Posts by Phantom Stranger

35

Do You Live For Today or Do You Focus On The Future???

by minimus in

jw
friends

me-----i live to enjoy my life today.

tomorrow, i could be dead....and you??

?

Phantom Stranger

It's possible to live in the moment and at the same time make your current actions serve your larger goals.

Having been out for 17 years, I can sincerely say that learning to plan for the future - retirement, etc., has taken some work, and I still struggle with it sometimes. I know that getting involved in long-term goals has been a transformative act for me.

There's a Zen story of a monk who is being chased by a tiger. He slips off of a high ledge while fleeing the tiger, and is hanging by a root over a chasm. In front of him growing out of the side of the cliff is a strawberry bush with a ripe strawberry. The monk eats it and says, "This is a very good strawberry".

Now that's living in the moment.

30

What JW belief/idea do you disagree with the most ???

by run dont walk in

is there a particular belief/doctrine that really burns you up and makes you wonder how people could believe this, and did you as a loyal jw at one time believe in it (your most hated belief), what made you change your mind ???.

for me, i always enjoy reading the history of the watchtower (1879-1974), and how things constantly change from year to year.

the sodom and gomorrah question is hilarious .

Phantom Stranger

3) The idea that men are all that and women aren't even fit to speak directly from the platform?

2) Blood?

And the winner:

1) "It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step". We're incompentent, but follow us anyway.

In reality, all the doctrinal points that I had real issue with seemed to stem either from A) irrational application of ancient texts which at some point got collected in the Bible, or B) "Rub your Tummy, Pat your Head" chronological math tricks reminiscent of an Abbott and Costello routine.

99

What resurrects, the person or a perfect copy?

by JH in

i remember my boss asking me once this question, since he knew i was a witness.

he asked, "what resurrects, the body, the soul, what?.

he knew that witnesses believe in the resurrection of the dead on earth, in a different physical body during the millennium.. i told him that it won't be the same physical body, and maybe won't be identical, but it's the same person.

Phantom Stranger

I remember thinking about this question 20 years ago, after reading a Star Trek novel (BTW, my critical sense has matured, even if I haven't) in which Dr. McCoy was arguing with Spock about this question regarding the transporter.

Spock's reply was that "a difference which makes no difference is no difference".

Which would be true to everyone except the original...

9

Present Company Excluded Of Course

by Phantom Stranger in

jw
friends

ap - more and more people are succumbing to so called "technology addictions," spending hours tapping on mobile phones or surfing the internet, one of britain's best known psychiatric clinics said on saturday.

"there has been a huge rise in behavioral addictions," including excessive texting, said a spokeswoman for the priory clinic which treats 6,000 patients a year for a range of addictions including gambling, eating disorders and drugs.

in the sunday telegraph newspaper the head of the clinic's addictions unit said some patients were spending up to seven hours a day text messaging.

Phantom Stranger

AP - More and more people are succumbing to so called "technology addictions," spending hours tapping on mobile phones or surfing the Internet, one of Britain's best known psychiatric clinics said on Saturday.

"There has been a huge rise in behavioral addictions," including excessive texting, said a spokeswoman for the Priory Clinic which treats 6,000 patients a year for a range of addictions including gambling, eating disorders and drugs.

In the Sunday Telegraph newspaper the head of the clinic's addictions unit said some patients were spending up to seven hours a day text messaging.

"We have a situation where some people look down on alcoholics and cocaine addicts, but then go and spend five hours in an Internet chat room," Dr Mark Collins told the paper.

91

Do You Vote and/or Get Involved In Politics Now?

by minimus in

jw
friends

just curious.....

Phantom Stranger

I haven't talked to him about it directly, but from what I've heard he just knew that Arnold would kill him. I think he was expecting some "gentlemanly conduct" from other Republicans, (as in "well, you paid for this, you go ahead") and instead they all jumped into the pool.

Besides, if you realized that you just wasted ONE POINT SEVEN MILLION, wouldn't you cry?

Bye.

81

Bowling for Columbine

by drwtsn32 in

i just watched this documentary tonight and enjoyed it.

it's amazing to me the number of gun-related murders in the us... over 11,000 in one year.

i don't remember the exact figure, but canada, japan, and germany combined had less than 500 gun-related murders.

Phantom Stranger

The timeling is the only point I'm making, jelly. I don't know anything about how the movie was made...but I know when. ;)

I looked it up on Google because I seemed to remember the announcement just happening prior to the release of the film.

Thanks for your gracious response.

Patio, best wishes for your son - take care. I like Chomsky too.

PS

Oh, and Jayson, get gone already, you punk-ass.

124

The locking of threads.

by seven006 in

jw
friends

it seems like there is a little fire starting to burn here on the subject of locking threads.

iv been on this board a long time and on average have only seen about one out of every 200 threads locked.

those who have their threads locked take it very personal, that's understandable.

Phantom Stranger

Oh, come down of the cross, we need the wood.

81

Bowling for Columbine

by drwtsn32 in

i just watched this documentary tonight and enjoyed it.

it's amazing to me the number of gun-related murders in the us... over 11,000 in one year.

i don't remember the exact figure, but canada, japan, and germany combined had less than 500 gun-related murders.

Phantom Stranger

Oh, don't leave before reading my last post, J!

19

Baptism pre-new questions - signed anything?

by Phantom Stranger in

i was baptised around 1978 - don't remember the date anymore.

this was before the "organization-centered" baptism questions.

did i sign anything in order to get baptized?

Phantom Stranger

I was baptised around 1978 - don't remember the date anymore. This was before the "organization-centered" baptism questions.

Did I sign anything in order to get baptized? Was there any paperwork involved? If so, what was it, and where can I look at a copy? I remember going over the questions in the black book...

I know it sounds silly, but I was 12 at the time...

91

Do You Vote and/or Get Involved In Politics Now?

by minimus in

jw
friends

just curious.....

Phantom Stranger

OK, so the bill passed the California Legislature, and Davis didn't veto it - let's recall HIM? Is this like baseball - you can't fire the players?

BTW - I believe that the recall is legal and has been approved by California voters as provided for by law, and should proceed. But wanting to recall him for signing a bill that passed the Legislature seems a bit shortsighted. I think that this process has shown everyone involved that the law needs updating... but it should take its course.

And as far as the "blatant ploy" thing, my friend Darrell Issa (yes, he is my friend and former boss) spent 1.7 million dollars of his own money on this recall campaign in a blatant ploy to try to get the inside shot on becoming governor. He-he. Oops. Good thing he's got more. That's politics.