Posts by Flash

chicago - bill cosby (news) went off on another tirade against the black community thursday, telling a room full of activists that black children are running around not knowing how to read or write and "going nowhere.

Flash

I seems to come down to two approaches to the problem. The 'ghetto' blacks (and I am making a purposeful distintion here) pull themselves up on their own or the government uses Reagan's philosiphy of "A rising tide raises all boats" and re-educate everyone. If I were a black person I wouldn't wait for the government to fix it.

52

ever had an out-of-body experience?

by poppers in

jw
friends

once in a while, usually in the morning shortly after waking up, i find my "body" lifting up from my physical body, but i remain attached at the head.

it's a very pleasant experience but i wish i could totally separate from the physical body so i could go exploring.

this happened this morning again.. .

Flash

Like Billygoat, I had lots of dreams about flying when I was a child. Only problem was, I seemed to have problems dodging overhead electrical wires.

I've had lots of these too! Sometimes I get tangeled sometimes the wires pass thru me. I'm not convinced these are just dreams though. Shwwooooshh>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

52

ever had an out-of-body experience?

by poppers in

jw
friends

once in a while, usually in the morning shortly after waking up, i find my "body" lifting up from my physical body, but i remain attached at the head.

it's a very pleasant experience but i wish i could totally separate from the physical body so i could go exploring.

this happened this morning again.. .

Flash

Yes definately, many over the years starting during my childhood. I'm looking foward to having more!

I recomend the book 'Leaving the Body' by D. Scott Rogo for a non-spiritual how-to guide for OBE's I just started reading 'Out of Body Experiences - How to have them and what to expect' by Robert Peterson. I'm enjoying it and it also appears to be non-religious.

89

What does your name mean?

by pennycandy in

jw
friends

i gave my intro and then disappeared for a month.

just not enough time these days.. anyway .

.. some of your names are self-explanatory, but some definitely have to be explained to be understood.. i'll start.

Flash

I've chosen as my alias (the) Flash 'fastest man alive' because of how he is portrayed in the cartoon 'The Justice League.' He is spontaneous, carefree and outspoken, completely genuine. Things we are discouraged being as Witnesses, always unnecessarily restrained in our thinking, our speech and our behavior. Constantly gauging ourselves against the 'organizationally correct' views.

25

FACIAL HAIR

by JOLLYME in

i have a jw friend who thinks her husband would look better with facial hair.

(omg, it would improve his face!

) anyway, we all know this is a no no in some congregations.

Flash

Here is a quote from the School Guide Book:
For men, a neat personal appearance may include being clean-shaven. In areas where mustaches are widely viewed as dignified, any who wear these should keep them neatly trimmed.

The insertion of the word "may" is for use as a 'technical out' to challenges.

This is another example of the GB 'teaching the commands of men as doctrines.'

7

I may be wrong about JWs!

by baysixforme in

jw
friends

as i have a court case being prepared with regards to my soon-to-be-ex-husband...i have been considering several options concerning who could be my'witnesses' to the horrific lifestyle that he subjected us to.. one thing for certain is that an elder from my old congregation was very much aware of the despicable acts that my then husband bestowed upon myself and my children.

he would come around on a weekly basis, get the low down on recent events and endeavour to counsel my husband.. that seems to be a long time ago.......but after a solicitors appointment yesterday afternoon, it appears that i may need to recall witnesses from that particular period in our lives to verify my side of the story!.

i started thinking, and although there weren't many that knew of our situation (because we were told not to broadcast it), i knew that certainly, said elder would remember very well.. after some consideration, i rang him, left a message and eventually he contacted me.

Flash

I'm confused?!?!?!?!?!

He may be doing the right thing just because it's right. It may be too that he's looking to avoid a court appearance. Ask him to noterize it, it'll authenticate his remarks and carry more weight in court.

26

1914 Generation Doctrine on their Website

by Sirona in

http://www.watchtower.org/library/pr/index.htm?article=article_07.htm

how long a time period would these last days prove to be?

jesus said regarding the era that would experience the "beginning of pangs of distress" from 1914 onward: "this generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur.

Flash

I'm one of those who believe they were right the first time and their newer view of the 'generation' is the incorrect one. A person born in 1914 is 90 years old now. With all that we've seen change in the world since 1914, including the War On Terror to argue dates I think would be a mistake. I think we're about to see some serious things happen soon.

4

Storm Clouds Forming?

by Flash in

does anyone else see the increasingly expressed anti-religious views as a possible prelude to something bigger?.

july 06, 2004, 8:31 a.m.. robert reich?s religion problem.

witless rhetorical oppositions.. .

Flash

Does anyone else see the increasingly expressed anti-religious views as a possible prelude to something BIGGER?

.................................................

July 06, 2004, 8:31 a.m.
Robert Reich?s Religion Problem
Witless rhetorical oppositions.

L iberals tend to take umbrage when it is suggested that they are hostile to religion, or to religious people, or to some subset thereof. They have nothing against evangelical Christians, they respond, so long as they do not seek to use the state to impose their faith on others. Some liberals go further, saying that they are religious progressives who advocate a bigger welfare state as an outgrowth of their religious values. (A number of my fellow contributors to the new Brookings Institution book One Electorate Under God? take this approach, including Paul Begala.) I take all these liberals at their word. I do not think that most liberals who passionately dislike the Christian Right are hostile to Christians; they have some political and moral disagreements with conservative Christians. On most of the issues in question, I am inclined to agree with or at least lean toward the views of contemporary Christian conservatives, but there is plenty to debate.

But the phenomenon of liberal religion-bashing isn't imaginary, either. Robert Reich's latest column in The American Prospect is a case in point. It starts out pressing the case for the contemporary liberal understanding of church-state separation and its history in America, and uses this understanding to criticize the Bush administration. (The article is headlined "Bush's God." ) He says that "the problem" with "religious zealots" is that "they confuse politics with private morality."

Now I disagree with much of what he has to say, and consider it uncivil to describe advocates of prayer in public schools, a ban on abortions, and other policies Reich dislikes as "religious zealots." (I don't consider myself a religious zealot, although I support several of those policies, and support some of them zealously.) But none of this is especially outrageous or even noteworthy.

But then comes Reich's conclusion:

The great conflict of the 21st century will not be between the West and terrorism. Terrorism is a tactic, not a belief. The true battle will be between modern civilization and anti-modernists; between those who believe in the primacy of the individual and those who believe that human beings owe their allegiance and identity to a higher authority; between those who give priority to life in this world and those who believe that human life is mere preparation for an existence beyond life; between those who believe in science, reason, and logic and those who believe that truth is revealed through Scripture and religious dogma. Terrorism will disrupt and destroy lives. But terrorism itself is not the greatest danger we face.

This goes well beyond the common denunciation of "fundamentalism" where that term is meant to describe an ideology that seeks the imposition of religious views on non-believers. (That's what Andrew Sullivan means when he uses the term.) It is a denunciation ? as a graver threat than terrorists ? of people who believe that the world to come is more important than this world, or that all human beings owe their allegiance to God.

Many millions of Christians, Jews, Muslims, and other religious believers will reject Reich's witless rhetorical oppositions. One can believe in the political "primacy of the individual," the obligation of all people to answer to God, and the wrongness of any governmental attempt to make them answer to Him, all at the same time. But if our choice is between the primacy of individuals and the primacy of God ? if, that is, we are to choose between individual human beings and God ? then the vast majority of traditional religious believers would have to choose God. I certainly would. That would be the case for plenty of believers who are not sure what they think about abortion law, or want a higher minimum wage. All of us, for Reich, are the enemy.

I will not reciprocate the sentiment. Reich is not my enemy, although I certainly want most of what he stands for politically not to prevail. I don't think we have to have the battle he forecasts. I hope we don't. In fact, I pray we don't

19

lost and alone

by black ghost in

jw
friends

i was raised a j.w.

for 20+ years and slid out of the back door in 1998(no-one noticed me slide) and when i went out into the big bad world i found i was completely naive and clueless as i had lived in a tiny shell all my life, for example i had never met a gay person and i believed every non member was evil and out to get me.. has anyone any similar experiences?how did you get the past out of your mind and move on?

do you still feel disadvantaged or do you think you benefited in any way?.

Flash

Hello and Welcome Black Ghost!

can i reclaim my time?

No, but you since your 26 you've cut your losses early!