Edited to say: You have to cut and paste. I do not know how to put a link up.
Edited once again. Apparently it worked. lol
DazedAndConfused
JoinedPosts by DazedAndConfused
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6
Got a web site for your business?
by rebel8 inremember how the jws always promote each others' businesses?
let's stick together!
do you have a web site for your business or a book you wrote?
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Went To A Church Today
by rocketman ini've been waking up so early on sunday mornings that i finally decided to attend a church today.
it's lutheran, and a work associate invited me some time ago.
taking the risk of being uncovered as an apostate (or at least being under suspicion as one) if i'd have been seen entering or leaving the place, off i went anyway for the 8 am service.
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DazedAndConfused
I think it is great that you tried another religion. For me, and I have done a lot of research on other religions, feel like the Lutherans are the closest in how I believe. I have a problem with organised religion, with due cause, so I do not attend. My hubby was raised Lutheran, even considered being a pastor (?).
On your "con" side, if I may, I will put in rebuttals. (Sorry but I do not know how to do quotes)
"- While there was Bible reading from selected verses, the congregation simply followed along from the printed program rather than using the Bibles located on the back of the pews. On the other hand, print is print, and it's the words that are important, not so much the book itself. Still, it's easy to see why many churchgoers don't know their Bible as well as jws do (at least scripture locations anyway). "
I agree with you. I remember as a teen calling on a Baptist Minister. He then told another witness (Elder I think) that he was very impressed with how our young were taught the Bible.
"- A US Flag inside the church. After being a jw for so long, it's hard to get used to seeing a flag around. Memorial Day was also mentioned as a time of solemn rememberance. But then again, I thought as I sat there that, had it not been for the sacrifices of those who served in the military, we'd have none of the freedoms (including worship) that we enjoy today. So I can't really knock the nod to our fighting men and women. "
This brings to mind a recent thread, sorry I can't remember whose it was...but I would suggest reading Romans chapter 13.
"- Passing the plate. Again hard to get used to. But I threw in a buck and it was all good. "
I would think this is a minor deal. After all, in the Hall and at the assemblies you are tripping over boxes every 3 feet. lol
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What's Your Opinion of Putting Spy Cameras On City Streets?
by minimus inthe new york post has an article on how the police commissioner plans on having spy cameras put in certain city streets that have high crime activity----not to monitor activity as it's happening but to review footage if a crime did occur in the area---after the fact.________what's your thought on this?
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DazedAndConfused
I have absolutely no problem with it. However,...think of all the people out there picking their noses on camera! LMAO
I have another unpopular opinion also. Not to divert attention from this thread...but I feel that at birth all children should be DNA tested and then "put on the books". Yes, this may be conceived as an invasion of privacy, but if you are not doing anything illegal (which invades others privacy, usually) it should not effect you. I think that many more crimes could be solved with this policy.
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Needle exchange update
by orbison11 inwell, for those interested in my situation.
after a very long week of meetings with mayor, council, business association, etc (boy was that ever an eye opener) the needle exchange is going to be moved,,,,,,,,.
and, as i said in first post, it definately was not the place to be and the manager 'snuck' into that location, against regulations laid out for them before hand re locations, etc.
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DazedAndConfused
To be honest with you I do not understand why this was such a big deal in the first place but cudos to you for fighting for what you felt was right for you.
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Who's picketing a convention this year?
by Junction-Guy ini will be, i just cant decide where.
im trying to tie it all into my vacation, but i might just have to drive a ways for a 1 day picket within my region.
some locations i have considered are amarillo tx, cleveland oh, duluth ga, biloxi ms, columbia sc, huntsville al, little rock ar, and possibly johnson city tn, but kinda doubtful there.
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DazedAndConfused
I am offering a place for you to stay if you can make it to Tucson. I know that picketing does work. I know that to most of the R&F a picketer seems like a fool but to some you seem "right". I remember once at an assembly where I was, I was handed a tract by someone picketing the assembly. My aunt promptly took it away from me, like I was a child or something (I was an adult with a child). I was very interested at the time what they had to say. At that time I had doubts. It took me years after that to do anything about my doubts. Who knows what would have happened at the time if I only had the courage to stand up to my aunt and took that tract back.
Edited twice because my vocabulary is not so good at 10:30 at night. grrr...
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Who's picketing a convention this year?
by Junction-Guy ini will be, i just cant decide where.
im trying to tie it all into my vacation, but i might just have to drive a ways for a 1 day picket within my region.
some locations i have considered are amarillo tx, cleveland oh, duluth ga, biloxi ms, columbia sc, huntsville al, little rock ar, and possibly johnson city tn, but kinda doubtful there.
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DazedAndConfused
How about Tucson? I am willing to do it providing it is a week my parents aren't here. Maybe even with a mask. But I am willing. I even have a nice bed for you if you need one.
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I found this interesting.
by DazedAndConfused inhttp://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr3/bcr3_200505_555_3_eng.txt
albania: missionaries nonplussed by child suicide links .
media campaign blaming jehova's witnesses for mysterious spate of children's deaths raises witch-hunt fears.
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DazedAndConfused
http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr3/bcr3_200505_555_3_eng.txt
Albania: Missionaries Nonplussed by Child Suicide Links
Media campaign blaming Jehova's Witnesses for mysterious spate of children's deaths raises witch-hunt fears.
By Suela Musta in Tirana (BCR No 555, 11-May-05)
A string of inexplicable suicides by children aged nine to 16 over the past three months has sparked a media-led campaign against the Jehova's Witnesses religious group.
Statements by relatives that several of the children had been reading tracts put out by the organisation have fuelled feverish claims that the group is linked in a sinister way to the deaths.
The tragic chain of events began on February 12, when police found 11-year-old Alda Cenaj dead in her family's apartment in Fier, in central Albania. She had apparently hung herself with a scarf in the bathroom.
While the police did not attribute a motive to her apparent suicide, Alda's parents told the media their daughter had been reading literature put out by Witnesses.
Arben Cebaj, her cousin, told IWPR he had heard her speaking often about the eternal happiness believers might expect after death ? a belief which he claims came directly from the group?s literature.
The death of Alda Cenaj was followed by a number of other apparent child suicides, a phenomenon with no known precedent in recent Albanian history.
Within three months, until mid-May, the ministry of public order had registered ten cases of suicide by children aged 9 to 16.
Media interviews with relatives and prosecutors all highlighted a common link to the Jehovah's Witnesses.
The children had either been receiving regular copies of the group?s publication, The Protectors' Fortress(Kulla e Rojes), or had been taking part in its activities.
One account, which was widely published in the media, concerned the death on February 20 of 13-year-old Eriola Elezi, from Mokra e Siperme, near Podgradec.
The mayor of Podgradec, Ramazan Rapce, told IWPR that the villagers had told him that "the victim belonged to a religious association from Germany for three months prior to his suicide".
The mayor said he was sure it must have been the Jehova's Witnesses, as they held meetings in the area every Friday.
A third case involved Viron Dhani, who committed suicide in Fier in mid-April. Again, the local police declared that were investigating whether Jehova's Witnesses' literature was possibly linked to his death.
Viron's school friend, Ledion told IWPR that Viron often talked about the group, while his uncle, Vangjeli, told IWPR that "after his suicide we found Jehova's Witnesses pamphlets in his trousers".
The group was also linked to the death of Johana Rajdho, 11, who killed herself in Tirana shortly after Alda Cebaj's suicide in Fier.
"Johana was very closed in herself and she used to say she wanted to die, because only then would she be happy," Klodi, one of Johana's friends, told IWPR.
The media in Albania has rushed to place most of the blame for the suicides on the Jehova's Witnesses. An article of April 5 in the magazine Sot, after the suicide of Toni Petrushi, 13, squarely blamed the religious literature found in the victim's house for the child's untimely death.
While the media has rushed to point accusing fingers at the group, its members say they are nonplussed by the hostile claims.
A representative of the Jehova's Witnesses in Tirana, Elvis Plaku, said he accepted no link between children's suicides in Albania and his group's literature.
"Jehova's Witnesses' doctrine highlights eternal life and paradise," said Plaku.
"But I don't see that as problematic. Associating suicides with Jehova's Witnesses does not seem to me based on reality."
Mamica, another committed member of the group, pointed out that its beliefs did not countenance suicide as an option for any believer.
"The essence of our doctrine is resurrection after a successful and moral life," he told IWPR. "It should not be cut off by the person himself.
"Our purpose is to spread the light of Jehovah's teachings.We do not preach suicide."
Plaku blames the media for stirring up hostility against his organisation. "Relations between Jehova's Witnesses and the community have become strained because of the prejudiced media," he said. ?They have misinterpreted our literature. "The main fault lies with them for our worsening relations with the community."
Some Jehova's Witnesses say the suicides are far more likely to be connected to difficult circumstances at home, school or at work than to their literature.
"No one wants to say that it's ever the family's or the school's fault for these situations," Plaku said.
Media attention on the group partly reflects the fact that it has grown markedly in Albania in recent years.
Since the 1990s, some 3,500 missionaries have been active at one time or another in the country.
According to a letter sent by Michale Di Gregorio, head of the group in Albania, to prime minister Fatos Nano in May 2004, their work consists mainly of evangelising, which they do by distributing free literature, house by house.
Altin Hazizai, of the Centre for Protecting Children's Rights in Albania, agrees with members of the group that their work has no link to child suicides.
"If they promoted self-sacrifice like this, they would not even be legally recognised in the many countries where they have branches," he told IWPR.
Hazizaj believes children's suicides in Albania are more often linked to violence in the family and to troubles at school, as well as to the lack of hopes for the future.
"It wouldn't surprise me if some of the suicides were connected to the rough times Albania went through, such as the crisis in 1997 and the war in Kosovo," he said.
"All these children were born around that time and lived through these events."
Ilir Kuilla, head of the country's Committee for Cults, said he wanted to see legal proof of the group?s role in these suicides before joining its legion of critics.
"We have to watch out against joining an inquisition," he told IWPR.
"It's important that we guarantee freedom of religion for everyone and that the state protects that freedom."
In a cautionary move, however, the head of parliament's commission for public order, Neritan Ceka, has announced new legislation to set limits on "the activity of religious organisations? in relation to children".
With no firm answers about what is behind these mysterious tragedies, civic groups are demanding more information on the suicides and more preventative action.
The Network for Human Rights Protection, an NGO, urged the ministries of health and education to come up with new strategies on children's mental health and on violence in schools and in families.
Suicide has now joined the long list of problems afflicting Albanian children. Already they are at the top of Europe's list as victims of trafficking, underage employment and illiteracy.
Suela Musta is a contributor to the Balkans Investigative Reporting Network - a localised IWPR project.
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Insane real estate market
by target init is unbelievable here in phoenix arizona.
it is absolutely insane.. we listed our house at a little more than $100,000 above what we paid for it 4 years ago when we built it.
20 minutes after it went online with mls we had a full price offer site unseen.
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DazedAndConfused
I know what you mean about real estate prices being insane in Arizona. I live in Tucson. We bought a house at the end of 2003. Here it is 1 1/2 years old and I was looking at prices for the same home now and the base cost is $150,000 more than when we bought ours.
I remember a real estate agent I was talking to about a year ago and she said prices were rising so quickly here that people would sign for their new homes on Friday and before they broke land, on Monday they had $7,000 in equity already.
I live here and don't understand this for 2 reasons:
1.) It is freaking hot here, why would anyone want to live here? And:
2.) I don't know much about Phoenix and money but we here are known as the "minimum wage town."
Great for the seller, not so great for the buyer.
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JWs and moving
by rebel8 indid you ever notice that, when a dub moves, all the other dubs help?
i remember many a time when someone moved, the person would just pass it around to everyone in the kingkong hall, and they'd all show up to help.
those who had trucks were obligated to show up.
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DazedAndConfused
I have not seen ANY help in moving. The last experience I had (as a person who is out) was my parents moving. This was their congregation. They are in a very small congo. (60) I had to go to a young brothers house for help. My dad, who is over 70, was moving things literally on his back. I mean strapping washers and dryers to his back. I finally went and asked a young brother to come over since I was afraid of my father having a heart attack. The young brother came over and helped...but why did it take me asking? Lots of brotherly love. ugh!
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JW work situation
by pratt1 ini work for a rather large financial institution in nyc.
i run a large profit center and manage over 100 people.
on of my best workers is a dub doing a slow but progressive fade.
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DazedAndConfused
Wow, tough position to be in. As I was reading this thread a few things struck me:
1) You are reluctant to reveal the things you know.
2) These 2 employees are having difficulty working together.
I would take it from a non-judgemental (sp) angle. I would first 'pull in' the fading dub and get his story. I would then 'pull in' the other employee. Get both sides of the story and see what happens.
On the surface, it would seem, that the fader may be in the wrong but that is what 'investigation' is all about. Get to the bottom of this. Bring them both in together if need be. Get to the bottom of it.
No matter what, you are tied to the laws in your country. Glean information from other experiences if you can.
Like you, I am seriously on the side of the fader, but who knows...maybe this person IS a slacker. Look at all angles. Be especially aware with this one. Good luck to you.