enlightenedcynic

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Posts by enlightenedcynic

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  20

  My District Convention Is Being Held At An Assembly Hall

  by enlightenedcynic in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  if this topic has been discussed previously, i apologize, but next week i unfortunately must attend the dc which is being held at the local assembly hall.

  there are benefits to this as i don't have to rent a car or room for myself and family.

  the downside to this is that it will now be harder to miss segments of the program or an entire day without being scrutinized.

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  enlightenedcynic

  Thanks everyone for the responses. Maybe I'll catch the bird flu or something! ec
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  29

  Halle Berry's new man

  by MsMcDucket in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  http://socialitelife.com/2006/01/23/halle_berry_and_gabriel_aubry_at_the_soho_grand_hotel_in_nyc.php .

  he's canadian and he's a supermodel.

  his name is gabriel aubry.

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  enlightenedcynic

  Hmmmm......

  What's wrong with this situation?

  A drop-dead gorgeous, successful and filthy-rich actress with whom no man wants to stay.

  David Justice...

  Eddie Murphy....

  Eric Benet.....

  Michael Elie.....

  Heavy D....

  Chris Webber....

  and those are just the ones I can remember!!!! I think our girl Halle is just a couple of slices short of a full loaf. That or she must be awful in bed!!!!

  ec
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  20

  My District Convention Is Being Held At An Assembly Hall

  by enlightenedcynic in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  if this topic has been discussed previously, i apologize, but next week i unfortunately must attend the dc which is being held at the local assembly hall.

  there are benefits to this as i don't have to rent a car or room for myself and family.

  the downside to this is that it will now be harder to miss segments of the program or an entire day without being scrutinized.

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  3. 
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  enlightenedcynic

  If this topic has been discussed previously, I apologize, but next week I unfortunately must attend the DC which is being held at the local Assembly Hall. There are benefits to this as I don't have to rent a car or room for myself and family. The downside to this is that it will now be harder to miss segments of the program or an entire day without being scrutinized. When I or the family miss any days at the CA's, we get, "Where were you sitting at yesterday?" or "Where you there today/yesterday?...I didn't see you!!!!". I am so used to the arenas and stadiums where you could dissappear for a while to the bathroom or your car or across the road to a Starbucks or something, but not anymore. Has this been a practice in other cities? Is this the future of all DC's? In one way the WTS saves money, but it seems to me that they lose in another way. So much of the DC's success, in my opinion , is based on the sight of the "large throngs of people streaming to the waters of Jehovah". The average JW gets all excited at seeing 10-20 thousand packed into an arena....(must mean that Jehovah is with us). The assembly hall that I attend holds 3,000 - 4,000 max. Not quite the same emotional and visual effect!

  Your Thoughts

  ec
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  50

  New JWD members on the Horizon!

  by Sign oTimes in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  soon (if they haven't already) local congregations of jws will welcome newly disillusioned former members of the bethel family.

  the most potentially dangerous have been paid off already (but what do you mean?

  weren't we all given severances equally proportionate to our years of devoted service?

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  enlightenedcynic

  James_Woods,

  Those were my thoughts too. You strip the "bethel elders" of their authority so that when they re-enter the congregations, they will be viewed just as a normal publisher. That title, bethel elder, would certainly influence an elder body and the society cannot risk having disgruntled(I agree with SOTT, they are disgruntled!!!, and oh.... by the way WELCOME SOTT) individuals doing that. The society in all of their power hungry madness and arrogance has mad a HUGE mistake here. I too will anxiously watch as events unfold.

  ec
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  50

  New JWD members on the Horizon!

  by Sign oTimes in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  soon (if they haven't already) local congregations of jws will welcome newly disillusioned former members of the bethel family.

  the most potentially dangerous have been paid off already (but what do you mean?

  weren't we all given severances equally proportionate to our years of devoted service?

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  enlightenedcynic

  James_Woods,
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  28

  I need advice re: monthly field service report

  by under_believer in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i stopped going out in service about a year ago.

  just couldn't take it anymore.

  after that, i still continued "studying" with my kids and "counting the time" for that.

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  enlightenedcynic

  I rarely go out in the ministry anymore, maybe 1-2 hours a month just to keep my wife off my back. When I turn in my report however, I claim between 8-10 hours. Enough to keep the elders off my back and not enough where they would want to use me for any extended duties. While it is true that turning in a report shows that we are still submitting to the elder's and the WTS's authority, until all of us who fake reports can figure out an effective "exit" plan, it is the only realistic alternative.

  ec
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  40

  To Honor 06/06/06... Music to Burn in Hell By!

  by Nosferatu in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  okay, so it's burn in hell day.

  although this is not really linked to this day specifically, i made an mp3 cd of music to play when we've got the fire pit going in the back yard.

  however, it's quite fitting for listening to today.

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  enlightenedcynic

  How about "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" aka "Dueling Fiddles" by The Charlie Daniels Band

  or

  "The Ripper" by Judas Priest

  ec
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  17

  Elders appointed by Holy Spirit???

  by wozadummy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  do you remember years ago this was mentioned among the brothers in conversations about elders?

  yet i cannot ever recall being directed to a scripture which proved all elders were appointed by holy spirit.

  it seems that everyone just accepted that they were, including myself , and yet how is this possible considering how many i've seen were corrupt when appointed.. any others think about this when in the org

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  enlightenedcynic

  One really shrewd elder once told me that, "The initial appointment is not through holy spirit, it is the fruitage the brother displays afterwards that shows whether the appointment was truly from Jehovah or not".

  Hows that for slick talk, certainly not the "official" WTS viewpoint.

  ec
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  33

  The Single Most Dangerous JW Meeting....in my opinion!

  by enlightenedcynic in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  the way i see it, pretty much everyone here knows that the 5 weekly meetings, the memorial, the dc's and ca's are all a bunch of rubbish and jibber jabber.

  there is still one other meeting, not as frequently held as the others, that jw's use very effectively to control existing members and bring in new converts and this meeting sadly plays apon the emotions of all in attendance.. what meeting is this?.

  a kh funeral!!!.

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  enlightenedcynic

  Thank you all for your condolences and sympathy, I will forward all of that goodwill and energy to my friend's widow and family during the next coming weeks and months ahead.

  Just another observation though about the funeral. I couldn't help but notice that there were very few individuals openly mourning/crying. As a current JW, I know for a fact that we are an emotionally repressed people and as a result of the resurrection teaching, many JW's view outward grieving/crying as a sign of spiritual weakness(not believing in the "marvelous hope for the future" enough!!!). I mean, when you go to funerals of other faiths, there is intense mourning, sobbing, and crying. Obviously, mourning in an uncontrolled manner is not good. Crying however is our body's way of cleansing itself, and it helps us to begin healing and move forward. JW's on the other hand criticize these people, saying that the way they mourn shows that they have no real hope of seeing the loved one again("if they believed that all good persons go to heaven, they wouldn't cry like that", one elder said in a talk once). The Scriptures however are full of examples where individuals mourned and wept bitterly, but as a JW, our mourning must not be "excessive" as another elder once put it. Who is to determine when mourning becomes excessive? The WTS???

  I feel sorry for the average witness, but I feel more sorry for myself because I am for the foreseeable future trapped in this mess of an organization where free expression and human emotion are squashed in favor of uniformity.

  ec
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  33

  The Single Most Dangerous JW Meeting....in my opinion!

  by enlightenedcynic in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  the way i see it, pretty much everyone here knows that the 5 weekly meetings, the memorial, the dc's and ca's are all a bunch of rubbish and jibber jabber.

  there is still one other meeting, not as frequently held as the others, that jw's use very effectively to control existing members and bring in new converts and this meeting sadly plays apon the emotions of all in attendance.. what meeting is this?.

  a kh funeral!!!.

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  enlightenedcynic

  The way I see it, pretty much everyone here knows that the 5 weekly meetings, the memorial, the DC's and CA's are all a bunch of rubbish and jibber jabber. There is still one other meeting, not as frequently held as the others, that JW's use very effectively to control existing members and bring in new converts and this meeting sadly plays apon the emotions of all in attendance.

  What meeting is this?

  A KH Funeral!!!

  I just attended a funeral yesterday, for a dear friend and instead of the day being about the man(about 10 min. of a 40 min. discourse was dedicated to actually speaking about him) the rest of the talk was used as an opportunity to spew the same ole rhetoric about JW's and their beliefs. What if a person doesn't want to be indoctrinated on that day, what if they just wanted to celebrate the life of the deceased and mourn? Not in a JW funeral!! All in attendance got to hear how the deceased loved being a JW and how he lived his life for Jehovah and how you too could learn more about the bible and JW's....just sickening. But through the anger and disgust there was a part of me that felt nostalgic, hearing about the paradise and when death would be no more and when we will all see our dear friend as well as our loved ones lost in death again. To top it off, they finished with my deceased friend's favorite song....you guessed it....#15 Life Without End At Last, a song guaranteed to bring a tear to the most hardened apostate. For a moment I questioned whether I was the one who was wrong? Some of the thoughts conveyed, the song, the prayer....so beautiful!!! This is a dangerous meeting for those who are not quite out or who are teetering.

  My advice: If you don't know the deceased, don't attend a JW funeral.....just go to the viewing at the funeral home and pay your respects there.

  ec