in light of reading about the discouraging circumstances that many ex-jw's find themselves in because of not having taken advantage of educational opportunities or other employment related training in the past, i was wondering if there was an interest in discussing practical ways for people to increase their bottom line and get out of the poverty or near poverty zone.. i would think that there might not only be some useful tips and hints from some of the more successful ex-dubs but we could exchange in some downright capitalistic networking and make useful connections that might either land you a good job or better your lot in life by say getting things at a discount.. personally, after leaving the borg, i have had a fairly successful business career which included a variety of accomplishments that ranged from opening up america's first discount college textbook store to being an international privacy consultant and most recently a research scientist.. i've helped people establish credit when they had zero or worse than zero credit ratings, taught classes on entrepreneurship at college, and i've seen and networked with a wide variety of people that made amazing amounts of money by finding something they were good at and that was off the beaten path (you seldom get rich doing something everyone else is doing.).
anyway, just wanted to see if there was an interest in discussing anything like this.. kind regards,.
skipper
I just work a lot of jobs to get the needed cash, and Im pursuing my own small business. I already teach breakdancing at $30/hour among my many extra odd jobs. I think the best advice you can give someone about money and avoiding debt and financial ruin: Credit cards are the devil.
You need credit of course, a good credit rating. But don't go out and buy a gazillion things on your credit cards and maxing them all out.
well, i came in this morning, prepared to write a glib little post regarding my astrological findings.
but i find my heart too heavy to do so today.
perhaps its just the timespatriotic fervor sweeps over me.
I agree. One of the downsides to the mainstreaming that is happening with the WTS is the loss of their stark identity. They used to stand for something come hell or high water. Now they skulk around the back rooms of governments, cutting deals with the fat cats. This sure wasn't MY WTS, but it is the wave of the future. Just as the Catholic church signed a concordat with Hitler's government (and got hell to pay from the Witnesses for doing so), today's Witnesses are signing whatever they can, as fast as they can, as long as their assets are left alone. Just like the Catholics they condemn.
Ever read George Orwell's Animal Farm? In it the pigs revolt against humans and demonize them..at the very end of the novel the barnyard animals sneak up to the farmhouse to spy on the pigs..and they had become humans! standing on two feet, wearing clothes, etc etc. THis is what the watchower society is doing..selling out.
just a few loose ends and random thoughts for a select group of readers who have not been completely defrauded of your faith.. on the topic of stumbling: stumbling typically involves the mistakes of others whether real or perceived.
the reason jehovah does not consider any stumbling block as a valid reason for abandoning ones faith is because a persons faith should be in jehovah and christ in the first place.
and since god most assuredly did not let his worshipper down, what a fellow believer does or does not do should have no bearing upon our personal relationship with our heavenly father.
You only see obstacles when you take your eyes off the goal
last night at meeting, the circuit overseer said in his talk "and there has even been talk of hiv / aids tainted blood that has slipped through the screening process in the aftermath of the world trade center bombing, contaminating the survivors of the tragedy.
can you imagine, surviving the world trade center bombing, then finding out you have contracted hiv?
" he made no references to any newspapers or where he got this information from.
I checked snopes dot com for any reports of this being an urban legend, but found nothing, i suspect it is a JW -only urban legend.
i ran across this in "river out of eden" by richard dawkins (pgs 131-132) yesterday and it accurately sums up why i left jws 9 months ago and, essentially, belief in a creator:.
re dna survivial: 'when the utility function-that which is being maximized--is dna survival, this is not a recipe for happiness.
so long as dna is passed on, it does not matter who or what gets hurt in the process.
WHY do humans 'care'? Why do we have the ability to care? Why do we need to make sense out of the randomness of the universe? Why ae we so desperate to make order amongst the chaos?
I sometimes wonder if our unique human self-awareness isn't an evolutionary cul-de-sac? What purpose does it serve in the universal cycle of life eating itself?
It can all be derived from the fact that we are predators. We have binocular vision for great depth perception and INTILLIGENCE. The most Intilligent animals are predators, which is why cats and dogs make great pets, as opposed to rabbits and guinea pigs which are dumb as doornails. Still good pets, but not as trainable as a dog or cat.
We care as an extention of maternal/paternal instinct. The nature of animals is to be selfish, this is how we survive. Kill or be killed, etc. Survival of the fittest. Very brutal. ALl this changes when an animals gives birth. Usually, they will care for their offspring, and all of a sudden they are no longer selfish. What matters most is not their survival but the survival of their offspring. THey will die to protect the offspring. Its a very strong instinct. It ensures survival of the species.
I beleive that our caring and even the emotion of love is a mix of that instinct and intellectual stimulation. Intilligent animals need mental exercise or they become bored and restless and unhappy. Self-awareness can be stemmed from the basic emotion of curiosity. It killed the cat right? Intilligent animals sometimes will go investigate something even if they fear it.
Have you ever seen a confused dog or cat? This confusion can eventually evolve into a sense of wonder, eventually the ability to ask 'why'? Once that question is able to be asked, self-awareness begins.
As for making order, we are very organized animals. I beleive this stems from symmetry. We love seeing faces and forms that are even, two arms, two legs, eyes even, etc etc. To us this is beauty. When a face has uneven eyes, one eye larger than the other, uneven teeth, it becomes 'ugly.' Symmetry is a sign of healthy genes, and hence we are attracted to it. I think we translate that attraction ot order and balance in everything we create and do.
my 2ยข
two of this board's, and h2o's before it,long time and well known participants have fallen on desperately hard times.
if they could set up pay pal accounts and enough of us could contribute say $20 - $50 per month it would help them though their hardship.. these two people have helped many escape from the wts and i know for sure have given money and other material help to those in need, even when they could not afford it.. if you can help, send an email to: [email protected].
you need not include any particulars of who you are etc, just an indication that you could support this and how much you could send.
Waiting, as I have stated before the tendency on this board is that if you are not agreeing with the popular front, you get your head bitten off, chewed up and spit out.
I have also stated that the organization in this charity campaign is apalling. As you said, where do we send it? TO whome? When? How? I beleive the parties who came up with this idea should have organized it very clearly BEFORE posting the idea that we need to contribute a total of $2,000 a month (more than I earn after taxes) and laying out a guilt trip if we buy a cup of satrbucks coffee when we could be giving money to farkel and maximus.
As former JW, we are used to a bandwagon mentality of either you are with us or against us, and just as when we were JW's sincere questions that question 'those taking the lead' are viewed as prideful and somehow evil and any offender is immidietely attacked and shunned.
I'm all for giving moneys to maximus and farkel to aid them. But there needs to be much clearer organization and more information in general. Like you said, it's very odd to give money to a stranger so he can give the money to the maximus and farkel and there are no questions allowed. If the third party were a registered charity, then it would be different.
everyone on jw.com were jws and attended the same congregation.
now, i'm not saying that we'd follow brooklyn's rules (how boring).
instead what would it be like jw.com style.
I'd show up naked.
http://www.cnn.com/2001/health/conditions/10/12/nyc.anthrax/index.html .
looks like they are attacking our media now...remember that the florida building was named american media..for all y'all that live in far-away places like norway and antarctica, got room for me, a girlfriend two kitties 30 fish and a hasmter?.
-dan
http://www.cnn.com/2001/HEALTH/conditions/10/12/nyc.anthrax/index.html
Looks like they are attacking our media now...remember that the florida building was named AMERICAN MEDIA..for all y'all that live in far-away places like Norway and antarctica, got room for me, a girlfriend two kitties 30 fish and a hasmter?
-Dan
the wtbts and gb of jehovahs witnesses have been caught with their pants down with a whore.
by their request to disassociate themselves from the un harlot they are basically admitting that they have been caught and have sinned.. when a r&f jw commits fornication and gets caught, they are normally disfellowhiped.
while this does not happen in all cases, it almost always happens when one does not confess their sin before getting caught.. the judicial committee that deals with a r&f fornication case considers the attitude of the sinner looking for such indicators as:.
my cat style is very proud of his furry balls and loves showing them off but he is gonna be sad after he umm..gets 'fixed'
has anyone else found that the teaching of the "outside world" being a "bad association" limits your involvement and ability to make new freinds?.
if so how have you overcome this and any suggestions to helping those suffering from these feelings?.
lydia
i jus realized this entire thread was boyfriend and girlfriend versus boyfriend and girlfriend...hehe it explains alot
