catbert

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Posts by catbert

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  17

  Describe your Spirituality after Leaving JW's please

  by esw1966 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  what has been your attitude toward religion after leaving jehovah's witnesses?.

  did you search for religious truth?

  scoff at religion?

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  catbert

  I think what it all boils down to is the saying "there are no athiests in foxholes".
  
  The present state (and previous state going way back) of humans demands a fate higher than that of the monkeys and apes. Our larger brains allow us to understand and hate the finality of death. We cannot accept it, and have not been able to for quite some time now.
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  159

  Firearms And Shooting...

  by Justice-One in

  1. social
  2. physical

  i thought i would open up a thread on firearms and shooting.

  personally i was raised around firearms as my dad was not a jw.

  some of my earliest memories are of my dad teaching me how to put a round in a fleas ass at 200 meters.

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  catbert

  nicolaou,
  
  I listen to the BBC news, and it appears that people in your country stab each other with knives more often than they kill each other with guns. Still, you have way fewer crimes with weapons in your country than we have in the USA.
  
  Very very few if any of the gun loving Americans you meet on this forum will ever need to defend themselves with their guns. Most gun crime in this country is criminal vs criminal. Drug dealer vs drug dealer.
  
  As a gun owner, I have fallen victim to a certain paranoia that comes with handgun ownership in the USA. When you talk about handguns with fellow USA handgun owners, you start talking about your handgun choices the same way you talk about high performance cars or computers, but the nomenclature is different. Terms like "stopping power", "bullet expansion", and "perp" and arguing between the performance of an autoloader versus the reliability of a revolver, and your ability to "group" numerous shots at the gun range at high speed becomes important. Keep in mind, most of it is just "big talk". A justified kill in the USA is hard to come by. You shoot someone, you will go in front of a judge and jury. You shoot an unarmed man in your house, you will go in front of a judge and jury, and maybe do time. 99.99999856% of outspoken American handgun owners will never shoot at anyone. But, having a S&W Model 66 loaded with Winchester Silvertips in the nightstand feels good, much better than just having a baseball bat. Hey, we live in a dangerous world! These are the "End Times"!
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  16

  An Unexpected Gratitude.... (kinda long)

  by BrendaCloutier in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i got married in june 1975 at 18-1/2 years old.

  this after being pulled out of h.s.

  (3.4gpa) to go into the ministry and regular pioneer, or eventually find a husband.

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  catbert

  Brenda,
  Do you have kids now?
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  16

  An Unexpected Gratitude.... (kinda long)

  by BrendaCloutier in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i got married in june 1975 at 18-1/2 years old.

  this after being pulled out of h.s.

  (3.4gpa) to go into the ministry and regular pioneer, or eventually find a husband.

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  catbert

  Brenda,
  You have been sober since 1990? Good for you. Really. I read my previous email and it seemed a bit harsh. I have regrets over being a party guy and watching my friends get drunk in front of their kids. I just recall looking at an 8 year old girl watching her father on the floor next to the toilet saying "I think he drank too much." That sucks.
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  16

  An Unexpected Gratitude.... (kinda long)

  by BrendaCloutier in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i got married in june 1975 at 18-1/2 years old.

  this after being pulled out of h.s.

  (3.4gpa) to go into the ministry and regular pioneer, or eventually find a husband.

  1. 
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  catbert

  Brenda,
  
  Are you being sarcastic?
  
  I am drinking right now, and I am glad I am not exposing kids to me!
• 
  16

  An Unexpected Gratitude.... (kinda long)

  by BrendaCloutier in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i got married in june 1975 at 18-1/2 years old.

  this after being pulled out of h.s.

  (3.4gpa) to go into the ministry and regular pioneer, or eventually find a husband.

  1. 
  2. 
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• 

  catbert

  First, I am glad you are doing well. It sounds like you are.
  
  So do I understand correctly that you do not have kids now? When I hear a story of destructive alchoholics, and hear they did not have kids, I derive a bit of satisfaction from that. Kids should not have to be exposed to that. Alchoholic parents = bad in my opinion. Haven't heard many good stories from kids who had alchoholic parents.
  
  I was raised JW, but my parents walked the walk, and still do. Never drunk, never high. I respect them for that. I have nothing bad to say about my parents.
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  30

  I'm going to get out

  by Sacchiel in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  hey everyone, i've been examining my faith and found it doesn't stand up to biblical theology.

  its going to be hard since a lot family and friends will very likely repudiate me.

  i have taken some steps to introduce topics to my family that will get them to analyze the wt teachings.

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  catbert

  Yes, as many have recommended here, just fade. Thats what I did when I left home in my 20's. I can still associate with my JW family. When I am with my JW family, I never say anything negative about the Org.
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  8

  What world do you live in? (long read)

  by rune in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is just a little babble of mine.

  once you are finished i would really appreciate if any of you could take the time to flesh out just what existence and the world is to you.

  describe the sensation, the feeling with which you generally take it...everything to do with your perception.

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  catbert

  I have always been fascinated by savants, and have wondered if someday we will be able to tap into our own brains capabilities with the use of drugs.
  
  I wonder if a big leap in understanding time, parallel universes, or other big topics will be done by artificial savants, smart people altered by drugs to see and understand things in ways that normal people like us cannot.
  
  http://www.discover.com/issues/feb-02/features/featsavant/
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  8

  What world do you live in? (long read)

  by rune in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is just a little babble of mine.

  once you are finished i would really appreciate if any of you could take the time to flesh out just what existence and the world is to you.

  describe the sensation, the feeling with which you generally take it...everything to do with your perception.

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  catbert

  Rune,
  
  Pretty heavy stuff! A mix of psychology, physics and chaos theory!
  
  Read this:
  
  http://www.hawking.org.uk/lectures/dice.html
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  145

  Cannabis vs Alchohol and Other Man Made Pharmacuticals

  by OpenFireGlass in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well for starters i do have a prescription for cannabis (insomnia / depression).... why would i want to take pharmacuticals for insomnia/depression?

  i mean, what if i get prescribed/addicted to a pill, that one day i might not be able to afford?

  (if you/i grow cannabis it's more/less free)... now the moral issue... who is more likely to beat the shit out of their kids?

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  catbert

  All creatures want to "feel good". Man happens to have the technology and intelligence to make it happen. Monkeys would smoke pot, but they haven't figured out how to roll joints yet. (Watching them try is a real hoot!) As far as saying "Jehovah" created pot for our enjoyment... Well he also created arsenic, nicotine, poison ivy and mosquitos. I tried smoking mosquitos once when I was drunk. That sucked....