DT

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Posts by DT

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  19

  Writing a book

  by DeWandelaar in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  dear all,.

  today i decided i will write a book.

  it will not be a book about my findings or revelations about ttatt and neither will it be a book about my personal experiences.

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  DT

  I've been using the books of Enoch as inspiration for one of my writing projects, so I'm looking forward to hearing more about your story.
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  4

  A Birthday Indiscretion?

  by DT in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i grew up as a jehovah's witness so i had to deal with all the issues of not celebrating holidays at school.

  i took this pretty seriously and was pretty vocal every time something came up that violated my religious beliefs.. yet, it seems that there are always gray areas.. one day, my teacher announced that we would be making birthday cards for mcdonalds.

  i don't remember which birthday it was except that it was a round number.

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  DT

  I grew up as a Jehovah's Witness so I had to deal with all the issues of not celebrating holidays at school. I took this pretty seriously and was pretty vocal every time something came up that violated my religious beliefs.

  Yet, it seems that there are always gray areas.

  One day, my teacher announced that we would be making birthday cards for McDonalds. I don't remember which birthday it was except that it was a round number. The local McDonalds would display the birthday cards and the local school would get some free publicity.

  My first thought was that I would like to get out of that task. Then I thought about it some more and realized that it wasn't really a birthday. It was an anniversary. Anniversaries were enjoyed by my family and my congregation and were considered acceptable. It wasn't until I was older that I discovered that some Witnesses also had problems with anniversaries.

  I was tempted to use my religion as an excuse to get out of this, but I decided that would be inappropriate. I made the card.

  However, I still resented having to make the card for nonreligious reasons. I knew it was just busy work. I also didn't like McDonalds. A childhood encounter with a bad hamburger made me violently sick and generally suspicious of fast food restaurants for several years. There were items at McDonalds I could eat, but it wasn't much fun for me.

  I decided to satisfy my conflicting emotions by making an irreverent card.

  It said, "Happy Anniversary! This card contains five dollars and some advice to help your business."

  Inside the card it said, "The advice is don't spend too much time looking for the five dollars."

  I was pleased with myself. I felt like I had successfully overcome another challenge to my integrity and even had some fun in the process.

  After school, I told my mom about the incident. I thought she would appreciate the humor and they way I handled a difficult situation. I terrified expression came over her face and she said, "That's awful!"

  She never clarified what was awful about my story. In particular, I wasn't sure if it would have made things better or worse if I had made a nicer card.

  I learned some valuable lessons that day. You can't please everybody and it often better to just not let others know what you have done. When you follow the dictates of your own conscience, there will probably be others who see things differently.
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  12

  What is little Caleb doing now?

  by Oubliette in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in the latest installment in the life of little caleb from the wtbts, we find caleb learning some very important words.

  before you answer that, look below at this still from the video at 1:43".

  what is it that you think little caleb is doing?

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  DT

  I wonder if he said "thank you" to his friend who gave him Sparlock. He should have asked his mom if he could "please" keep it. Maybe she wouldn't have made him throw it away. I think he should learn the words "I'm sorry" so he can apologize to his friend for throwing his gift away.
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  63

  What I've been wanting to say about doubt and faith

  by jgnat in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ordqfh0byw.

  it's those who demand certainty who make a mockery of faith.. this talk will stick with you..

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  DT

  I feel that she makes some of the same mistakes as the people that she criticises.

  For example, some conservative Muslims will claim that more liberal Muslims aren't "true" Muslims. People of faith often claim that others with a different type of faith don't have "true" faith. It's often an attempt to hijack the meanings of words to advance their own view. It makes any meaningful discussion difficult. It is often easier to subvert the meanings of words used in a debate than to use rational arguments.

  She does the same thing by making up her own definition of faith and then claiming that others who actually have very strong faith don't have "true" faith and are infidels.

  I think it's needlessly offensive and just silly. It appear to me that she is working under the assumption that faith is inherently good, so anybody who has a type of faith that she feels is bad doesn't have "true" faith.

  It's much more practical to realize that faith, as it's commonly defined and understood, can be either good or bad depending on the situation. Some of the broader definitions of faith can include the possibility of doubt. In any case, I would generally regard it is a positive thing for faith to be tempered by doubt. However, to claim that doubt is essential for faith just doesn't make sense. It perpetuates the dangerous myth that faith is inherently good while making future dialog on the subject more difficult.

  I believe in the value of doubt. It is often a great virtue. I just think her defense of doubt is flawed.
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  63

  What I've been wanting to say about doubt and faith

  by jgnat in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ordqfh0byw.

  it's those who demand certainty who make a mockery of faith.. this talk will stick with you..

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  DT

  I think words and definitions are important. It's hard to comment on what she said because it appears that she was just making up her own definition of faith as she went without regard to the actual definition or even common useage. It's too bad, because she may have been trying to make some valid points.
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  6

  John the BAPTISER vs John the BAPTIST - which do you prefer?

  by PaintedToeNail in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i have always wondered why, as jw's, we would always say jt baptiser instead of jt baptist like everyone else.

  it bugged me, so i refused to say it.

  does anyone know why the wtbts uses the 'baptiser' moniker instead of the norm?.

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  DT

  I think it might be because Baptist is a religion. I'm sure they would rather call him John the Jehovah's Witness, but then most people wouldn't know who they were talking about.
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  10

  Local Newspaper Write Up - My Apostate Level Goes Up A Notch

  by donuthole in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the local newspaper did a nice write up of my book paradise earth: day zero.

  you can read the full text here.

  wonder if this will get posted on the congregation bulletin information board.. .

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  DT

  I just finished your book. It was pretty good. I'll have to write a review on Amazon when I get a chance.
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  39

  MOSES AND THE COPPER SERPENT......mysterious!

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  isn't it odd; even mysterious that christians think jesus could be represented by a serpent?

  numbers 21:8 and the lord said unto moses, make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.

  21:9 and moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

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  DT

  Thank you for posting this. I'm writing a novel that includes some of this information.
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  23

  Advice on Getting My Novel Published

  by Quendi in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  [if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:officedocumentsettings> <o:allowpng /> </o:officedocumentsettings> </xml><![endif].

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  [endif][if gte mso 10]> <style> /* style definitions */ table.msonormaltable {mso-style-name:"table normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"century schoolbook","serif";} </style> <![endif].

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  DT

  I would be willing to help proof read it.
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  9

  Moving on ... Deep Penitentiary 6.

  by donuthole in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hey jwd!.

  i'm the author of happiness: how to find it and the paradise earth series.

  i hesitated to post about my latest book because it isn't really jw related.

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  DT

  I just got a Kindle and your Paradise Earth book is the first ebook I bought for it. It looks interesting.