Hmmm

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Posts by Hmmm

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  3

  Hmmm, why are the WTS sites down?

  by JWinSF in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just wanted to see if on either watchtower.org or jw-media.org there was anything mentioned about the tragedy last week.

  both sites were down.. wonder if they're for a change actually going to put something on the sites that is sympathetic without a "by the way, this is what god's word has to say".

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  Hmmm

  I don't know why you're asking me. I'm not their webmaster!

  Hmmm
  (I'm still flattered to finally have a thread addressing me specifically)
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  6

  Anglo-American Dual World Power

  by Amazing in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the wts use to speak a great deal about the seventh head of the wild beast in revelation as being the two-horned dual anglo-american world power of great britain and the usa.

  also, the society applied the symbolic two-horned lamb beast to the uk and usa.. now, considering this .... .

  just who has proven to be the wild beast on tuesday, 9-11?

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  Hmmm

  I'm sure this is going to go over like a lead balloon, but in the grand scheme of things, I don't think a few thousand people is an incident of biblical proportions.

  Hmmm
  (Not that I'm siding with the WT, mind you)
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  28

  ``Quality Time'' in Field Service: Fact or Fiction

  by Room 215 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  based on comments in various threads, it seems that many of you are acquainted with the various ``dodges'' jws use to strech out their field service time: foot-dragging, driving around on return visits from one far-flung end of the territory to the other, the skilful avoidance of contact with housholders, coffee breaks, etc.

  etc.. do you have any impression of how pervasive these time-wasting such practices are, and what proportion of the time reported by jws is actually bogus and not spent productively?

  or, put another way, how rare is is to encounter who just loves to go out and who uses his/her time efficiently from beginning to end?.

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  Hmmm

  When I started pioneering, I started working with people from other congregations. At first I worried that they might be the "gung ho" type, who would want to be efficient in their time. Without saying a word, they used the same time-wasting tactics that I and my friends used. After a short time, whenever I visited a new congregation, I didn't worry at all that I might actually have to use my time effectively.

  Then I went to Pioneer School and found Unit 24: How to count time without actually preaching in the appendix. And here I thought I'd been inventing ways to waste time, when Pioneers had been learning them all along!

  Hmmm
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  16

  and now a minutes silence for the people of Iraq

  by GWEEDO in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  you know, as much as i was horrified and felt sick to the gut by the wtc disaster (i must have watched that plane crash into the wtc about fifty times).

  there are other things going on in the world that largely go unreported by comparison but constitute just as much suffering(if not more) as the wtc disaster.. one of the questions i've asked myself is why is the u.s. so hated by certain arab groups.

  maybe this article from off the 'noam chomsky archive'[url] http://www.zmag.org/chomsky/index.cfm[/url] will go a little way to answering that:.

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  Hmmm

  How many people could Iraq feed if Saddam sold a couple of his Rolls Royces? I feel for the young children, but I suspect that 4,400 of those 4,500 children would be dead this month, embargo or not. He allows his people to starve the same way he surrounded his bunkers with old women and young children. He will sacrifice their lives on the altar of his ego and hunger for power.

  Hmmm
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  8

  A Sincere Question

  by FrightMare in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as some of you may easily tell, i enjoy abusing others and rousing debate and anger.

  however, just for a moment, i'd like to stop that trolling so that i may reach an answer to a question that has been running through my mind ever since i encountered this board over a month ago.

  i would like to know why the participants on this board waste so much time and energy talking about jehovah's witnesses.. i have studied with the witnesses at one time, and of course, didn't agree with their doctrines.

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  Hmmm

  Not sure how sincere the question of an admitted troll is, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.

  How could you be reading this board for a month and NOT know why we post? JWs are NOT like any other religion. They fabricate doctrine that causes people to DIE needlessly (blood, neutrality)! They endanger little children by covering up for pedophiles so their precious reputation won't be besmirched. They instill such fear into their members that many are psychologically afflicted. And what they teach is easily debunked by looking at their own history and literature.

  Many of us post because we're just leaving, and we come here to heal, or to be sure that we made the right choice, or to try to share what we've just learned with other "weak" JWs. Many are angry, have been and will be for years; we were robbed of our lives for so long that we want to strike back, or maybe help prevent others from making our mistakes.

  Sure, there are other destructive cults out there, but we know this one because we belonged to this one.

  Now a sincere question for you. Why would you "enjoy" abusing others and rousing debate and anger? I can see a nice spirited debate, but abuse and anger? Honestly, how old are you? Do you think you'll always like to do this? I've only seen a couple of your posts, so I'm only going by how you described yourself. On another board I post on someone was making up stories about another poster regarding the terrorist attack. My mind just boggles at why people LIKE to cause such negativity. I'm especially curious about you, since you arent/werent a JW. What made you pick this board to "liven up"?

  Hmmm
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  67

  the good, the bad, the ugly and the weird

  by wasasister in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  dear friends:.

  ive taken a few days to post, having a need to sort out my thoughts and watch the coverage along with my co-workers, family, and neighbors.

  ive also read your posts over the past 48 hours and seen many of the same reactions as the population in general.

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  Hmmm

  Danny:
  

  May I suggest that you have established yourself here on jw.com, there really is no reason (anymore) for anyone to preempt their thoughts and feelings with the caviat: (why? why? am I doing this?)

  
  Thanks for the kind words. I guess this means I've "arrived." (I'm going to dispense with the corney emmy award acceptance speech--just this once!)

  I have seen this board take a turn for the better, as respects allowing you and I, to speak our minds, without some self ordained monitor telling us we are stupid or asinine for doing so.

  
  I agree and I think it's because we're all starting to see that we agree on 99.99% of this issue.

  We ALL want to see an end to the violence. I'm sure even the terrorists who fomented this and other atrocities would like to see peace. Who WANTS to fight? Sadly, most of us agree that some violence is going to be necessary in this case. Maybe it wont stamp out terrorism, but we just cannot allow ourselves to be seen as an easy target any longer. (Of course, the terrorists will then feel that violence on their part is also necessary... and around we go)

  There are some who'd like to talk and bargain past this, but I think most agree that we're beyond solving this with words; neither side is willing or able to give enough to the other.

  So where does that leave us? To disagree on the amount of force that is justified and necessary in this instance. Once the initial emotional response (mine included) passes, I don't think we all really disagree all that much.

  It's a sad fact that this kind of tragedy is what most unites human beings.

  Hmmm
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  67

  the good, the bad, the ugly and the weird

  by wasasister in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  dear friends:.

  ive taken a few days to post, having a need to sort out my thoughts and watch the coverage along with my co-workers, family, and neighbors.

  ive also read your posts over the past 48 hours and seen many of the same reactions as the population in general.

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  Hmmm

  (Why, why, why am I doing this?)

  COMF said:

  Yes. I don't want people... our people here, especially, who should know better... to become part of what's going on outside. You know what's going on outside, Danny? Brown-skinned Americans who wear head coverings, veils and little ornaments between their eyes, are huddling together in fear. Fear of being beaten, being mobbed, being killed for their looks and their speech.

  
  I think you're exaggerating a bit here. I've seen tons of national news coverage; yesterday seemed especially to focus on this subject of Arab-Americans and their situation. Arab-American leaders have been quick to decry this act of terrorism, and have tried to let the US know that they--and Islam itself--condemns these actions. Did they do this because they were genuinely outraged? Of course. Did they do it because they were afraid of unreasoning revenge? Most definitely. But "nervous" is the word that I've heard most often. I work with a few Arab-Americans, and they do have some worry that they'll be targetted for harrassment, but they don't quake with terror, don't "huddle together in fear" of mobs and death.

  There have been a few shops vandalized, windows broken nationally, and that was wrong. I like to think that if I were there at the time, I would have stood up and tried to reason with the people who did these things. But I'm actually kind of proud of the fact that the backlash has been very minor--much less than I would have though it would be. Then again, maybe we're not seeing the same news reports.

  But so far I've heard of no actual violence against Arab-Americans. Locally, we have a very large Arab community. The worst that's been done so far has been a car full of teens driving around an arab neighborhood waving an American flag. A newscaster asked them about their motives and made them look pretty stupid. They interviewed an arab woman who still takes her little girls to soccer practice. She's a bit nervous, but so far it's not bad enough to alter her life. I hope it never does get bad enough.

  And with good reason. There is no honorable purpose driving the cry for blood that is rising from this land. It's adrenalin-fueled, and the adrenalin is surging because of fear.

  
  I think there's good reason for nervousness and caution, but not terror. I think 99% of Americans are calling for level-headedness, and 99% of the ones crying for blood are blowhards just letting off steam. Does that leave a small percentage of people capable of some senseless act of violence against others because of their skin color? Yes, but the US also has pretty strict hate crime laws. An attack that would be treated as a minor scuffle otherwise, becomes a federal offense if racially motivated, here. Adrenalin is powerful, but rather short-lived.

  For myself: I know what NOT to do--attack innocent people; nuke entire countries. Behave with just as selfish a motive and as calloused an indifference to innocent parties as my enemies have.

  
  Amen

  I don't have to kill my neighbor.

  
  Realistically how many people on this board or elsewhere have called for the indiscriminate killing of any arab we see, in this country or any other? The most extreme thoughts I've seen (I admit I really haven't been reading this board much lately) have been a willingness to accept "collateral damage"--accepting the deaths of innocents in other countries if it's necessary to "take out" those responsible for the attacks. Even those, I think, were spoken emotionally, out of anger, and not serious. It's easy to call for nukes when you're not the one pushing the button.

  I think our biggest problem is that we (myself included) often feel that we must break everything down into black and white terms. That's what causes such schisms on this db: Atheist vs theist; black vs white; cussers vs tender-ears. What's next, boxers vs briefs?

  Hmmm
  (boxers)
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  44

  view of an American from Afghanistan

  by Tatiana in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this was posted on another forum by someone i talk to.....any thoughts on this post?.

  "this was sent to me from a friend and is supposedly written by an american that is from afghanistan.

  > i've been hearing a lot of talk about "bombing .

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  Hmmm

  Sobering, daunting, and heart-wrenching.

  Last night I heard an American politician (JW vapors won't allow me to remember their names--Ford is still President, right?) saying much the same thing. They said that this "war" wouldn't be won with bombs. It was going to take ground troops and it was going to take years.

  I still think something needs to be done. Will finding and killing the head of this attack end world terrorism? Of course not. Will attacking the governments that support them? Of course not. Will it cause them to think twice before trying it again? Maybe. Still, maybe "cooler heads" will prevail, and at least the weapons of mass destruction of innocents will not be used, or used sparingly.

  Until this week, I'd never heard of "the Taliban", but if they are really so psychotic and cruel, then they need to be removed for the good of the Afghan people as well.

  Thanks for sharing.

  Hmmm
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  18

  Gullibilty and reasoning

  by Norm in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the latest horrible events in ny and washington has rightfully shocked the entire world.

  it is a deed that will go down in history as monumental as the holocaust and other atrocities.. the only superpower in the world was powerless and unable to stop a handful of dedicated and fanatic persons from inflicting such a horrific blow to the nation.

  they struck right at the financial and military center of the superpower.. in the wake of such an event it is interesting to watch the various comments from the us politicians, the president and military.

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  Hmmm

  If you suddenly became President of the US tomorrow, you'd be saying "God bless America" at the end of your first speech, or you wouldn't be in office long enough to give a second speech. It's an empty phrase that shouldn't be taken so literally.

  Hmm, sounds like the Americans are a lovely and tolerant people, eh?

  Almost like God, huh?

  I'd say Americans as a whole are probably as lovely and tolerant as most countries. Ignoring the extremes, your average American is probably as tolerant as your average Brit, or German, or Pakistani.

  My point was that politics the world over is about PR; style over substance--and thus, muttering a time-worn phrase is pretty meaningless. I don't know how it is in other countries, but an atheist won't become President of the US for many years. In other countries, it (was) probably the opposite--the former Soviet Union comes to mind.

  If you're saying that a politician who has to worry about public opinion lives in an intolerant and un-lovely country, then I hope you live on a deserted island, or you're going to be unhappy with ANY government leader.

  I guess I'm a believer by default, since I used to be one and haven't looked into it enough to change my mind. Maybe "deistically apathetic" is the proper term for me. I spent so many years slaving for a group of men, because I'd been taught that they had a direct line to God, that I think He/She (assuming He/She exists) will understand if I put the whole issue on the back burner for a while and play catch-up with my life. Therefore, I don't care to argue the whole God/god thing. My statements weren't in defense of God, just my opinion that saying that phrase doesn't say anything about one's intellect. If you've ever said "bless you" or "oh my god" did you immediately question your intellect?

  Besides, when have you ever known a politician to NOT hedge his bets?

  Hmmm
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  16

  SUPPORT FREEDOM - by Simon

  by waiting in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  howdy,.

  look up at the top of this forum......see the american flag?

  click on it.. now, just browse for all kinds of information about charities, relief work, companies involved in receiving destruction, where to find information, etc.. find others ways to help our neighbors in the new york, penn.

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  Hmmm

  Sorry - should have put some <grin>'s in there - I may have come over as bitter. I'm not, just a little "twisted" <g>.

  Oh don't worry, we got the "twisted" part loud and clear :)

  Hmmm