IsaacJS2

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Posts by IsaacJS2

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  26

  Getting nervous

  by FourMs in

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  i feel like i need to spill my feelings.

  after lurking on the site, i realize my story is like many here.

  the reason i am feeling nervous is that i have not broken the news to my parents yet about my inactivity as well as my standing as to what i think about this whole thing.

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  IsaacJS2

  FourMS,

  I have never been very close to my family, but the WTS served as a surrogate for a time. How sad is that?

  When I stopped going to meetings, people I'd never even met totally lost it. It was very surreal. A week went by, and suddenly my phone was ringing off the hook. I started getting 10-20 phone messages per day (before I lost the answering machine, that is). They'd find me at the dept store and "casually" ask why they hadn't seen me in so long. This wasn't long after the Society started pushing Elders to make shepherding calls, and there was some controversy over my past issues within the Body of Elders. So they took notice. Did I mention that I only live 3 mins from the Kingdom Hall?

  Yeah, zippity-do-da all the way.

  The worst of it faded after a couple of weeks. The Elders would stop by once in a while, and my old friends would happen by too...not to preach. They just wanted to get their time started or stopped! Now, I only see or hear from them whenever they get that "save him from himself" itch. I don't do the shameful silence thing any more when they do this. And they sure don't deserve it.

  I would like to make a suggestion for your future dealings with them. When they drop by to bonk you over the head, don't get upset or lose your cool. Don't just stand there, either. And whatever you do, don't plead your case or try to convince them that you are right. Aside from the fact that this will never work, it is also giving them what they want: power over you. If you try to plead your case, you are actually asking them to sit in judgment, which is partially what they've come there to do.

  When they "inform you" about what you "know" is right and try to guilt trip you, just try to answer their assertions in simple terms. Don't argue, just answer. Tell them what you think without seeking their approval. Make it clear that you aren't interested in their opinion, you are simply refuting their assumptions about you. These must be statements, not pleas for mercy or understanding. And try smiling patiently at them while you indulge them their temper tantrums. It will actually help. And if they get upset, good. Just keep your cool so they'll remember how calm and confident you were, and how desperately awful they behaved. It's the only thing I've ever found to work with them. You'll keep your dignity and shake them up just a bit.

  I've been there, and I'm writing an article on Austin Cline's atheist site on this very thing. I guarantee no shortage of people here will help you get through it as well.

  IsaacJ
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  The art of shunning your disfellowshiped family. What does it require?

  by jambon1 in

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  to most of us here, the practise of shunning a relative who disagrees with the religion, or who chooses a different path, is utterly evil, repulsive and inhumane.. i will never forget the real life stories i have heard relating to the heartbreak and misery that this 'doctrine' brings to families all over the world.

  but, what does it take to see through the councel to shun your own children, mother or father?

  in my opinion, a person who shuns their offspring or other family, is void of any natural love or affection.

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  IsaacJS2

  I'm lucky enough not to have any WT relatives, unless you count my in-laws. No one's DFed me (yet) so that's not an issue. Sometimes, I actually think it would be a plus. I've thought about DAing myself more than once over the years. Ultimately, DFing is about power and reinforcing the Borg mentality. If they succeed in pressuring you back in, then that's an admission that they were right and you were wrong. And since they think it's "tough love" on their part, they see themselves as making all the sacrifices on your behalf. This makes it a lot easier.

  How twisted is that?

  I'm also not a strongly family oriented person, so this next part is easy for me to say. But anyone who shunned me would either be shunned in return, or find me constantly walking up to them just to say, "Hi! How ya doin'?" Big happy smile, hand out, or arms spread wide for a hug. You know the drill.

  One of the things about shunning is that it makes them feel superior as they are sitting in judgment of you. I'd prefer not to let it get to me.

  IsaacJ
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  19

  What i miss from being a dub

  by KW13 in

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  2. friends

  these are the things i remember always looking forward to as a dub and when they happened it was great.. last day of convention/assemblyend of the meetingend of the ministrywhen an event was interrupted thus endingif i had a responsibility to escape the mind-numbing boredomif a visiting speaker failed to make it for the sunday meeting and it only included the watchtowerwhen the sunday watchtower was just question & answer cos of the c.o visit, pity he then wasted all that saved time.no ministry after sunday meeting cos of some reasonwhen i faked illness or even death to get out of meetings/ministry etc

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  IsaacJS2

  For me, these were merely the "least sucky parts."

  I suppose the stories we picked up from pestering people in their own homes about how wrong their beliefs are is sort of a plus. Maybe. The occasional Satanist could brighten your day. Especially when they came to the door in their black ceremonial robe.

  IsaacJ
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  24

  Movies Better Than The Book

  by littlerockguy in

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  although it is sometimes hard to put so many elements of a novel into a 2 hour screenplay and motion picture and you end up reading the book and then watching the movie and wish they would have included stuff they left out.

  however there are sometimes when you might watch the movie and end up more impressed with the movie and grown more attached to the movie than the book.

  can you think of any movies you thought were better than the book it was based on?

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  IsaacJS2

  I agree that the Lord of the Rings movies were better than the book. And I read the books first, BTW. I got them after reading the Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, having heard it was kinda similar...and was disappointed. Too much pointless wandering off the trail for the characters for me.

  Blade Runner is another, though it wasn't that much like Androids Dream of Electric Sheep any way. They had little to do with one another. I liked the original movie better than the Director's Cut.

  One thing of interest. I hated the Star Wars prequels, but the book for Episode 3 (which was based on the movie rather than the other way around) was WAY better than the movie. I actually gave a crap about the characters in the book and every thing!

  IsaacJ
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  JW's and Mormon missionary work -- shocking similarities

  by mavie in

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  the mission is great preparation for marriage, elder ward laughs as he mixes his kool-aid.. that was the most frustrating lesson ive ever been in, elder triplet says afterward.

  he likes the church.

  he thinks its true.".

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  IsaacJS2

  This is cool. Haven't read it yet, but I want to. I have family that are "Mormon wannabes." I always wonder where the similarities begin and end, and if the LDS is as much a cult as the WT or not. I understand their beliefs, when compared to mainstream Christianity, make the WT's teachings look pretty dull.

  BTW, there used to be web site that proposed the LDS and WTBS were the same org, both run by some sort of shadowy cabal. I tend to doubt this is true, however. Not that it wouldn't be funny.

  IsaacJ
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  What's the difference between humans and animals if there is no God

  by JH in

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  2. friends

  if there is no god, does this make us the most intelligent animal?.

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  IsaacJS2

  I apologize if someone already raised this point. But if God is the supreme authority, then who gave Him (or she or it) that much needed purpose people keep talking about? If no one did this for God, but he gave Himself a purpose, why can't we do the same for ouselves? It really isn't that hard to do. It's a responsibility to ourselves.

  Do you suppose that God feels crushed by the news that there's no one out there to tell him he's special? Does he need an outside source to give His life meaning? I thought the Bible told us that the answer to this question is "no." Yet somehow, he manages to go on without being in a state of misery. Or so we're told. We can too. I really don't see the problem here.

  Life is what you make of it. You don't need God to make you unique or to give your life meaning. We are, for all intents and purposes, just animals with big brains IMO. That is rather humbling. But it isn't terrible. Great men and women still do great things. Shakespeare still wrote his plays and Einstein still came up with the theory of General Relativity. Whether God is in the picture or not changes nothing about who we are.

  IsaacJ
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  28

  Do you believe in God? oR Jesus?

  by themonster123 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so....do any of you believe in some person in the sky floating around called jesus?

  or having a relationship with that person (or god) who is in some other dimension apparantly?

  being a witness, they stressed so much having a relationship with "jehovah" and all that.

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  IsaacJS2

  I am a complete and total disbeliever. For me, it just doesn't add up. I know of no religion that teaches of a god which I find plausible or that compels me to believe in it. I also don't see how the existence or nonexistence of god changes how special we are in any way. I have never really understood why people believe that it does so strongly as many seem to. To me, it's just a question of how we perceive things. But I have found that people with strong beliefs in the supernatural tend to have a very different worldview from most secular atheists. We see and measure truth in radically different ways. So different that it's hard to even communicate together about these issues.

  Obviously, I have doubts about Jesus as well. I have to question whether a historical Jesus ever existed at all, but I'm more agnostic about that one. If a normal human who lacked the ability to work miracles was the basis of the biblical Jesus, it's not really important to me either way. I do not believe that a real, miracle-working Jesus existed.

  If I'm wrong and there is a god of any sort, then I would expect it to be a deist-god. That is, one who set things in motion and went on to other things after the big bang. I don't believe in such a god, I only point out that a deist-god makes more sense to me than the usual, Judeo-Christian variety.

  No offense intended, BTW, I am only answering the question in the post. I already know that believers disagree.

  IsaacJ
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  120

  Tell us a weird fact about yourself

  by ninja in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i will start....i can speak conversational albanian....thanks to the foreign language field...really useful in everyday life as a cleaner....sniff...why didnt i pick mandarin?

  ..would be useful when they take over the world....but one day i will find an albanian to talk to ...that or a needle in a haystack....the emmerdalian world of jw's

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  IsaacJS2

  I have pet rats. My wife and I breed and raise them ourselves. (Note that I didn't say breed with) We got a couple of rats about 3-4 years ago, and one turned out to be pregnant. It just sorta went on from there.

  Rats rule. Cats drool.

  IsaacJ
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  18

  Annoying Computer fan.

  by Blueblades in

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  2. friends

  my computer fan keeps on coming on every few minutes and it is so noisy.. blueblades.

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  IsaacJS2

  I would not oil the fan. Oil won't work for too long in a fan, and it will tend to gather dust--plus you might get it on something else inside the case. At most, you can use a synthetic lubricant for electronic/electric components, but the fan really shouldn't need it. They are designed to run unlubricated. If there's a problem with the fan you will only be delaying the inevitable, and briefly at that.

  I still suggest replacing it with a quiet fan. They have decibel ratings, so you can tell which is the quietest. They are very simple to install. You really should find out which fan it is before doing anything--if it's the CPU fan, it could die on you and burn up the processor. I don't know how old that system is, but they can be expense to replace.

  IsaacJ
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  18

  Annoying Computer fan.

  by Blueblades in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my computer fan keeps on coming on every few minutes and it is so noisy.. blueblades.

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  IsaacJS2

  One thing to ask yourself is "which fan is making all the noise?" A typical desktop computer has one fan in the front, a fan (or several) in the power supply, one on the CPU, and probably one or two on the video card. Some of them can be controlled from the motherboard BIOS settings, but if you don't know what you're doing, it's probably not a good idea to mess with them. I really wouldn't recommend altering the fan to run less often. You will probably shorten the system's lifespan this way.

  Some of these fans can be replaced with "quiet" fans, which isn't hard to do. This is probably the best solution, but bear in mind that they are not as effective because they spin more slowly. The more powerful fans tend to make more noise. Does it sound like it is damaged or wearing out? Has it always sounded this way? Are you sure it's a fan and not some other part, like the hard drive?

  If it's a laptop, you probably can't do much for it at all. Otherwise, open the case with the system running (don't touch anything!) and listen for the source of the noise. Then look into replacing that fan with a quieter, lower RPM model.

  IsaacJ