Posts by thecarpenter

20

Al Franken

by nvrgnbk in

jw
friends

any al franken fans out there?

thecarpenter

I use to love his skits on SNL, but like Radisson, I don't care for his political views. As for the Maha Rushie, he rocks!!!

72

BASIC thinking....a TEST of how rational we are.

by Terry in

darkness and light.. something and nothing.. heat and cold.. happiness and sadness.. love and hate.. which of the above are actually existing things and which are conceptual constructs?.

hint: this is a trick question.

but, go ahead and answer anyway.

Then and now, your journey on JWD

by greendawn in

when you compare the way you feel now as members of this forum with how you felt on your early days here what sort of thoughts and feelings come up?

what was your journey here like?

for me i have gone a long way, when i came here i loathed typing long posts, and hardly knew how to go about forums i was basically a forum virgin.

hmmm, this is a pretty good question. I have to say that when I left the Jdubs (after reading Crisis of Conscience), I came here at the suggestion of a friend. I had looked at this site previously but wasn't really interested in joining a forum. Once I made up the decision in my heart that I wasn't going to return to the organization, I was more determined to investigate it more thoroughly. I was just blown away at the level of scholarship of some of the posters, the strength of the logic and evidence presented on the site. I spent months pouring over the personal experiences of the various posters, reading up on the debates of WT apologist, following up on the issues related to the WT and so on. The forum helped to remove any lingering doubts that I had regarding my decision to leave and reinforced my hope and courage to start over again.

It has been almost a year now and I don't feel guilty over my decision nor do I feel that somehow the watchtower is god channel of communication. (miscommunication and deceit is more appropriate) I also had the wonderful privilege to meet a number of JWD'ers at a mini-apostafest, meetup groups and just a dinner here and there. Met elsewhere, truthsetsonefree, lonelysheep, radisson, pratt1, RR, audispere, CD, stevenyc, Asheron, BetterDaze. Great bunch of people and I hope to meet more in my 2nd year on JWD, maybe gumby, mary, metatron (I never met a big M&M before), blonde, gary buss, dogpatch, purplesofa, auldsoul, Leolaia, lady lee, JH, terry, honesty, blackswan of memphis (thump, thump, thump) and so on. (sorry if I excluded anyone but there are too many people to type that I would like to meet)

By the way, thanks simon for the forum.

10

Meet ups

by DJK in

are there meet ups planned for the new england area?

if not, how can i get direct info about starting plans?

thecarpenter

Well the next NYC Ex-Jehovah's Witness Friendship Group will be meeting on March 17th at 6:30pm.

http://www.slate-ny.com/

Slate
54 West 21st Street
New York , NY 10011
212 989-0096

If you are in the area, join us. We had 11 people in each group the last two months, 4 of them were jwd posters. It was a real blast.

Lonely sheep, we'll save a seat for you.

49

Stuck in a dead-end job because of obeying anti-higher education policy?

by nvrgnbk in

jw
friends

did you refrain from obtaining a degree or advanced studies when you had the chance because it wasn't the witness thing to do?

how has this affected your life?

comments, rants, and personal experiences please.

thecarpenter

Well, I regret not finishing school when I first became a witness almost 25 years ago. I struggled job wise for a number of years while I pioneering and immersed myself with other WT cult activities, ignoring other important activities in my life. I did succeed though in eventually getting a good job (income, benefits, pension etc...) But honestly I feel I shortchanged myself in the process. I started school again a few months after my last meeting with the borg and what a great time I been having. I always loved school and even though I'm in my 40's, I plan to get my bachelors and probably apply to graduate school for my masters or PhD (maybe even medical school if I can maintain a high GPA ha, ha). I don't view school as a burden but as a joy and now I am living part of a dream.

Where I go from there, who knows but I am enjoying the ride.

'I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.' - Henry David Thoreau

24

What kind of work would you like to do?

by averyniceguy in

jw
friends

what kind of work would you like to do?

just do not consider how much they pay.

thecarpenter

Well I'm a carpenter and I love building things. But I noticed a toll construction takes on the body so I'm back in college and majoring in psychology. (Hey Lawrence - great minds think alike)
I don't plan on ever stopping woodworking but I do like intellectual pursuits as well.

28

Camera rolling..............take 2.......

by ButtLight in

jw
friends

ok, this clip was 30 min long, so i had to edit and cut out stuff.

we set it up on the tripod, and left for about 15-20 min.

then went down and talked to the orbs/dust/glitch/bugs.......(oh and infrared waves).

thecarpenter

have you had you home tested for Radon?

22

Can You Identify Your EmotiCons accurately?

by J-ex-W in

lol .

i was glancing through the active topics and read terry's thread this way.

had to do a double take--especially since i have had trouble identifying my emoticons accurately!

thecarpenter

some people here have too much time on there hands....

201

Things YOU eat, that other people think is weird.

by misanthropic in

jw
friends

this mornings events have got me thinking about things.

i love peanut butter, not the sweet kind but i like the old fashioned peanut butter, usually laura scudder's with no sugar or preservatives - it just tastes better imo.

i put it on everything including pancakes which are really good with peanut butter and maple syrup.

thecarpenter

Hey, for those who live in NYC, I just found a place in lower manhatten that sells corn ice cream:

Cones
272 Bleecker St (Cross Street: Between Morton Street and Jones Street)
New York, NY 10014-4104

When we have our ex-jwmeetup group this summer, I'm going to take everyone there for some corn ice cream.

25

The WatchtowerLogically Wrong But Emotionally Right?

by The wanderer in

jw
friends

the watchtowerlogically wrong but emotionally right?months of battles between my best friend and i have fallen to the wayside .

and we can now calmly talk about the watchtower society without an ex-.

plosive confrontation.

thecarpenter

You can't go by emotional fulfillment alone. There are many groups that can give you a sense of belonging, a sense of fulfillment, even extreme groups. Here is a video that you may want to show your friend. It is a video of some of the Heavens Gate cult before they killed themselves. Noticed how nice and happy they are and how sure they feel about their beliefs.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=o1V4vDMHVQc

Although it is extreme, the point is they were totally indoctrinated and certain in their actions of what they were going to do was right.

If a person has come to see that the WTS has been "deceptive," willfully controlling and manipulating multiple generations of families for a hundred years--and does not have some degree of indignation--I submit they do not see the picture clearly.

Confession hit the nail on the head.