asexual men reported both experiencing sexual fantasy and masturbating, despite reporting a lack of sexual attraction to other people and identifying as asexual. Further, there was significant overlap in the sexual fantasies experienced by participants, regardless of their asexual or sexual status. Sexual fantasies have long been thought to reveal an individual’s innermost desires. However, the current data suggest that if this is true, individuals do not necessarily act on these desires. An asexual individual may not experience sexual attraction, but may nonetheless engage in sexual fantasy, perhaps to facilitate physiological sexual arousal and masturbation.

  Link to the SBS Overview: https://www.sbs.com.au/topics/sexuality/agenda/article/2016/12/01/what-asexual-people-sexually-fantasise-about

  And a link to the academic research, in Archives of Sexual Behaviour:

  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-016-0870-8/fulltext.html

  And not to appear as arguing against anything Roger K stated. Even eunuchs may have sexual fantasies.
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  86

  Do You Know Any “Gay” Jehovah’s Witnesses?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  of course the religion condemns homosexuality but did you know any gay witnesses?

  i knew some bethelites that were very effeminate and i remember 4 women who were suspected of being lesbians by many in the congregation.

  they eventually moved away and were very vocal against males, especially elders..

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  fulltimestudent

  OK, here's my last story, and while it is a story about two same sex attracted guys, that fate in the form of Nathan and his bunch of organisational geniuses, managed to place together in a very difficult and lonely assignment, it is also a story that tells you how little the WTS will support those who serve in difficult assignments.

  I guess it is also a story that illustrates clearly that the claimed all-seeing, all-knowing, YHWH/JESUS combo god knows nothing about what is happening inside his disorganisation.

  I know of this story through two sources, first my good friend another XJW who is gay (here in Sydney) and second another gay XJW (Living in NY) who I got to know on another xjw board.

  Back in the 1960s, a young man,from a prominent South Australian family (and there definitely is a very influential and long established Parson family in Adelaide, South Australia), began to study with a JW. As he progressed his family began to oppose him. When he submitted to baptism, they disinherited him. That did not deter him (as was true, for so many of us) so he eventually started pioneering.

  His experience started to be told at various assemblies and that's probably where I first heard of him. My Sydney based gay xjw friend, believes his name was Roland Parsons, and heard of him and his story through his father-in-law who was serving as a circuit overseer in the Adelaide area.

  So in time Roland gets invited to Gilead, a sign, I guess he thought that YHWH was blessing him, That was likely important to him, as Roland had a secret. Yes! you guessed it, he was attracted to guys. I have no idea what experiences he had sexually before becoming a witness, but I think we can all realise what a battle it must be to resist such a fundamental thing as sexual desire.

  At Gilead, Roland would have become acquainted with another student named Gregory Rogers, (and that's where the New York based XJW also met Gregory Rogers.)

  When they graduated, YHWH holy spirit acted on the GB (n the form it existed then - smile) and both were assigned to a small S.E.Asian country. And, that's where the sources differ a little. My NY source says they were sent to Laos, my Sydney source believes it was Cambodia.

  What happened in their assignment is not known to me, but it was not very long before one of them got sick with some infection and died.*

  And, since that part of the world lacked the sort of facilities we have in western countries, the surviving brother had to buy some wood, hire a trolley, and cart the wood and body, to the location used to cremate the dead. As you will see, this must have been a terrible thing for him to do. But worse was to come. Missionaries do not get much money. There was no local branch to support them. The survivor had to light a fire,stack the wood up (not much experience at that either), place the body on top and wait until it was consumed. Problem was he had not bought enough wood, and the body kept slipping out of the fire and he had to keep pushing the body back into the fire.

  Not surprisingly, he had an emotional collapse ( we heard of it in Aust. as a 'nervous' breakdown). And, back in Adelaide details of his life started flowing to my gay xjw friend in Sydney from his father-in-law on the South Aussie circuit.

  The HK, (I presume) branch took a while to organise someone to visit and terminate the lease on the missionary home premises. But when that person got there, he found some gay magazines in a cupboard. And, that's when there were likely some urgent phone calls around the world.

  Neither I, nor my gayxjw friend here in Sydney, ever heard any version of what happened with Roland and Gregory in their assignment. But clearly at some point, they must have discerned same sex attraction in the other. And, at some point they had to start to act on it. And presumably, once you reach that point, its hard to go back. And whether love comes before or after sexual activity, sex increases the oxytocin in your body and love follows or deepens. Which makes us appreciate what a terrible task for the survivor, pushing his lover's body back into the fire must have been so traumatic.

  All this makes you wonder, what made them stick it out in their assignment especially when they had got to the point where they could buy gay literature? And, if sex had become a regular thing between them, why stick to the stupid religion?

  I recently talked to a friend I used to work with years ago, he'd been living in Cambodia for a number of years. And, he claims that its very common for young men to live together (in a sexual relationship) if these two guys had been calling on guys like that, it would have made it difficult to resist their own personal attractions.

  And if YHWH/JESUS controls this organisation and his holy spirit directs everything. Why assign these two young men in such a lonely (lacking other JWs), unsupportive assignment?

  Maybe it was the news of this disaster that started me thinking (and of course 1975). It took a few more years, but by 1990 I was free from the clutches of YHWY/JESUS. Not that it was as easy to leave, as it is to write now. It cost me everything I had, but I survived, while my family and former friends are still blinded captives.

  -------------

  *My NY source says it was Roland who died (his source was an American/Chinese family with many daughters who all went to Hongkong as pioneers and married local brothers. At that time the HK branch looked after S.E.Asia.). But my Sydney source claims it cannot have been Roland, because as you will see he returned to Adelaide.
  
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  86

  Do You Know Any “Gay” Jehovah’s Witnesses?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  of course the religion condemns homosexuality but did you know any gay witnesses?

  i knew some bethelites that were very effeminate and i remember 4 women who were suspected of being lesbians by many in the congregation.

  they eventually moved away and were very vocal against males, especially elders..

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  fulltimestudent

  Diogenesister : What's SSA, please? ( Super Sexy Ass-man? Or Arrrseman as we say in London!)
  More 'thrilling' stories of Jehovah's people, please!!

  SSA? Sorry, I was typing fast and took a short cut. SSA = Same sex attracted. A term I suggest is more suitable than some of the other terms in use today.

  I hope I get time to re-tell that story. (I have told it before).

  All the above set me wondering. I wonder how our ever-loving former brothers would react now that SSA is more open than it used to be, to marrying (say) a male who is likely SSA, to a sister who clearly is not? This was often recommended in the past on the basis, the YHWH/JESUS would "fix" you up. But all the instances that I know of, where that happened, ended in sadness for the wives and any kids who happened to be born to the couple.
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  86

  Do You Know Any “Gay” Jehovah’s Witnesses?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  of course the religion condemns homosexuality but did you know any gay witnesses?

  i knew some bethelites that were very effeminate and i remember 4 women who were suspected of being lesbians by many in the congregation.

  they eventually moved away and were very vocal against males, especially elders..

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  fulltimestudent

  Is "gay" something people do, or is it something that a person is?

  Kinsey's research was based on men who admitted that they had had sex with another male. At least some of it was based on prison populations, which may have forced his percentages out of whack. (Prisoners are more likely to have sex with other men as there is no other choice. (Its known as "institutional homosexuality.")

  But back to the topic.

  I talked yesterday to my longtime gay friend and xjw, and we 'reviewed'a few brothers, (big grin) with this topic in mind. I'd almost forgotten Gerald Grundy, a circuit servant (back in the day) and sometime District Servant (those were the labels used then). He gave a saturday night talk once on keeping your witnessing bag tidy, (another grin). Anyway, he gave the truth up once and disappeared. Then a few years later he is 'found' by another circuit servant, working as a barman in a gay bar. (O.K. work that out for yourself) or so the story goes. Anyway Gerald is soon back in the truth and pioneering, and not too long he's on the circuit again. Which makes you wonder sometimes how the branch (who must know what's happening) sees the world around them. I guess the leadership takes a more tolerant view of some struggles that people have, than other struggles.(1 Corinthians 6:9-11). So whatever happened to Gerald long term? Neither of us could remember precise details, but we both have a vague memory of his death (whispered as suicide) which would fit his situation of so many same sex attracted men in the western world, attempting to fit into western religious ideology, failing and finding they cant hack it anymore and end up killing themselves. Thank you YHWH/JESUS for such a wonderful provision!!!!

  Our recollections do not end there, in fact, it gets more tangled. The CS who brought Gerald back in the truth had an interesting background himself. There's a story that his wife told another sister, that before they became witnesses he was trained as an opera singer, by the former conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, one Eugene Goosens, who got into trouble with the law on an occasion, when he brought some dildos back from Europe for some lesbian friends. That's incidental to this story, mentioned to let you know what circles this CS had been moving in when he got the truth. Anyway, his wife told the sister, she nearly left him then, because one night at a party she found him kissing (deep kissing) another guy.

  That was in Sydney, but well known in Brisbane was ex-circuit overseer, district overseer and failed Gilead student, Vince McNee. He grew up in a Catholic orphanage and was rumoured to be the son of the local Catholic priest. There was no doubt that Vince had the gift of the gab. He used to witness the suburban trains in Sydney, and could place a couple of hundred magazines in an afternoon with a simple presentation, "The latest, ten cents." The railways put an end to it, as they got sick of cleaning up discarded Wts and Awakes. Vince was sent to Gilead twice, and twice Knorr sent him home, all mysterious, but maybe not so mysterious, when he left (taken off?) the circuit/district work, and was pioneerin,g with his wife in Brissie again. His wife came home unexpectedly one afternoon and found Vincie in the shower with an ex bethel guy, in flagrante delicto, as they used to say. He was dfed of course, and I have no recall of what eventually happened to him.

  Isn't the social history of Jehovah's people fascinating?

  Got one more great story, if I get time to tell it. It all proves that it's hard for many guys, (both str8 or SSA) to resist the awesome power that resides in their groin regions.
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  8

  Forget the Christian Doom and Gloom Messages - Does the evidence show the humans are better or worse off?

  by fulltimestudent in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  what does the evidence show?.

  "...two distinguished scholars have tried to introduce a little reality into the debate about the world's trajectory.

  swedish intellectual johan norberg and harvard university's steven pinker provide a persuasive antidote to the apocalyptical school of journalism.

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  fulltimestudent

  myelaine: Regardless of whether society represents itself as better than ever, there is an undercurrent of "doom and gloom". It shouldn't be labelled as christian doom and gloom if it affects society at large.

  Michelle, the post referred to christian's preaching 'doom and gloom' as a sign of the impending return of Jeezuz, not their personal 'doom and gloom,' (whatever the reason for that condition).

  In any case, there are 2.3 billion xtians in the world population of near 8 billion. The refuting of the claim that world conditions are getting worse, and so we need YHWH or Jeeezuz to save us somehow, is that for a large percentage of people life IS getting better.

  Lift your eyes up and forget the selfish people of various xtian sescts who wallow in their own self-pity, and try to see the world through the eyes of the poorer people of the world who were often exploited by nations who labeled themselves xtian.

  And anyway, isn't the claim you make, evidence that christianity has failed in the lives of its membership?
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  8

  Forget the Christian Doom and Gloom Messages - Does the evidence show the humans are better or worse off?

  by fulltimestudent in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  what does the evidence show?.

  "...two distinguished scholars have tried to introduce a little reality into the debate about the world's trajectory.

  swedish intellectual johan norberg and harvard university's steven pinker provide a persuasive antidote to the apocalyptical school of journalism.

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  fulltimestudent

  What does the evidence show?

  

  "...two distinguished scholars have tried to introduce a little reality into the debate about the world's trajectory. Swedish intellectual Johan Norberg and Harvard University's Steven Pinker provide a persuasive antidote to the apocalyptical school of journalism. They inform us that by any measure – poverty, sanitation, malnutrition, literacy, security, child labour, infant mortality, personal liberty – life has improved dramatically for the vast majority of humans.

  Two centuries ago, 94 per cent of people lived on $2 a day (in today's dollar value); today, only 10 per cent do. In the early 1980s, nine in 10 Chinese lived in extreme poverty; today, after more than three decades of market reforms, just one in 10 do."

  But facts make little difference to any of the myriad christians of all brands who run madly around the globe preaching messages about the badness of the human race and our need to be 'saved.'

  More at: http://www.smh.com.au/comment/gloom-doom-and-optimism-20171221-h08ota.html
  
  
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  30

  Unprivileged

  by Wake Me Up Before You Jo-Ho in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  something just dawned on me today as i processed my assimilation into the real world (thanks to our new poster, @jester, giving me a major throwback to my first post).. when you're a jehovah's witness, you really are in some sort of la la land.

  things which are perfectly normal are acts of eating from the table of the demons.

  things which are horribly grotesque and extremely unjust are branded as "righteousness".

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  fulltimestudent

  "unprivileged" - love that.

  I wish I knew then what I no know now, and I could rush into the KH one fine sunday meeting,

  screaming - "unprivilege me" .... "unprivilege me" .... "unprivilege me"

  I'm sure they would quickly "unprivilege me" haha!