I think volatire hits the nail on the head. Quilting, or making musical instruments, or almost any other hobby or craft are often done to relieve stress; and much of that stress comes from regular participation in "theocratic activity".
Posts by DB
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20Ever been counciled for doing a craft??
by lydia incoming from central pa - i get to see lots of quilts - and i have started to quilt myself - although i recieved lots of council about spending the long hours alone on a quilt ( the brother apparently never heard the words "quilting bee" ) i finally quit doing them for a while because of the pressure i was getting..... finnally when i realized that i needed to do some form of craft as a stress reducer ( from all the pressure from the borg) i told the elders where to go - and also said " i'd be happy to quit quilting - are you going to pay for the pyschiatri help and the meds they may prescribe??
this is therapy for me!!".
it shut him up for a bit.. .
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15
Mormons in the neighborhood.
by Princess intoday as i was pulling into my driveway i noticed two young mormon "elders" at my neighbor's house.
they stood on the porch and watched me pull into my garage, obviously had just been at my house.
i thought for sure they would be marching right over to inquire as to whether i was interested in learning about their church.
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DB
About three years ago, two (cute) Mormon girls called at my home. My wife and I discussed some matters with them, informing them that we were jws. The mormon girls were very nice. They stated that they do the door-to-door preaching for two years, then that's all that they are required to do.
Recently, in a car group in service, we saw two mormons on the street. Someone in the group mentioned that they did their preaching for two years. Of course, the witnesses with me mentioned how we are superior because we preach all our lives. Ugggh.
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95
Okay Fess Up: What's Your Handle Mean?
by Mindchild inokay fess up: whats your handle mean?.
my handle: mindchild comes from computer scientist and futurist dr. hans moravec: who wrote the book, the future of robot and human intelligence which is a book about when we will be able to construct machines capable of human intelligence and raises the possibility of uploading ourselves (every thought we ever had) into an android body much superior to the human ones we have now.
i entertain the hope that not only will i live long enough to see this happen, i will transfer myself (the complete essence of what is me) into a body of my own choosing and become immortal if i so choose.
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DB
From the song "The Ballad Of Danny Bailey", I got the DB initials. The song appears on Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album. It's my all-time favorite song.
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37
"Stupid...Hateful..Evil.."?
by Englishman inat first glance, most people would say that there are lots of very good jws around.
ok, we reason, maybe they are a little misguided, but most of them mean well.
we particularly like to think that way about our friends and loved ones who are in the organisation, we dont want to regard them as being unkind and uncaring.
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DB
To a degree, I agree with this post by Englishman. While I would stop short of using words like "evil" and even "stupid", I can attest that:
1. Some of the Witness friends that are of my daughter's age have been far more manipulative than her school friends.
2. I do not think that being a Witness makes people "better" husbands, wives, children, etc., as the Society claims. While in some cases some people straighten out lives that may have been plagued by drug abuse, violent behavior, etc., such claims can be made from many religions.
3. Witnesses emphasize being busy in their activities rather than developing traits that make people more likeable. Things like field service and meeting attendance are valued, while personal qualities take a back seat. As a result, they end up with quite a few nasty folks who have no incentive to treat people nicely because they feel very good about themselves since they are very active in JW activity.
The WT has even claimed that "personality enhancement" is not a goal of their educational work. Yet, to me, full development of the "fruitage of the spirit" would include qualities which help a person to be nice to others. -
28
Praying before meals
by teejay inmy jw wife is teaching my nearly-3yr old to pray before meals.
i'm cool with that... doesn't bother me at all.
the problem is, i'd like to accept my role as father but i don't know how to lead in this area.
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DB
You could pull a Homer Simpson (or a Bart, as quoted by Simon in his reply): 'Dear God, we know you are omnivorous'.
Though a jw, I pretty much gave up prayer quite a while ago, including pre-meal prayers. About two years ago, I asked my family to just pray silently on their own when we ate (we mostly eat on tray tables while watching TV).
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I Attended a Christian Convention last weekend
by Prisca inwhen i was a jw (born and raised), i was lead to believe that the clergy class of christendom was some elite class who ruled over the meek and mild sheep of the congregation; that they wore fancy robes to do their services in, and generally were every bad thing the wts told me they would be.. they lied.. i attended a christian convention just this last weekend.
it was a non-denominational one, meaning you didn't have to be of a certain faith to attend, neither were some of the speakers who participated.
however, the organisers were from the anglican (church of england) religion so the communion on sunday was conducted according to anglican tradition, but i'll get to that later.. one of the things that hit me first was that you were allowed to wear what you liked.
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DB
Hi Prisca, I'm glad to hear that you had such a good time. Some things I made mental note of: The dress and grooming, the enthusiastic singing, and the reading from the Bible, in context. Sounds like a good thing indeed!
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Is Watchtower Literature inspired?
by YoYoMama inthe question.
is all watchtower articles, books, etc.
inspired by god as the bible was?
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DB
YoYo, I have been a jw for almost thiry years, and even I have to say that your illustration is found wanting, to say the least.
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experiences from the 2002 yearbook.....venting
by flower inif i have to sit here and listen to the father reading any more experiences from the yearbook i'm gonna puke.
hes all happy cause they are such great experiences.
they hold on so desperately to hear something exciting because their own daily lives are so bleak.
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DB
Last week in service, an elder in our car group was rattling off some experiences. Then, believe it or not, someone in the group actually kind of wondered out loud if those experiences are exaggerated. And low and behold, there was actually a bit of laughter in the group.
Also, most of those gems occur in underdeveloped lands. Makes you wonder as well.
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Response from the Society
by Sirona ini posted a while back with a copy of the letter that i sent to the society.
its at : http://www.geocities.com/lovelight75/socletter.htm.
here is the response.
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DB
To "malcomx": I think your comments are inappropriate. Sirona has every right to ponder serious questions and and express her views. She has a right to question certain teachings. We all have that right. To write such comments as "jehovah will send a fire ball with your name on it" is irresponsible to say the least. What makes you so sure that there's not a fireball up there with your name on it? And yes, I ask myself the same question, so don't worry.
People are not going to be won over by threats. The "truth" (whatever truth is out there) should appeal to the heart. It is not meant to be a club used to beat people.
It continues to amaze me (though, maybe I should not be amazed) that the ones who post the most fear-mongering, threatening, and judgemental messages on this site are those who claim to support Jehovah's Witnesses.
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JW Education Status
by Scully inthis was posted on alt.religion.jehovahs-witn, just thought i'd share it with you:.
the following figures from an article in newsweek represent the number of college graduates within each religious group in america.
can this be used to relate the intelligence of the membership of each religion?
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DB
Though the door has been opened, so to speak, higher education is still discouraged to a great degree, as evidenced in the series of KM parts this past summer.
This is an orgainzation that does indeed seem to have two faces, or speak out of both sides of its mouth. For example, a few years back, during an elder's meeting with the CO, the CO stated that the brother reading at the WT study is to stand while reading the paragraphs. I cited a WT article, Aug 1999, which mentioned that in some congregations, standing to read the paragraphs at the WT study was somewhat optional (I believe the term "custom" was used). The CO seemed annoyed at me and mentioned that the articles were geared to the public, and that the direction he was giving from the Society's outline was more specific.