amicus

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Posts by amicus

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  24

  Are you now involved in a different religion or structured group?

  by feenx in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was browsing another post where wtwizard implied membership in another group, and was asked what it was.

  that got me thinking...since coming out the society, has anyone embraced another organized religion or group, public or secret?

  if so, what is it, and what made you join and continue membership?

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  amicus

  I have visited a Unitarian church service(really liked it) one time. I thought I would go back, but the following Sunday I started to feel something like what a panic attack might be. I tried again the next Sunday, and it was the same thing. So I decided that organized religion (even one as liberal as the Unitarians) is just not for me - not at this time anyway. PEACE, Rachel

  Actually I decided if I ever were to try another religion it would have to be Quaker or Unitarian. So far I haven't felt the need. I like their core values though.
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  27

  How can I prevent harrassment to my kids from self-righteous dub relatives?

  by candela in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i live with my hubby and children outside of my native country.

  we will be going home for a vacation soon after many years.

  we're faders and most of our jw relatives have adopted a don't ask-don't tell policy about our decision and we are perfectly fine with it.

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  amicus

  I agree with the two prong approach.

  1) Prepare your kids to deal with (religious) bigots. With good self esteem, they will just shrug off idiots.

  2) Tell anyone who you think might harass your kids, that if they attempt to do so...they will have to go through you first.
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  48

  Would you die for your beliefs?

  by purplesofa in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  do you feel so strongly about a particular belief that you would make a stand for it through death?.

  what belief is it?.

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  amicus

  Do you feel so strongly about a particular belief that you would make a stand for it through death?

  No one belief per se, but I have no problem intervening in something that I see occuring that I think is wrong. When I react emotionally, I don't hesitate. Personal risk in those instances has never been an issue. I love life, but personal integrity was pretty well ingrained into my siblings and I.

  Subjected to torture? I'm not so sure. Most people will eventually do or say anything to end prolonged physical or mental torment. I would still hold my own personal beliefs...but I probably would spill my guts eventually.
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  20

  New building Dubai.

  by Peppermint in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  these guys never seem to stop building strange - and often ugly - buildings, but this is something else: .

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  construction takes a new twist.

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  amicus

  nothing very positive about the influx of this money, Bangladeshi/Indian/Pakistani construction workers working in appalling conditions , earning a small pittance of a salary , while Sheikh Mohammad al Maktoum and his family live in wealth and splendor that has to be seen to be believed , just wondering what the service charge for these places are ?

  So true. Conditions there are probably as bad as they are here in the US. I wonder if any pregnant women there have died lately because they weren't allowed access to drinking water on a 100+ degree day? Those Arabs might even be as greedy as we Americans.
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  24

  So, I have this conversation with my crazy JW cousin/Jw's wrong again

  by dawg in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it all starts off pretty benign, when she suddenly says "well, you believe man can solve the problems of this world"... she says this because i've ran for political office twice, losing once.

  i know where this is going... so i say "i've never said that is our only hope, i just recognize that i live in this reality today, i'm here now, and god's kingdom isn't.. it's the men here now that run things, if god ever steps in, then i'll gladly move aside as i'm sure any man would".

  she says something to the effect, that we disagree on that?

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  amicus

  I believe that one of the biggest problems with mankind is that the people that really want to wield power are least qualified to do so. Sadly that results in asshats running the worlds businesses, governments and religions.

  Perfect example is GWB, his calling in life should be shoveling manure in a barn until he learns some humility...not trying to govern a country.

  Things would change dramatically, and for the better if everyday folks sucked it up and did some of these jobs...just to be good citizens.
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  20

  New building Dubai.

  by Peppermint in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  these guys never seem to stop building strange - and often ugly - buildings, but this is something else: .

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  construction takes a new twist.

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  amicus

  Imagine the look on Frank Loyd Wright's face if he saw this

  Imagine what Frank Lloyd Wright could build today with some of the material and technology we have to work with.

  Those towers would probably rotate to follow the sun so the interiors were lit by indirect lighting while maximizing solar panel usage/shading and have programmable overrides so you could have the sunrise wake you in your bedroom and be able to watch the sunset from your livingroom.
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  50

  Do You Still Believe In Anything JWs Taught You?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  are there any beliefs that you learned from the witnesses that you still believe in?

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  amicus

  I was raised to be a good Irish Catholic. Two doctrines of the Catholic Church that I was never really able to grasp was eternal hellfire and the Trinity.

  The witnesses spin on both those subjects makes far more sense to me than any other explanation I've encountered.
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  46

  Is California Burning?

  by compound complex in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  it's bad here.

  the air is thick, gray and burnt.

  my lungs ache.

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  amicus

  Sacramento has been blanketed with smoke for days now. Seeing smoke here isn't that uncommon...seeing it this many days in a row (4 or 5 now?) is unusual. There are hundreds of fires now in Central/Northern California, it's going to take a while to get them all under control.
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  51

  What Global Warming?

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  see:.

  http://wattsupwiththat.wordpress.com/2008/02/19/january-2008-4-sources-say-globally-cooler-in-the-past-12-months/.

  metatron.

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  amicus

  We're dealing with physics equations that no one has dis-proven, so until someone does, it makes scientific sense to believe that human added greenhouse gasses will warm the earth, and it makes scientific, moral, economic, and national defense sense to try and understand what that warming will do, and mitigate any effects effects which will be negative (which is most of them).

  It even goes beyond that. We know humans are remaking the planet into something that we are unfamilier with. Isn't it logical to ask Scientists to try to determine what the short and long term effects of this are? Greenhouse gasses are only part of this complex subject.

  The more brilliant minds we have studying this the more we will begin to understand it. Hell, maybe we'll find that the freon we've been dumping into the atmosphere for the last 40-50 years is beneficial. If so, then we'll know we can all start cutting the condensing tubes on our AC's and refridgerators and have us a big ol' freon party. Perhaps clear cut logging is the best thing we could do for the forests, if so...lets find out so we can cut down the remaining 3% old growth Redwood trees left. Hell, I'd love to get my hands on some "heart" redwood. I'll even bring my own chainsaw to the party. One never knows, but it may well be that the toxins we've been dumping into the Oceans are allowing fish to reproduce at rates we never imagined. If so, lets close those Waste Water Treatment Plants down. Who likes those things anyways?

  I can understand someone ignoring what's happening today on this planet if they own lots of stock in Exxon, or have hundreds of acres of timber that they want to clearcut...or they have lots of money invested in one of the large Power companies and really don't want to spend the $$ to install scrubbers on their coal fired plants. I can even understand some of the developing nations who are trying to play "catch-up" with the more developed Nations.

  What I don't understand are the rest who choose not to acknowledge that mankind is changing the ecosystem in ways that we've never seen before. If we don't acknowledge it how are we even going to begin to understand the ramifications, if any, of those changes?
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  51

  What Global Warming?

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  see:.

  http://wattsupwiththat.wordpress.com/2008/02/19/january-2008-4-sources-say-globally-cooler-in-the-past-12-months/.

  metatron.

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  amicus

  I was born in Northridge by the way Amicus, 8 years after you.

  Wow, cool. We eventually moved to Canoga Park, close to Pierce College. I spent a lot of time hiking in the foothills just n of you folks there in Northridge. Well, all the foothills actually around West Valley. Topanga Canyon was my favourite. I spent many a weekend as a kid hiking up and down Topanga Creek.