hillary_step

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Posts by hillary_step

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  19

  Heidegger's Dasein

  by dunsscot in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  for those who have trouble understanding basic existential concepts, may i suggest william barrett's work _irrational man_.

  on pp.

  218-219 of this monograph, barrett succinctly explains the significance of dasein in heideggerian thought.

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  hillary_step

  SixofNine you said:

  That which is not palatable, is not fine cuisine

  Yes, a good point but next time you walk the streets and see a dog close to a lampost with its hind leg cocked, remember that in Korea 'Fido' is considered fine cuisine!

  HS
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  19

  Heidegger's Dasein

  by dunsscot in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  for those who have trouble understanding basic existential concepts, may i suggest william barrett's work _irrational man_.

  on pp.

  218-219 of this monograph, barrett succinctly explains the significance of dasein in heideggerian thought.

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  hillary_step

  Hello Duns,

  For myself, I would like to thank you for introducing some interesting and in my opinion often valid arguments to this Board. I am sure that even your ‘opposers’ would admit that they have had to focus a little more carefully in understanding your presentations ( I cannot in all fairness call them ideas as they mainly consist of quotations from scholars and visionaries held together by a thin thread of Duns ) than some of the other threads that analyze ad nauseum the validity of the use of four letter words in a five letter world.

  However, I concur with Maximus regarding the frustration of unraveling some of your argumentation. Much of the strength of your argument is lost in the attempt at drawing attention to Duns as the primary objective and the argument is demoted to a secondary role. I have noticed however, that when under pressure you tend to drop the primary objective and display the most important one, your point of your argument.

  Much can be learned from the demeanor of the medieval poets in the simplification of complex issues. Their bread depended on it. Take the Goliards as an example. A group of renegade scholars and apostate clerics who developed a rather complex belief system in a world with little education and where most things were learned by image and not word. The Goliards met the challenge of explaining quickly and simply what they believed by writing easily understood lyrics. Here is an example written at the turn of the C12th:

  My intention is to die
  In the tavern drinking;
  Wine must be at hand, for I
  Want it when I’m sinking.
  Angels when they come shall cry,
  At my frailties winking:
  "Spare this drunkard, God, he’s high,
  Absolutely stinking!"

  I think a person would quite easliy know where they stood on the issue of conventional Christian worship just from that brief quotation.

  Please keep posting Duns, your work is being read and with a measure of appreciation by some of us. Though I am sure that on occasion, we all enjoy fine cuisine, for the nature of this board perhaps ‘plain home cooking’ works best.

  My best to you -- HS
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  22

  Should you write to the society?

  by sleepy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  when someone comes across something in the "truth" that disterbs them should they write to the society or is this pointless?.

  i think they should write for several reasons.. 1.you must give them at least a chance to present their side of the story.it is no good just relying for others for your information you can not be shure what the society really belive until you hear it from them yourself.. wasn't just relying on the judgement of others part of what got you in in the first place.. its good for us to try and advance in our way of thinking during life and part of this involves doing our own research which is not complete until we go to the source of our conflict.. also if you bring up the point with someone it gives more weight to your argument if mention you wrote to the society and this was their answer.. 2. the more poeple that write in with the same points the more difficult it will be for them to hold to an erroneous stand.. the more different people that write the more ways of expresing the point will be heared different ways will make sence to different people.. remember its not just the same person answering all letters but different people who will have to do research an answer your point, which could make them think.. (this assumes that the society is genuinely mistaken and not corupt, although it could be a bit of both).

  of cource if you do not want hassle off your elders dont tell the society you are a brother/sister or just give a different name ,prehaps you could give the address of your place of work or somewhere else if you don't want to be traced easily.. in my case i just made it sound like i was an intrested person.. or you could make out that you need some help in presenting the societies case to an intrested person who has quetions.

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  hillary_step

  Hello,

  Further to the points made by Maximus, AlanF, Simon and others, be assured that nothing that you can write will be news to those who open your mail. The multitudinous reams of correspondence that uncover every single variance of flawed WTS doctrine, in all its nuances, have been filling in-trays for many decades. They have heard it all before. Occasionally but very, very rarely, are individual letters or documented research acted upon to such an extent that articles appear in the magazines attending to the issues raised. It is often wishful thinking that encourages us to believe that our letters have made a difference to WTS policy.

  I know that both Max and Alan probably have well exercised their keyboards over the years attempting to pass on to us all the immovable reality that a person will never truly understand the thinking and modus operandi of the GB and the soil from which they grow, unless they are able to understand that to these people there is no difference whatsoever in concept between the words ‘Organisation’ or‘Society’ and the word ‘God’. These men are totally convinced that God works through them and through the Organisation - touch the Organisation you touch God. That is why they use and will use every means, and I mean EVERY means, to protect it.

  If a combative spirit is noted is the tone of any letter, it will automatically be placed in the ‘enemies of God’ tray. As a friend in Writing once informed me, ‘the Society only take real note of letters that start with the Abrahamic sentiment "excuse me please, Jehovah…". Friday or Yadirf or whatever his name is, ably demonstrated this acceptable opening paragraph tone, in a letter that he copied to this Board that he had sent to the WTS regarding the star of Bethlehem.

  A number of years ago during the heady days of paranoid apostate hunting in a European country, a DO encouraged the audience at an Assembly to write to the WTS if they had any doctrinal concerns ‘as it is through such letters that the WTS listens’. He told me later that this was merely an instructed ploy to expose the ‘last few’ dissidents. This type of thinking should drive home to us once for all time the blood of cunning that is running through the veins of this system.

  If you are still currently a JW and wish to write to the WTS with your concerns, my advise is to be careful, very careful. If you are not a JW, well, your letters may help with closure where some of your pain and frustration is concerned but please do not think that they will make any difference at all to WTS policy. Maximus will I am sure re-iterate the point that WTS policy is only changed when the metaphoric gun is placed firmly to the temple.

  My best to you all -- HS
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  25

  A Nice Experience I Had on Sunday

  by dunsscot in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  dearest mum and others,.

  an elder approached me after the meeting on sunday and said he wanted to ask me a question.

  his query dealt with john 1:1. .

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  hillary_step

  Duns,

  You chuckled -

  I do not want to blow my own horn

  I chuckle back -

  Why should you want to destroy the habit of a lifetime?

  HS
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  5

  PRNewswire story on New Hampshire case

  by comment in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/010807/cgtu052_2.html .

  tuesday august 7, 6:11 pm eastern time.

  press release.

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  hillary_step

  Max,

  Information has not just reached the newspapers. Check your inbox. A copy of recently received mail on the subject from active JW is already there!

  Felicitationes - HS
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  4

  Wanna be fooled - and have a lot of problems?

  by Kent in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is one of the many mails i've got from these assholes:.

  the director.

  audit and accounts unit,.

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  hillary_step

  Yes Kent but relax,

  This is a scam. Apparently the hoaxer has actually succeeded in enticing only two clients into his net. The President Of Togo himself and his lime green parakeet named Daisy, whom I understand was artfully persuaded by its owner and eventually succumbed to this cunning marketing ploy.

  HS
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  12

  An elder struggles

  by Dogpatch in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is on my site as listed at the end:.

  between love and me its late night.

  i have just been to another elder meeting, as we used to do.

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  hillary_step

  Beroea,

  Thank you for your dispatch. Your posts are always reasonable, wise and above all full of heart.

  From one Alpine climber to another, buckle up and seize the peak. Only those who climb with wisdom will grasp their dream.

  My very best to you and your family - HS
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  16

  Confession, Clergy and Church: Source Material

  by Maximus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i never cease to be amazed at the quality of thoughtful mail many of us get.

  one question that keeps coming up is in regards to sourcing in-depth reference material.

  i regularly cite the nourishment for the spirit thread.

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  hillary_step

  Hello Waiting,

  I said : Catholic priests are instructed that there are four types of ‘professional secret’ 1) Natural secret 2) Promised secret 3) Contracts of secrecy 4) Confessional secrecy - hilliary step

  What do these mean in common English thought?

  1) Natural Secret
  A secret that is kept by 'natural law' or the nature of the thing itself. For example, you may accidentally find out that your best friend is having treatment for cancer but choose to not reveal your discovery to them or to others because of the displeasure and pain it may bring to them.

  2) Promised Secret - a much lighter obligation involved here. For example, your friend may divulge to you that they have failed their driving test and then ask you to promise not to tell the rest of the office.

  3) Professional Secret - consists of information obtained by reason of office or professian. Lawyers, doctors etc, frequently deal with this sort of promise. A priest may hear such a secret and still choose to divulge it but only when he is not
  in a confessional capacity.

  4) Confessional Secret - secrets divulged to a priest during a confessional. These secrets can never be divulged under any circumstances without the express request of the confessor.

  It seems to me that the 'secrets' divulged to the WTS Judicial Committee do not consitute a Confessional Secret but a Professional secret.

  Hope that this helps. -- HS
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  3

  For You Know

  by hillary_step in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  1) what is the bibles definition of an apostate?.

  2) what is the wts definition of an apostate?.

  3) what is your definition of an apostate?.

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  hillary_step

  Chuck,

  Actually, I ask this question of You Know seriously and without a desire to start an online war. It strikes me that the word 'apostate' has become so clouded in its usage on this Board that it has become virtually meaningless. Rather like the WTS use of the word 'Truth'.

  In his post this morning, You Know used the word, it seemed to me, not in terms of definition but in terms of insult. He is obviously quite capable of defining his own intellectual understanding of this term and I really would like to know what 'makes him tick'. Frankly he strikes me as an interesting person who has certainly spent much time developing what might be viewed as an eccentric point of view but one that must isolate him somewhat from his peers.

  I cannot ever remember anybody winning a heart by a verbal argument, the point might be won but not the person. Please be assured I have no need or desire for verbal conflagrations. I would much prefer to be able to contact You Know personally for such a discussion but e mail access is blocked.

  I remain yours - Troll free -- HS
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  3

  For You Know

  by hillary_step in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  1) what is the bibles definition of an apostate?.

  2) what is the wts definition of an apostate?.

  3) what is your definition of an apostate?.

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  hillary_step

  You Know,

  1) What is the Bible’s definition of an apostate?
  2) What is the WTS definition of an apostate?
  3) What is your definition of an apostate?

  If the answers to these questions are convergent or divergent perhaps you might comment.

  I have no ax to grind and assure you that I ask these questions with sincerity attached - HS