Lit candles, special beverage and nice snacks, your music (your song, if you have one or remember it), small gift and card with a special thought from you.
Posts by blondie
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29A question for the ladies
by JeffT inok bobsgirl got a bunch of advice, now i'd like to hear from the women.
our anniversary (27 years)is this weekend.
i've rented a place that has beach access and a hottub (on whidbey island for those in the seattle area).
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24
How Do OLD AGE JWs Feel?
by ballistic ini just want to know if jws that have been in the "truth" all their lives, having given all for the "kingdom" die in peace or whether in the autumn and winters of their lives, they are stung by nagging intrusive thoughts... "i have given my whole life to this organisation and where is the new system?".
i ask because these people were taught they were in "the last days" when they grew up many decades or even a century ago.
how can someone go that long believeing it was going to be tommorrow?
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blondie
I guess the problem started with Russell when he thought the end was in 1914...all the anointed going to heaven to rule with Jesus...surprise! Not.
Many served God without a selfish goal in mind. Abraham knew he would never see the reward in his lifetime, but he did not pack up and go home. He didn't suffer too bad. Those tents weren't like Coleman tents we use. He was a wealthy man and had servants to do his bidding all his life. He had Isaac and lived to see his grandsons grow up to the age of 15. He married again and had more children after Sarah died.
I agree that the WTS has JWs looking so far ahead that they don't see what is good right in front of them. The question is what are their goals...if they are all selfish or they have them for a selfish motive, it's unlikely any reward will satisfy them.
If these older ones loved their families, loved and provided for their needs to the best of their ability, took the responsibility to follow the Bible and not men, I'm sure they don't feel like failures. If JWs truly believe that God is the giver of every good gift, then they know death is not a barrier to God's doing that.
Of course, I realize that some here are agnostics, atheists, etc., and this will not bear directly on their beliefs. But to those who are believers in God, it is good to reflect on that. Survivors of child abuse or rape could latch onto the past and what they were robbed of. It is better to live the present.
Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow is a mystery.
Today is a gift...that's why they call it the present. -
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blondie
TR, to tell the truth, I have not done the proper research to have an opinion on why women are attracted to Islam. It could be that they are viewed with respect as individuals (notwithstanding the extreme version in Afghanistan and Iran). It could be why Hispanics and blacks are also attracted.
The Arabs were great scientists and doctors when Europe was in the Dark Ages. We can thank them for the "0" zero, without which advancement in mathematics would have been nigh impossible.
There are not many Islamic people in my area, but I have come in contact with some. It is like any religion, people are scattered all along the scale...very liberal and not too religious to very extreme...and everything in-between.
Here is one woman's statement:
Nicol Ghazi, a 33-year-old woman who was raised Jewish, grew up in Toledo, a city with a large Muslim community.
``I kept coming into contact with Muslims over and over again. I think
that's how my conversion came about,'' she said. ``I had a lot of respect for the Muslims I met and that drew me toward the religion.''Women seem to be converting to Islam in larger numbers than men, though the perception that Islam oppresses women can be a major hurdle.
Ghazi said that the oppression of women in some Muslim societies is
cultural, not religious.``Islam is liberating,'' she said. ``It recognizes women in a legal sense; you can sign a contract, own property. You have the right to refuse a marriage proposal. You have a right to determine your own fate so to speak. You can hold official positions.''
Ghazi said these rights don't sound extraordinary these days, but at the time of Islam's birth in the seventh century they were unheard of.
As she sat in her living room, a call to prayer sounded from a
mosque-shaped alarm clock. Five times a day it plays a recording of someone singing from the Quran. Her husband's parents, who live in England, bought the clock at Harrod's department store.Ghazi, who now lives in Columbus, became a Muslim three years ago, after meeting and becoming friends with Muslim women, including an Algerian.
``She would read -- chant -- the Quran in Arabic. She had a beautiful voice and a talent for explaining things,'' she said.
Ghazi married a man from Pakistan a year ago and has just given birth to twins -- a boy, Hamza, and a girl, Hana. She said 10 years ago she would have thought twice about giving her children Muslim names that might have made them the target of teasing or harassment.
``Now people are more comfortable seeing more cultures here,'' she said. ``Islam is more mainstream.''In fact, Ghazi says, sometimes it seems women who were born Muslim are more
curious about her than the Americans who hardly ``bat an eye'' at her
Muslim dress.Here are some sites:
http://www.islamicvoice.com/october.97/whyi.htm
http://www.jannah.org/articles/latinmuslims.html
It is not enough to have good principles...people must actual live by them. The best laws or principles in the world are so much toilet paper if no one respects them and follows them.
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blondie
Tina Turner is a Buddhist.
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Courtyard/1652/Media/Tinaturner.html
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blondie
Islam is currently the fasting growing religion in America whose adherents hail from every race and ethnicity. In the United States, where Muslims number over six million, the Islamic faith has in many estimates surpassed Judaism and is believed to be the second largest religion in America after Christianity. According to one report, the Muslim population in America is said to be larger than that of the Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Methodists, and the Mormons. American Muslims outnumber Christian Scientists, Unitarians, Seventh-day Adventists, Quakers, Mennonites, and Jehovah’s Witnesses combined. The conversion rate among Americans is estimated to be at 135,000 per year, with African-Americans making up the largest group of converts followed by American women, as well as a significant number coming from the Latino community. During the Gulf War alone, it was reported that approximately 3,000 Americans converted to Islam.
Islam is also the fastest growing religion in the world and has an estimated 1.2 billion adherents throughout the globe. But who are the faces and personalities behind these converts to Islam? Khadija, wife of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), was the first to convert to Islam. Some of the more well-known converts to Islam from more recent times are the following:
El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz -- More popularly known as Malcom X; black-rights activist and religious leader. In 1964, after a pilgrimage to Mecca, he announced his conversion to orthodox Islam and his belief in the possibility of brotherhood between blacks and whites.
Michael Wolfe – Author of The Hajj: An American's Pilgrimage to Mecca, and One Thousand Roads to Mecca: Ten Centuries of Travelers Writing About the Muslim Pilgrimage. Born of a Christian mother and Jewish father, he is most well known for his documentary on ABC’s Nightline which aired on April 18, 1997 called An American in Mecca.
Muhammad Ali – Formerly Cassius Clay; three-time Heavy Weight Champion of the World. He converted to orthodox Islam in 1965.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – Formerly Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor. Before the 1971-72 season Alcindor converted from Catholicism to Islam and took the name Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He played 20 seasons in the league with the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers. By the time the 7 foot 2 basketball player retired in 1989, Abdul-Jabbar was a six-time Most Valuable Player and is now one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History.Yusuf Islam – Formerly Cat Stevens, world famous British pop singer. He converted to Islam in 1973 and changed his name to Yusuf Islam.
Haiqa Khan – Formerly Jemimah Goldsmith, Jewish daughter of billionaire Sir James. At the age of 21 she married famous Pakistani cricket player Imran Khan and converted to Islam.Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall – He was born William Pickthall in 1875 in London. He converted to Islam in 1917 and by 1930 Pickthall published The Meaning of the Glorious Koran; which was an English language translation (meaning) of the Qur’an.
Maryam Jameelah - Formerly Margaret Marcus; Jewish American essayist, poet, journalist and author of several books. She converted from Judaism to Islam in 1962. An Open Letter To Her Parents
Art Blakey, Abdullah Ibn Buhaina - American drummer and jazz musician. His contribution to jazz from 1954 to 1990 as leader of the Jazz Messengers established the sound Hard Bop, greatly influencing later generations of musicians and entertainers.
Hamdan Chris Eubank -- In March 1997, after former super middleweight world champion Chris Eubank defeated Camilo Alocon of Columbia at the Dubai Tennis Stadium in a light heavyweight contest, Eubank embraced Islam and took the name Hamdan.
Queen Noor of Jordan -- Born Lisa Najeeb Halaby to a prominent Arab-American family. Raised by Christian parents, she converted to Islam when she married the late King Hussein, a Hashemite and descendant of the prophet’s line, on 15 June 1978. When she converted, she changed her name to Noor al-Hussein -- the light of Hussein.
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3
Television, the Internet of the 1950's
by blondie in*** w51 3/15 164 time better than money ***.
to illustrate, consider television.
it is a marvel of human ingenuity in putting to work invisible forces of the universe, and if used to best advantage could be a real boon to mankind.
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blondie
Englishman, thanks for the blasts from the past. Gopher, that's what I figure...as the internet becomes more universal, the demonizing of it will decrease as it did with television.
I wonder if Bethelites are allowed to have internet...I know they have television, vcrs and cable.
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3
Television, the Internet of the 1950's
by blondie in*** w51 3/15 164 time better than money ***.
to illustrate, consider television.
it is a marvel of human ingenuity in putting to work invisible forces of the universe, and if used to best advantage could be a real boon to mankind.
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blondie
*** w51 3/15 164 Time Better than Money ***
To illustrate, consider television. It is a marvel of human ingenuity in putting to work invisible forces of the universe, and if used to best advantage could be a real boon to mankind. But many low-quality programs and much immoderate use combine to undermine its value. Nevertheless, even now its moderate use in viewing the better programs may offer a measure of relaxing diversion. Used with wise limitation, it can provide relaxation for Christians right in their homes, without their having to seek diversion in worldly audiences that may in these tense times rise up against the Christians in their midst that maintain integrity.But instead of a moderate use of television by people generally, what do we frequently find? The evening meal over, the family rush for their seats before the television screen, there to sit for hours, till bedtime. No time for family conversation. No time for study. No time to serve God. Only time for television. Just time to sit before the screen and soak up propaganda and entertainment. So absorbed are they that they may refuse to leave their seats before the television for an hour a week, to share in a home Bible study.
But will television deliver them at Armageddon? Will their little god of the living room shelter them from Jehovah’s wrath? Time consumed on it might have been used to study, to transform their mind, to make it over, to gain godly wisdom, which is not to be compared to rubies, silver, gold, money or television; but instead they will be “destroyed for lack of knowledge”. (Hos. 4:6) The marvelous invention has been misused by them till it has become a satanic snare to capture their mind, to keep their eye glued to a television screen, not allowing them time to see the sign of the second presence of Christ or to mentally discern the import of such sign and learn what they should do to successfully meet the crisis.
*** w53 1/15 36 The Mental Breakdown ***
Another insidious facet in the mental breakdown picture is the craze for TV. Does TV entail thinking? Does it even stimulate thinking? No! Why, adults and children who wish to improve their mind in a TV home are sometimes forced to leave the house for a private place to study. Concentration is difficult with TV. Complained one announcer: “The number of commercials is driving even me batty.” The TV industry itself, subjecting its adults to stultifying time-killers, seems to assume the public has moron mentality. Mature minds viewing the present trend in TV, in journalism, in the radio, in motion pictures, in magazines, in best-selling books, in mass response to emotionalized propaganda, and in public aversion to dictionaries, wonder: Has Uncle Sam grown into a perpetually adolescent man—with a comic book always in his grasp? If so, he is not so much a man as a boy who has outgrown his breeches.*** w61 6/1 326-7 Your Time or Your Money? ***
And, remember, you parents are not giving your children of your time while they are watching television. Certain wise parents in an eastern United States city not so long ago illustrated the folly of this course to their own satisfaction. Finding the children becoming addicted to television, they disconnected the set for a whole year. Suddenly they found they had time to learn to play musical instruments, to entertain one another with them as well as by reading aloud to one another, and so forth. They became better acquainted and drawn closer together than they had ever been before. At the end of the year the television set was reconnected, but strict rules were established as to its use. Watching it was now limited to programs of special interest or value and then only after household chores and homework had been done. Truly a wise family! Those parents lovingly had the welfare of their children at heart and so were not content with merely supplying them with the things that can be bought for money. It is easy for fathers to overlook their obligation in this regard, modern working and living conditions being conducive to such oversight. -
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Is religion the cause of war?
by tdogg ini have had this discussion with many people but i would like to know what the xjw has to say, since we were told this so many times at church.. i am of the opinion that most wars are not really fought due to religion but rather, economics.
religion of course is the excuse leaders will use, but if look behind the facade there is always some economic motovation.
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blondie
Not the cause but an accelerant...like gasoline on an already burning fire.
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Elder burn-out
by roybatty inwhile responding to another post, i started to wonder how many other current or former elders out there have also seen the high turnover rate among elders.
before i left the jws a couple of years ago, i was an elder for about 4 years and within that time i saw the local elder body drop from eight to four people.
even before that it seemed that the elder body had a revolving door on it.
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blondie
I'm a new Blondie...don't know the ones you knew...
But I have read your posts and enjoyed your reminiscing about the olden days..
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17
2014
by AvailableLight infrom addendum to crisis of conscience (1995).
for chapter 12. available http://www.freeminds.org/history/franz_ad.htm.
what then is the significant difference?
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blondie
I still think the end is coming in 2034, 120 years after 1914. The same time frame Noah's time was given....And supposedly All Soul's Day (November 1) is the time the flood started. So the end will come on November 1, 2034....just kidding.