Posts by mavie

2001: A Space Odyssey

The scene in Act I where our common ancestor discovers a bone can be used as a tool to kill represents the dawn of mankind. The tool is almost immediately used to kill others of its kind. Fast-forward to today, conflict resolution hasn't changed much.

I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit that I get a knot of excitement in my stomach when I watch the 'bone smashing' scene. Watching our common ancestors become tool users coupled with the elegant and bombastic Thus Spoke Zarathustra gets me every time.

That scene connects me to what it means to be human.

65

Show your desktop! (and comment on others)

by KW13 in

jw
friends

share your desktop with us!.

its fairly simple to do.

on your keyboard should be a button that says prtscn, printscreen or something similar on it right up in the top right corner.

mavie

http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/4295/desktopus1.jpg

I took this myself at Cannon Beach on the Oregon Coast. Applied a paintbrush effect in Photoshop to hide the people on the beach. I like the result.

28

So many newbies lately. What drove you to finally post?

by OnTheWayOut in

jw
friends

there are so many newbies in the last month or so.

it's like spring cleaning.

at the old wts, time to push out the doubters and apostates.

mavie

R.F. I'm not surprised to read that. There is no reasonableness, only right and wrong, no matter the situation. Life isn't so black and white.

28

So many newbies lately. What drove you to finally post?

by OnTheWayOut in

jw
friends

there are so many newbies in the last month or so.

it's like spring cleaning.

at the old wts, time to push out the doubters and apostates.

mavie

R.F. your story sounds very familiar. When I started to slow down due to my wife being suicidal I was told to pick up the slack. I missed one month of field service to be home with my wife, make sure she didn't kill herself. I was told to 'never do that again'.

I'm not angry at those people, they are deluded. However, I realized I needed to get out.

64

Time to make my thoughts known......

by R.F. in

i have lurked around here for a little while and i've finally seen the need to post.

i'm 22 years old and a ministerial servant and pioneer in my congregation.

i'm not really here to knock the organization, but i must admit that there are some things(ex.

mavie

Welcome R.F.!

I'm glad to see you here examining and researching the facts for yourself. As you mentioned, a loving God would want his subjects to know that they are serving in the proper way.

I used to be an M.S. I was raised as a JW. My entire family are JW's. I left after realizing the Watchtower is not what it claims to be. No matter how sincere they may be, they are not what they claim to be.

I heard someone talking about the LDS church the other day. He said:

"I left the church because I felt that I was forced to conclude that for whatever else it might be, it wasn't what it claimed to be...(I) risked my life for the church."

"I don't think that I can delude myself into thinking, or to make it ok, for my children to put their lives on the line for the 'thing' if it's not what it claims to be. It might be the best 'thing' ever invented, but if it's invented, it's not worth dying for." - Tal Bachman

This applies to JW's as well. Even if living as a JW is the best way of living, if it's invented, if it's not real, it's not worth living.

I lost my family, divorced my wife, and lost all my friends during my exit. It was worth it because I'm now living a life which is not invented. I'm being true to myself.

-M

(By the way, I got the above quote from a Mormon special on PBS. Here is the link:

http://www.pbs.org/mormons/

The Tal quote is from part 18 from about 3:30 - 5:00 minutes.)

44

Cicuit Overseer and District Overseer came looking for me today............

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

last week was the 2 day assembly.i didn't go to either one.

today,my mom called and told me the the c.o.

and d.o.came for a visit.i've been attending only once a week and no field service in about 4 years.

mavie

I skipped the MS meeting with the CO during my exit. It was great.

The quicker the better. You will be screwed over by friends and family regardless of how you exit. I would recommend one swift kick in the nuts and be done with it verses 200 punches elsewhere.

4

Count-Down 4: Treasure Freedom

by Amazing in

jw
friends

jws are slaves of men: perhaps no other verse so clearly epitomizes the fundamental problem with the religious teachings of jehovah's witnesses than what paul said at galatians 5:1: "it is for freedom that christ has set us free.

stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

" (niv) of course, paul had in mind the enslavement to the law of moses.

mavie

Great post Jim. The scripture in Galatians may help me one day with my family.

Also, say it ain't so! You can't leave!

39

How much have you changed since you left the JWs..........

by fifi40 in

jw
friends

the reason that i ask this question is for two reasons mainly.. firstly, my experience as a jw and within the various congregations i was part of, was that they were a very mixed bag.

there were those who were very devout, studious and appeared to be very humble and placid in nature.

there were those that were very judgemental of others.

mavie

Things that haven't changed:

Idealistic

Lover of education

Things that have changed:

Easygoing now

Can actually pursue that education I love

More aware of people around me

"I want to live and breathe

I want to be part of the human race."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I-i-1d0hsI

I'm now a part of the world. Yet not a 'worldly'. That doesn't exist. Life isn't black and white.