***UPDATE***
On Dec 1st I posted that I was on my 3rd day smoke free. *sigh* I didn't make it.
The good news is once again I am on day 3. I'll follow up tomorrow.
DanTheMan
JoinedPosts by DanTheMan
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50
trying to quit smoking
by DanTheMan ini resumed my smoking habit about a year before i left the borg.
i've been on and off of cigarettes since that time.
i'm trying to quit (again).
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Some Old Bethel Wisdom
by metatron ini survived years at bethel during a period of great tension - there were lots.
of nervous breakdowns and people suddenly leaving because they couldn't take it anymore.. one lesson that i never forgot is: watch out for the self righteous types - they're.
often the first to flip out.. the rest of us complained and got drunk - chased tail at witness 'get togethers'.
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DanTheMan
I was the super righteous type, telling people I didn't think they should watch "Friends" and "The Simpsons".
Meanwhile I was renting XXX videos and was slowly losing my mind.
Now I watch the Simpsons (and laugh my a$$ off) and stay away from porn. Still can't stand Friends.
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Pretty Cheap
by JH inlast time i set foot in a kingdom hall was in december 2001. it was sunday morning and i sat in the back as usual.
a handfull in the congregation greated me when i came in.
since it was the watchtower study, i needed a watchtower magazine to follow, but nobody had a copy for me.
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DanTheMan
Funny, I thought I was reading my own experience here. I too attended my last meeting around this time last year. I also didn't have a mag, and had to ask around. I was at a congregation that I had never attended before and I didn't know anybody. The love bombing was in full swing, so procuring a magazine wasn't too difficult. The bro came up after the meeting wanting his mag back (it was his study copy) but I was sick and had sneezed and coughed all over it. I told him this and he let me keep it.
That was the deadest, lamest meeting I had ever attended in all my JW years. It was pathetic. I had to fight from busting out laughing during the meeting, it was so bad.
The public talk was about "education that honors G-d". Oh, this bro was awful. Counseling the younger ones on how much math is "appropriate for a Christian" to take in school. Good lord, is there anything the WT doesn't counsel people about? Is math from Satan or something???!!!
It only got worse during the WT study. The conductor's wife gave about half the answers. I'm giggling remembering all this. It was tragically hilarious. Still took me a few months after that to start looking at the internet.
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Nicole Kidman will discuss Scientology
by DanTheMan innicole kidman will discuss scientology.
nicole kidman will talk about scientology in her interview with leslie stahl slated for this coming sunday on cbs "60 minutes," says liz smith.. .
the former wife of tom cruise will supposedly reveal some of her feelings about the controversial church, which has been called a "cult.
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DanTheMan
Well, what a big nothing that was. To persons who didn't get to see this, you didn't miss anything. The overall interview was enjoyable, but the Scientology part took up all of about 5 seconds, and Nicole really didn't say anything about it, except that it wasn't her beliefs.
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Is religion hampering the progress of humanity?
by happysunshine inis religion hampering the progress of humanity?
is it an outdated 'caveman' notion that just keeps getting redressed in new clothes?
comments?
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DanTheMan
I don't know if religion is the problem as much as the "True Believer" mentality is. Stalin, Hitler and Pol Pot were fanatics as much as Osama is, but their fanaticism was centered around utopian political/social ideologies. The utopia that Hitler & Stalin dreamed of is the same sort of utopianism at the heart of religious extremism.
Though they seem at opposite poles, fanatics of all kinds are actually crowded together at one end. It is the fanatic and the moderate who are poles apart and never meet. - Eric Hoffer
The avowed aim of all utopian movements is to put an end to history and to establish a final and permanent calm. - Ludwig von Mises
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Nicole Kidman will discuss Scientology
by DanTheMan innicole kidman will discuss scientology.
nicole kidman will talk about scientology in her interview with leslie stahl slated for this coming sunday on cbs "60 minutes," says liz smith.. .
the former wife of tom cruise will supposedly reveal some of her feelings about the controversial church, which has been called a "cult.
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DanTheMan
bttt, as a reminder or for those who might be interested in watching this tonight
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Singing in the Kingdon Hall - laughing
by Pepper inoh my god, i went to a meeting a year ago, with my girl friend, in a town back east i live in utah, i sing in night clubs and bars and have a really great time.
i go to the hall and it comes time to sing, now i am used to really letting it all hang out when i sing, so i give it all i got, i seen all these's heads turn and look at me, they could tell right off the bat that i am not a good jw cause i have a beard like jesus wears, but i know the tunes because i was raised listioning to them, i loved it, they don't really sing i noticed, its sad, cause singing could be so much a part of worship, but its like you can't even do that cause if your a good singer you might stumble the others cause it may be competion, what a bunch of bs, the po, looked down his nose cause i was singing like i had life in me .
pepper
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DanTheMan
I enjoyed singing when I was a newbie.
My last year or so in, I was so distracted and not with the program that I often would totally goof up during the songs (singing the wrong verse, messing up the words, etc.)
One time I came into a meeting late (not a rare occurrence) and i missed the opening song. I sat down in front of a sister who I had never seen before, she was visiting. Well, the song to open the second meeting starts and this sister starts to sing SO LOUD, and not a good singing voice at all, very grating. I had to scrunch up my face as tight as I could to keep from busting out laughing, tears were coming out of my eyes. I must have been a sight. It was like this through the entire song, and the closing song also.
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WT goofie phrases.
by Pepper ini used to get into trouble for making light of the these phrases that some elders have told me are to be used only gods people.
lol that you all may know maybe:.
"well, brother that is very "commendable," just before the meeting ends the po says to those in attendance "brothers the time left is reduced," i once heard a co say to those seated during one of his talks "well now, we don't want to die at armageddon now do we, well of course not.
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DanTheMan
I skimmed through some of the responses to this thread, apologies for any duplication:
Heard often during the opening talk of every convention or assembly, the phrase "the faithful slave has provided a bounteous spiritual feast for our edificiation..."
"Satan's World"
"appreciation for Jehovah's provisions"
the phrase "had to have our thinking readjusted" or "we need to have our thinking readjusted" - used in talks dealing with "new light" on the 1914 generation, alternative service, etc. ; One ;elder at a congregation I used to attend used this phrase all the time in his talks and even in casual conversation, I couldn't stand it!
the word "fine"
If I ever had to go back to a KH and hear the JW lingo again, I don't know if I would vomit, ;laugh hysterically, or both.
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Is religion hampering the progress of humanity?
by happysunshine inis religion hampering the progress of humanity?
is it an outdated 'caveman' notion that just keeps getting redressed in new clothes?
comments?
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DanTheMan
That was a most excellent quote Craig, thank you for sharing.
"...the next great step which religious thought must take, and, if the voice of history is not a cheating voice, one day will take, is the liberation of the idea of God from the shackles of personality which have been riveted on it by man's fear, ignorance, servility, and self-conceit."
I don't know if this will happen in my lifetime, but I agree that this must happen. -
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Is religion hampering the progress of humanity?
by happysunshine inis religion hampering the progress of humanity?
is it an outdated 'caveman' notion that just keeps getting redressed in new clothes?
comments?
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DanTheMan
I think that exjw's are "ahead of the curve" religiously speaking. We have realized the folly of looking to an organization of fallible men to provide us with an infallible, all-encompassing, explain-everything religious doctrine.
Where I live, churches are a dime-a-dozen. I have especially noticed an increase of large, evangelical, non-denominational churches. I think that many of these churches are every bit as cultish as JW, and I believe that soon many people in these churches will also start becoming disillusioned (I know some already have), for many of the same reasons JW's become disillusioned. What I mean by this is, look at the popularity of that "Left Behind" series of books (they are most popular among evangelicals). The people in those churches are foaming at the mouth about the end of the world and judgement day every bit as much as JW's are. When the "big end" doesn't come, I think it will be the end of their religious fantasy, hopefully they like us can survive the death of their illusion.
I don't think all religion is bad, but a lot of it is. Too much religion is based on unprovable, speculative, legalistic, my-God-is-the-only-true-god-and-you-all-are-gonna-burn doctrines. I think that many religious groups appeal to people's ego and narcissism, and not to their more noble human qualities. There is a lot of Catholicism slamming on this board, but I think that Catholicism in general doesn't appeal to or create this sort of mentality.
It will be interesting to see where the world is at circa 2100. A blighted, post-apocalyptice landscape a la "Mad Max"? Or will people be able to dump their fantasies and narcissism and make this world livable? mmm...unfortunately I'm not very hopeful.