Posts by BrendaCloutier

14

It WORKED!

by Iforget in

jw
friends

i found this site by accident while looking for something on the computer for my son.

i have been trying to log on but couldn't seem to get a password.

today i thought...hmm wonder if my spam folder caugh it.

BrendaCloutier

Welcome, Iforget! I'm glad you're here.

Elder's daughter, too. He was right up there. Mom was the typical overnurturing homemaker.

I think the worst "thing" my parents put on me is one day, when I was about 11 or so, my mom told me that "..everything I say and do reflects on my father and his position in the congregation". THAT is a tough load to put on a child!

I was bribed with a car after sophomore year of highschool to quit school and go into the ministry, maybe become a pioneer, go to bethel, or find a husband. At 18, I found a husband and I just wasn't a good salesperson, because there were too many unanswered (didn't dare question) inconsistencies for me.

I've been out now since 1979. I've been here only a few weeks but it's nice to find others like me, and not like me, and see where they've been.

Hugs, and love to you on your journey.

Brenda

31

Friday the 13th

by Elsewhere in

jw
friends

boo!

one bad thing did happen this morning... i woke up to find that my personal domain is down.

i'm waiting for a response from my hosting company to let me know what is going on..

BrendaCloutier

Friday the 13th is never a problem for me. Always been lucky.

However, when I worked, Monday the 13'th never boded well. Always SOMETHING broke down, or fouled up beyond all recognition. ALWAYS.

Have a luck day!

Oh, y'all in FLA, Stay dry and attached to something.

22

Swearing on the platform

by sleepy in

jw
friends

did you every hear anyone say something really dodgy from the platform when giving a talk?

i heard a couple of stories of people getting really enthusiastic when giving a talk or pray accidently swearing.

one time in my book study group a sister called someone a dickhead in her answer, it was very hard not to laught.

BrendaCloutier

My dad, an elder and MS, on JC, etc., had an odd habit, and once it came up while he was on stage giving the sunday talk.... he unconsciously dug his keys out of his pocket and started digging in his ear with one!

No one laughed, but my mom and I were almost rolling on the floor!

My dad did, however, have an extensive vocabulary learned from his time in the Merchant Marines in WWII and as a lumber mill operator and an electrician. All learned before becoming a JW. He one time cussed out another elder, on the phone, whom he thought to be a complete horse's arse. He didn't hold back when he thought it appropriate.

Most of my JW childhood is blocked out, except for a few memories. I thought it was normal for people to not remember their childhood, but I guess that it's not.

For a very long time much of the details of my childhood were blocked, too. Bits and pieces have come back. Most of it boring....

-Brenda

22

Swearing on the platform

by sleepy in

jw
friends

did you every hear anyone say something really dodgy from the platform when giving a talk?

i heard a couple of stories of people getting really enthusiastic when giving a talk or pray accidently swearing.

one time in my book study group a sister called someone a dickhead in her answer, it was very hard not to laught.

BrendaCloutier

My dad, an elder and MS, on JC, etc., had an odd habit, and once it came up while he was on stage giving the sunday talk.... he unconsciously dug his keys out of his pocket and started digging in his ear with one!

No one laughed, but my mom and I were almost rolling on the floor!

My dad did, however, have an extensive vocabulary learned from his time in the Merchant Marines in WWII and as a lumber mill operator and an electrician. All learned before becoming a JW. He one time cussed out another elder, on the phone, whom he thought to be a complete horse's arse. He didn't hold back when he thought it appropriate.

Most of my JW childhood is blocked out, except for a few memories. I thought it was normal for people to not remember their childhood, but I guess that it's not.

15

Was Apostle Paul 1st Centaury Jehovah?s Witness?

by sleepy in

jw
friends

lets play a game and assume the bible is true, and jesus came to earth and all that, and what he taught was the truth.

he left responsibility with his 12 apostles to look after his ?sheep?.

a few years later on some guy reckons he has had a vision and has been chosen by god he now as good as takes over the christian congregation and makes many of its rules and writes numerous books with his rules and ideas these are eventually included in the bible, were as the 12 disciples are virtually silent.

BrendaCloutier

Mary - excellent post, thank you.

-Brenda

The apostle Paul was the first century version of Judge Booze Rutherford: He didn't know what the hell he was talking about, was a fanatical "born-again Christian", told everyone else: It's either MY way, or the bye-way and had no tolerance for anyone who believed differently than what he did.
If you look carefully at the bible, Jesus' brother James was taking the congregation down a different path. He seemed far more tolerant and still adherred to his Jewish faith, just like Jesus did. In fact, it was never Jesus' intention to start a new religion---today he probably would have been a Reformed Jew. Paul, on the other hand, steered the Messianic Jews, who became Christians, farther and farther away from mainstream Judaism.
He was accused by James of trying to teach the Jews "...to turn their backs on Moses..." (Acts 21:21). Paul used the same tactics as modern-day Witnesses by "not telling the truth to those who don't deserve to know" and he evaded the charge by concealing his real views, although he submitted to a test of his own observance of Torah. His deceitfulness was exposed by a group of "Asian Jews" who knew what his real beliefs were. An argument broke out in which Paul feared for his life and was rescued by the Roman police, to whom he declared for his protection that he was a Roman citizen. This is hypocrisy on his part, because his attitute towards the Rome in general was not favourable, yet he didn't hesitate to use his "rights" as a Roman citizen when it was convenient for him. This is a mirror image of the Witnesses today. They are constantly lambasting all forms of government, refuse to help defend their lands, stand for the national anthem, yet they're constantly in court, whining about their "rights."

133

String theory, Relativity, and angels

by onacruse in

current mathematical models of the universe involve what is termed 'hyper-dimension.".

ever read the book flatland?

it describes how a 2-dimensional being would perceive the intersection of a 3-dimensional object in "their" universe.. a flatlander would never be able to comprehend a sphere.

BrendaCloutier

Computationally speaking, God could possibly be implemented as a muti-threaded time-warping server farm capable of processing billions of concurrent requests per millisecond.
In terms of object-oriented languages: God can potentially "be" in a biilion of places simultaneously. All it takes to appear in another place at the same time is creating just another instance of the abstract class "God". So it all boils down to how much RAM the Almighty one has at his disposal to handle all of those instances. If you have some faith, it becomes a quantitive problem not a qualitative one.
But that's a private joke for programmers. Sorry if it made you yawn...
Pole

Pole, I think you actually have one of the best analygies for God and the space-time continum. As a former programmer type, I understand.

(BTW - I like your polish eagle)

The universe's beginning as a microdot then exploding in the big bang must have been something, eh? That Microdot must have been of an atomic weight beyond our ability to comprehend.

Can we imagine or comprehend such concepts? If we couldn't then they wouldn't even be concepts. However, I think the human mind, even Mr. Hawking's, is too small to begin to grasp the enormity and complexity of our universe and the universes of the "others".

30

Best Helpful "Hint"

by patio34 in

so, do you have one outstanding "hint" that helps you everyday?

i do and i call it the "one thing only" (oto) philosophy.

i first put it together hearing a statement saying "never leave a room empty-handed" (mary lou henning?

BrendaCloutier

Oops, misquote.

"Trying is the first step to failure, son."

-Homer Simpson

30

Best Helpful "Hint"

by patio34 in

so, do you have one outstanding "hint" that helps you everyday?

i do and i call it the "one thing only" (oto) philosophy.

i first put it together hearing a statement saying "never leave a room empty-handed" (mary lou henning?

BrendaCloutier

Homer-ism (Homer Simpson)

"The first step to failure is to try".

29

Adam's Rib

by BrendaCloutier in

ok, this is a brain fart i had last night as i was falling asleep.. growing up jw i somehow developed the belief that women were not made in the image of jehovah, as men were, hence we were inferior to men, and therefore the requirement to be subservient.

it's been so long that i don't know if this was the teaching or my assumption.. counterpoint:.

god created adam in his image.. god then took one of adam's ribs and created eve (sounds more akin to cloning to me, after all it's only one silly chromosome that separates the sexes).. eve was created from adam who was made in god's image.. hence eve is made in god's image.. personally, i think when god made adam, he said "i can do better than that!".

BrendaCloutier

Ok, this is a brain fart I had last night as I was falling asleep.

Growing up JW I somehow developed the belief that women were not made in the image of Jehovah, as men were, hence we were inferior to men, and therefore the requirement to be subservient. It's been so long that I don't know if this was the teaching or my assumption.

Counterpoint:

God created Adam in his image.

God then took one of Adam's ribs and created Eve (sounds more akin to cloning to me, after all it's only one silly chromosome that separates the sexes).

Eve was created from Adam who was made in God's image.

Hence Eve is made in God's image.

Personally, I think when God made Adam, he said "I can do better than that!"

-Brenda

26

A Parody of a typical Watchtower Article for your amusement: enjoy!

by Terry in

jw
friends

(matthew 24:14).

[matthew 24:14]

but, does this lead to true happiness?

BrendaCloutier

ROFLMAO!

Well done! Excellent writing and parody. I began to believe the first few paragraphs as real...

Hugs

Bren