GentlyFeral

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Posts by GentlyFeral

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  21

  Life is not worth living - ? Review of Frankl's book.

  by DanTheMan in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is a customer review from amazon.com for the famous book mankinds' search for meaning by victor frankl.

  what do you think of his comments?

  do you agree or disagree, and why?

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  GentlyFeral

  This reviewer has only proved that there is no underlying purpose to life. He hasn't proved that life is not worth living once you have it. Frankly, I don't see any point in going out of your way to deny the biological imperative. Suicide may, in extreme cases, be a practical solution, but I can't see it as a philosophical principle.

  I agree that there isn't any intrinsic meaning in life -- except pleasure. And I don't mean just diddling the nerve endings, but everything that leads to any kind of happiness; this covers all the ground between hot monkey sex, communion with god, and the creation of fine art -- with plenty of room in between for kittens and rainbows and babies. Pleasure is its own justification. The Book of Mormon is right on this one point -- "Men are that they might have joy."

  GentlyFeral
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  42

  What Are Your Goals For The Memorial Season?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  be zealous for what is good!

  is the article of the latest km.

  there's a box in the article that has the following question---what are your goals for the memorial season?-----here are the check off points that should be answered to this question.

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  GentlyFeral

  Memorial...?

  Who died?

  GentlyFeral
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  4

  JW Friends

  by ClassAvenger in

  1. social
  2. relationships

  .

  i've always wondered what jehovah witnesses think about a friend who is a non-jw.

  do they pretend to be good to you from the outside while thinking in their heads that you are "worldly" and that nothing good will come out of the non-jw?

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  GentlyFeral

  ClassAvenger: Yes, exactly -- but they'll deny (privately) that your Bible knowledge is worth a fart in a hurricane -- all "distorted" by centuries of "apostasy," don't you know, and therefore dead wrong.

  Gently Feral
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  13

  Holiday Today for Pagans

  by gsx1138 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  imbolc starts today!

  february eve, norns, disir and valkyries.

  today is the beginning of the festival of imbolc, or brigantia.

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  GentlyFeral

  Robdar, thanks so much for posting The Heavenly Banquet. It's one of my favorite spiritual poems.

  Well, I'm having a very satisfying Imbolc. For me it's all about the goddess Brigid, She of healing, smithcraft and poetry. So I celebrate Her day as a festival of poetry.

  And for me, as for some of my other invisible friends, poetry and trance blend into each other. It's a very instructive time, and I get to plant a few seeds of art.

  I was invited to an Imbolc rite by my ex-witchcraft teacher, but was too pissed off to go (she dumped me as a student, for pretty good reasons, but it took me till now to admit how much that hurt). So I ended up celebrating with Brigid all by myself, just me and a dead French poet and a green fairy. Had an instructive vision and got a couple of scraps/seeds of verse.

  Now that I've attended to the poetry, I'm going to do some more magic/worship tonight, about work (for me, smithcraft is the root of all kinds of work and technology) and healing.

  Happy Imbolc, everybody!

  gently feral
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  28

  Lost My Job Part 3

  by Yizuman in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  well, there's another update... .

  if you missed my previous 2 posts, here's some to catch up...part one and part two.

  i emailed the township trustee and i told her of my situation and that he found out from my dad that i lost my job at wal-mart and i have been trying to buy time to find another job with no avail.

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  GentlyFeral

  Yizuman, it just occurred to me to tell you what my sister did in the same situation. She lost her job and was unemployed for six months. To top it off, she has hip dysplasia, and it was getting so bad she was almost unable to walk. She made the mistake of applying for unemployment and disability at the same time, and the EDD found out and said applying for disability had disqualified her for unemployment. (This was in California. Don't know if it applies elsewhere.)

  And six months without a job. She was living on ramen and potatoes, mostly. She still had internet access -- stalled her ISP for a few weeks -- and was bitching online at her friends every night. She got nothing but new-agey platitudes and advice that she'd already tried to no avail -- until one of her friends said, "You can move in with me."

  Her friend lived across the country.

  So my sis borrowed the money, packed her bags and lit out, on the bus, for upstate New York. Settled into her friend's house, breathed a sigh of relief, and wrestled with the government until she got on social security. Then she was able to get her hip fixed. She's just about able to walk again, and as soon as she's completely mobile, she's going to move out and start looking for a job.

  She told me, right after she moved, that she wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to others. Don't be afraid to leave everything behind, she says. Sometimes it's the only way.

  Good luck.

  Gently Feral
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  75

  Name Something Positive About Being A Witness

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  can you do it?

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  GentlyFeral

  Hm. I could say I learned to think for myself, but I was doing that before I became a JW. That was actually why I became a JW; nobody among my friends or family had any beliefs that were remotely similar.

  I could say that it encouraged me to be honest, but I was that way before I joined up. Still am.

  Yes, I did learn my way around the Bible, and like the rest of you, I mean I learned how to find verses, not how to understand them.

  I could say I learned to speak before strangers, but the Theocratic School was always a breeze for me -- thanks to 6 years of public school drama classes! Which did NOT make field service -- trying to convince total strangers they were wrong about religion -- any easier. It almost always embarrassed me. I never converted anyone (thank god) and usually hated and feared it.

  I was too timid to risk STDs or drug addiction when I was young and thoughtless -- even pre-JW -- and now that I'm more adventurous I'm also more careful. No crank or smack for me, thank you, and pass the latex.

  I could say that as a Witness, I felt safe and cared for. And so I did -- except when I felt ashamed and guilty; "it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living god," even in imagination. And my security was false. And I used it to put off
  

  • learning to support myself,
  • learning to use the gifts god gave me,
  • making friends -- LEARNING to make friends!,
  • teaching my kids to make their way in the world.

  I could say I made friends across racial lines, and this is true; it's the only good JW thing that didn't really have its equivalent in UU. But my workplace is making up for it, all by itself, without JW help.

  Yes, there were positive things about being a JW -- but the price paid for them was much too high.

  Gently Feral
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  37

  Door to door work really being done?

  by freedom96 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  obviously the witnesses are going door to door, but is it as effective as could be?

  in all my years as an adult, only once has any witness come to the door preaching "the good news.

  " this is once in over 15 years.

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  GentlyFeral

  Darkhorse said:

  Guess they are getting more desperate if they are using kids for bait.

  When I was a dubbie, we were expected to take our kids out in service as often as possible. It was for the children's edification, not to soften up the householder.

  And we commended those who started them as young as possible I took my son out in an infant carrier strapped to my chest when he was only a few weeks old. Some born-and-bred dubs used to brag about "going out in service before they were born."

  GentlyFeral
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  33

  Long prayers at the hall

  by JH in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in every congregation there is always a brother who gives a marathon prayer.

  in my congregation there was a brother whose prayers were so long that i decided to time his prayer with my watch.

  it lasted about 3-4 minutes.

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  GentlyFeral

  Until I moved away from home, I had not had a hot meal in 12 years.

  By contrast, here's the prayer my friend the theologian offered over the New Year's feast yesterday:

  "Baruch Atah Adonai, for this wonderful meal*, wonderful friends, and beautiful weather after six weeks of rain, it feels like! Come down and eat with us, Amen!"

  *cooked by himself!

  Gently Feral
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  48

  Spirit in my house?

  by Sirona in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just thought i'd share with you some wierd happenings in my house..... i woke up one morning to see the figure of a young boy standing looking at me.

  he was there for a split second then vanished.

  i wasn't afraid - it was just sort of wierd.

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  GentlyFeral

  jkell fjlfkej ;;d

  dldjjk jfleleoe;;jf 'ajfjmf fke;as;ojf jklk fild;s;som kdldjclwowlj fkfls;;a uoomf;0;;kd klskokk;s;fkodj

  Yeah, this is about what I get from ouija boards, too. Last time I it happened, about 30 years ago, the d*** thing told me it was the spirit of a kelp plant. Yeah, right.

  I think the reason you so often get junk divination from ouija boards is that they're a favorite toy of the ghosts of dead teenage boys. Maybe it's because there are so often live teenage girls on the other end.

  GentlyFeral
  who was in her curvaceous teens at the time, come to think of it...
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  4

  Channel 4 to show man eating dead baby

  by ISP in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  home

  advertising

  television

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  GentlyFeral

  This is a rerun of an old fake, designed to shock. Snopes.com says:

  The man in the photo is Chinese artist Zhu Yu, who performed a conceptual piece called "Eating People" at a Shanghai arts festival in 2000. The controversial photo has since been part of a number of art exhibits.

  GentlyFeral