Posts by AlmostAtheist

22

Respect-O-Meter

by purplesofa in

jw
friends

we all have a little guage in us that measures the amount of respect we have for ourselves, our enviroment, each other, etc, etc, .

we can set a certain criteria and in some cases our level of respect can fluctuate with new information we take in that is either negative or positive........creating plus or minuses in our respect-o-meter.

we can not like something but still respect it.. loss of respect for a person, idea, business, ourselves can be devestating.

AlmostAtheist

>>We were forced to respect an organization that was undeserving.

There's alot to this. You can't "force" someone to respect you. But you CAN force someone to ACT like they respect you. After years of being forced to act like we respected the 'tower, and the elders, and the "spiritually strong" among us, we could have easily lost what it meant to respect someone.

I'm only now, three years hence, starting to find some of these more subtle "hits" my personality took as a result of association with JW's. Thanks for an excellent topic!

Dave

4

Listen, your life and health depend on this!!!

by chappy in

jw
friends

after being in the wt all those years i never thought i'd ever find a true representative of god.

praise be i've found him.

this man is a miracle worker!

AlmostAtheist

Wow! This guy's GOTTA be on the level. I'm gonna go order my own "Personal Pwayer Package" right now! (If for no other reason than to hear him say "personal pwayer package"!)

Dave

26

A new man in my life

by katiekitten in

jw
friends

my partner introduced me to a new man and since i met him i have slept with him every night.

hes very jealous and posessive and doesnt really like me to be out of his sight.

he has had me hard at it all night long and hes definately a boob man.. my partner has been relegated to changing his nappy and the odd cuddle when hes asleep.. here are some photos:.

AlmostAtheist

He's a perfect little man, congrats!

Dave

66

Richie's side, Seth's side... and a third side

by AlmostAtheist in

jw
friends

i got a pm from richie.

shockingly, he has a side to the story!

so i have a legitimate sounding story from richie, who i know to be a young, rebellious man.

AlmostAtheist

I got a pm from Richie. Shockingly, he has a side to the story! :-)

So I have a legitimate sounding story from Richie, who I know to be a young, rebellious man. And who I also know to be a wise young man.

And I also have a legitimate sounding story from Seth, who I don't know at all, but who has been verified in several ways.

So what is the truth? IS there a truth to be had?

I'm going to speak for Richie now, which is always a dangerous thing. If I misspeak Richie, jump in here and correct me, please.

Richie is torn -- he doesn't feel he owes anyone an apology. We think we caught him out, and he thinks we've been misled. In the end, I don't know how any of us can say for sure one way or the other. I surely can't.

I would like for Richie to return. If he returns without an apology, without an explanation, without a defense, that's fine by me. Just show up and post like nothing happened at all. Those that accept that, accept it. Those that don't, don't. Sort of exactly like every other human interaction we'll ever have.

Richie asked me not to post his pm verbatim, but this one line is the summation of it:

"No matter what I say, people aren't going to believe me."

And he's right. I can't know, and I can't believe. I can't believe Seth, or Richie, or any amalgam of the two we might melt together. And in the end, I don't care.

Richie's a guy. Just this guy, ya know? He seems pretty sharp, has a good bit of good info to share. If I don't know the whole story of his existence, or whether or not he has told me the truth on all occasions, I can still appreciate him for what he's been all along -- just this guy, ya know?

So, if he comes back, and he doesn't explain anything, and he doesn't apologize, and if pressed he doesn't reply or refuses to "admit" anything, I JUST DON'T CARE. I want him back.

Which brings me to that "third side". That would be the side of this story that doesn't care that it happened, considers it a non-event, and moves on.

That's my side, and I'm stickin' to it.

Dave

11

Atheists-Ever Find Yourselves Debating the Finer Points of Christianity?

by B_Deserter in

jw
friends

every once in a while, i find myself in a debate online where i end up advocating a particular biblical explanation.

i just find it to be a fascination mental exercise at times.

every find this true of yourself?

AlmostAtheist

When I do, I get burned, because the Bible really does advocate various positions. There IS a hell/there isn't a hell. God IS a trinity/god isn't a trinity. Etc. Since I don't believe it at all, I can't really debate it since both positions are right!

Dave

40

Nostalgic for your first computer?

by AlmostAtheist in

jw
friends

i just read a piece on cnn about the commodore 64. apparently it is what hundreds of thousands of people (the article says "millions" -- really?

millions?

) look back on as their very first real computer.

AlmostAtheist

bttt

40

Nostalgic for your first computer?

by AlmostAtheist in

jw
friends

i just read a piece on cnn about the commodore 64. apparently it is what hundreds of thousands of people (the article says "millions" -- really?

millions?

) look back on as their very first real computer.

AlmostAtheist

I just read a piece on CNN about the Commodore 64. Apparently it is what hundreds of thousands of people (the article says "millions" -- really? millions?) look back on as their very first real computer.

Like so many other things in my life, my introduction to computing wasn't on anything standard. My first computer was the Interact; an 8080A-based, 8k RAM, internal tape-drive little bit o' heaven. Loved it then, love it now. Of course, my dad didn't settle for a mere 8k RAM -- oh, hell no. He boosted it to 16k! (Enough to hold your home address about 300 times over, or the JWD home page 4 times over [without the images]) My dad and I split the cost of the keyboard upgrade -- $75 if I recall correctly. I was 12 at the time, I think.

I was moved to post about it when I found this memorial to it: http://oldcomputers.net/interact.html

This is where I learned BASIC. And Assembler. It taught me about binary and hex. Registers. BIOS. The boot process. It was all there in rudimentary form. It even taught me a bit about hacking. (White hat, of course!) I remember renaming often-used variables to one-character names in order to reduce the memory used by the program, in an attempt to squeeze a few more bytes of code in! Ah, the days!

Our Interact died many years ago. I got another one, but it didn't work quite the same and really, it wasn't the same. It's gone now, too.

What was YOUR first computer? What did it teach you? Do you still have it?

Dave

14

my JWD heros

by purplesofa in

jw
friends

i was watching cnn tonight honoring their heros and i thought of some heros i want to mention from jwd.. these are some heros from jwd 2007.. r.f.~ for quickly coming out of the oganization this year, overcoming the obstacles and maintaining grace and composure through the entire process.

seven006 ~ for coming on the scene during the trevorgate fiasco and bringing some sanity out of the insanity for me.

it helped heal the board, we needed you and you came at the right time.. eryn/eclipse ~ your love and friendship has been inspiring.

AlmostAtheist

It's always easiest to love those that love us! :-) (And I'm EASY, Baby!)

;-)

Dave

100

Would You date a black man or black woman?

by Save My Soul in

jw
friends

my sister-in-law is recently divorced and went to a witness online dating site.

she mentioned that many of the witnesses specified that they wanted a white or latino only.

of course there is nothing wrong with this (personal preference), but i found it interesting.

AlmostAtheist

Well put, WLG. I think our secret's still safe. *phew!*

Dave

63

any former elders have an answer for me?

by helricha in

jw
friends

so i was df'd for living with/having sex with my boyfriend for 3 years and then not ending the relationship and moving out within the week between the first meeting of confession and the second meeting where they tell me what their decision was.

i did move out 3 months later with the intent of being reinstated over a period of time.

well i couldn't cut off the relationship with my bf even though i did move out, so i married him after a year and then 2 weeks after that i slept with someone else.

AlmostAtheist

>>I was more likely to realize that people in the "world" and including ones who use to love Jehovah can be some of the most hateful people.

My Dear, these worldly people replied to your thread to help you. How many JW's could you call in your time of need? We encouraged you to leave the Watchtower behind, but also reminded you that you are welcome here no matter what religion you follow, including the JW's.

Not everyone "helped", but I think everyone meant well. Truly. And most importantly, they tried to help. Doesn't it mean anything to you that your "brothers" refuse to speak to you, but these "worldly" strangers reach out to you?

Go back to the JW's if you feel it's right. You are still welcome here. Your opinion may be challenged here -- we aren't all uniform in our thinking -- but you are allowed and encouraged to have it.

Take care, live well.

Dave