Carmel

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Posts by Carmel

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  13

  Drinking

  by is there help out there in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  after you left the truth did you stop drinking or drink less etc.

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  Carmel

  Never drank anything stronger than pop, but then he was known for his liken to Rye Whiskey! carmel who struggles to get eight glasses of water in a month.....
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  14

  Two nice christian ladys want to mentor me ........

  by troubled mind in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have met some very nice people at a local methodist church during one of our conversations a woman told me they offer a program called soul care for anyone going through a tough time .it is a program to encourage basically .

  when i told her i felt i had lost my whole social community since leaving the jw's she offered to mentor me in this program .

  we had a first meeting to kind of get to know each other .....it just felt so weird, like being the householder on the other side of our bible study program we did as witnesses .

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  Carmel

  Don't feel bad. I bounced around from one church to another looking for a "home" and couldn't fit in with any of the denominations. After 18 years I ran across the Baha;i Faith and tried to prove it wrong... been one now for over thirty years.. I suspect you will settle in to something that provides you with what you want/need. Just make sure you are open to new ideas and keep your standards high. carmel
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  4

  Is this good or bad?

  by Hikaru in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,436664,00.html is this good?

  or is this the facade of peace and security?

  the markets almost crashing, then coming back causing them to give a facade of peace?

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  Carmel

  It's a the difficult part of a changing world. Hopefully we will learn that unregulated capitalism is as destructive as any other ism out of control. We will learn and make changes but it's not much different than making sausage. Carmel
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  40

  Three unique things...

  by TJ - iAmCleared2Land in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i like this topic!

  1. i went to an amusement park with friends when i was 17, when getting ready to go on the bumper boats the attendant told me to not step on the rubber part... listening wasn't my strong suite so i stepped on the rubber part and fell in much to the amusement of everyone there.

  2. for my 18th birthday my friends took me to see male strippers, my friend held money over my head and when the guy came to collect i refused to put it in his g-string and he called me a prude.

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  Carmel

  1. Swam in the Med, Red, Galalli, and Dead Seas all in one day. 2. Made love to my wife after closing hours in the Taj Mahal. 3. Swam across the Columbia River carm
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  18

  End of days indoctrination

  by m0nk3y in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ok this is like the first new topic i have added in .. forever ..

  it would seem that despite all of the research i have done in the past that i have this unshakable fear of this economic crisis fulfilling bible prophecy.

  i thought that i had worked through all of these demons, i thought that this was a past nightmare that would no longer effect me.

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  Carmel

  So far the "crash" has cost me nearly $80,000 but I'm confident it will be no more than two to three years before I'm back to even. Looking forward to investing into a couple IPO's that I expect to take off well. As to the issue of Armegeddon, I've already lived through my personal one and expect the world is going through it as we speak,. A lot of changes in the near future that will lead to a better world for all of us. Just relax and it will work out for you. carmel
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  4

  Wall Street bail out keeps oil prices high

  by PrimateDave in

  1. social
  2. current

  i just read an interesting article.. .

  "if speculators were forced to liquidate their positions, oil would easily be $65 to $75 per barrel by the time the liquidation was complete," said michael masters, the founder of atlanta-based hedge fund masters capital management.

  tuesday, oil was trading at $108.74 in midday trading in new york.. .

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  Carmel

  Ten years ago the cost of extraction of Alaskan oil was $6.00 per barrel. One Sockeye salmon was worth over $10.00 at the time. I can't imagine the extraction costs have dramatically increased to justify the costs of gas we are experiancing, likewise, I don't think Arabian or other old extraction costs exceed that of Alaska. Carmel (former Alaskan)
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  21

  If You Were "In" A Religion, Which One would You Want To Be A Member Of?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  personally, i'm not into any religion but i think that most protestants are ok. catholicism isn't my thing at all.

  judaism, i've always been interested in.

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  Carmel

  hmm.......I think I'ver already made that choice. crm
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  15

  My favorite healthy snack...

  by Gregor in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  just started recently but i love it and see no reason not to continue.

  once a day, usually breakfast or lunch.... breakfast - slice of whole wheat bread with a generous tablespoon of olive oil rubbed in washed down with small 2-3 oz glass of red wine.. or.

  lunch - slice of whole wheat bread toasted, rubbed with a clove of garlic, smeared with tbsp of olive oil folded over a nice bit of cheese and wshed down with a 4-5 oz glass of red wine.. eat pretty much anything i want otherwise.

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  Carmel

  cheap frozen pizza supplemented with layer of fresh pesto and freeze dried tomatoes. great snack washed down with copious amounts of fruit juice laced with seven up.
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  1

  Birthday parties against Islam?

  by hamilcarr in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  mmm, reminds me of another religious movement .... .

  birthday parties against islam says top saudi clericthu aug 21, 2008 9:18am bst[-] text [+] riyadh (reuters) - celebrating anniversaries, birthdays or mother's day is against muslim 'righteousness', saudi arabia's top cleric has said, quashing suggestions by a colleague that islam permits personal celebrations.. media savvy cleric salman al-awdah told viewers during a call-in television show last week that celebrating birthdays and wedding anniversaries was not against islam, sparking a debate in the conservative kingdom and prompting the mufti to weigh in.. grand mufti abdul-aziz al-shaikh said celebrating such events would make muslims like followers of other faiths including jews and christians, al-madina newspaper reported.. shaikh embodies wahhabism, the hardline islamic doctrine that has ruled hand in hand with the saud family since the kingdom was founded some eight decades ago.. women are banned from driving and mixing with unrelated men in saudi arabia, whose clerics issue edicts ordering saudis not to buy red roses on valentine's day on an almost annual basis.. "a muslim should thank almighty allah if his children are healthy and if his married life is stable as the years pass by," the paper quoted shaikh as saying.. two occasions call for celebration in the muslim world, shaikh said: eid al-fitr, which marks the end of the fasting month of ramadan, and eid al-adha, which marks the end of the annual haj pilgrimage.. awdah, who follows a relatively softer line, is widely believed to be favoured by circles close to king abdullah.

  the monarch has repeatedly said that saudi arabia needs reforms.. (reporting by souhail karam, editing by tim pearce).

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  Carmel

  Much like the Fitfull and Despicable Slave they fail to support their pronouncement with scripture. I checked with my daughter-in-law who is a former Muslim and well read in the Koran. She says there is nothing in the Holy Book that supports such a position. Muslims have celebrated birthdays for centuries.
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  24

  For those with a personal relationship to God....How did you get there?

  by digderidoo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as some of you are aware i have been going to aa meetings since the new year.

  the "god thing" linked to the aa was a real dilemma for me.. since this time i have researched well the jw doctrines and come to the realisation that to have a personal relationship with a higher power i do not need to believe in the witness doctrine.. i am at a point where i have been considering how i personally would interprate a higher power.. i have met someone within the aa who is an ex jw and have just had a conversation with him on the phone, which has got me thinking about this.. now he has said that his faith now has been built by replacing one brick at a time so to speak.

  giving an illustration of his faith being like a building, he can replace an old brick with a new one until he gets a new building all of his own making.

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  Carmel

  Spiritual Wilderness... a good metaphor for wanting to be connected but not knowing what socket has the power that will match your extension cord. There are many paths to attaining knowledge of the metaphysical. Many refuse to take any road prefering to believe the destination doesn't exist. I can only relate my own journey which lasted nearly 19 years from the time I left the Borg. Lots of blind alleys and false starts along the way including the simple " Just ask Jesus to come into your life" solution. It never worked for me to allow emotion to take over and rule the intellect. I had to have defensible beliefs, supported by credible utilitarian results before taking any action that would kick in the emotive juices. I was convinced for years no religion out there could meet that standard, yet here I am, many years later a "true beleiver" but with my antanee out! I suggest you sit down and make a list of what a religion would have to be on all levels then begin an honest search. Let your head dictate before you allow your "feelings" free reign. PM me if you have questions. carmel