Hi SJ, there is no need to apologize because I am not taking offense, as you can see I just don't take it that seriously. I actually appreciate the basic point you are making, I just think being preoccupied with linguistic expression misses the point in the first place.
educ8self
JoinedPosts by educ8self
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45
"Thy Kingdom Come..."
by AGuest into the household of god, israel, and all who go with, may you have peace!
i am compelled by the spirit of our lord, jaheshua mischajah, son and christ of the most holy one of israel, whose name is jah of armies, to share the following truth with you.
true, we hate suffering and pain, but all of mankind does, whether they belong to the christ or not, whether they are righteous or unrighteous.
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45
"Thy Kingdom Come..."
by AGuest into the household of god, israel, and all who go with, may you have peace!
i am compelled by the spirit of our lord, jaheshua mischajah, son and christ of the most holy one of israel, whose name is jah of armies, to share the following truth with you.
true, we hate suffering and pain, but all of mankind does, whether they belong to the christ or not, whether they are righteous or unrighteous.
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educ8self
Man, Star Wars is way overdone at this point. How about "Incoming transmission from the Big Giant Head!" from 3rd Rock From The Sun?
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How does the WT pay for sending Bethelites to University?
by nvrgnbk inare they so hypocritical that they would dare to use publisher donations to send bethelites on to higher education, while discouraging said publishers from obtaining such an education themselves?.
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educ8self
Is the hypocrisy really any surprise though, considering other things that is known? And it makes sense, you can't sustain an organization that big if everyone is ignorant.
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I was jogging with my brother a little while ago...
by R.F. in...and i have a new found appreciation for moments like these with my loved ones.
i'm not blaming this completely on the borg, but i've realized lately that i didn't spend much time with them.
between all the meetings, door to door field service, and preparing for these, i didn't have much time left for anything.
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educ8self
I appreciate that. I recently had an experience with someone online that I met in person where the initial exchange made me kind of think "Man, what a mess! This person's got issues" which is true, in our meeting they told me about their childhood dynamics and so on. But the thing I appreciated about this person is they are working on themselves, and although it necessarily involves a degree of psychologizing they were not hiding behind that structure and rationalizing everything, but rather really trying to understand themselves. And come to think of it, even that isn't SO important. The JWs in their ignorance think everyone needs to know "the truth" when in fact it's just about life when you get right down to it. The little things like enjoying your time with friends and family is to me an expression of appreciating life as it is rather than making it into something you read about and want to believe in.
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"Thy Kingdom Come..."
by AGuest into the household of god, israel, and all who go with, may you have peace!
i am compelled by the spirit of our lord, jaheshua mischajah, son and christ of the most holy one of israel, whose name is jah of armies, to share the following truth with you.
true, we hate suffering and pain, but all of mankind does, whether they belong to the christ or not, whether they are righteous or unrighteous.
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educ8self
It might be nice to update the language used for the sake of clear communication, but I guess people have this romantic attraction with old-timey bible verbiage, and the story of the bible itself as they perceive it. I won't even get into how the symbolic structure of one's mind might get seriously screwed up...
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Are Jw's trained to be just plain mean spirited?
by AK - Jeff innot long ago, i would have defended them slightly with opinions about those 'under mind control' etc.
but the further i get from jw think, the more i believe that jw's are just plain mean and hateful asses!
two situations that i relate in my life.. 1- an elder i know works in a grocery store.
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educ8self
How does it go in the NWT, "a lack of natural affection"? While it may not be indicative of the world coming to an end, I think there is something to be said for it being a sign for a life coming to an end or having become virtually non-existent. The first experience struck me in terms of how insecure the elder is, after all it was all about avoidance. Most people have some regard for others even if it's a stranger walking down the street, but JWs are taught to contradict that and defer to a world view that portrays the world as being under the power of the devil. So I don't know that mean spirited is exactly how I would describe it, more like lacking in any kind of spirit.
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Is JWD a healthy place to be for those who have left the Watchtower?
by AK - Jeff ineveryday, that i read, write, think and talk about the watchtower society makes me think whether or not i have really left it for good.. .
i fail to see the good in reliving the past in this way.
the discussion board features individuals that have 3 to 6 years on the board and individuals who have left the organization more.
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educ8self
I guess in short; the social dynamic is to me much larger than it appears on the surface. And though it could be considered a 'waste of time', what other activities in life could not be labeled the same, depending on one's persective?
I will offer one perspective, which is certainly not specific to JWD. The criteria I would go by is simply that it becomes redundant. Whether you are talking about intellectual growth, psychological healing or whatever, the human tendancy is that we revisit the same over and over, whereas the opposite is to allow change. It is only logical that one would spend a lot of time here when the JW life took a long period of their past.
And as far as one's own progress is concerned, I would say that it's more important to do this kind of self reflection rather than going by any arbitrary timeline - which is at best a generalization and not necessarily applicable to the individual. (are you going to identify "the day and the hour"? sorry.. ;) After all, even if you forced yourself to leave you might miss it, but if you are working on yourself it might come about naturally as a result.
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NO WAY!!! Cthulhu is coming to a theater near you!!!!
by avishai inthey've adapted h.p lovecrafts cthulhu mythos into a movie!!
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educ8self
I looked this up a while back, having listened to Metallica in my youth I always wondered about the name Cthulhu from that instrumental song. I had learned from IMDB that there are other adaptations but didn't remember the latest was this soon. It would be interesting to read Lovecraft at some point, there's just so much out there..
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Whats Wrong With the JW doctrines
by Lotus65 ini just unfortunately came back from the jw convention and ive only heard their side of the story i know that they use mind control tactics but i need to know what is wrong with there doctrines biblically.
i took a king james bible and seemed like what the were saying about the bible was true.
im never going to try going back to that religion again but i need to know that the only thing wrong with their religion isnt the mind control tactics they use.
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educ8self
They may use the bible in a consistent way, but that is different from interpreting it accurately - whatever that might mean. Remember you got this collection of 66 different books with a bunch of different authors, and even if you accept that they are all inspired what does being inspired mean? You see there are these bigger questions that deserve asking, but if you just say what's wrong or is this true or not you're really limiting your thinking to a very narrow view.
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educ8self
I signed on today hoping to find a thread similar to this to address education. It occurs to me that although the vocational training might be one that requires a degree and pays a lot better, as the case may be, it still maintains the same focus that JWs promote so that you don't develop a different world view in the process. I tend to see the purpose of education as broader than that. Rather than solely for the purpose of intellectually cultivating yourself as a servo-mechanism for the machine, (that is, just to do a job) education can serve that purpose as part of it's function but more importantly cultivate your mind and your self as a human being.
I for one went to college immediately after I walked away, it wasn't a related decision and eventually I dropped out - there just didn't seem to be a specific direction I wanted to go in. Looking back now I see I am too much of a generalist and am taking the initiative to educate myself about different things for a coherent understanding of the world. (there's that nice thing called the library) At some point I may go back for a degree, but I have to say the value and nature of getting an actual education is far more important to me than the credential. Not only do people with that level of perspective see through "the truth about The Truth," (incidentally I came across a book with that title) the fact that they do so show both growth as well as a better understanding of the world and possibly their place in it. Frankly I think that's when you really start living and participating in life. Rather than learning about existing roles you might fit into and choosing one, you may just contribute something unique. Now THAT is something the JW's would never get behind, after all why participate in this old system of things when you can live a hedonistic life in paradise? Just do your job as a publisher and buy your ticket.