you can often tell what the purpose of something is by the results. What are the results of the WTBTS activities? Well, lots and lots of money goes somewhere - so someone is profiting, and I guess, as one person pointed out, that it is the lawyers and accountants and anyone who can talk the org. into a business arrangement of some kind. Other results? Well a group of old, mostly white, guys in NY get to stroke their egos by declaring to us all what Jehovah really wants and thinks. Jehovah must be the most fickle of beings - always changing his mind and wanting something new. Sort of like those dangerous old Roman emperors who were crazy from drinking wine out of lead goblets. Another result? Keeps a lot of people really busy running around in circles, thinking their lives are full and fulfilling, everyone is part of the org. for some reason. If they don't get anything out of it, they get out.
Hortensia
JoinedPosts by Hortensia
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25
What is the purpse of the Jehovahs witnesses
by theyoungone ini have been on this site for a while looking around at all your comments and most of you have pretty good arguments and i am not trying to argue for either side i am just wondering and maybe this has already been discussed but what is the purpose of the jehovah's witnesses most of you believe that the jw organization is a cult and that they are controlling the minds of their people, but why are they trying to control the minds of the people?
is it to get their money?
is their reports of the jws having like billions of dollars stashed away?
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Hortensia
elders were mostly 'nice' guys not competent to handle the requirements of the position, that is as far as counselling goes. Of course we had one who liked blonde little girls. How do I know? I was a blonde little girl. But they clearly weren't using their brains most of the time. When my mother asked if it was OK to divorce the homicidal maniac alcoholic she was married to, who tried to kill us on a regular basis, they said, and this is a genuine pearl of wisdom and compassion, "oh no, he is your HEAD. unless he has sex with another woman you can never leave him." What g**d*** etc. etc. a**h**** you know whats they were. They should have said they'd drive her to a lawyer and find her a place to hide. Could have saved us more than a decade of abject misery and physical abuse if they had a little common sense and compassion. If they didn't care if she got killed, you'd think they would care a little about the little kids who were living in that situation. Nooooooooo, maintaining male dominance was far more important. That's why, years later when I heard a group of women in a restaurant talking about how they handled submission, I wanted to scream and puke and beg them to wake the hell UP and be responsible for themselves and their children. What did god give us brains for, if not to use them?
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Stuck in a dead-end job because of obeying anti-higher education policy?
by nvrgnbk indid 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.
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Hortensia
sammielee's wife (is that who did the post?) was right - it helps to get your education when you are young, because it's not just the education that counts, it's starting at the beginning and working your way up in your field, which takes time that you don't have if you get your education late in life. However, I have to say that income isn't entirely tied to college education. Income is also tied to having a useful or desired skill. Useful, like carpenters and plumbers and so on, or desirable, like massage therapists. Massage therapists in our area, which admittedly is an area really dense in resorts, make about $45 an hour, and their education is measured in hours, not years. Six months in a massage school can give you a useful, desired skill that actually does good as well. And then you can afford to support your children and pursue your dreams of higher education or learning to play the piano or whatever it is you want. I really hope this isn't seen as an advertisement - I just want people to know there is more than one way to make a good income, in spite of having very little education. Get a grant or loan from the government or find a school that takes payments (many of them do) and learn how to do something that other folks will willing pay $50 an hour or more for. I am the product of a vocational school and it has made a wonderful difference in my quality of life. Also, read an interesting book titled "Your Money or Your Life."
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The CRITIC and the Phony Artist: A Lesson for us all?
by Terry infrom the washington post (02/22):.
too perfect harmony.
how technology fostered, and detected, a pianist's alleged plagiarism.
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Hortensia
Thanks Terry for the info - I didn't know a post could be edited after it was sent. Re the San Diego library, it was in pretty bad shape 20 years ago, but it had/has a small auditorium on the second or third floor and they had regular programs with visiting artists. I always enjoyed them, when I could go. Tuesday was bookstudy night, of course, but somehow I got to those performances now and then. I though the city had allocated money to build a new central library - maybe the internet has done away with anyone's desire to visit the library. I know I haven't felt the need for years, due to google and amazon.com. This doesn't really speak to the theme of this forum, so I'll sign off now.
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Favorite Quotes
by Abandoned ini love inspirational quotes.
i read through them from time to time and i always feel better after sharing the thoughts of yesterday and today's greatest minds.
"if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours.
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Hortensia
"I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours - Stephen Roberts" Oooooh, good one!
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Sorry if I offended anyone
by BFD ini had posted this topic under a different screen name but the name was deemed offensive and removed from jwd.
if my old screen name offeneded anyone, please accept my apology.
it was unintentional.
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Hortensia
I read your previous post but didn't notice the name - darn it. Now I'm curious. What was your alias? screen name? whatever? You'll get over the lingering dread of Armageddon eventually - in the meantime have some fun. Do what YOU want to do - find out what lovely things life has to offer. There's a lot of good interesting fun stuff out there - stuff you never knew about because you spent your life behind Jw barriers. The conclusion I've come to, after seeing that evolution is probably true, and all those things scientists are saying about the history and future of the universe are also probably true, is that it's all a crap shoot. We don't have any control over the big picture - but neither does anyone else. enjoy life, be responsible, carry your own load, but find ways to enjoy it all because it's temporary and a beautiful random gift of the universe.
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Favorite Quotes
by Abandoned ini love inspirational quotes.
i read through them from time to time and i always feel better after sharing the thoughts of yesterday and today's greatest minds.
"if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours.
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Hortensia
I've always liked one attributed to (I think) CT Russell when asked why he didn't answer his detractors. he said "if you have a long way to go, you can't stop to kick every dog that barks at you." And the Dalai Lama said, when asked about what makes a religion a good religion, that the purpose of religion is to teach people how to live more noble lives, and if a religion does that, it's a good religion. And Alexandra David Neel asked one of her teachers about people who couldn't do the short path meditations she was learning - if the short path meditations are too difficult, what is a person to do? Her teacher said, "well, then, they have to try to live a noble life every day." I like that - no doctrine, no control freaks, no ritual, no special clothing, or special buildings, no hierarchy, just try to live a noble life every day.
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The CRITIC and the Phony Artist: A Lesson for us all?
by Terry infrom the washington post (02/22):.
too perfect harmony.
how technology fostered, and detected, a pianist's alleged plagiarism.
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Hortensia
Joplin, not Jopling - sometimes I proof read after I hit "submit."
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The CRITIC and the Phony Artist: A Lesson for us all?
by Terry infrom the washington post (02/22):.
too perfect harmony.
how technology fostered, and detected, a pianist's alleged plagiarism.
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Hortensia
read over the posts again, saw the mention of San Diego. When I lived there, you could go to the public library in downtown San Diego on Tuesday evenings and hear wonderful performances. I remember a wonderful string quartet, a soprano singing ballads, even a wonderful pianist playing Scott Jopling for an hour. It was free, and always lovely. I wonder if they still do that? This was more than 20 years ago.
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The CRITIC and the Phony Artist: A Lesson for us all?
by Terry infrom the washington post (02/22):.
too perfect harmony.
how technology fostered, and detected, a pianist's alleged plagiarism.
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Hortensia
some interesting points made on this subject. I find it interesting to watch American Idol with my husband who is a trained tenor. I like to hear what he says about the singing, which is much more informed than my opinions, and then I compare it to what I hear and how I react to the songs and singers. I am learning a lot just because of hearing his educated opinion about the art of singing. Quite often we agree, but I can't define, the way he can, why it is I like or dislike the performance. So I'm in favor of exposing kids to excellent art and artistic performances as a part of their early education. I'd rather we spent money on concerts for kids than Iraq, for instance.