Posts by blacksheep

40

Is the Administration Planning Another War?

by Greenpalmtreestillmine in

i've been reading and reading, thinking and thinking.

it is hard to understand why president bush chose to come out in support of sharon right at this moment, when things in iraq are at their most difficult and sensitive.

people are saying he has only inflamed the situation even more than before and has further endangered the troops.

blacksheep

well doesn't that depend a lot on whether you are right or wrong?

And WHO determines whether something is "right" or "wrong"? Other than armchair quarterbacks? The real question is what decisions do you make with known intel, knowledge of past and current events, knowledge of human nature, and a good moral and ethical compass. That's what makes leaders: courage to do what they believe is right. Anyone can offer their 2 cents on what is "right," few have the leadership ability to actual MAKE decisions and stick with them when the going gets rough.

hitler and stalin most likely had those attributes. the result was a human catastrophe.

Well, as I said, people who heinously violate human dignity and who clearly have no respect for human life (read: murdering people just based on their race/ethnicity/religion) are not great leaders. They are tyrannical dictators. People with no moral or ethical sense are not leaders. Defending national security is a key responsiblity of a leader. That does not include stystematically murdering some of their citizens due to their name, color of their skin, or their religion.

95

Realist, On Israel

by Yerusalyim in

realist,.

decided to carry our debate out of the thread it was in if that's ok.. here's an interesting article by george will...take a read and let me know what you think.. http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/columnists/8464596.htmposted on mon, apr.

19, 2004. recognizing the mideast reality.

blacksheep

The part that I said I disagreed with you about was the notion that Hitler invented the anti-semite thought. That is not true. He capitalized on the idea, and it went over well, because the ideology of Jews as "christ killers" and "world domination" conspiracy theories were widespread and culterally impeded across Europe.

And when did I say that Hitler "invented" anti-semitism? He absolutely did not. What I said was that he was a master at explointing German sense of national pride; he CLEARLY built upon existing frustrations and prejudices which allowed him support to do things which are immoral, anti-human. In his own personal megalomania, he inpired a national megolomania of the Superior, Aryan race, which paved the way for his attempts to systematically destroy "inferiors."

21

Just Rambling

by Yerusalyim in

jw
friends

i was outside watching a yellow jacket fly about collecting pollen from the clovers out by the smoke area.

it was pretty neat.

how does it know these are flowers?

blacksheep

And yes, humans have accomplished much...that's our best gift over the animals...and also a heavy part of our responsibility.

Not sure if you getting at the 'men ruining the earth' view, but good news! The water, air and overall environment ARE getting cleaner; again, thanks to man's effort.

31

Religious meetings once a week=enough

by JH in

jw
friends

of all the religions i know of, the one that is the most time consuming, is the jw religion.

it's not just the fact that there is a meeting every 2 days, but these meetings have to be prepared ahead of time.

being a jw, is almost a full time job.

blacksheep

It's a fundamental tactic of a cult to keep you busy, busy, busy. That way you've got a lot more invested, and you don't have a lot of time to think.

When I think of all those hours, days, YEARS wasted because I was forced to go to meetings, it makes me ill. Just glad I'm out now. I have relatives who are still wasting their lives.

21

Just Rambling

by Yerusalyim in

jw
friends

i was outside watching a yellow jacket fly about collecting pollen from the clovers out by the smoke area.

it was pretty neat.

how does it know these are flowers?

blacksheep

Although all the suffering, madness and divisions in this world do right raise doubts, keep in mind most is by man's doing.

I always find it interesting that the existence of life and all the beautiful and good things in the world are evidence of God, because God is of course good. All the "bad" things in the world, are of course, "man's" fault.

Ever take a look at nature/the animal kingdom? Isn't always pretty. Especially the lower you go down on the food chain. Life before this last century wasn't very pretty either: you were old at 30; disease/infections with no cure. I think it's phenomenal what humans have accomplished by using their brains and ingenuity to improve life above and beyond what "God" allegedly was able to do.

40

Is the Administration Planning Another War?

by Greenpalmtreestillmine in

i've been reading and reading, thinking and thinking.

it is hard to understand why president bush chose to come out in support of sharon right at this moment, when things in iraq are at their most difficult and sensitive.

people are saying he has only inflamed the situation even more than before and has further endangered the troops.

blacksheep

despite the fact that most politicians don't have any great agenda except for their need for power - there is a subtle difference between having an ideal and trying to realize it and being insane enough to believe you are doing gods will.

And I disagree. I'm clearly an agnostic, but I've been given, and even assumed, leadership roles in the business world. Roles in which I "blazed trails" so to speak. Others didn't have the courage, intestinal fortitude, or WHATEVER, to do what I achieved. No, I didn't think that I was expressly "doing God's will," but I had a strong enough vision and a belief in what I was doing was RIGHT. It gave me confidence to move forward. And it was the right thing to do. I had to convince the fearful who were reluctant to upset the status quo that we had to move forward. Incredible results.

I laughed the other night when I was watching Fox news. There was a piece in which Woodward? not sure, was being questioned about the Pres. Bush's "confidence." The line of questioning, unbelieveably, clearly made it seem as though "confidence" and conviction are bad things. Since WHEN did confidence, conviction, a belief in what's right, suddenly become bad things? I guess fear, trepidiation, vacillation, second guessing, are this generation's new "good traits," lol.

95

Realist, On Israel

by Yerusalyim in

realist,.

decided to carry our debate out of the thread it was in if that's ok.. here's an interesting article by george will...take a read and let me know what you think.. http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/columnists/8464596.htmposted on mon, apr.

19, 2004. recognizing the mideast reality.

blacksheep

just saw your second post. once again you demonstrate you have no idea about anything.

Before the crash, 1.25 million people were unemployed in Germany. By the end of 1930 the figure had reached nearly 4 million, 15.3 per cent of the population. Even those in work suffered as many were only working part-time. With the drop in demand for labour, wages also fell and those with full-time work had to survive on lower incomes. Hitler, who was considered a fool in 1928 when he predicted economic disaster, was now seen in a different light. People began to say that if he was clever enough to predict the depression maybe he also knew how to solve it.

By 1932 over 30 per cent of the German workforce was unemployed. In the 1933 Election campaign, Adolf Hitler promised that if he gained power he would abolish unemployment. He was lucky in that the German economy was just beginning to recover when he came into office. However, the policies that Hitler introduced did help to reduce the number of people unemployed in Germany.

Uh, "no idea about anything?" Aren't you the guy who got "hurt" when someone suggested you were "dense?" I guess dual rules apply here.

Regardless, simply because you suggest that Hitler was voted in because he promised employment to the unemployed does NOT in any way discount the fact that Hitler appealed to the Germanic sense of superiority and national pride. THIS was how he was able to accomplish systematic genocide of Jews.

but i admire you for posting on every topic!

Hey bud, I'm posting about as much as YOU are on "every topic."

14

Where did they get their brainwashing tecniques?

by cyber-sista in

what is really the most disturbing thing to me is that i really do feel that i was brainwashed in those 20 + years in the org--i mean seriously brainwashed.

i am not an idiot, but there were times that i look back on now where i was a radical jw, though this is not really my personality to be such.

i remember after assemblies (while greatly relieved it was over with aching back and all) i would feel different--sometimes i would start donating more money to the wt and at one point i seriously thought of puttingthe wt in my will.

blacksheep

Hi Cyber,

That's a good question. Have you read Steve Hassan's book "Combatting Cult Mind Control?" He outlines some key techniques used by cults--basically goes back to the concept of brainwashing developed in Asia.

The JW's DO use these techniques, no questionl. The more interesting question that you raise, is how/why? Is it just coincidence? Or purposefully. I struggle with that one. It's hard for me to fathom that the Guys in Bethel set OUT to systematically brainwash. I tend to to think of it as a high degree of dysfunction, like that which families pass down to future generations.

31

I feel like crying................................:(

by desib77 in

jw
friends

.

about my hair.....i think i've ruined it.... i tried a home highlighting kit and had a friend do it for me last night.........now i look like a lemon..... i feel horrible and don't want to leave the house....i'm not sure anything can even be done about it.

kind of seems like it fried my hair and bleached strands of it.. just wanted a shoulder(s) to cry on..... desi

blacksheep

About 6 months ago, I did the same thing (trying to save some $$). Totally screwed it up. Fortunately, I have a great hairdresser (who charges a lot, but I guess there's a reason for that). She got me in right away and fixed it.

She explained to me that those paint-on highlighter kits are bad becaue you have GOT to separate the hair underneath from the strands you are highliting (like weave/or cap). Made total sense. I felt light sueing the company.

Get to a good hairdresser--they CAN fix it. I know exactly how you feel. That' s the last time I'll do that!

58

OK this not sleeping thing has got to stop

by Lady Lee in

jw
friends

well it's not that i'm not sleeping - i am - just only 2-3 hours at a time.. when i try to stay awake i start feeling nauseous from the lack of sllep and have to go lie down.

then sleep for a couple of hours then the pain in my feet starts up and i am awake.. i just spent the second whole night this week wide awake.

then during the day i am falling asleep for two hours then awake for an hour and back to sleep.

blacksheep

By the way, the drug is called Trazadone. I cannot believe that I used to take 100 mgs on nights I couldn't sleep. Now if I have difficulty (which is rare); I take a quarter of a 50 mlg pill, and it puts me out like a light.