I learned how to sit in very uncomfortable seats for long periods of time. This was very helpful when it came to going to concerts, college and standing at attention in the military. Really helpful! Oh yeah, it also taught me how to listen to really boring stuff while remaining awake. That is a real skill, ya know :)
Posts by MikeA
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33Does any real learning take place at the Kingdom Hall?
by truthseeker inprearranged comments, scripted answers, word-for-word answers from the paragraph,.
no outside material allowed, short comments.... .
does anyone really learn anything at the hall?
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Islam Diss'ed Again....
by chappy inseems a 54 year old british school teacher who is teaching grammer school classes in the sudan has committed a despicable act by blastpheming and showing no respect for the prophet!
can you believe it; she actually allowed the children in her class to name a teddy bear being used in a class project muhammad!!
the sudanise government, carrying out its god given duty is putting her on trial.
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MikeA
Islam deserves dissing! Have you all read the Koran, really read it? How about their second book, the one nobody talks about that is like the Book of Mormon to islam? The name of the book? Hadith! Read it if you dare. It is the muslim equivalent of Mein Kampf! Written by Mohammed (words of the prophet vice the words of god which is the Koran) Before you answer me back in disgust or shock..... read the book, THEN talk to me.
I have read both cover to cover. I think you will find a new definition for hateful if you do! Read the Hadith first..... it is just "wonderful." -
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Would Bigfoot Stomp Creationism?
by metatron ini suppose that any fact can be denied ( there's a hilarious scene in woody allen's "everything you ever wanted to know about sex".
in which a husband is oblivious to his wife's observation of his adultery).
however, i do wonder if they ever found a "bigfoot" body, would it.
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MikeA
megaton, why people keep repeating the mantra that there are no transitional fossils and that there are "links" that are missing is beyond me. They are all over the place. Read the REAL literature on the subject. There is no question, anymore, of our lineage. The recent completion of the Genome project just put the icing on the cake.
Bigfoot wouldn't necessarily be a missing link, either. Anymore than an Orangutan or Chimp. Given that nobody has any solid evidence of the existence of bigfoot, beyond the typical fuzzy photos made by people who have nothing better to do than fool around in the forest, I wouldn't put too much energy behind this at all. Not that things aren't worth investigating, if for no other reason than to try to lay incorrect ideas to rest.
I take exception with something you said, as well: "....Nevertheless, I am fascinated to see that real live experts on zoology, veterinary medicine, palentology and other disciplines are taking such claims seriously and finding evidence they are puzzled by....."
OK, who? Precisely "who" is finding evidence they are confused by? Where are the peer-reviewed documents describing said "confusion" in detail? What are these people's credentials? Are they just another form of .... ahem.... Doctor Behe? The reason I ask is that I receive many, many journals. Many of them are not in my specific specialty, astrophysics, but I subscribe to these peer-reviewed documents because I am interested in various subjects. In all of my reading, not a single reference to any bigfoot "evidence" that "puzzled" ANYONE was presented.
Folks, believe me when I say that I am NOT being pedantic. Nor am I trying to insult anyone. I know first hand what the JW's have done to you with regard to a higher education, etc. If you have the time and some free cash, I would HIGHLY recommend taking college level courses in ANY science so you can learn the process which you may have never learned and, more importantly, to learn that skeptic and cynic are NOT equivalent terms.
Skeptical is a good thing! Ask the who, what, where, when, how, etc and you will quickly find that "they" (the eternal "they" that everyone seems to know) rapidly evaporate. Seriously...... ask those questions and accept nothing that isn't impeccable in response. Belief is easy, as we all learned long ago, actual research takes a bit longer and requires more effort. -
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Have JW's changed their tactics for talking with atheists?
by SickofLies ini attended a meeting with mash (mcmaster association for secular humanists) the other day where we had an excellent guest speaker, a professor from the university of toronto who founded and runs talkorigins website.
for those that would like to see the lecture titled "evolution a theory and a fact" i will be posting it on-line in the next day or two and will post the link in this thread.. back to my question, after the speech when we took the speaker out for drinks we were all sharing experiences talking about how talkorigins helped us and the issue of jw's came up, people there were telling me that when jw's come to their door now if they state they are an atheists or don't believe in the bible they simply stop the conversation and go away.. is this an official change in tactics for the jw's?
it would be great if it were, i can think of only one reason for not wanting to try and preach to the new atheists out there, that being that people who do are getting persuaded by their arguments and leaving the church.. has anyone else heard anything like this?.
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MikeA
Ahhhh, this is where I have the most fun, but unfortunately I guess my house has been tagged as atheist in some way by the local JW's. I am a reasonably well-educated scientist and used to have a ton of fun bantering with unsuspecting JW's who made the mistake of calling on my domicile :)
I am currently an agnostic, but I guess to JW's that equates with atheist. Where I had fun was asking them to "convince me" that God exists. On one memorable occasion, I kid you not, both of the JW's were so confused by what I was saying, one of them lost her lunch on my front porch while the other began to cry. Needless to say, that appears to coincide with the house becoming a place to which nobody should go.......
I love debating evolution, science in general, and the meaning of the word "THEORY" and how it differs so radically with what most of the population (particularly the religious part) seems to think it means. It becomes really obvious, very quickly, that many people really need to go to a high school level course in any science and learn a bit about what the terms mean. Yeah..... I have alot of fun when they let me. -
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Thinking about reincarnating? You must get govt approval first. Mmkay?
by nvrgnbk ini love the line that implies you are not allowed to reincarnate without government approval.
that's chinese communism for you!
dalai lama steps up succession rhetoric by emily buchanan .
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MikeA
CRAP! Is it too late to back-file? We secret bodhisattva's are in real trouble..... dang it!
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SIGH... Mother troubles again...
by Elyse867 inso i opened up my laptop last night, to check my email and such, and my mom had obviously just checked hers... she was still logged on, which has never happened before.
i felt like i needed to look in her emails, which is not something i would normally do, as i hold privacy as something sacred.
as some of you know, my mom lives with my hubby, me, and my kids.
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MikeA
Elyse,
From the point of view of one who has had all of my brothers and sister, not to mention many other relatives, shun me I have taken a very hard line. Tough love is it. Let the JW's take care of themselves. If they need assistance, have them talk to themselves.
Under the circumstances, it would appear that she doesn't appreciate your kids anymore than my relatives do mine. They are more than aware that they are not permitted to talk to or associate with my daughter. MY CALL on that one! I won't have them poisoning my daughter's mind with their lies and deceit. THey did the shunning and I ensured that the door was slammed shut! They will have to do much more than a simple apology (figure the odds) to get back in my good graces.
Your company and the company of your husband and children should be the most important thing to your mom, but other than as a meal ticket and a ride, it would appear you are meaningless to her. CALL HER ON IT! But only when your head is clear and you are exceptionally calm. She will know you are serious if you don't come unglued. Make any visitation contingent on her publicly disavowing any association with WT. But, again, make it clear that it was HER choice, not yours. She went through that door that separates her from her family, you are just politely, but intentionally, closing it!
I have been dealing with this for quite some time and had one incident that I will speak to here that may grab your attention. One of my great-aunts, a used-to-be wonderful lady, invited me, my wife and my daughter over to her house for dinner. I hadn't seen her in years because I was on the other side of the world for most of that time and had now been stationed in a place that was very close by to some of my family, her included. Anyway, we had a nice dinner and spoke to all manner of things, but nothing JW. That was cool....... I thought! Well, shortly after, I had to go to the middle east for a bit. During that time, she wrote my wife and told her that she and my daughter were welcome to come over but I was not. She had just found out I was DF'd I guess..... whatever.
Anyway, she wrote this rather lengthy letter and my wife didn't tell me about it til I had been back from my overseas assignment for a few days. She then let me see it......... you wouldn't believe what that letter was trying to do. My wife, never a JW, had the exact same thought about it that I did..... She was trying to break me and my wife up!!!!!!!!! Trying to drive a wedge between us. Well folks, that was all it took. All of the prior shunning I had experienced and now this..... it was to much. So I took an action that made it clear to the rest of my family that you get between me and my wife and there will be hell to pay. I called her up, read the riot act to her, to include things like this: "I now have a record of this call and since it is long distance, that record is written. If you or any member of your household ever physically contacts me, calls me or my wife, sends any form of correspondance or in any way attempt to make contact, I will take you to court for harrassment. I will have you arrested. This call is being recorded (and it was, I still have the tape and the letter). At this time, you are no longer a member of my family and I will treat you just like anyone else harrassing me or my family. Got it?" She answered yes, and I proceeded to hang up.
Well, you can guess the outcry that occurred in the "rest of my JW so-called family." The problem for everyone involved was that they couldn't deny what my ex-aunt was trying to do...... I had the evidence..... the letter. I then took the opportunity to tell them that the biblical warning about families breaking up is, in the case of JW's, a self-fulfilling prophesy and this is a perfect example. Then I told them that if any of them mentioned her name in front of me or my wife, I would apply the same rules to them as I had applied to her. EVERYONE GOT THAT? You try to break my immediate family apart and you can expect the wrath of a serviceman to be breathing down you neck just like I would any other ENEMY.
Additionally, I made it very clear to all concerned that the "bridge was burned." No apologies will be expected or accepted from her. To me, she is dead. Believe it or not...... most of my family backed off fast. REALLY FAST! They realized that I was not kidding, I was deadly serious and unless they wanted to permanently become persona non-grata, with no chance of redemption, they had better listen to me.
I wouldn't have reacted so strongly, except I saw this person as an immediate threat to my marriage which, if they would actually READ their silly book, she should have known was one of the biggest no-no's in there and that my response was indeed biblically valid. When a husband marries a wife, all other family is second..... period! It worked for me....... they don't even come CLOSE to threatening me or MY family with their crap. "I" am in control, not them and/or their silly elders.
Anywho..... sorry for making this so very long. But I wanted you to see another way of responding to the kinds of madness JW relatives expose us to and expect us to accept. I find what your mother said to be utterly reprehensible. Disgusting in the extreme...... and SHE said it, not you! But that is my take..... and believe me, as should be readily apparent, I truly feel your pain. This religion SUCKS!!!!!!!!! -
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This really shocked me!
by free2beme ini knew the watchtower once said christmas was okay, but i never thought i would see something like this from the presidents of the watchtower society.. http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9622684182.
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MikeA
Now..... if only a few JW's would see this :) GOOD ONE! LMAO!
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Are you good at "hinting" what you want for Christmas
by JH ini bought 4 winter tires a week ago and put it on my credit card, and i know that my mom will buy me a christmas gift, so i told her how broke i was lately.....
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MikeA
I have to admit it...... yes, in no uncertain terms. My hints have all of the subtlety of a MAC truck, so she knows.
On the other hand, I like to do things that she knows little about. Photography is one of those things. She likes videography and I am a stills kinda guy. Actually, on vacation, we compliment each other nicely in that regard. So to that end, I want a very, very expensive lens of a particular type and, of course, I have to tell her which one because she wouldn't have a clue with regard to picking it out of a line-up :) :)
So, the "hint" has been a bit ..... uhhhhh..... how should I say this? ...... Obvious? LOL -
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To those who've been DFed...
by IsaacJS2 ini was just wondering if anyone ever tried to find a mature way to defy their supposed authority to judge you this way and what sort of reactions you got.
i haven't been dfed, but it could certainly happen some day.. i'm not planning to meekly put up with the preaching next time witnesses try it on me, which has made me wonder about this.
it seems a bit immature to go right up to them and say "hiya!
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MikeA
Ask them a simple question...... almost too obvious for words...... "Who do you think you are, God?" "Do you people really believe you are THAT important?" "What year did you graduate college and what was your major?"
Ok, the last one was mean, but what the heck...... I'm not perfect like they so obviously are.....
Oh yeah...... don't forget to laugh when they tell you that you are df'd. I was amazed at how effective that was when it happened to me. THey said something like "laughing to your ruin" and I said, "no, just laughing at YOU." -
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BUY NOW! Theocratic SONGS for CHILDREN of Jehovah's Witnesses
by Magick invery rarely am i sickened to my stomach anymore.
but, this website i stumbled accross made me run for my barf bag.. why isn't this "brother" counselled for making money off of the society?
...or does he have to pay royalties to the watchtower?.
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MikeA
matilde, you can say THAT again. I love good music of almost any genre...... this is TERRIBLE! I am just talking about the music....... it is AWFUL! Add the xxxxxxx words and it makes me run for the barf bag (as someone earlier noted).
YUCK!
P.S. And what is this about having a lion for a friend. Lions are not built, by any stretch of the imagination, to eat anything other than meat. So what is this lion/lamb crap? You want to talk "unnatural?" That would be it!