But Frannie, I do have my whole adult life ahead of me...ask any of my friends!
Phantom Stranger
JoinedPosts by Phantom Stranger
-
27
If You Had Your Whole Adult Life Ahead of You....
by Frannie Banannie in.
if you had your whole adult life ahead of you, what career would you choose to pursue and why?.
i'd choose marine biologist or scientific research.....because i wouldn't hafta deal so much with people's attitudes, marine life is beautiful and fun, science of this planet is interesting....it *can* be a lucrative field, depending on which aspect of it i choose to pursue.... frannie b
-
-
-
15
Compelled Morality
by Euphemism ini had some thoughts last night in regards to compelled morality.
i'm sure it's nothing new, but i just thought i'd share, for my own sake if nothing else.
most of us here who do not believe that the bible is an inspired book reject it because it violates our natural moral sense.
-
-
Phantom Stranger
So you're saying that the choice to give up one's own moral agency, to sign over your voting proxy to someone else (even the "big guy"), is a moral choice in and of itself.
Absolutely. But I would stipulate that it's not the last moral choice they make. Every time they feel their heartstrings tugged, every time their conscience twinges and they stuff it back down the disposal, they commit the same error over and over.
"For what is good, and what is not good, Phaedrus - do we need anyone to tell us these things?"
Socrates, quoted by Robert Pirsig in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
-
35
What is your all time favorite album?
by William Penwell indon't know if this has been done but it it has my apologies.
.i was just listening to the beatles, abbey road.
i consider this as one of the great musical albums of all time.
-
-
Phantom Stranger
Is the Zevon good? I really wanted to get it even before he passed...
Ani DiFranco, Revelling/Reckoning. (folk:)
Lyle Lovett, The Road to Ensenada. (country:)
Thievery Corporation - The Mirror Conspiracy (dance/techno:)
Elvis Costello, King of America (rock:)
Miles Davis, Birth of the Cool (jazz: get legal Miles MP3's here free!)
Big fan of Aimee Mann, Joe Jackson, and the peeps who rite wurds gud.
-
3
Hit those books
by El Kabong inlittle tommy (who was jewish) was doing very badly in math.
his parents had.
tried everything: tutors, mentors, flash cards,.
-
-
Phantom Stranger
OMFG...thanks.
-
19
Any Advice - Afteraffects of taking the Reality Pill
by dobby ini have been posting on this board on and off for about two years now.
it has been a tremendous help to me to read other people's experiences, to laugh, cry and just plain identify.
however, something weird is going on with me in the last six months and i am totally freaked out.
-
-
Phantom Stranger
I personally think that every single exiting JW should find a therapist they like, and read whatever books the therapist recommends, for a year. After all, we have lost of time when we stop going to meetings:)
-
15
Compelled Morality
by Euphemism ini had some thoughts last night in regards to compelled morality.
i'm sure it's nothing new, but i just thought i'd share, for my own sake if nothing else.
most of us here who do not believe that the bible is an inspired book reject it because it violates our natural moral sense.
-
-
Phantom Stranger
Euph, that's a great post... I'm a little unclear on the second-to-last paragraph, can you help me out a bit?
-
6
when people in general/friends talk about
by orangefatcat in.
when people in general or perhaps your friends start talking about their religion, does this get you riled or do you some how want to still defend the jw's way of thinking or do you leave the room all together, not knowing what to say.
?
-
-
Phantom Stranger
A few years back (OK, about a decade, wow), I was asked by a HS friend who became a youth minister with the Methodists to come and explain JW's to his youth group. I warned him that they wouldn't pick me as their representative, and he replied, "Well, since they won't come, either, they get you by default".
So I was explaining to these kids what Witnesses believe. I found that I was able to explain to them objectively and calmly what they believed. They would ask me what I beleived, and I would tell them. I was asked if I believed in God, and I said, No, I don't. (More on this later.)
This one punk-wannabe kid got very mocking and disrespectful towards JW's, and towards me a bit too. I found that I could be supportive of the Witnesses' right to do things that I don't want to do. He wanted Witnesses arrested for going door-to-door, and I reminded him that the US Supreme Court had found it legal, so he couldn't blame the Witnesses for that.
I left feeling... not apologetic, but as if by explaining it in the third person I had lifted a weight from my shoulders. I didn't throw them under the bus, but I objectively described what JW's beleive, and when people expressed amazement and amusement, I reminded them that I had left.
Anyway, afterwards this 17-year-old girl (as I recall, a dead ringer for Gillian Anderson) went up to the youth pastor and privately expressed worry about me, because she thought I was a nice guy, and since I was going to go to hell because of my atheism. Cracked me up when I heard about it.
Hope this is relevant to your question.
-
75
Some Arguments Just Can't be Won. . .
by StinkyPantz in.and yet i still find myself engulfed in them.
starting a thread about abortion, homosexuality, religion, capital punishment, euthanasia, evolution, race relations, war, politics, ect.
are ultimately pointless.
-
-
Phantom Stranger
Maybe we all need to get together and watch Monty Python? "I'd like to have an argument, please!"
But seriously, I think Simon's right, and I think the Pythons were right. An argument is not an automatic disagreeing - it's communicating your position. If all we can do is name-call and attack, we're not communicating, we're ranting or preaching or... well, name-calling.
Communication has been defined as not what happens when you talk (or type), but what happens when you talk and the other person really "gets" what we're saying. Until they "get" it, you haven't communicated - and the communicator has to take a lot of responsibility for that. Saying it louder or more vehemently really doesn't enhance most persuasive attempts.
I suspect that XJW's, myself included, are trained to take positions and defend them, and it takes conscious effort to leave that model behind and be mobile.
Isn't danger defined militarily as a narrowing of options? The more we take a position, the less we can learn. It's like the Zen proverb - if you want more tea in a cup that is full, first you have to pour some out.
-
18
Here's a Good Example of Elder Humility!
by Voyager inthis elder refers to (himself)14 times in this article.
james 4: 16 reminds us, "but now you take pride in your self-assuming brags.
all such taking of pride is wicked.
-
-
Phantom Stranger
Yes, it is a resume, and no, he's not egotistical in his wording in a document that is about...well, him.
However, at the bottom he specifically mentions that every person, every one of us, is a leader. Really? Can't wait till those in his cong start acting like leaders, and he has to deal with it :)
-
20
New diet aid for people who celebrate mass!
by Abaddon in.
yes, you can now ask your priest to use 'i can't believe it's not jesus', the answer to a devout dieters prayers!.
all the taste and salvation of ordinary communion wafers and half the calories!
-
-
Phantom Stranger
Rick Reynolds, comedian:
You know, if things were just a little different with the Catholic Church...for instance, if the host were fudge, I'd be there. Think about it - "Body of Christ - with or without nuts?"