At my second pious-sneer school (yea, I had to err... got the privlege of going a second time [blech]), the CO conducting mentioned this in his talk. He more or less said "cash only, plz". He talked about how the friends always give C.O.s stuff (clothes, etc.) - but the clothes might not fit or might not be the CO's "style", so it would be better to just give them money if you want to give something.
Shador
JoinedPosts by Shador
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Gifts for C.O.'s and D.O.'s
by sosoconfused indoes anyone else find it funny that the circuit overseers and district overseers go to a new congregation every week, have all their bills paid and then for some odd reason the elders always find a way to give them extra money.
on top of that there are atleast 10 families in every hall that give them a green handshake.
then the people who give them expensive gifts (i am ashamed to say i participated in this) like watches etc... yet these guys still act like they are giving up so much.... .
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Do you know some witnesses that refuse to go to some restaurants because of the name like....
by Iamallcool inlucky, luck, magic, fortune, etc...do you also know some of them that just shrugged it off and still went there to eat?.
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Shador
Or howabout some refusing to use the terms "Deviled Eggs" (they called 'em stuffed eggs) or even "Devil's Food Cake" (chocolate cake would suffice).
Me and some "weak" JW friends went to DC once and ate at the Hard Rock Cafe there. I bought a Hard Rock Cafe ballcap, which I later made the mistake of wearing around my bipolar JW stepfather. I was lucky my head didn't go in the trash bin with the cap. Hard Rock, of course, is unchristian.
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Do you know some witnesses that refuse to go to some restaurants because of the name like....
by Iamallcool inlucky, luck, magic, fortune, etc...do you also know some of them that just shrugged it off and still went there to eat?.
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Shador
Quasi-related, I know some JWs who won't get their kids "Lucky Charms" (breakfast cereal for those who don't know) lol.
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Has anyone listened to Reggae / Rastafarian religious music?
by sosoconfused ini am sure that none of you here are rastafarians and neither am i. i have just noticed however that their religious music is soo freaking moving!.
i guess after years of kingdom melodies that had absolutely no form of feeling in them and were pretty much some guy plucking piano keys anything would be better.
but i literally sit here listening to some of these and almost break down crying.. .
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Shador
BluesBrother, the two things are STRONGLY connected. Your statement is like saying we need to differentiate between Gregorian Chant and the Catholic church. Sure, there are some groups that do pop music in Gregorian Chant style, but on the whole the two are linked.
From your same wiki article:
Reggae was born amidst poor blacks in Trenchtown, the main ghetto of Kingston, Jamaica, who listened to radio stations from the United States. Jamaican musicians, many of them Rastas, soon blended traditional Jamaican folk music and drumming with American R&B, and jazz into ska, that later developed into reggae under the influence of soul.
Reggae began to enter international consciousness in the early 1970s, and Rastafari mushroomed in popularity internationally, largely due to the fame of Bob Marley, who actively and devoutly preached Rastafari, incorporating Nyabinghi and Rastafarian chanting into his music, lyrics and album covers. Songs like "Rastaman Chant" led to the movement and reggae music being seen as closely intertwined in the consciousness of audiences across the world. Other famous reggae musicians with strong Rastafarian elements in their music include Peter Tosh, Freddie McGregor, Toots & the Maytals, Burning Spear, Black Uhuru, Prince Lincoln Thompson, Bunny Wailer, Prince Far I, Israel Vibration, The Congos, Adrian Nones, Cornell Campbell, Dennis Brown and hundreds more.Reggae music expressing Rasta doctrine:
The first reggae single that sang about Rastafari and reached Number 1 in the Jamaican charts was Bongo Man by Little Roy in 1969. [58] Early Rasta reggae musicians (besides Marley) whose music expresses Rastafari doctrine well are Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer (in Blackheart Man), Prince Far I, Linval Thompson, Ijahman Levi (especially the first 4 albums), Misty-in-Roots (Live), The Congos (Heart of the Congos), The Rastafarians, The Abyssinians, Culture, Big Youth, and Ras Michael And The Sons Of Negus. The Jamaican jazzpercussionistCount Ossie, who had played on a number of ska and reggae recordings, recorded albums with themes relating to Rasta history, doctrine, and culture.
Rastafari doctrine as developed in the 1980s was further expressed musically by a number of other prominent artists, such as Burning Spear, Steel Pulse, Third World, The Gladiators, Sister Carol, Black Uhuru, Aswad, and Israel Vibration. Rastafari ideas have spread beyond the Jamaican community to other countries including Russia, where artists such as Jah Division write songs about Jah, and South Africa where Lucky Dube first learned reggae music from Peter Tosh recordings. Afro-American punk band Bad Brains are notable followers of the Rastafari movement and have written songs ("I Against I", etc.) that promote the doctrine.
In the 21st century, Rastafari sentiments are spread through roots reggae and dancehall, subgroups of reggae music, with many of their most important proponents promoting the Rastafari religion, such as Capleton, Sizzla, Anthony B, Barrington Levy, Jah Mason, Pressure , Midnite, Natural Black, Luciano, Cocoa Tea , Jah Cure and Richie Spice. Several of these acts have gained mainstream success and frequently appear on the popular music charts. Most recently artists such as Damian Marley (son of Bob Marley), Alborosie and Million Stylez have blended hip-hop with reggae to re-energize classic Rastafari issues such as social injustice, revolution and the honour and responsibility of parenthood using contemporary musical style.
Berlin-based dub techno label "Basic Channel" has subsidiary labels called "Rhythm & Sound" and "Burial Mix" whose lyrics strongly focus on many aspects of Rastafari culture and ideology, including the acceptance of Haile Selassie I. Notable tracks include "Jah Rule", "Mash Down Babylon", "We Be Troddin'", and "See Mi Yah". Irish singer-songwriter Sinéad O'Connor released two rastafari/roots reggae CDs – "Throw Down Your Arms" and "Theology". -
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Has anyone listened to Reggae / Rastafarian religious music?
by sosoconfused ini am sure that none of you here are rastafarians and neither am i. i have just noticed however that their religious music is soo freaking moving!.
i guess after years of kingdom melodies that had absolutely no form of feeling in them and were pretty much some guy plucking piano keys anything would be better.
but i literally sit here listening to some of these and almost break down crying.. .
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Shador
Y'know, I do like a few songs by Bob Marley. Here's a funny thing. I know several JWs who have 'One Love' in their music collection, including an Elder. Apparently they never really listened to all the lyrics, because it is very clearly a religious song. "Give thanks and praise to the Lord and it'll be allright.", or "Let's get together to fight this holy Armageddon (Arm-a-gied-ion)"
Cracks me up.
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So apparently I'm now a Secular Humanist
by Oubliette ini was doing some research on the subject of beliefs and belief systems when i came across an on-line survey/test that supposedly helps you determine which religion or philosophy is most like your current beliefs.
if you're curious, you can take the quiz here: belief system selector quizafter answering the 20 questions the results were spit out!
tada!!!.
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Shador
Hmm... Neo-Pagan. Eeyup. Closest x-ian denomination is Unitarian Universalist. interesting.
Your Complete Results:
1. Neo-Pagan (100%) Info & Notes 2. Unitarian Universalism (91%) Info & Notes 3. New Age (81%) Info & Notes 4. Taoism (80%) Info & Notes 5. Secular Humanism (71%) Info & Notes 6. Liberal Quakers - Religious Society of Friends (70%) Info & Notes 7. Hinduism (63%) Info & Notes 8. Mahayana Buddhism (57%) Info & Notes 9. Sikhism (52%) Info & Notes 10. Mainline - Liberal Christian Protestants (51%) Info & Notes 11. Reform Judaism (50%) Info & Notes 12. Jainism (49%) Info & Notes 13. New Thought (47%) Info & Notes 14. Non-theist (45%) Info & Notes 15. Theravada Buddhism (41%) Info & Notes 16. Orthodox Judaism (37%) Info & Notes 17. Scientology (33%) Info & Notes 18. Orthodox Quaker - Religious Society of Friends (33%) Info & Notes 19. Christian Science Church of Christ, Scientist (30%) Info & Notes 20. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (30%) Info & Notes 21. Bahai (22%) Info & Notes 22. Eastern Orthodox (22%) Info & Notes 23. Jehovahs Witness (22%) Info & Notes 24. Roman Catholic (22%) Info & Notes 25. Islam (20%) Info & Notes 26. Seventh Day Adventist (14%) Info & Notes 27. Mainline - Conservative Christian Protestant (11%) Info & Notes -
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Invitations to the DC
by sooner7nc inplease correct me if i'm wrong on this.. one of the guys who works with me called me at work today (his day off) and said that a jw had just come to his door.
the guy was by himself and said that he was new to the area and offered a tract of some sort and an invitation to the dc coming up in a couple of weeks in fort worth.
i don't remember ever giving out invites to the dc.
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Shador
Yea, invites to the conventions has been a pretty regular thing for several years now.
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So anyone here went to the Zone Visit meeting?
by stillin9 inwell, i was considered spiritual enough (lol) to be given a red badge that said "special meeting, united states branch zone visit" on it!
what a privilege!
all excited, i counted down (not really but you know) to the day the meeting was going to be held on, which was the 22nd.
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Shador
Yea I went. Yes, they begged for money at one point. (Including the new credit/debit thing)
As I promised before, I made an audio recording of the whole thing, for any interested. If someone could PM me about how to get it uploaded somewheres, etc., that'd be great.
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Shador
anything outside of earths atmosphere is considered "alien to earth".
so any life beyond earth, no matter what form is "alien" to us.
so that puts spirits and martians in the same group.
nothing changes. it has always been this way.
angels = aliens. just a new name for an old concept.Pretty much this. I'm a pagan, but I think it's entirely possible the old Gods were are actually highly evolved alien beings.
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Things that are stigmatized -- should they be?
by mankkeli ini've been thinking about how stigmas affect perception, which generally affects policymaking and social rules.
how stigmatized should some things be?
here's a list:.
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Shador
My opinions (for what they are worth):
-Atheism
-Should not be stigmatized. I think the stigma attached to this depends on how heavily religious the area is. More liberal areas even glorify this. Is NOT stigmatized in mass media.-Homosexuality
- See atheism.-Marijuana
-Jury is still out on whether this is all that harmful when used recreationally. Should definately not be stigmatized in regard to medicinal use. Should probably be legalized and regulated.-Smoking
-Proven harmful. Should be stigmatized, as a public health measure.-Gun ownership
-Should not be stigmatized (personal bias - I own 2 handguns). Currently is stigmatized in almost the direct opposite way of atheism and homosexuality (i.e. liberals don't like it)-Mormonism
-ALL cults and high control groups should be stigmatized, as a public (emotional) health measure.-Sex
-See homosexuality and atheism.-Fetishes
-??? - Should not be public enough to be stigmatized.-Tattoos
-Depends largely on quantity, quality, and location. I would personally stigmatize anything on the face, neck and/or hands (maybe even lower arms). Traditional locations on the shoulder, chest, back (not too sure about "tramp stamps", though), and (for the ladies) ankles, are fine by me. ANY tattoos indicating gang affiliation should be heavily stigmatized.-Mental illness
-Should not be stigmatized, per se., so much as sympathized with and treated to the extent possible. Where a mental illness can render one violent, there is a certain understandable mild stigma for self-protection.
