Posts by COMF

16

Hello, and what is this place anyway?

by Seeker in

jw
friends

greetings all.. i decided to follow the recommendations and check this place out.

i'm curious, who runs this joint, and what are their rules of conduct.

i see fred hall posts here, so clearly apostates are welcome.. anyway, just saying: hey, y'all.. seeker (got my old handle back here)

COMF

Hiya, Seeker. This place appears to be a kind of H2O afterlife... where old posters go when they die off. :)

Welcome.

COMF

10

after being so close to getting a clue about the "truth",my oldest sister is way back in it, deeper than ever.. i love claire dearly, and i know that in her way, she loves me too.. i believe the problem in our relationship lies in that when it all comes down to it, at the end of the day, we don't really like each other very much anymore.

this knowledge saddens me more than i can explain.. it wasn't always this way.. we did fight a lot as children.

perhaps it's the eight year age difference.

COMF

Hi, Essie. I wish things could be better between you two, but we take the way things are and we do the best we can with that, don't we.

For what it's worth, here are some thoughts that I had while reading your post. Obviously the only thing I know about Claire is what you've said here, just as the only thing I know about you is what I've gleaned from your activity on the boards and our few email exchanges. These are impressions, and that's all I mean them to be.

Seems to me that your sister is lost to reality due to being intensely focused on herself. She has the idea that everything revolves around her. She probably got this way as a result of those characteristics to which you allude when you say "She has a magnetic personality. She commands any room that she enters from the moment she arrives." People fawn over an attractive person or a charming individual mainly because they want a little of that spotlight, they want to be seen in association with the desirable thing. I'm sure your sister loves every minute of it, and takes it for granted as her just due because of her great worth.

To have something happen that suggests this is not how things are, is a source of great irritation to her, because it threatens her carefully constructed straw house. She has chosen a way of life for you to live, and you reject her choice. This, she knows, must be about her in some way, since she is the center of everything. Obviously, then, it is a lame attempt to get at her by childish bad behavior, born from your wish to be as lovely and desirable as she is.

I've about had it with Lily. I've invested so much time and energy into her, but she's just not changing.

Adults understand that relationships aren't built from plans and efforts to mold someone into your ideal for them. They are built upon your acceptance of others as they are, and your recognition that their choices belong to them and not to you.

I told her that my decision to celebrate the holidays had nothing at all to do with her, but I still don't think she believes me.

Of course not. Everything that happens must be understood in the context of her as center of the universe, remember.

I can see it every time I look in her eyes: the disapproval, the irritation. The outright anger at my 'attitude' of persisting in my belief that the Watchtower Society cannot offer me what I need to find my way through life... I however, am just trying to become a more tolerant, less judgmental person. A person who never feels the need to label any other living being "Judas".

You're doing well, Essie. Now apply what you've learned to your relationship with your sister. Don't make the same mistake she is making. Don't think that you have to mold her to fit your vision of how she should be. Just accept her unconditionally, even with her irritating self-absorption and her holier-than-thou view of you.

It isn't necessary to justify yourself to her. You don't have to have her approval in order to validate your choices in life. You made them, and you approve of them: that's the end of it. So, don't feel that when she brings up these subjects you are obligated to discuss them; you aren't.

Take charge of the conversation; steer it to wherever you wish. Abruptly change it to the fashionable dress she's wearing, or to a comment about a great book you recently read. If she presses it, just state calmly, with no trace of irritation, but simply as a conveyance of information for her benefit, that you don't intend to discuss that. When she protests, say something like: "I've stated that I have no interest in discussing this. If you bring it up again, I'll be forced to go silent on you until we turn to another subject." Then do it.

People only control us when we allow them to. When we take over the responsibility for our feelings and stop depending on them for approval, we are free to love them in spite of their behavior. :)

Love,
Fred

18

I'm curious

by teejay in

jw
friends

to all loyal jehovah's witnesses:.

the bible says that at the mouth of three witnesses let every matter be firmly established.

so i'm curious... if you had to choose only three, what three things about the watchtower society and/or it's teachings convinces you beyond any doubt that jehovah's witnesses has the truth about the bible and is the sole representative of jehovah on earth today?.

COMF

what three things about the Watchtower Society and/or it's teachings convinces you beyond any doubt that Jehovah's Witnesses has the truth about the bible

1. They discourage independent bible study, stating in simultaneously coddling and intimidating terms that they have scholars guided by holy spirit to do the studying for you, so that all you have to study is what those scholars say.

2. They shut out all exterior commentary on the bible and expell from their congregations any who entertain ideas other than the official WBTS teachings.

3. The admonition to keep on testing whether you are in the truth" stops at baptism, replaced by an admonition to "avoid independent thinking" and "wait on Jehovah" for resolution of inconsistencies.

These three things about the Watchtower Society convince me beyond any doubt that they do, in fact, know the truth about the bible.

COMF

23

Just doin' what I'm told

by COMF in

jw
friends

unk says i have to come up here and say hi and get hugged by y'all.

hi.. now, don't crowd around all at once, i'll hafta hurt somebody.

comf

COMF

Thanks, folks. Essie, did you ever get my email answer to your question? Somebody, I, uh... um... oo... (deep breath)

Man, I got to looking at your picture and forgot what I was gonna say.

Oh yeah! ...that was Cygnus' dad that was feeling poorly. But thanks for the thought!

Farkenstein, this is all your fault... you laid out the roadmap. :)

All right, y'all... let's party!

COMF

P.S. This is for neyank:

23

Just doin' what I'm told

by COMF in

jw
friends

unk says i have to come up here and say hi and get hugged by y'all.

hi.. now, don't crowd around all at once, i'll hafta hurt somebody.

comf

COMF

Unk says I have to come up here and say hi and get hugged by y'all. Hi.

Now, don't crowd around all at once, I'll hafta hurt somebody. :)

COMF

15

Three reasons why we believe The Jehovah's Witness

by Enchanter in

jw
friends

three reasons why we believe the jehovah's witnesses have the truth.. 1. we will live forever in paradise and watch everything die over and over.. 2. because we don't trust our familymembers or friends who were very close to us, are apostates now.

but the governing body, who we don't know at all, trust our lives to and do everything they say.. 3. governing body can't find willing women to have oral sex with.

so nobody can.. enchanter

COMF

logical said:
1 - Called by God's own name, as were Biblical Israel
2 - Monothestic, or a one God concpt, just like the Biblical Israelites
3 - Iconoclastic, or no images used in worship, again, like natural Israel

JW's certainly have a framework of the truth (Romans 2:20)

JW's have a framework that in some respects resembles a popular interpretation of sections of some ancient writings. That does not by any means automatically equate to having a framework of the truth.

COMF

22

Their Time Will Come.....

by ISP in

jw
friends

despite an abundance of evidence that hits at the heart of the wts, it should be no surprise that many seem to ignore everything and continue.

you may wonder why particularly as many of us were in the wts and did not ignore the comprehensive mass of proof against the claims and teachings made.

typically brothers can enjoy themselves as elders.

COMF

Hi, folks! Here are my thoughts:

Farkel:
Lies like "only Jehovah's Witnesses will be spared Jehovah's wrath at Armageddon"; lies like "Jehovah's earthly mouthpiece is the FDS, and if you disagree with them you are disagreeing with Jehovah"; lies like "sacrifice everything in your life but tellings others about the "Good News(tm), or you will die."

You left out one: "We're pretending to have special knowledge here, and one of the things we pretend to know is that Jehovah disapproves of blood transfusions. If you want to play pretend with us, you must allow your loved ones to die rather than accept lifesaving treatement."

No, wait... that wouldn't be a lie after all, would it.

I Ching:
my ambition is to not unnecessarily be some psycho's doormat if i don't have to.

No one here can abuse you unless you allow it, I Ching.

ISP:
Ever gone fishing? You need to give some line sometimes.

Hmm... I'm not comfortable with the analogy. I'm not trying to catch anything or anyone. I'm enjoying life in freedom and happiness. If someone in pain would like my suggestions on how to obtain freedom and happiness, I'll be glad to share.

COMF

8

Need a few Khuckles?

by Tallyman in

jw
friends

____ watchtower kult kartoons ____.

http://www.intrex.net/tallyman/kartoons.html.

edited by - tallyman on 16 march 2001 23:31:54. edited by - tallyman on 16 march 2001 23:34:23

COMF

Hiya, unk! About using brackets, that's the kind of thing you don't just suddenly know... somebody's gotta tell you. Thanks for being the one that did. But I'm skeptical. How come they aren't working in lurkerNoMore's post? (Added note after posting and looking again: "Oh... they are. Just not when I'm in editing mode. Duh...")

As for the link, "Use Forum Code in your message," well, web pages have gotten so overrun with advertising and useless links and images that I have developed a defensive habit of ignoring everything on the page that isn't directly why I came there. Sometimes it means I miss stuff like this.

So... are you gonna hug me?

COMF

Another added note - the pictures are missing because the host server for my website is down. They'll be back when it is.

Edited by - COMF on 18 March 2001 9:17:41

8

Need a few Khuckles?

by Tallyman in

jw
friends

____ watchtower kult kartoons ____.

http://www.intrex.net/tallyman/kartoons.html.

edited by - tallyman on 16 march 2001 23:31:54. edited by - tallyman on 16 march 2001 23:34:23

COMF

Interesting... the tags show up as text, but it displays the image anyway. That bears experimenting.

COMF

8

Need a few Khuckles?

by Tallyman in

jw
friends

____ watchtower kult kartoons ____.

http://www.intrex.net/tallyman/kartoons.html.

edited by - tallyman on 16 march 2001 23:31:54. edited by - tallyman on 16 march 2001 23:34:23

COMF

All right, then... does this board support HTML in the message field? I saw a UB post that had italics tags showing... doesn't look good for us image-and-sound-file fanatics. Let's see...

<img src=" http://www.scarletmoon.com/fred/images/h2o/shopping2.jpg">;