dannyboy

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Posts by dannyboy

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  25

  JW DF'd for Eating Candy Cane

  by blondie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  news

  jehovah's witness accidentally eats candy cane .

  above: kimberly flemmel mourns her excommunication from the jehovah's witness congregation after eating a candy cane .

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  dannyboy

  LOL. Good one, Blondie. ---Dan
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  52

  What's The Best Way To Jolt A Witness' Thinking???

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  .

  anything that you think effectively gets a jw to re-think their position on things or their beliefs, in general?

  ?

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  dannyboy

  My perspective on this issue is perhaps limited by what I myself experienced that led to my leaving, that said:

  For me, it was stuff that went on that affected me directly and personally, bad stuff that went on despite my "prayers" to "Jehovah" and a firm desire to do things "the organizational way"...ie....the so-called concept of "waiting on Jehovah".... Eventually it dawned on me (my awakening to the real "truth" if you will), that Jehovah's Witnesses DON'T have any special blessing from God.....and so on and so forth........

  So, the "jolt" for me wasn't something that some other person purposefully planned, with the thought of "getting me out"..... Indeed, as others have said, I seriously doubt any kind of contrived "jolt" would have done the trick.

  However, I think there is something to be said for Scully's "approach": Let your former associates know how things are going for you since you left....I've had limited opportunity to do that, but it seems a good approach to get around the usual JW group-think...

  Another approach that may be useful is to figure out a way to get a Witness to examine the answer to this question: "What would the Organization have to do to convince you that they don't have God's specific blessing?" If they can even begin to ponder an answer, it's a start.

  I don't consider myself a stupid or gullible person, either now or in the past, but with effort, I can understand why some here characterize those of us who stayed Witnesses for decades as in effect, stupid people who couldn't think. It is much more complicated than simply "not thinking", in my view. More of a betrayal of love and trust....afterall, the people you love and trust are not subject to the same skeptical thinking/analysis as would a stranger receive, at least not until they give you a reason to dig deeper........

  My two cents,

  ---Dan
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  29

  Removed from being an elder for being over weight?

  by frankiespeakin in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  in the waterbury conneticut area there was a circut overseer named caramelous (greek name not sure of spelling).

  this brother more than 30 years back was having all the congregation servants removed because they where over weight.

  i guess they used not moderate in habits (eating too much) as a scriptural reason.

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  dannyboy

  Never heard of that CO, but:

  If such a rule/concept were REALLY enforced, there would sure be a lot less Elders and MS's........HAH.

  ---Dan
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  7

  Randy's clips from "In the Name of Jehovah" DVD

  by Dogpatch in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  some of you have seen the new dvd "in the name of jehovah" and i just put together a few sample clips of me in it at: .

  http://www.freeminds.org/media/namejehovahclips.htm.

  they are in wondows media format.

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  dannyboy

  Randy,

  All of the clips played just fine for me.

  I noted that the "production values" of this DVD appear to be excellent.....

  Keep up the good work, Randy.

  ---Dan
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  10

  What happened to the annual blood card?

  by AlmostAtheist in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was in exile (df'd) for a year and i found out upon my reinstatement that they weren't handing out new blood cards every year.

  i was told that an announcement was made to hang on to your old one.. anybody know the story behind that?

  am i wrong and they still hand them out?.

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  dannyboy

  I've never heard of "confiscating" a DF'd persons Blood Card, and am quite certain it was never a "policy", at least through the late 1990's when I resigned as an elder.

  Sounds like yet another example of a "local body of elders" custom/practice.

  ---Dan
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  91

  What is your Favorite Scene from a Movie?

  by Sweetp0985 in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  i thought about this topic last night for the board when watching one of my favorite movies.. 1. the man from snowy river- the part when they are going after the expensive colt and they get to the edge of the cliff and all the other riders stop and "jim" keeps going and leaps down the cliff after the wild horses.

  i absolutely love that part of the movie...everytime its on i have to watch it, if not just to see this part only.. 2. love and basketball- when she tells him she will play for his heart...awwww first time i started crying.

  and then the music they had playing in the background made it even worse.

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  dannyboy

  Lawrence of Arabia: "Aqaba is [over there].....it's just a matter of going....." Also: the scene where Omar Shariff on a camel trots in from the distance to the well where Lawrence is resting.....

  Blazing Saddles: While Cleavon Little's character is sinking in quicksand, Slim Picken's character laments over the near-loss of "a four-hundred dollar hand cart...."

  Dr Strangelove: Slim Picken's character [yeah him again] riding the nuke... Also: George C. Scott's character assuring the US President that launching more nukes at the "Ruskies" would "catch 'em with their pants down.....I can guarantee you, Mr President [our casualites] would be no more than 30 million tops..."

  Patton: "...[war]..oh, how I do love it so...."

  Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: Contemplating a jump from a cliff into uncertain waters (to escape pursuers), Sundance laments that he can't swim....Butch replies ..."[heck] the fall will probably kill yah...."

  Amadeus: The scene where the young Mozart "improves" on the court composer's "welcome" music to Mozart, much to the older's man's consternation.

  Raiders of the Lost Ark: Indiana Jones takes care of the bad guy with the cracking whip by shooting him.

  Edited to add: Many other memorable scenes to me have already been mentioned by others.

  ---Dan
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  9

  Happy Second Year Anniversary to Avishai!

  by seeitallclearlynow in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  .

  july 24 '02 was apparently avishai's first post on jwd.. and haven't we been fortunate and happy to have him here??.

  happy two year anniversary avishai!!.

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  dannyboy

  Congrats from me, too.

  ---Dan
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  70

  In All Honesty, Are You A Happier Person Now Than when You Were A JW?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  jws say, "the apostates are miserable!!

  ".....do you feel miserable?

  (i don't).

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  dannyboy

  I'm truly happier now, but frankly, it has taken some time.

  I spent decades as a dedicated, true-blue believing Witness, so it is not surprising that it has taken several years to sort of "get the thing out of my system".

  Like others here, I've had to make a whole new set of friends, it was hard at first, but I've got the hang of it just fine now .....what a shock to find out that "worldly" types are not all rotten people.....what a shock to find "worldly" parents who try their best to be good dads and moms, who work hard, spend time with their families, don't commit adultery or get drunk every weekend, etc. etc. That "realization" has added to my current happiness.

  Learning to enjoy other's personalities as individuals, and to get rid of any "judging" views has also added to my happiness.

  Finally, perhaps the most important happiness I've got nowadays is being happy with me, not going day after day feeling like I was no good, never quite measuring up, etc. Many here know exactly what I'm talking about...

  My two cents

  ---Dan
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  21

  What is really discussed at elders' meetings?

  by sinamongurl in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  .

  how to hide secrets?.

  sinamon

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  dannyboy

  I pretty much agree with most of the comments, and want to add:

  Elder's Meetings might start out very "theocratic", with respectful consideration given to matters, and efforts made by those in attendance to speak to the point, not go off on a tangent, etc., and REALLY give thought to what decisions were being made......but they often sank into long, long discussions over relatively trivial matters. Especially was this true with bodies made up of men who didn't regularly participate in group discussions in their secular work.

  Also: Meetings to discuss recommendations were the most trying in my experience..........Seemingly endless recollections from some elders over the prospective MS/Elder's life or little incidents that may have shown the person in either a good or bad light, but which were mentioned in the hope of extrapolating either the good or the bad thing to define the person.....then endless wrangling over the stories or incidents, etc. etc.

  Someone else touched on the following, I think it's very true: Elder's Meetings reflect what a broad cross-section of men are like...some are quiet, seldom saying anything, some are much more forceful and like to hear themselves talk, even to the exclusion of other's legitimate points of view, and every other personality type in between (such as the type Blondie refers to, say one thing, do another). In this Elders reflect "Society" in general.

  Finally, someone mentioned the concept of a "sub-set" of the entire body meeting together before to REALLY decide things.....I never saw this in a "formal" way, but it sure as heck happened INFORMALLY....elders would "talk" about various things and some of the more powerful might arrive at a "consensus" of thought amongst those they knew would be in the thick of the discussion about a particular point. But, again, this is how stuff happens in the business world, but arguably shouldn't happen where "God's Spirit" is supposed to overshadow the discussion and influence those present to make the "proper" decisions......

  As I look back, Elder's meetings ARE AN EXCELLENT PROOF that Jehovah's Witnesses do not have God's special blessing, nor are Elder's appointed by Holy Spirit, or have any special standing, but rather are just like all of us, some good, some bad, lots in-between.

  My two cents.

  ----Dan
• 
  108

  Sad News...

  by Sentinel in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my mom had her valve replacement and triple by-pass surgery today.

  the operation lasted five hours, and they had just gotten her to her room at 8:00pm when she went into cardiac arrest.

  the doctor tried everything, even opening up her chest and massaging her heart.

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  dannyboy

  ((( Karen )))

  Sincere condolences.

  ---Dan