Posts by slmdf

37

WHAT IS YOUR PERSONAL OPINION OF...?

by Terry in

jw
friends

zeitgeist.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5547481422995115331.

slmdf

I thought this was one of the most interesting films I've seen in years.

Is it all true? I don't know.

Are things taken out of context? I don't know.

Can I trust it anymore than the Watchtower? I don't know.

Will it make me think? Yes.

If that's it's intention, this film deserves an Oscar or two. One of the things I like about it is there was no "call to action". It never said, you should do this or that.... it simply stated what they believed to be the facts and let's us make the decision.

My view of the world is altered. Thank you for posting this link.

49

What Have You Purchased Thru The Internet?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i'm not a big fan of internet shopping.

what about you?

slmdf

My online shopping is getting rediculous! You have to be careful... it's like using credit. You get the rush of buying something, but you're not actually spending money (at least it doesn't feel like it) and you don't 'go home with anything'. Then, a few days or a week later, you get something in the mail, and you don't connect it to the feeling of having shopped... it's just something in the mail... and so you want to shop again. Ok... maybe I'm over-dramatizing it.... LOL

But... I just bought a 22" flat-screen monitor and a necklace, bracelet and some 'personal' items.

I never buy stuff that must be fitted like suits, shoes and most clothes.

30

What you are listening to/What you listened to recently?

by KW13 in

jw
friends

i am playing mr blue sky - electric light orchestra - love this song and matches the mood i am in right now.. you?.

slmdf

On my MP3 Player for the past few minutes have been:

Madonna - Don't Tell Me

Daniel Powter - Bad Day

Christina Aguilera - Without You

Corrine Bailey Ray - Like a Star

John Mayer - Waiting on the World to Change

Jamie Cullum - 21st Century Kid

Michael Jackson - Break of Dawn

Gwen Stefani - 4 in the Morning

Michael Buble - Everything

20

Paper asked me to write personal take on 25th Anniversary of Pride

by morrisamb in

copyright the london free press, july 28th sat edition;.

by donald dhaene a little more then a decade after the stonewall riots in new york began the modern gay rights movement, i came this close to participating in londons first gay pride event, a picnic on a sunday afternoon in gibbons park.

that first year, i still hadnt met a real, live homosexual or so i had thought.. other than being raised on their eternal damnation, my only introduction was when my public schools years-ahead-of-her-time librarian held up for us eighth graders a special book on homosexuality.. i swear she winked in my direction as she matter-of-factly suggested, if you receive your parents permission, you may sit in my office and read it.

slmdf

morrisamb -

Great article. I too am gay... have never been to Pride. This thread is very interesting... some posts make me want to go... others make me want to stay away. As usual, I'll take the info and make my own choice. that's the great thing about freedom... we can choose what suits us. We don't have to impose it on anyone else, but we can live our lives proudly.

Thank you to everyone who have made comments on this thread. I find them encouraging.

25

Another example of WT coverup!!!! Proof of Deciept!!!!! And why it matters.

by Lady Liberty in

many new ones or lurkers may not know this but charles russell was not the first wt president like they teach!

who cares you may say?

well if i showed you where they acknowledged this in 1993, but as recent as 2001 they were still printing he was, would that not be valuable to you to show others the watchtowers deliberate deciept??

slmdf

According to Yahoo Maps, Conley's house is now a Hardee's (fast food) restaurant.

297

BETHELITES - Whatever Became of?

by Black Man in

jw
friends

i often times wonder what happened to certain bethelites that i ran around with during my 1990s tenure there.

while there are still a few left there, the greater majority of them aren't there for various reasons (marriage, disillusionment, left the borg, etc).

a couple of cats i wonder about - there was one brother who i believe was from kansas, who got his fingers cut off in a printing press.

slmdf

OMG - you people are amazing. What a great walk down memory lane! I was in Brooklyn from 91 - 94.

Seeker4, I remember Ray & Eunice Spatz - as others have said, they are incredible people".

I also remember the following: (I worked in the office in photography, so most of these people are from there or Art)

Gayle Chambers
Joe & Jana Brown (some of my FAVORITE people in the world - always the rebels)
Ray Lockhart
Sau Ling Chain
Melissa ??? (her husband is the one that does the pastel artwork with the women w/ long, flowing hair)
Aaron Eckburg
George & Phyllis Smith (they are at Patterson now... very nice people)
Don ??? - he was a prick and a half!!! Was the office overseer for years then was replaced by...
Barry Brachna - we all thought he'd be single for life, but he left Bethel to get married in his 50's

Darn... I'm drawing a blank! There are SO many. Thanks for the memories!!! Let's keep this thread going!

Steve

17

Help needed.

by KW13 in

jw
friends

i always try and put a happy face on things, i am a happy person in many ways - i have a wife i love and a son on the way who i cant wait to meet but all the time something is wrong.. i suffer from depression and from time to time it gets me down and when i say down i mean down, maybe it was because i was at a really impressionable age but i became a jehovahs witness i found so much comfort in being in a giant bubble - i only appreciated some of the positive aspects of being a witness after leaving.

i was told i'd not see the end of high school cos i'd be in a paradise, that i'd be a young boy leading animals etc and the simple fact is, the thought of death itself frightens me.. i find it hard to fit in the world properly, like a square where a circle should go.

i stick out really badly in most situations, people detect always there is something 'different about me' despite my best efforts to hide it.. my coping mechanisms make me angry, frustrated and tired at the best of times and i just want to complete stage 2 of escape this cult.

slmdf

KW -

Our hearts are with you. My ex suffers from terrible depression. It causes her physical pain in the form of a nagging body ache. My advice would be similar to the others. Just don't give up and find a therapist to talk to. If that becomes too expensive, seek out a trusted friend to talk to. Spell out the support you need and what they can expect. Tell them how they can help you... because they won't know how. PLEASE.... don't be afraid to reach out for help. It's one of the strongest things a human can do. It can save you.

We are here for you. You will be ok.

23

Aren't Jehovah's Witnesses just living in a ''Comfort Zone''?

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

my immediate family,aunts,uncles,and cousins have been members for over 25 years.

they attend every meeting,put in their 10 hours of monthly sevice,attend assemblies out of state every year,give talks at the ministry school,avoid "worldly friends'',and do everything the wts requires of them.

they really can't see that the wts has lied to them and will continue until someone steps back and opens their eyes.. what needs to happen in order for someone to get out of the ''comfort zone''?

slmdf

I believe we all create our own reality. JWs' reality is that if they "endure to the end" they will reap a huge reward - that is their focus and it doesn't matter what anyone says or does... they are determined not to give out. The "paradise" they long for is the future reality they they've created for themselves. Odd thing is... they'll get it; maybe not exactly in the way they think.

So, are JW's in a comfort zone? My ex used to say when I asked her if she really believed everything the Watchtower teaches, "Where else would we go?" reminicent of Simon Peter asking Jesus, "Lord, whom shall we go away to?" In that sense, JW's are in their comfort zone. They have found a menu of beliefs that they can live with and accept. Unfortunately, what they don't know is the peace and joy that comes from thinking on your own; making your own decisions; creating your OWN reality, instead of living the reality created by the Governing Body.

I think we ALL are searching for a zone which we find comfortable. But, most (including JW's) are sincere in trying to live their comfort to the best of their ability, and to contribute the best they can to society in general. However, JW's choose to not know what they don't know... and they choose not to know the comfort outside the Watchtower. There is so much more to life.

36

Stern magazine - important!!!

by cultswatter in

as we all know, this picture is the subject of much controversy.

this is the picture that the wts stole and put into the live forever book.

please note the lower left of that picture.

slmdf

Hi all!

As many of you know, I worked in Photography at Bethel and worked with the artist who created this "artwork". His source material for his photographs - every limb, every shoe, every long-haired woman comes from magazines. He copies everything. Oddly enough, his wife, who is as sweet as can be, has very short hair... but in ANY picture he creates (they are all pastels) the women always have long-flowing hair. He is obsessed with women with long, flowing, voluminous hair. In fact, this guy did the first version of the small tract that witnesses call the "new world" tract. It's different now because the Org got sued because the design of the sole on the shoe on the kid's foot was trademarked. In true form, this artist used this shoe company's advertisement as a basis for his artwork and copied it exactly - so the society was sued. So, they changed the picture on the tract. It was re-done by another artist - a very sweet woman named Galye.

anyway.... if you see any pictures with voluptuous women with long hair and they are pastels, it's this guy and you can bet he got his material from a magazine or, apparently, some recently viewed porn. LOL

7

Isn't this agains WT Recommendations

by unique1 in

jw
friends

http://virtualkingdomhall.com/.

slmdf

OMFG!!! I would say so... but it's SO well done, it's almost as if it is sanctioned by the WTBTS.

Funny thing is that you have to download a "small file" in order to run the program. I bet it's some kind of spyware that tracks the websites you go to and reports it back to the spies at Bethel. Then they write your local elders and get you in trouble. ha ha ha... that would be funny, but also very sick. However, it wouldn't surprise me.

Anyway... is anyone going to sign up and listen in while this lasts???

GREAT find!!!!