karly

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Posts by karly

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  62

  Are You A Better Person Now That You're Out of the "Truth"?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  do you feel better?

  act better?

  think more positively?

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  karly

  I think I have evolved some as a person since I quit attending meetings. I am able to read and study and meditate on many other points of view about life and the meaning of life now. I can see and understand more things now that I don't look at the universe through the filters placed on the lens of my old JW eyes.
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  29

  JWD/ Apostate Bumper Stickers.

  by RichieRich in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this idea came to while i was in the chat... i got a couple... you guys chip in with whatever ya got.. "i'd rather be posting on jwd" and.

  "my other car is an office chair".

  i know those are weak- but somebody's got some good ones...

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  karly

  Possible JW Bumper Stickers:
  
  
  If you get excited about leatherlook vinyl book bags--you might just be a JW.
  
  
  If you can skillfully back out of mile long driveways--you might just be a JW.
  
  
  If you can find addresses better than a Postman or a Taxi Driver--you might just be a JW.
  
  
  In case of Armaggedon--I'm taking your empty car.
  
  
  Worn out before paid for.
  
  
  Visualize Great Tribulation.
  
  
  Babylon: not all that Great.
  
  
  Return Visits: You can run but you can't hide.
  
  
  
  
  
  A mind is a terrible thing to waste. Support scholarships for XJW's leaving janitorial work.
  
  
  Friends are family that you get to choose.
  
  
  Tiiiiiiiahmmmme is on our side. Yesss, it is.
  
  
  (-;
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  67

  Terri Schiavo petition on site

  by missy04 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was reading through the terrisfight.org site and ran across the section "how you can help".

  there is a petition to sign on the site to save terri.

  here is the link to it for those who want to sign it.

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  karly

  I work with people with disabilities. I think saying you would want to die if in that state sometimes betrays an ignorance of the quality of life that people with severe disabilities can have. It can also betray a sort of unexamined prejudice that the general public has towards individuals with disabilities.
  
  I used to think the same sort of things until I began working with these individuals.
  
  
  
  
  
  Just a few years ago, there was widespread hoopla about the right brain-left brain research. Now some researchers are saying the whole brain is involved in thought patterns. Not all that long ago, research was more concerned with the neurons themselves--now researchers are discovering that the connections between the neurons may be the key to understand thought patterns and memory. Not long ago, many scientists believed that certain types of neurons were incapable of regrowth if damaged. Now there is evidence that this could be wrong.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  25

  Defending the WT despite doubts

  by kj in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i just wanted to ask some of you a question.

  i have been meeting with a jw woman for 4 months now.

  i've asked her several difficult questions, and shown her a few things about the wt and their lies- including the letter from the un's website that confirmed they were an ngo for 9 years.

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  karly

  When I was in the org and confronted with questions like that I would feel frustrated and think there was something wrong with me because I could not defend the religion adequately. She may feel like she hasn't been studying enough, or good enough with words. I don't think the average sincere witness realizes that there is something inherently wrong with the organization. They think it is either lies, which they are told to avoid, or that they aren't good enough or that there is something wrong with you--like it must be that God's spirit is not drawing you in.

  'God chooses the ones good at heart to be witnesses'--we were sorta fed that attitude. If you doubt/not accepting, then your heart is not right. That is why witnesses are so reluctant to examine their own doubts. They are told to avoid selfish- wicked- lack- of -faith -doubtful thoughts....or God will reject them and they will be out gnashing their teeth waiting to be destroyed at armeggedon.
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  28

  As a JW, Did You Ever Look DownOn Other Witnesses???

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  and were you ever looked down upon?

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  karly

  Yes, I was a pioneer for a while and I had kids. I thought I was doing pretty good and wondered about other wives who got jobs. Now I realize I should have gotten a job myself or even better: went back to school and then got a job. Hindsight!

  I am learning though--Next May I will finally have a degree and I have kept the same job for 3 years and recently got promoted! I think back on my former attitudes and fears and shake my head in wonder at my former deluded self.

  One of the reasons that made me quit going to meetings was the change in status I felt when I became single again and how my children were treated in the hall. I think single parents, especially single mothers, lose out alot. When I was married, my family was invited over to other people's homes alot and we would have people over frequently. After becoming single, I couldn't afford to have people over and the invitations became few and far between. I think single parents and their children are stigmatized in many ways.

  I think single women are under a big stigma too--everyone thinking they are desperate to find a man. I hated that feeling. The brothers could be so cocky. It was inhibiting. The real world is alot easier to take, in my opinion.
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  106

  New! SATANIC IMAGES in Knowledge book! What do you think?

  by Dogpatch in

  1. jw
  2. friends

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  i have friends who have put together this page, i would like to know your opinion on it.. http://www.fortunecity.co.uk/jodrellbank/hyperdrive/479/knowledge_book.htm.

  randy.

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  karly

  I think alot of the images are a stretch and would be silly to prove. But this image really bothered me. I checked in a bound volume and found it there as clear as day. It made clear in my mind the years since birth I have experienced of built up fear of displeasing Jehovah (which is really displeasing a man-made organization who claims to speak for Jehovah). I keep this image in mind as a visual to remind me of the depth of fear inspiring tactics the WT uses to control its members. It may not speak to you but it spoke volumes to me. This image came years after the rumor article and I think that the Governing body should have caught it if they did not approve of subliminal messages. The coloring of the picture even, is not pleasant but tension producing. At the very least, I think the committee in charge of the art should be more diligent in making sure that pictures like this are changed before publication. It seems to me that it was put in there with intention.

  I agree that the faulty reasoning and words (and actions!) of the publishers are the biggest issue. It would be great if every witness could have the opportunity to take a indepth class on Logic and the basics of what makes a good argument. I think it would be a mind opener for many to understand the difference between logical argument and one that is a fascimile--intended to manipulate.

  But I am not against persons noticing things and drawing attention to them. If someone showed me an image that bothered them, I would listen. I don't think people who are bothered by this should be ridiculed. On the other hand, I probably wouldn't show to any witnesses I know, this image or any other. Sometimes, I think, that there isn't much we can say to someone else. I think time and experience will help someone more than anything. Not everybody is ready to hear that their most cherished beliefs are based on faulty reasoning, no matter how disquieting those beliefs may be. That's just me though. I still think there is something out there bringing each one of us to the place we need to be at a time when we are ready to hear. It's nice that there are resources around like this website where we can discuss these issues!
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  128

  What are some of the worst movies you've seen?

  by doodle-v in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  here's my movies that suck list.

  battlefield earth .

  mission to mars .

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  karly

  I liked Mumford too. It was amusing in a low key way and the scenery/setting was pleasant.

  I'd watch it again.

  I rate movies by how willing I would be to sit through them again. I couldn't sit through Vanilla Sky again even if someone paid me. --Not a big fan of Tom Cruise either.

  I watched Big Fish yesterday on video. I thought it was great.

  I liked Cat in the Hat but most of the people I work with think it was awful and not fit for children.

  Most movies based on Stephen King's books are very disappointing. DreamCatcher had its moments but basically it was awful. I think if they took out the horror and made it about the relationships between the 4 friends and their friend Duddits, it would have been something worth watching.

  Yes, If you have seen one Lifetime movie: you have seen them all!.......

  k
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  19

  Jehovah's Celestial Chariot. More WT Fun.

  by Englishman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  what a marvelous heavenly organization is revealed by this vision of jehovah?s four-wheeled celestial chariot on the move!

  ) that chariotlike organization was then on the move, even as it is today.

  ) if we are jehovah?s witnesses, we must move in the same direction as the celestial chariot.

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  karly

  One of the reasons I thought the organization must have the truth is that they had so much figured out. Now I realize that with time and enough brainpower they could build a "spiritual" architecture of pretty awesome proportions piece by piece. There has been a building work since the 1860's and it is a amazing structure if you look from afar.

  If you can look from afar, you can see that it is not a place a rational would want to build a life in and around.
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  15

  I Would Like To Introduce...Karly

  by exjdub in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  karly, in her first post on the board, replied to one of my topics.

  i did not notice any introduction on the board, but if i missed it i apologize.

  so, let me please introduce:.

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  karly

  Wow...thank you. What a nice gesture from all of you.

  Thanks! Karly
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  18

  If The Bible Is Truly The Word Of God...

  by exjdub in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  why would he leave so many loose ends?

  believe me, despite some of my comments about religion and my feelings about the bible, i do examine myself and my thinking process all of the time.

  i really do think deeply about my life and the lives of my family, and i really try to examine how i feel.

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  karly

  Hi exjdub,

  Here are my thoughts on the subject:

  I have struggled with some of the same thoughts as you and others. I think you would find the work of Joseph Campbell interesting. He studied religious mythology all over the world. He came to the conclusion that we could find more satisfaction in religious writings by acknowledging that they are result of mythology and not read them concretely. Like the story of Adam and Eve, or Jonah. If we examine the symbology we might find it more meaningful and less troublesome.

  I have decided to "keep" in my heart the parts of the Bible that inspire me and make me a better person. Like 1 Corinthians 13. And the discription of the fruitage of God's spirit described in Galatians 5:22,23. In fact, I was meditating on that one day had a personal epiphany about it. I was thinking that those scriptures show that God's spirit does not come from belonging to a particular organization. To the extent that we show love, joy, peace, patience, etc we demonstrate that we possess God's spirit. I feel I have become more understanding and compassionate since leaving the witnesses, and less judgmental. It has proven to me that the society has over stepped its bounds to insinuate that people who leave have lost God's spirit and are controlled by the Devil. I think that you can begin to see spiritual beauty all around if you look for it.

  About the Bible. I think much of the Bible is a guidebook for establishing cults and cultlike behavior. Religions that still insist on a literal interpretation, comformity, strict adherance to a certain set of tenets, and discourage individual thought, are cults. Many mainstream churches also fall into this catagory. They can be come like a drug and require constant indoctrination sessions (meetings, services...) to keep one on the straight and narrow. One has to constantly quell his own disquieting thoughts and become numb. Many work out their entire lives on this earth waiting to be called to heaven or paradise or the rapture or surviving armeggedon....

  Most ancient religious writings inspire guilt and the feeling of smallness, inadequacy. That could be because the people wrote them felt at a loss because of misunderstanding natural occurances. But worse than that is the ones wrote with an agenda... to disempower the regular folk......

  Examining the Bible from a different viewpoint(s) can be very beneficial. It can be liberating to ponder the things you brought up.

  Karly