fiddler

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Posts by fiddler

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  74

  Why is Trump so effective???

  by Coded Logic in

  1. social
  2. current

  i think trump is an absolute idiot.

  his tactics, however, are undeniably effective.

  thought i'd just put together a short list of some of the things he does.

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  fiddler

  May be time to watch The Last King of Scotland...
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  45

  How did you feel when you got baptized?

  by Schnufti in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  back in 2005, i remember sitting in the stadium in the special rows with 42 others.

  8000 people were looking at us - maybe even with a binocular - while listening to the speech.

  my family and my friends among them, being all proud of me.. i don't remember being enthusiastic.

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  fiddler

  It was November of 1973 for me and the changing TENTS were outside. OK, granted...it was Phoenix, Arizona but for a lifelong desert rat I felt COLD! I also was told by my study person that I'd feel the Holy Spirit thing...I didn't. My father was df'd at the time and stood in the back of the hall (it was at a kh that had a baptismal pool under the stage) so it was also bittersweet. I remember going home afterwards and looking at the yard, my home, the sky and for the next year kind of dreading the arrival of 1975 because I still didn't feel good enough to survive. Oh, and I was 16....just a kid still.
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  33

  Most Widely Circulated Magazine In The World

  by Calebs Airplane in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  which magazine is now the most widely circulated in the world?.

  before responding, keep in mind that certain parameters (such as content and page count) ought to be met before any printed material intended for mass distribution can be categorized as a “magazine”.

  for example, the absolute minimum range for any publication to be considered a magazine is typically around 32 to 48 pages while the highest page counts are usually around 128 to 160, with some popular women’s fashion magazines coming in quite a bit higher than that.. so with that said, which is now the world’s most widely circulated magazine?.

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  fiddler

  They make great fire starters for the wood stove in winter 😉 Geese, talk about fake news! I'm thinking Watchtower gave the fake news venues a few pointers on how to bedazzle the gullible.
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  13

  1 day Assembly Woodburn, Oregon 2/11/2017

  by Spoletta in

  1. social
  2. current

  attendance: 1,2037 cost: approximately $12,000 baptised: 2 born ins.

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  fiddler

  I used to go to the Woodburn Assembly hall...remember when it was built 30+ years ago. I don't see any way in hell (or heaven) that one day cost that much! The kitchen was decommissioned probably 20 years ago...no food...and the thing has to have been paid for. Such a sham. It used to be a really nice place with a nice kitchen and cafeteria. Anyway, figures the baptisms would be only a couple of born ins. Also, I seem to remember attendance being a few thousand back in the day!

  
  
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  27

  the Book of Enoch and the Nephilim

  by schnell in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i've heard all my cognizant life that angels from heaven looked upon the daughters of men, took wives, and their wives bore giants called nephilim.. i've heard all my adult life about the book of enoch and why it's apocryphal and to be avoided.. so tonight i was curious enough to download an e-book and have a look, since dothemath had the thread about rarely used scriptures and the book of jude directly quotes from the book of enoch.. if jude quotes from enoch, shouldn't both or neither of them be canonical?

  if you consider jude canonical, then enoch should be too.. hey, how many fallen angels were there again?

  two thirds of heaven, right?

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  fiddler

  You asked about Paul's reference to the Book of Enoch. 2 Corinthians 12:1-4 sounds a lot like the experience that Enoch had being taken to the third heaven, paradise....there were something like seven levels.

  (Excerpt from Book of Enoch)
  Chapter 8, VIII

  1 And those men took me thence, and led me up on to the third heaven, and placed me there; and I looked downwards, and saw the produce of these places, such as has never been known for goodness.

  2 And I saw all the sweet-flowering trees and beheld their fruits, which were sweet-smelling, and all the foods borne (by them) bubbling with fragrant exhalation.

  3 And in the midst of the trees that of life, in that place whereon the Lord rests, when he goes up into paradise; and this tree is of ineffable goodness and fragrance, and adorned more than every existing thing; and on all sides (it is) in form gold-looking and vermilion and fire-like and covers all, and it has produce from all fruits.

  4 Its root is in the garden at the earth’s end.

  5 And paradise is between corruptibility and incorruptibility.

  6 And two springs come out which send forth honey and milk, and their springs send forth oil and wine, and they separate into four parts, and go round with quiet course, and go down into the PARADISE OF EDEN, between corruptibility and incorruptibility.

  7 And thence they go forth along the earth, and have a revolution to their circle even as other elements.

  8 And here there is no unfruitful tree, and every place is blessed.

  
  

  Anyway, I always wondered, as a JW, why this would be a matter to boast about. When later I read some of the Book of Enoch and it occurred to me that the Enochian stories were maybe highly valued back in the first century and for Paul to have had the same experience as Enoch would maybe sound a bit like bragging or boasting. Anyway, that's my take on it.
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  61

  Is this a normal JW practice? Warning, this will be a bit graphic.

  by Sequoia in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  this post may be disturbing and i apologize, but i'm just trying to find out if this is a practice the jw teaches.

  i was taken advantage of by a guy claiming to be a jw preacher.

  he took me to his house supposedly so i could give his daughter piano lessons, and then he basically forced himself on me while telling me he was in love with me and wanted to marry me.

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  fiddler

  Sequoia, reading what you wrote and that 'it hurt' I was thinking this sounded more like rape! Even if it was sexual assault, it sounds as if it was pretty violent .... I'm so sorry this happened to you. I think the local congregation or whichever one this guy attends, needs to be notified. That said, if they need you to be part of any judicial committee that would be yet another horrendous thing for you to go through. It'd be best for you NOT to sit in on one of those! I don't know if they even consider an outsiders testimony. I am a music teacher myself and go into people's homes but I have never had anything like that happen to me although I have thought about it and choose my clients carefully. I did have one student who did have feelings for me and although no romance ever developed we are friends to this day. He NEVER even hinted at such inappropriate behavior! He's Catholic and a very honest and good Christian. So even though sex abuse cases abound in the Catholic religion, each is responsible for their own behavior. The man that assaulted you, Sequoia, is responsible for his behavior and he has nobody to blame but himself; not even JWs are to blame for this although they are a flawed religious cult. You are not to blame. You were overpowered by a criminal and I hope you get help and he gets stopped.
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  30

  How to reply when someone asks about your spiritual health

  by RodrigoGuerreiro in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  first of all, sorry if i cannot correctly express the original expression used in my native language to ask for the "spiritual condition".. a few years ago some member of the family asks my wife directly how is her "spiritual health" (for me it's one of the many strange vocabulary used by jw like "the slave says...").

  she was catched by surprise with the direct question and says that everything is ok... and luckily someone call them for lunch.. my question is: do you have any good answers for that question?

  you can be ironic/use some humor because the question is a little bit anecdotical .

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  fiddler

  I liked onager's advise. A little OM will scatter them like Raid to cockroaches!

  Really though, what a question? My answer was that my spirituality was a private matter. I did tell my aunt however, that I felt better and more at peace than I had ever felt. She suggested I take my newfound 'confidence' and return to the meetings. I told her that that would be like going backwards....didn't sit too well with her....never spoke to me again after that.
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  31

  Living with Your Parents Well Into Adulthood the Norm?

  by Sorry in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i don't want to seem like a jerk.

  i know full well economic times are not the greatest.

  there's no shame in struggling and staying with your family until you're back on your feet.

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  fiddler

  My youngest son lived with me up into his late 20's but it was more of a 'roommate' situation and mutually beneficial to both of us. Having been widowed at 42 and just coming out of jwdom with no savings and having to scrabble to keep a roof overhead I was pretty much in the same boat as any young person. When I read of assembly parts like those mentioned above it strikes me as to why they cling to their fairy tale so tightly. Reality must be truly terrifying! Although it has been hard at times for me and my kids, we have made a pretty good life for ourselves, albeit a lower income life because of missed opportunities. The GB are promoting what is mostly a very unsustainable life and future for their adherents. Sad....
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  19

  Do you have a Virtual Reality headset for your smartphone yet? Be prepared - Soon all the press will be using VR to tell stories

  by AndersonsInfo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  for your information, i'm absolutely not in the virtual reality (vr) headset business, but take it from me, you should get one.

  soon all the press will be using vr to tell stories, so get prepared for extraordinary experiences using your vr headset and your smart phone.

  “virtual reality!

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  fiddler

  And to think I just started rereading Tad Williams 'Otherland' series (a not so far into the future sci-fy adventure where everyone is plugged in to VR). Hmmm....I think I prefer RL (real life)
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  54

  According to one JW there can only be 1 of 3 reasons why you left.

  by Bonsai in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i asked an old jw friend of mine why so many baptized individuals leave the jw religion.

  "did it ever occur to you, old friend, that maybe they know something that you don't know and have valid reasons for leaving?

  ", i asked.. his response set me back for an answer.

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  fiddler

  The better question would be "after people leave for x,y,z sin, why do they go back?" Why do good people who maybe slept with their future mate but after getting married live a completely clean and moral life then choose never to go back? And then there are Jws who go on with their 'sinful' life but keep it more guarded and become better liars while continuing to identify as JW or, they continually get df'd but keep retuning. Why do people STAY is the better question.