Posts by marmot

4

Foreign Fighters in Iraq Are Tied to Allies of U.S.

by nvrgnbk in

jw
friends

foreign fighters in iraq are tied to allies of u.s. by richard a. oppel jr.published: november 22, 2007baghdad saudi arabia and libya, both considered allies by the united states in its fight against terrorism, were the source of about 60 percent of the foreign fighters who came to iraq in the past year to serve as suicide bombers or to facilitate other attacks, according to senior american military officials.. the data come largely from a trove of documents and computers discovered in september, when american forces raided a tent camp in the desert near sinjar, close to the syrian border.

the raids target was an insurgent cell believed to be responsible for smuggling the vast majority of foreign fighters into iraq.. the most significant discovery was a collection of biographical sketches that listed hometowns and other details for more than 700 fighters brought into iraq since august 2006.. the records also underscore how the insurgency in iraq remains both overwhelmingly iraqi and sunni.

american officials now estimate that the flow of foreign fighters was 80 to 110 per month during the first half of this year and about 60 per month during the summer.

marmot

Religion, ya gotta love it.

Oops, was I being insensitive?

7

Engagement parties...is this becoming more prevalent?

by marmot in

i don't know if this is a witness thing or if it's just becoming more common everywhere, but what's the deal with engagement parties?

it seemed like all the young couples getting engaged were throwing these elaborate bashes that seemed just like a real wedding, and my former roommate even had a freaking gift registry for his.

totally crass, in my opinion, and they never even ended up getting married.

marmot

I don't know if this is a witness thing or if it's just becoming more common everywhere, but what's the deal with engagement parties?

It seemed like all the young couples getting engaged were throwing these elaborate bashes that seemed just like a real wedding, and my former roommate even had a freaking GIFT REGISTRY for his. Totally crass, in my opinion, and they never even ended up getting married.

The only other engagement party that I went to the couple got divorced three years later.

45

get rich quick schemes, multilevel marketing, pyramid schemes and JWs

by marmot in

from my experience growing up in the jws there were two big recurring themes when it came to making money: .

1 - window washing or other janitorial work .

2 - cheezy "get rich quick" schemes and other cult-like sales practices .

marmot

Somebody mentioned Aloette, that just triggered a hidden childhood memory of accidentally taking a big gulp of that foul-tasting aloe vera juice from the fridge when I thought it was a jug of water. Yep, mom was into that too.

You also mentioned water filters and tupperware, ditto. She also sold Electrolux.

One that she was also trying to get me into was some sort of computer data back-up MLM scheme. This was at the beginning of the internet and the gist was that you would set up a home computer with tape drive back ups (or, if you could afford one, a CD burner) and do remote information storage for business who didn't want to lose their data in case of a disaster or computer failure. Of course, the claims of potential income were vastly exaggerated and the service itself wasn't an easy sell, especially at the rates you would have to charge to cover your costs.

Then there was one that my dad tried really hard to get me into that I can't remember the name of. It was some telecommunications re-selling service that was based around you pressuring your family members and acquaintances to switch to their long distance service and you would get a cut every time they made a phone call. I remember being dragged to one of their meetings and sitting through a terrible motivational speaker and being told that I, too, could become a "regional manager" for just $400.

Gah, there are probably more that I've suppressed over the years.

30

Is Smoking the practice of Spiritism?

by freedomfighter in

hi guys,.

i was raised as a jw and was baptised when i was 16. i am now 35 and have finally realised that "the truth" is actually the opposite.. my family has a long history of mental illness and i am "lucky" to only suffer deppression and panic attacks.i believe what i was taught as truth has effected me adversely.

e.g " you won't have to go to school son, armageddon will be here before then.

marmot

Actually, gesundheit is fine but "bless you" isn't according to the talmud...I mean the witnesses. Gesundheit is just German for "good health to you" (roughly translated, as per my German teacher in college) As for smoking, they equate it with spiritism because tobacco leaves were once used in religious ceremonies and the nicotine has a bit of an effect on the nervous system. Bunch of baloney if you ask me, because coffee has WAY more of an effect yet it's a-ok. Dancing is also used to enter trance-states in shamanism, yet dancing is okay too - just so long as you're not doing one of those demonic dances like the twist (look this one up on your watchtower CD library for some hilarity). I tell ya, those witnesses see the Devil around every corner.

45

get rich quick schemes, multilevel marketing, pyramid schemes and JWs

by marmot in

from my experience growing up in the jws there were two big recurring themes when it came to making money: .

1 - window washing or other janitorial work .

2 - cheezy "get rich quick" schemes and other cult-like sales practices .

marmot

If you notice I didn't say they were scams. I just said that this sort of cult-like sales thing is very common among witnesses.

21

Somewhere in the middle: Not Christian, Not Atheist

by darkuncle29 in

jw
friends

so, what about those of us in the middle?

who identify as neither xian or atheist?

can either side accept/tolerate the middle?

marmot

Atheism isn't a belief system, it just means absence of a belief in a deity. Agnosticism means belief in a deity, but uncertainty as to what that entails.

12

need good information about ice drillings

by the_end_of_eternity in

i am in this discussion with an elderm and it is all about the age of the polar caps, coral reefs etc.

for abvious reasons this is important discussion.. anyway, what is good scientific information proving (or priving not) the age is more then a few 1000 years old.... i know there have been some drillings done etc.

most siytes just give this as a fact, which i do not doubt so much, but of course he wants more prove.. same with the age of the coral islands (atols).. thanks all.. end_of_eternity.

marmot

One more thing, the mammoths found frozen solid in the tundra were NOT quick-frozen in some rapid catastrophe. Read "Frozen Fauna of the Mammoth Steppe" by Dale Guthrie.

12

need good information about ice drillings

by the_end_of_eternity in

i am in this discussion with an elderm and it is all about the age of the polar caps, coral reefs etc.

for abvious reasons this is important discussion.. anyway, what is good scientific information proving (or priving not) the age is more then a few 1000 years old.... i know there have been some drillings done etc.

most siytes just give this as a fact, which i do not doubt so much, but of course he wants more prove.. same with the age of the coral islands (atols).. thanks all.. end_of_eternity.

marmot

You're welcome.

Continental drift is not a sudden process, by the way. It's measured in what scientists call "geological time" meaning that it takes hundreds of millions of years.

As for the ice canopy theory, that one doesn't work either for the very reasons you stated. As the ice (from either an orbital ring or a comet or what have you) entered the atmosphere, the gravitational potential energy released would produce superheated steam, raising the atmospheric temperature past boiling.

The flood issue is one of the things that drove me out of the watchtower society, I'm always researching it and from what I've found so far it is impossible without the aid of miracles both to produce it and erase all traces of its supposed passage. The thing is, there are people out there who believe in proper science and are still able to reconcile their faith. I don't happen to be one of them but I do believe that they're better off than people who try to interpret genesis literally.

45

get rich quick schemes, multilevel marketing, pyramid schemes and JWs

by marmot in

from my experience growing up in the jws there were two big recurring themes when it came to making money: .

1 - window washing or other janitorial work .

2 - cheezy "get rich quick" schemes and other cult-like sales practices .

marmot

Oh yeah, forgot to add homeopathic remedies. I know NUMEROUS of those sugar pill poppers in the JWs, my mom being one of them but she's not as bad as she used to be.

45

get rich quick schemes, multilevel marketing, pyramid schemes and JWs

by marmot in

from my experience growing up in the jws there were two big recurring themes when it came to making money: .

1 - window washing or other janitorial work .

2 - cheezy "get rich quick" schemes and other cult-like sales practices .

marmot

Melaleuca, hah I had almost forgotten about that one! One of parents' close friends was heavily into that and trying to recruit us.