The number 8 is also the symbol for infinity (infinity symbol lays on its side, though).
Muddy Waters
JoinedPosts by Muddy Waters
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12
The Power of Eight
by JWB inthe power of eight.
in the first paragraph on page 26 of the 15 june 2013 watchtower we read:.
"on wednesday morning, september 5, 2012, it was announced to the united states and canada bethel families that a new member had been added to the governing body of jehovahs witnesses.
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64
"Cannabis the Evil Weed" You Tube BBC Horizon
by frankiespeakin inhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmnturdltwo&feature=g-vrec.
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Muddy Waters
Talesin, you said: "Muddy, if I may offer my viewpoint (personal experience, not advice). MJ *does* relieve pain, and stress. When the pain and/or stress is relieved, other issues, that have been pushed to the back because we need to deal with the pain or stress, or whatever,,, NOW... those issues may come rushing back in."
Do you know what… that is sooooooo true, now that I've thought about it… I think it makes perfect sense. What a profound observation!
Bob Marley once said something like "MJ reveals you to yourself…"
And when you watch shows where people make physical transformations (like Biggest Loser), where people lose large amounts of weight, they find that they also have many emotional issues and stuff to deal with.
People who "cleanse" their bodies through detox therapies or diets also say that they go through a lot of mental "cleansing" as well…. So my goodness, your observation makes so much sense and seems so obvious but I'd never thought of it like that before!!
So THANK YOU for that incredible illumination…. I do believe it will help me A LOT!! And you know what? I already have a little book where I write down a lot of my thoughts and "revelations" and stuff… (Learned that it was a very wise thing to do first before I start speaking these weird things out loud to people… LOL!!)
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64
"Cannabis the Evil Weed" You Tube BBC Horizon
by frankiespeakin inhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmnturdltwo&feature=g-vrec.
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Muddy Waters
Wow, Data-Dog! I re-tried the youtube video and this time it worked… very intense! Good message there about facing those demons… thank you.
Interesting studies, frankiespeakin!! Very interesting stuff. As Carl Sagan says (and ironically, whom the WTBTS likes to quote sometimes!! - albeit about other subjects), criminalization of cannabis is criminal!
And *lost*, yes, thank god I have a wonderful husband! Best in the world! And ha, have to say it was almost a shock for us as well to hear me really laugh again!!
I do feel that my journey out of WT-land has been helped by the occasional use of cannabis… it helps bring CLARITY and PEACE… and as Sagan says, promotes serenity, fellowship, sensitivity and insight. (But ha, that insight can be painful at times… so really do appreciate your thoughts on this!)
I'm still working on the social aspect… am meeting new people and discovering (so surprising at first, lol!!) that they ARE NOT all evil, degenerate, immoral people! There are wonderfully kind and good people out there, people who are charitable, hospitable, generous, funny, enjoying life, and yes, educated even!! It's like a whole world has opened up (well, yes it has!) and it's filled with wonder and discovery and I sometimes feel so old and that I've missed so much…. but of course can't dwell on that!
Thank you all for your helpful responses … I see wonderful positive replies like this as gifts… just as cannabis feels like a gift from the universe…
Hopefully will find some strains that help free myself without having to fight many more demons (or the same ones, over and over! Ack!) … but hopefully that wonderful video will come to mind and I'll kick their butt!!! :)
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64
"Cannabis the Evil Weed" You Tube BBC Horizon
by frankiespeakin inhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmnturdltwo&feature=g-vrec.
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Muddy Waters
Thank you for your replies, Data-Dog & Frankiespeakin!
Shoot, I get a "try again later" on the Bruce Lee youtube video.
Will try for a higher CBD strain... sometimes ya gotta takes what's out there... thank you for your advice! :) -
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"Cannabis the Evil Weed" You Tube BBC Horizon
by frankiespeakin inhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmnturdltwo&feature=g-vrec.
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Muddy Waters
Frankiespeakin: "If I stick to a indica strain of cannabis the high is more mild and less confrontational of my shadow repressions, whereas a predominate sativa strain make me more prone to face repressions I have tucked away in my shadow."
This is a really neat way to describe the negative inward journey that can sometimes happen when one gets buzzed, and I've no idea how to overcome this when it happens.
Would *really* like some suggestions or advice on how to overcome (or better deal with) these "confrontations with the repressions tucked away in my shadow"...!!!
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Need Help: What Would You Try to Tell Current JW's?
by daringhart13 ini've been journaling a lot the past couple of years....it was recommended to me by a therapist when my anger was boiling over.. so recently i decided to start an exercise: what would you tell them if they would listen?.
i've started listing my top 10 and it's interesting......i'm over all of the doctrinal insanity.....i'm forever indebted to the more scholarly among us that have put so much effort into research, writing, etc.!!!.
mine all focused on more 'human' subjects....emotions, pain, etc.
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Muddy Waters
Hm. You never which "button" will open the door... but I think it helps to question the GB/FDS, because then everything else seems to fall down after that.
You might ask them, which is "inspired", the Bible or the Watchtower? Why is there so much emphasis on placing the WT magazine (it is published in WAY more languages than the Bible, but I don't know the current figures)...? On the Field Service Report, there are spaces to fill in for placements: books, brochures, etc., but there is NO SPACE on that form for BIBLES! (Shouldn't the word of God take precedence over the WT literature? -- of course, a JW will say that there is no understanding the Bible without their literature, but *why* should there be such a torrent of WT literature? If the truth is simple and basic, why does the WTBTS pump out reams and reams of paper and publications month after month, year after year? Could they possible be a PUBLISHING COMPANY...?)
Why are there always deficits at every assembly and convention? Why are KHs not allowed to save any donations beyond the amount stipulated by the society? Is it because the WTBTS is also a REAL ESTATE development company....?
The WTBTS collects MILLIONS (almost or just over a billion now) dollars every YEAR from donations, wills, property, stocks, bonds, hedge funds, investments, real estate, etc. yet they do NO charitable works? The *only* approved-by-the-Society charitable work is "the preaching work", which consists of trying to place the Society's literature every month.They need to keep the preaching work at the forefront because it is the ONLY action which maintains their religious (read: tax-free) status. This despite reports and comments and experience that hardly anybody is made a convert through the door-to-door work.
You can compare the WTBTS to a multi-level marketing company. They have "sales/motivational" meetings weekly to pump up their sales force for placing more product. Like Amway, people's garages and basements fill up with product they can't sell/place. How many JWs do you know who sheepishly admit that they have tons and tons of literature stored away...? And they are too embarrassed to return it to the KHs for shipment elsewhere or "where the need is great."...
I don't know if any words like this might get a JW thinking. You might ask them why is there no transparency regarding financial statements to the rank and file members of the organization? You are supposed to trust (implicitly) the rulings and decisions of EIGHT men in New York, whose names most JWs don't even know. They know nothing of these men or their credentials, yet make life-changing (even life and death!) decisions based on the edicts and decisions of these men. They *trust* (blindly?) that these eight men have God's spirit and direct his "earthly, visible organzation".... but if that were so, why do their decisions keep changing? Why do we continually receive "new light" which in some cases totally contradicts "old light"...?
Does this not show that man is leading man... to his detriment? When a JW uses scriptures which say, "Do not put your trust in nobles, nor in the son of earthing man, to WHOM NO SALVATION BELONGS..." (Psalm 146), do we add an addendum to verses such as: "... except for the 8 men in Brooklyn, New York, whom God has appointed..." ??
What about the scripture in Acts: "We must obey God as ruler rather than men." (... addendum: "... except for the 8 men in Brooklyn, New York, whom God has appointed...") (whom God has appointed by some mysterious process which no rank and file member knows?)...
Ask a JW to read the bible book of GALATIANS. Paul did NOT go up to Jerusalem after his conversion (on the road to Damascus) for 3 YEARS, stayed only for 2 weeks, then went off again for another 14 years before visiting Jerusalem again. He is quick to say he was NOT following any man or group of men, nor was he taught by any man or group of men!!
...Oh boy, I could go on and on... But maybe you could ask a JW to explain how the WBTS could be involved with the United Nations for 10 YEARS (secretly)... from 1991 (when they first applied) (and were accepted in 1992) to 2001 (when discovered).
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You could ask why the Judicial Committees are held in secret ("star-secret chambers") when the organization itself says that one of the reasons there was fair justice in the nation of Israel was that problems or issues with people were dealt with PUBLICLY... and that people should ever-more shun family members based on a secret discussion (of which nobody knows) with three elders and their resultant judgment ? Nobody knows what was discussed, yet all again have to trust (blindly? implicitly?) in the rulings of these men....
You could ask why there are different levels, or tiers, of brothers in the organization, complete with special (secret) books and manuals when Jesus has told us that no one should be our ruler, that only Christ is our head or ruler. Why are there THOUSANDS of special little laws and rulings in these books and manuals when Jesus told us that we are under only the law of LOVE...?
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You could ask them how they teach little children to love God... do they do so with love and compassion in mind, or might they use a combination of FEAR and GUILT? Ask them to look at the literature for little children, kids who don't even know how to read. Ask the JW to look at the book, "MY BOOK OF BIBLE STORIES" from a small child's point of view. Ask them to figure out, from the pictures only, who are the "bad guys" and who are the "good guys".... Ask if a little child could easily figure this out or process these violent and very frightening images. Is this suitable viewing material for a little child...? Would it make them love God? Would it help little children draw close to God and feel like he really cares about them and loves them?
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Oh yes, I could go on and on. But maybe some of this will suffice for now.
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Quote from this week's WT study
by dissonance_resolved in"god's servants on earth will not need to defend themselves against aliens from another planet.".
good to know- but strangely no scriptural reference for this gem..
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Muddy Waters
It saddens me to think of all the little children in the audiences at all the KHs world-wide who will listen to these nightmarish words and who will, like my own dear little children did, request to have the light on at night, their doors open, or beg to come into bed with mommy & daddy....
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I have just been disinvited to my brother's wedding - Thanks AAWA!
by Sic Semper Tyrannis ini am an inactive jw.
i havent been on this forum for a few months and have been lurking in others.
i have met a few people in real life and online, both on this forum and on others.
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Muddy Waters
Wha happened -- I think you're spot on about the anger. Whether intentional or not, AAWA comes across as angry. Their name is so off-putting for this reason. It is a negative name. It is a name which would frighten any JW or even a JW with doubts or questions.
Steve Hassan recommends gentleness, kindness, sublety... When you're dealing with MIND CONTROL and cognitive dissonance, you can't throw bricks and gauntlets down, it only drives the person further into that which you want them to get away from.
I do not know Cedars, but I've appreciated many of his posts on his jwsurvey website.
The AAWA video brought me to tears when I first watched it. After seeing it, I couldn't stop crying for awhile -- there was so much emotion in the video! and you could feel and understand the people's pain.
But now.... now it's all gone to shit.
There was a great post (in another thread?) where a person (shoot, can't remember name) said that most people do not want to fight an organization, their fight is for their families. It is a personal fight. Once the family member is rescued or recovered, they're out. They're done. They want to walk away from the WTBTS and JW-world and get on with their lives. Which is why people do not flock to join organizations like "Anti-Scientology" or "Anti-Mormom", etc. This makes sense to me and reflects what most people want and how they want to help and to what extent.- Muddy
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Having children is bad
by dissonance_resolved inwent to the weeknight meeting this week for the first time in a long while.
the study was all about how having children was ill-advised in this time of the end- the comments dwelled on what a burden children are, how you can spend more time in the ministry without children, and look what they did in jerusalem- they cannabilized their own children!
it's going to be so horrible to watch our children suffer during the great tribulation!
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Muddy Waters
Hey, Data-Dog, here's a link for downloading the pdf file of the Jeremiah book (scroll down). You can see the nastiness with your own eyes.... (may need bleach after)!
http://www.jw.org/en/publications/books?start=24 -
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Having children is bad
by dissonance_resolved inwent to the weeknight meeting this week for the first time in a long while.
the study was all about how having children was ill-advised in this time of the end- the comments dwelled on what a burden children are, how you can spend more time in the ministry without children, and look what they did in jerusalem- they cannabilized their own children!
it's going to be so horrible to watch our children suffer during the great tribulation!
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Muddy Waters
Holy sh*t....!!!! Here's a quote from paragraph 4: " Can you imagine the feelings of those who were reduced to cannibalism or those who saw loved ones become mere carrion?" (regarding destruction of Jerusalem)