Atilla

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Posts by Atilla

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  25

  Special meeting this weekend?

  by kj in

  1. jw
  2. friends

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  my mother mentioned something about a special talk that's going to be at "all the khs around the world" this weekend.

  kj

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  Atilla

  Last I knew, there were fewer than 150 in the series, so that means that if you've been a JW for more than 3 years, you've probably heard them all (or heard certain ones multiple times). If you were a JW for almost 30 years, like I was, then you've practically got them all memorized.

  I don't think that it always used to be that way but I believe in the effort to make things more uniform, the WT developed the select number of outlines that were only to be used for Sunday talks. I think that before the uniform outlines, local elders could be more liberal in their talk outlines. The problem was that sometimes elders would be very liberal and go off into some weird tangents, thus the need for preset outlines. Of course, elders will say that they are only outlines, and they can develop each outline as they see fit. The problem is that they are all looking at the same info, no real outside sources, so they all begin to sound the same. Plus, once an elder has a outline done, odds are that he's not going to redo it, thus, you''ll hear his same outline over and over and over, maybe with a new illustration thrown in, then over and over again. Most elders only have about 5 to 15 outlines out of the 150 done, but I did know this super dub in my hall that had them all done, go figure.
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  46

  In the US: Our Children Will Be Subjected to Selective Service Very Soon

  by gespro in

  1. social
  2. current

  has this been discussed already?

  if it has, please point me to the thread addressing this

  i just heard this last night.

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  Atilla

  I think our current system already works like a draft. Who mostly joins the military in large numbers these days? Answer: Those who have the least amount of options when it comes to their future, i.e. the poor and minorities. Who doesn't join the military, of course those with money but even those families with modest amounts of money. I recently saw that out of all of the members in the Congress and the Senate, only like 2 or 3 of them actually had sons or daughters in the military. That's a serious disconnect when these representatives are the only legal barrier curtailing the President's War Powers with the War Powers Act that was enacted in the 70's.

  I don't favor the draft but I do think that some kind of automatic military service should come into affect when you turn 18, boy or girl. I believe France and Isreal have similar programs for their youths when they turn 18 so that they have to put in 1 or 2 years of service and then go on to college or whatever. Of course, you could also have some form of secondary non-militarty sevice for all the dubbies who couldn't in good conscience serve their country.
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  35

  Did the second-class status of JW women ever bother you? Does it now?

  by True North in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  if the jw organization were considered a normal business operating without the protections of being a religion, it obviously would have to make some big changes in order to avoid being sued out of existence for sex discrimination.

  i wasn't raised to think that women should be relegated to second class status or that they should have less opportunities than men or be relegated to a limited set of life roles.

  however, when i became a jw, i freely accepted all the sexist nonsense that came with the territory without ever being bothered by it.

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  Atilla

  The whole second-class status bothered me especially when it came to giving talks. It always seemed like talk no 3 for the sisters was merely "window dressing" in order for there to be some appearance of equality in the org. for women. However, even though there was about the same number of men and women in our congregation, women only ended up giving a talk like every 3 or 4 months compared to me who ended up giving a talk atleast once if not twice a month. That's why it sucked.
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  45

  Bullied into quitting my job?

  by Nosferatu in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hey all.

  lately, i've been recieving heat at work for not doing my job.

  i was hired to assemble, repair, and test electronics.

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  Atilla

  If you do decide to quit, you should dump as much trash as you can find on his car or right in front of it. Other than that, this sounds like a bad exra scene they deleted out of Office Space. Good luck.
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  12

  WT to "donators" take your money back, please

  by benext in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i had an interesting conversation this weekend with an elderly sister.

  she told me about a letter she received from wt not more than a month ago.

  it seems they had a program in place where they would "hold" money that would be used in the event of your death to pay funeral arrangements.

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  Atilla

  Who doesn't have an aversion to paying taxes? I do wonder though if they were to start paying taxes and go back their old accounting methods of charging for things, if they would be better off financially in the long run? However, they probably just want to be taken as a serious religion, one that doesn't pay taxes.
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  11

  Unwitnessing - over the weekend

  by Jim_TX in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  saturday morning, i was on my way to my aunts' house.

  i stopped in the grocery store in a nearby small town.. on the way inside, i passed three teenaged gals exiting the store - and something triggered - "jws.

  " i laughed at my paranoia - but continued inside, where i did my shopping.. upon exiting, i noticed a parked pickup truck, and a lady standing there, preaching to some poor soul - trapped inside their own vehicle.

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  Atilla

  Yep, good work. We all should be as prepared as Jim to share in the informal apotisizing work. It's also funny that you knew exactly how to spot them, in minivan, of course.
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  7

  Prince became a JW because his dieing JW mother asked him to...

  by Elsewhere in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/tm_objectid=14134817&method=full&siteid=50143&headline=from-sex-god-to-doorstep-bible-basher-name_page.html

  nothing like tragedy to turn one to a high-control cult that offers paradise in exchange for submission.

  from sex god to doorstep bible basher

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  Atilla

  I never really was a real big Prince fan but I'm thinking about going to his concert here in State College, PA. He's playing at the Bryce Jordan Center Sunday April 18th. I can get tickets for free through my wife, otherwise there is no way I would pay the $50 to $70 ransom he is charging. Anyone going, maybe we can meet up?
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  23

  What Type of Government Do You Think Is The Best To Live Under?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ....democracy, theocracy-----what?

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  Atilla

  I guess most people would say democracy but their are many types of democracy as most of us know. I think Karl Marx was right about the underlying state of the economy trumping everything else in society. Capitalism is king right now where as Socialism was more popular in the early part of the 20th century. I think it's false to think that we have unlimited opportunites here in the U.S. We may think that anyone who works hard enough can become rich and famous, but the reality is that the decks are stacked against most people.

  We are socially and econmically stratified here in the U.S. People who make $200,000 or more in the U.S. only comprise roughly 1-5% of the population. People who are "middle class" make 30K to 50K a year and comprise 30-35% of pop. This brings us down to the working class in this country who only make 20k to 30K a year, yet make up 40-45% of the U.S. population. The so called working class have just enough money to pay for monthly bills but usually have no savings. After this are those who are below the poverty line who make less than 15K a year, yet comprise 20-25% of the U.S. population. What's the point? 60 to 70% of U.S. population are close to poor or very poor and are just scraping by.

  Why are we ok with this a society? Marx said that society can have two different types of consciences when it comes to economics. We currently are under a false conscience which says the status quo is ok, it's ok for corporations and the few in society to reap vast fortunes while the rest of us just get by. What we need is a Revolution baby. A class revolution that says no, it's not ok for the worker to be raped and taken advantaged of. I think we will see this soon and once again see the pendulum swing over to a more socialist viewpoint instead of capitalism.

  In the end, both capitalism and socialism are both imperfect and both have their negatives. I just think socialism is the lesser of the two evils. Why are we so blind here in the U.S.? Corporations say that health care costs are out of control and say that profits are being hurt. Well, what's wrong with that? Why does the corporation get all the profits, they can share, they can take a cut in profits for the sake of their employees. But hardly anyone sees it this way, every stockholder just wants more and more profits thus making the working class in this country very expendable.
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  127

  Take George out of the equation.

  by Thunder Rider in

  1. social
  2. current

  this whole blame the president thing is getting old.

  you "anyone but bush" people kill me.

  you're all so quick to condemn but have you any real constructive criticism?

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  Atilla

  I guess call me cold-hearted but the whole Bush-Iraq thing comes down to money for me. For all I care, Bush can invade any country in the so called name of democacy as long as he finds a way to pay for it without running up the bills here at home. So far, he has failed miserbly. The war so far has cost us over $120 billion and has a burn rate of around $4 billion a month. I know, people will say in the long run, but this war was a huge risk with not many creditors other than the American public. So, as Bush fails in Iraq we all fail as Americans and get a little poorer. Where is the money for education? No Child Left Behind by Bush's own outline is already 10 Billion underfunded. Call me selfish but I thought our government's primary goal was to take care of it's own citizens first. That's why he doesn't get my vote this November, simple really.
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  10

  Removed from the account, $$$!Refusing "Simony".

  by Blueblades in

  1. jw
  2. friends

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  it's been two years since we have attended any meetings including the memorial.now we found out that we have been taken off the bank account of a witness that we were taking care of, because of not attending meetings and not going out in the field service,because we are now inactive.. a lot of money was involved.we were not going to compromise to keep us on the account.in order to remain in good standing with this person we would be required to attend all the meetings, go out in the field service and take this person to places such as the health centers and doctors.because we stopped doing this, we are no longer going to be the beneficiaries of any financial gain,and or property $$$.including burial plots.. so much for all the years of help we have already devoted to this person.and all the hard work and self sacrifice we have given.this person knows the meaning of "simony" ( the buying or selling of spiritual things for gain ) and yet is using simony against us.we will not allow ourselves to be held captive in the society, which we have broken away from, for no amount of money or property by the use of simony that this person is trying to impose upon us.. blueblades.

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  Atilla

  A lot of money was involved

  Just how much money was involved? It sucks that this old guy would do this to you but I guess older age makes you senile. The only way I would go back to meetings is if I knew the guy didn't have much time left; then it might be bearable for a few months but people are living longer and longer these days. Spiritual warfare is great!