words of wisdom on humility.
forgiving.
some people have difficulty saying, im sorry.
This is lurking larc just hangin out.
Now, Voltaire was a heavy duty kind of guy and he had very smart wife, so he can't be all bad. Now, to me humility and correct me if I'm wrong, so I can cowl in your presence, in abject fear, and grovel in your presence ... ooops ... I went too far into the humility thing. I think humility is being able to say I was wrong and you were right. Hey, gang what do you think?
as i think back on my life now i have come to personally experience a verse from a song: "i'd rather be sorry for something i've done that for something that i didn't do.
" i guess that's just a variation of the old addage: 'its better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all'.
fear is a natural (and good) thing but i wonder how much unwarranted fear has robbed us of things that we would have truly enjoyed.
Well frenchy,
I sounds good and all, but can you prove it with 45 scriptures like MDS can?
That part about, "it is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all". I want to add this for the ladies, "it is better to love a short man, than to never have loved a tall."
Frenchy, please forgive me for my sacriledge, but I just had to contribute.
wooden bowl.
a frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year grandson.
the old man's hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered.
Well folks,
I just turned 60, and took early retirement. I am gathering all this information about by past trusts and long term health insurance, and I'll tell you what. It's damned depressing, reading this stuff. They tell you the three or four things you have to have wrong with you before you can collect on your policy. When I read it I get real bad images. It ain't a real good time thinking about how you might meet the grim reaper All my grandparents were lucky. They died suddenly of a stroke. I know this sounds cold, but I think it's true.
Seven,
I forgot to mention. Those lyrics you wrote, I no clue. I feel dumber than cat poop.
Seven!
How are you any way! My mind is a little buzy, cause I spent heavey duty time doing a serious thread under the Books subject, and I hoped that you could answer my question, but I think the name of my group is the Cadillacs. You'll have to look it up in your Funk and Wagnells for verification. Now, I don't know all the music trivia, but do you know this one: The Grand Funk Railroad. Where did they get their name and where are they from? If you don't know, don't be worried because I just know little bits here and there, and I am sure that you know a whole lot more about this music scene than I do. However, I am glad that my previous question brought you out of retirement!
well guys sorry i haven't participated much lately, i've been really busy.
but, i do have a question that i would really appreciate all of your input on.. it is no secret that young people are leaving jws faster and faster.
it is no secret that most jws are disappointed, and hurt by lack of prophecy fulfillment.. so here's what i was thinking: i'm going to post some very personal thoughts on what *i* think they need to do in order to stop the loss of almost 50,000 disfellowshipped and probably 4x that to inactivity.
Everybody,
I've noticed two themes when they want to get off the hook.
First Theme: Stage one: can't do that. Stage two: it's a matter of conscience. Stage three: you can do it. Praise the Lord!
Second Theme: Stage one: this is absolutely true, there is no doubt that this will happen. Stage two: this will probably happen. Stage three: it's your fault, we never said it.
The whole thing just makes you feel warm all over, doesn't it?
anyone got any thing out of 'empty' in the chat room recently.
i was there for hours and nothing!.
isp
Well folks,
I just don't know what to say, except that I missed out on Empty's conversation and now I feel, well ... kind of empty. So with an empty head and an empty heart and an empty bladder, I think I will just go to bed and dream empty dreams out of nowhere land, if it's alright with you.
well guys sorry i haven't participated much lately, i've been really busy.
but, i do have a question that i would really appreciate all of your input on.. it is no secret that young people are leaving jws faster and faster.
it is no secret that most jws are disappointed, and hurt by lack of prophecy fulfillment.. so here's what i was thinking: i'm going to post some very personal thoughts on what *i* think they need to do in order to stop the loss of almost 50,000 disfellowshipped and probably 4x that to inactivity.
Trevor,
As a Motown song says, they "have no where to run to, no where to hide." The internet is killing them. They are in decline in all countries with major internet access, I say Yippee!
a good book,.
i was wondering if any of you have read a book "visions of glory" by barbara grizzutti harrison.
as far as i know, it is the only book written by a woman about the witness experience.
Another Book,
When I first got here I read some old posts that made reference to Jerry Bergman. I did the search and found three pages of discussion about his work. Most thought he was biased and angry with one person who defended him. I was not here at the time to give my imput which I am going to do now. I won't comment on his anger because I will restrict myself to his discussion of mental illness, where is not angry but biased in my opinion. I read the web site with his summary of research on the subject that provided was on that thread. Then, I went back and did a quick review of his book which I know very well.
On the positive side I think he does a good job of providing a qualitative description of the sources of stress and conflict in a JW life and gives good case studies to illustrate his points.
However, there are many flaws in his analysis. First of all, he believes that the JW experience can percipitate a psychosis. This idea is not excepted by the vast majority of behavioral scientists today. The major psychoses of schizophrenia and bipolor disorder are geneticaly inherited and are a form of brain desease. You get it no matter where you live.
Bergman is right that the neauroses are environmental in origin, and the JW's have problems with stress, anxiety, depression, guilt, and feelings of worthlessnes, because they are in a works driven religions where they can never do enough, and that plays hell with people's lives.
Well, he's right on one but wrong on the other. To a proffesioanal, this is major error to be wrong on the origin of psychosis. I'm saying, this a major mistake.
Second problem is the meager research that he summarized. All but one study was from WWII, when JW's were despised and bias produced harse diagnoses. Let's suppose you knew nothing about JWs and you were a psychiatrist and one of them said to you that Jesus began his second coming in 1914, but it was invisible, and Satan and his demons were caste down to earth and the demons can get in your furniture. You would diagnose them as paranoid schizophrenic, cased closed. If you heard the same story from several people you would reconsider, because schizophrenics don't tell the same story. I'm trying to keep this short, but studiess from WWII with JWs who were hated and doctors who heard strange things can not add up to an accurate diagnosis.
The only study that was not done in that era was by Montage. Monatge was the name that Bergman used before leaving the WT altogether. He never tells that in any of his writings, he should have, so that people would know that this is not an independent source.
He concludes that the rate of mental illness amoung JWs is four times higher than the population. I don't buy it, based on my own observations and based on the poor quality of the research to support the conclusion.
So, far we have a false premise regarding psychosis, inadequate research and an unidentified researcher that should have been named.
There is one problem that would go unnoticed by otheres, but is a MAJOR problem to me. He talks about a circuit overseer who took the verbal section of the Wechler Adult Intelligence Test, and scored in the high '70's. That simply is not possible for several reasons. First, someone in that score range reads at the fourth grade level AT BEST, and simply could not keep up with the reading demands, let alone put together an hour talk. Second, a Circuit Overseer would not submit to such a test, which requires sitting down in a quiet place one on one, which means he most likely Bergman gave the questions while riding in the car or in casual conversation, which invalidates the testing procedure. Third, one of the questions he mentioned that the Circuit Overseer got right would never be asked of someone at that IQ level. They would have falled enough never to have gotten to that question. This is a point that most people would miss, but one that I find to be most serious as to the accuracy of his work.
The book is very flawed, but the more qualitative parts and the case studies are worthwhile.
Further detail will be provided upon request.
a good book,.
i was wondering if any of you have read a book "visions of glory" by barbara grizzutti harrison.
as far as i know, it is the only book written by a woman about the witness experience.
RR,
JAVA asked about the "harem and syphilus" quotes and the page numbers. I've gone back to reread the book and I've gone through the Russell section and it ain't in there.
Waiting,
I haven't seen much about her conflict with her mother so I consulted my very intelligent research staff (my wife) and she said it's there, past what I've read so far.
