Lois , I’ll always regard you as a friend and someone who truly reflects God’s image and likeness.
Quendi
Posts by Quendi
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17Thank you LoisLane Looking for Superman
by TotallyADD inmy wife and i ran up against a brick wall trying to find out imformation on our search of finding my half brother.
will loislane pm me and offered us her service in finding him.
found us some very good leads but surprise, surprise she came across someone i totally forgot about from my childhood.
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Quendi
My trip to the Emerald Isle caused me to fall in love with the land and its people. I will share one of the host of great experiences I had there. We had stopped in Callan because the timing belt on our rental car had broken and we were awaiting a replacement vehicle which was being sent from Limerick. During our delay, I went shopping and got into a conversation with one of the local businessmen.
On seeing me, he gave me the typical Irish 100-megawatt smile. But it was what he said during the course of our talk that really tied the knot between me and Ireland.
Noting that I am a black American he said, “I have always admired your people and am glad to have finally met one. We have so much in common.”
I was astounded by his statement and replied, “Excuse me. What possible connection could there be between your people and mine, between our ancestors, even? What would you know or even understand about the sufferings my people endured under slavery and the horrible Jim Crow laws and the segregation they imposed after slavery was abolished?”
“Ah, lad,” he answered with a sad smile. “You don’t understand. We Irish were slaves in our own country. You don’t know how cruel English rule was here, how much we suffered. In every conceivable way, it was the same as what your people went through in America. That is the link between your people and mine, and many of us here are conscious of it.”
The conversation went further and deeper and when it ended, I had a better understanding of Ireland’s complex history than I ever had before. Let me suffice to say that I can’t wait to return. Next time, though, I plan to drive around the perimeter of the island, along its wild and fabled coastline, as well as seeing its villages, towns and cities, and most of all, its wonderful people.
Quendi
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Quendi
I drove across Ireland from Dublin to the Dingle Peninsula. I spent five days there and can’t wait to go back! I saw Callan, Cashel and Tipperrary, among other places.
Quendi
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Quendi
okay, I'll try to stir a little interest in this thread by bumping it.
Quendi
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Quendi
I can thank steve2 (as well as Oscar Wilde) for inspiring this thread. I have traveled in Canada, England, Ireland and South Africa. I have friends who hail from New Zealand and have also met people from Australia. The differences in the accents among people from these countries have always been very striking to me. While in South Africa, I was pleasantly surprised to find that nobody had any trouble understanding my speech and conversely, I had no trouble understanding their English. The challenges arose with different colloquial expressions that would arise on both sides of a conversation, but that was to be expected. I’d be interested in others’ experiences speaking English with people from different lands and cultures.
Quendi
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42
classification of Jehovahs Witness members by when they joined up
by besty injust got to thinking how long can the watchtower peddle the 'soon' story with any credibility?.
i would say there are the oldtimer or born ins in the 70+ age group - they possibly remember the 2nd world war, and maybe joined for 1975 or made life affecting decisions meaning they are so commited with 'nowhere else to go' that they have surrendered to the resurrection hope.. then you have the '1986 international year of peace, the 1914+70 year' generation crowd.
people in their 40s and 50s now.
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Quendi
I was a convert who first learned about the religion when I was twelve years old. A world run by goodness and justice under the auspices of God Almighty sounded good to me then—and still does. I studied with the Witnesses when I left home for college where I studied metallurgy. So I was hardly uneducated or emotionally deprived when I embraced the religion.
This was back in the 1970s when the Cold War was very real and the dangers of universal annihilation in a nuclear exchange were nothing to laugh about. I also liked the apparent of lack of racism I saw among the Witnesses I associated with in the American South, particularly since the churches had made little or no progress with this problem in their ranks.
I kept up with the “new light” adjustments and saw them as evidence of divine guidance and support—just as the Governing Body intended. I was disappointed by the failure of the 1975 expectations to bear fruit, but I stayed in the religion because I thought I had made a dedication to God and not to an organization. Furthermore, I was not socially isolated but had cultivated deep friendships with the Witnesses I knew first in Alabama and later in Colorado and California. I liked participating in the door-to-door canvassing work, attending the meetings, as well as having a share in other congregation activities. In short, I was content and had implicit faith in the Governing Body and their appointed officers.
It was the November 1, 1995 issue of The Watchtower and its study article about the generation that planted the first seeds of doubt in my mind. Even then it took years before those seeds sprouted and I seriously questioned my beliefs. I subsequently was disfellowshipped and it was during my efforts to be reinstated that I saw the organization as a counterfeit which was in the hands of vicious hypocrites whose knowledge of the Bible was “inadequate, incomplete and insufficient” as I told my judicial committee.
I have no intention of ever setting foot in a kingdom hall or attending any gathering of Witnesses again. I’m finished with the organization. Yes, there are some of its beliefs I have kept because I believe there is scriptural support for them. But that, give thanks, is all I will share with the WTS and its followers.
Quendi
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25
Hi all
by Saltheart Foamfollower infirstly, love and greetings to all - i've been lurking here and elsewhere for a long time and have benefitted more than i can say.
i'm still in - i have a genuine fear that coming out would kill my mother - but i've recently taken the first step away.
i told a non-jw friend that i knew it was all a load of nonsense and i didn't believe any of it.
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Quendi
Welcome, Saltheart Foamfollower! Any fan of Stephen R. Donaldson’s wonderful Thomas Covenant series is a friend of mine.
“Stone and Sea!”
Quendi
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Growing Up Gay in Russia
by Quendi in[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:relyonvml /> <o:allowpng /> </o:officedocumentsettings> </xml><![endif].
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Quendi
I want to share this piece for several reasons. The most important is the plight of LGBT people in Russia. Nothing has changed for them in the more than twenty years since the USSR imploded. Another relates to Eric Snowden. I have repeatedly said I understand his reason for being a whistle-blower on the subject of domestic surveillance. His leaks have forced some change—albeit a modest one—in the way the Obama administration is addressing this subject. However, Snowden’s choice of Russia as a refuge was an egregious one that cannot be defended for any reason. This link underlines just one of many reasons why I believe this.
A third reason relates to the homophobia of the WTS. While not as virulent in action as Russia’s, its effect on gay, lesbian and bi-sexual Witnesses is the same. I was lucky in that somehow I survived until I was disfellowshipped and subsequently left the religion. However, I know others were not and they fell victim to suicide.
There’s still a long way to go for LGBT people, but we are making progress. Same-sex marriage is becoming a reality in more nations around the world. Discrimination against us is being attacked in the courts, in legislatures, in business and other arenas. Attitudes are changing. Anyway, read the following for yourselves. I’d be interested in your thoughts.
Quendi
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Was the New World Bible Translation Committee pressed for time?
by I_love_Jeff in....when they did not include a translation of the hebrew scriptures in your special kingdom interlinear bible?
perhaps it is easier to manipulate the new testament to fit with their twisted jw teachings?.
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Quendi
The New World Translation is one of some ten different Bible versions and translations I own. I still find it useful and like the Kingdom Interlinear Translation as well. Every different Bible gives me some insights on the Scriptures, and in that regard the New World Translation has given me food for thought. I don’t view it as superlative or flawless, and inserting the divine name into the text is a gross aberration and an inexcusable corruption of the text. But it is not the first translation to insert the divine name in the New Testament. Benjamin Wilson did the same with his Emphatic Diaglott back in 1864; and there were others who did likewise in the seventeenth century. Still, its renderings have helped me in some ways grasp the intent of the writers.
Quendi
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Choices...
by Sammy Jenkis inquick little moment of reflection i experienced today:.
i had a buddy back in high school whose younger brother was an acquaintance of mine, we weren't ever really friends but the times we interacted he was alright.. for all intents and purposes we'll call this guy "smitty.".
smitty was an all star jw, super zealous on service, mr. go-to for anything spiritual, completely a johnny-on-the-spot in his congregation, and honestly a person i saw a lot of potential in for the future with the "truth" and life in general.. after i graduated high school i lost touch with his brother and about 3 years later heard a story on the news where his name popped up.
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Quendi
I hope that you will re-establish contact with “Smitty”, Sammy. One way would be through writing letters. I understand that letters are very important to prisoners and that mail call can be wonderful for those who get them. On the other hand, people who don’t get letters, cards and other items from family suffer a real letdown.
“Smitty” needs to know that he hasn’t been forgotten or forsaken. He has more than two years to spend before his release. Regular communication from you can make them pass more easily. Let me suggest that you try this.
I remember when one of the young men in my congregation got invited to Bethel. I wrote to him on a regular basis until I was disfellowshipped. On one of his visits back home, he told me that my letters were a lifeline for him because he had found life at Bethel to be quite challenging. Any kind of institutional living is whether it is benign or not. This man is in a place where he has no status, no rights and little hope. Cards and letters from friends and family can remind him that he is important to somebody.
Quendi