Posts by Liberty

20

confused teenage witness

by smias03 in

hi everyone, this is my first post.. i have come to this site for almost 2 months but have been too scared to post... don't really know what i'm scared of but i even set up a different hotmail account when i registered... anyway, i'm a 19/f who was raised a jw (baptised a year ago).

i was homeschooled, and basically had no communication with the "world" even though my father is an unbeliever.

my parents were divorced last year (unscriptual divorce from my jw mother).. and now i'm living with my dad and have not spoken to my mom, not because i have doubts about the truth (she doesn't know) but because she was a hypocrit and liar through the divorce.

Liberty

Hi Smias03,

As others have suggested I would strongly recommend getting into college. Take advantage of your free youth and shyness by concentrating on a degree. Friends will come naturally as you busy yourself with school. You will not regret getting an education since all your hopes, dreams, and the level of freedom you will eventually enjoy depends upon a good job which, in turn, almost always requires a university degree. Do it now before you get tied down with a love interest and kids because it will only get harder to go back. Jws really cheat themselves when it comes to an education so don't end up in a low paying dead end job because some old fart Governing Body members in New York told you this was better. Living well is the best revenge.

17

Qs about Xtianity-for any Xtians to answer

by Ravyn in

jw
friends

this is a copy of a post that i put on a xtian forum after being asked directly what my problem with xtianity was.

i open it to anyone who wants to answer me here also.

i am trying to learn tolerance amid a hostile environment of extremes.

Liberty

As to what I would call my spiritual practice now that I have left Watch Towerism behind, I would say that I most strive to be a skeptic who uses science to figure things out. Being a skeptic does not come naturally to me so I have to work at it. I am also quite interested in Buddhism, especially the Zen branches. It is interesting to me how so much of this Eastern way of thinking predates Western Psychology yet discovered the same things years ago using only reasoning and observation.

17

Qs about Xtianity-for any Xtians to answer

by Ravyn in

jw
friends

this is a copy of a post that i put on a xtian forum after being asked directly what my problem with xtianity was.

i open it to anyone who wants to answer me here also.

i am trying to learn tolerance amid a hostile environment of extremes.

Liberty

Hi Ravyn,

To me, the concept that the Bible is the inspired word of an intelligent super spirit being capable of creating the Universe (God) is complete and utter nonsense. The Bible is merely another set of human made books filled with some practical wisdom, superstition, and lots of outdated foolishness. I refuse to worship the psychopathic murderer described as God by the Bible. Luckily, all the evidence proves that this Biblical God is just a figment of murderous human psychopaths' imaginations and not a real super spirit being since He is so brutal, stupid, and human-like. It seems to me that the worship of sand mounds or any tangable visible object is preferable to the worship of invisible imaginary insane ego maniacs like Jehoover, His so called human son Jesus the masochist, or the later copy-cat God, Allah the equally violent and murderous. Though I am skeptical of all supernatural claims, being a witch and worshipping trees makes more sense to me than being a Christian, Jew, or a Muslim. Praying to invisible blood thirsty super beings makes less sense to me than believing in magic so, compared to religious fanatics, I'd say being a witch seems pretty normal to me now.

13

How Quickly the "Truth" Evaporates

by metatron in

jw
friends

another powerful observation about witness kids: it's amazing how quickly the "truth" can evaporate amidst them.. while you and i talk about healing and moving on and agonize about changing our whole lives, many of these kids.

react as if the organization never meant anything to them.. i knew a young sister who left ( an honor roll student with long term witness parents, elder dad and aux pio mother).

who acted astonished that the congregation would df people for "living together".

Liberty

This is perhaps the result of an Armageddon postponed into infinity. Many of us believed so strongly because it looked like the End was really coming upon us in the late 1960's & 70's. We lived at the same time as the Watch Tower's main Guru, Fred Franz, so he calculated everything so that it would occur within his lifetime and we bought what ever he said lock stock and barrel. The kids today are getting Fred's now pathetic hand me down and time expired theology from an unimaginative and disappointed leadership whereas we got it fresh and urgent from the fevered source. The change in the 1914 Generation dogma really ended the concept of a "real" time frame so they now running on fumes.

27

Then & Now

by RAYZORBLADE in

i think this post may be an absolute: no brainer

personally, when i was an active naive jw, i studied the bible and could rattle scriptures off, left right and centre.

real good fundie.

Liberty

Hi Rayzorblade,

I think many of us know where you are coming from. I once would have died for the Bible yet now I think it is utter nonsense. This is not unusual, in fact, it is normal. We all continue to grow intellectually if we are not brainwashed religious/political fanatics. I used to be an ardent Communist after I left the WTB&TS reading everything I could get my hands on about Marxist theory and practice yet over time I have become a Libertarian, the polar opposite of Marxism. Who knows where I will be 20 years from now? I want to keep learning and testing the data I have gathered against reality in order to get a fleeting glimps of the "Truth".

Since I am human and can only see a small portion of the objective truth at any given time, I must constantly struggle to see clearly my place in the Universe. I have also studied Eastern religions looking for insights into myself and the nature of reality. Knowledge is far more important than being totally commited to one idea or philosophy. I never want to be completely sure about anything again because I have proven over and over again to myself that sometimes I made stupid commitments because I did not test my beliefs against the facts hard enough. It is lazy to think that we have found the ultimate truth and that no further study is necessary. Much like science, I think all subjects should be open to debate, criticism, further study, and evidence accumulation. The search for truth is an ongoing process.

11

Middle Ages were warmer than today!

by ThiChi in

jw
friends

another example of why the so called "environmentalists" don't know s**t!

middle ages were warmer than today, say scientists .

by robert matthews, science correspondent .

Liberty

You are soo right ThiChi,

I took several Geology and Paleontology classes which all confirmed from numerous lines of evidence that drastic climate changes throughout the Earth's history are the rule rather than the exception. For instance, the average global temp as late as 65 million years ago was 90 degrees F., way higher than today's averages. Human beings could not possibly be responsible for this "global warming" since we were still at the technology level of today's bush babies munching flowers and insects in the trees at this time. Evidence from many periods prove that we have gone from ice age to hot house over & over again without the help of human industry. The same goes for ozone depleting chemicals which valcanoes spew by the ton without our help. The whole Global Warming/Ozone Hole conspiracy is utter nonsense invented by post modernist Ludites.

22

"Bush fiddles with economy while Baghdad burns"

by Simon in

an interesting article which somewhat reflects my own take on what i see happening.

please note that this does not put any judgement on whether i think it is a good thing or not so please do not "shoot the messenger".. whether you believe or accept the points or not it is an interesting read.

i personally think that the action bush has taken in the last few years has done more harm to the usa than it's enemies ever could which is surely a crime?..

Liberty

The Dixie Chick isn't having her rights violated, she is merely feeling the same sting of consequence that all working folks do when we say things that the people around us find offensive. Even though I might think my boss is an over paid idiot, or that a co-worker is a lazy whore I have learned to curb my tongue and not proclaim these thoughts loudly in a public forum because I am aware of the negative consequences such an airing would bring. My rights to free speach aren't being violated I just don't want the people I work with/for mad at me because life is already hard enough. As an entertainer, Natalie (the Dixie Chick), has the CD/concert ticket buying public as her boss. More importantly, her audience is very different from Marilyn Manson's because the Dixie Chicks' fan base is mostly made up of country folk and conservative family types, not radical young Goth/punk/rocker types so DUH!! she will feel a backlash to her comments from her primary audience/boss. In short, she has every right to say how she feels but NO rights protect her against the consequences of her exercise of freedom. I am free to to dress as a giant fig and jump every third step but I would probably be fired if I did this at work because it is stupid and I would not consider this a violation of my rights. So, telling conservative folks that buy your records that you are ashamed of the President they probably voted for is STUPID, and no rights were violated since she was not arrested and tortured.

You make a good point Frank. Clinton left office with a declining economy and had Gore won we would have seen the same decline as under Bush. 9/11 would have accelerated the decline under Gore as well. In fact I think it would have been worse because we would still be negotiating with the Taliban and Bin Laden's terrorists would still be free to attack us with impunity further damaging economic confidence. Clinton also depleted our military stores to balance his budgets so now we are paying the difference as we rebuild our defenses. By the way, where were all the peace activists and critics when Clinton was bombing and killing in the Balkins in his own war of liberation to get their dictator? This region was much less dangerous to the US than Iraq, yet all the peace nicks looked the other way. Why, simply because he was a Democrat.

29

Michael Moore's actual quote

by Xander in

just thought i'd post this so everyone can see the quote that got him 'booed off the stage' and so horribly offended so many people:whoa.

on behalf of our producers kathleen glynn and michael donovan from canada, i'd like to thank the academy for this.

i have invited my fellow documentary nominees on the stage with us, and we would like to they're here in solidarity with me because we like nonfiction.

Liberty

Apparently I was watching the corperate conspiracy version of the Oscars. In the Oscar program I saw, Mr. Moore recieved a standing ovation and cheers for winning his Oscar, however, his speech was met with mostly sitting silence or booing. The left is certainly as guilty as the right when it comes to distorting reality to fit their needs as was illustrated by the distortion of mixing events in time in Moore's case. He did recieve a standing ovation but NOT for the event it was attributed to. I could truthfully claim I made a million dollars on real estate last year by playing Monopoly several times, however it becomes a lie if I leave out the,"by playing Monopoly" part so people are left to think I really made a real million dollars on real properties. Such distortions and half truths are used everyday to make bogus points. That is why we all need to exercise our bull shit detectors and common sense. If the Oscars were edited to make Moore look bad why then did they leave in the standing ovation for his win?

29

Michael Moore's actual quote

by Xander in

just thought i'd post this so everyone can see the quote that got him 'booed off the stage' and so horribly offended so many people:whoa.

on behalf of our producers kathleen glynn and michael donovan from canada, i'd like to thank the academy for this.

i have invited my fellow documentary nominees on the stage with us, and we would like to they're here in solidarity with me because we like nonfiction.

Liberty

My chief beef with Moore is that he isn't a documentary film maker at all, but rather is a comedian/ambush journalist. His claim that he makes non-fiction is laughable. He is always the star of his own "fiction" comedies by acting out characters, mugging for the camera, playing dumb, exaggerating his reaction shots, then heavily editing the footage to only show his own point of view while making his victims/subjects look bad. The fact that he ambushes his victims and takes cheap shots and feined confidences to achieve his mainly comedic goals is just more proof that he has no interest in reality film making or in the truth. He is an expert in prejudicing the audience tword his own political viewpoint. His stuff is very funny, but he creates fiction in order to heighten the laughs and distort reality. There is nothing wrong with this at all, except in the claim that his work is non-fiction. No documentary is 100% "authentic" but Moore isn't even close. His claims are not scientifically verified or researched they are merely knee jerk reactions or opinions off the top of his head. Once again, this is fine, but don't claim it is non-fiction.

Moore loves to stir things up because he is a radical left winger. He loved being booed. He angers people because of his extreme views. Implying that terroism is a "made up" threat by some vast corperate conspiracy is Whacky. Even card carrying commies in Russia believe terrorism is a real threat so he is on the fringes of even the left. Did you see the look on the faces of the Oscar audience during his whacky conspiracy theory tiraid? These folks are as liberal as they come and even they weren't buying it. He has a right to his opinions but he is lying if he says he creates non-fiction. The movie Signs is just as much non-fiction as any of Moore's films or TV programs.

18

Survivor - Amazon

by Mulan in

i forgot to watch survivor last night.

i saw who got voted off, but what else happened?

i was watching american idol, and forgot survivor was on at the same time.

Liberty

Heidi is one strange looking chic. Some of the guys on the show were talking about how hot she was and I was thinking, you've got to be kidding. She talks funny too along with her constant self referencing as "one of the cute girls", and those out of context boobs stretching that sickly thin skin from her rib cage all make me want to gag. I have a running argument with one of the guys at work who thinks Heidi is hot too, I just don't get it. She looks unhealthy to me, not just stressed, dirty, hungry, sleep deprived, and thin but more like she's an alien on death's door. Jenna is way too skinny but she has a pretty face, nice hair, and still looks healthy, though she has an off-putting arrogance I find annoying. The whiner Shawna is cute and also still looked healthy despite her claims of not being able to go on. Christy seems the most approachable and down to earth and doesn't seem to be as affected by the harsh conditions as the younger girls despite her disability. Deena seems oblivious to the conditions around her and looks the same as when she arrived, she seems very cold and matter of fact, maybe just what is needed on a show like this though she is an advertized open threat to the other players. I found the gender divided teams idea to be very interesting and have been fascinated with the women players and their lack of unity which surprized me considering that I didn't think egos would be as much of a factor for the women as the men. Boy, was I wrong.