jgnat

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Posts by jgnat

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  4

  A good feeling

  by backformore in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so i'm back on here after being away for years.

  i joined back up to vent about problems i was having with family but i thought i'd share a good experience i had on here too.. .

  my old congregation was on one corner of a city block that was primarily owned by the local community college.

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  jgnat

  Hubby used to start fires in the local dump.
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  151

  If you don't believe in God where do you get the strength to cope?

  by Miss.Fit in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i know there are some here that are going through some tough times.

  some of you do not believe in god.

  some are not sure.. i was told recently by a friend to pray to god for help and he would comfort me.. my first impulse is to pray.

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  jgnat

  LisaRose, LOL. There are days my daughter panics and looks at me like I've got horns growing out my head. Even my choice of jewelry has shifted. I might wear a gold cross I like, but I always layer it with other spiritual symbols like stars or leaves. I am also fond of the DNA spiral and the native circle of life.

  
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  129

  Does consciousness end with the death of the body

  by givemejustalittlemoretime in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  apparently, the carvakas in anceint hinduism were materialists and skeptics, arguing that consciousness ends with the death of the body and that therefore we should take pleasure in this life while we possess it and practice compassion toward others.

  they also argued that direct observation is the only certain way to know anything, and thus the existence of supernatural forces and realities cannot be established and must be rejected.

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  jgnat

  designs, yes, being "temporary residents" (Phillipians 3:20 and others) and all. The only earthly commands really, are to "go forth and multiply" which the Duggars take quite literally, and to be good stewards.
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  35

  100 Years Ago Today: World War I Began - July, 28, 1914

  by Oubliette in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  100 years since world war i07/28/14 07:44 am by timothy noah and johnny simon.

  "one hundred years ago today, emperor franz josef of austria-hungary declared war on serbia in retaliation for the assassination one month earlier of his heir apparent, archduke franz ferdinand, by a serbian pan-slavic nationalist.

  what might otherwise have remained a regional conflict between the dying hapsburg empire and one of its former holdings instead became, through a tangle of alliances and a global power imbalance, two world wars that began in 1914 and ended in 1945, with a 21-year intermission for the jazz age and the great depression.".

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  jgnat

  Who is the most important person of the Twentieth Century? Gavrilo Princip. Who the heck was Gavrilo Princip? He was the nineteen-year-old Serb nationalist who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary during a state visit to Bosnia, after a string of errors and accidents delivered the archduke to within shooting distance. Here’s a man who single-handedly sets of a chain reaction which ultimately leads to the deaths of 80 million people. With just a couple of bullets, this terrorist starts the First World War, which destroys four monarchies, leading to a power vacuum filled by the Communists in Russia and the Nazis in Germany who then fight it out in a Second World War. Some people would minimize Princip's importance by saying that a Great Power War was inevitable sooner or later given the tensions of the times, but I say that it was no more inevitable than, say, a war between Nato and the Warsaw Pact. Left unsparked, the Great War could have been avoided, and without it, there would have been no Lenin, no Hitler, no Eisenhower. Princip is one of the few individuals ever to make history. - Steven Pinker, "The Better Angels of Our Nature".

  There had to be a few happy coincidences for Gavrilo to pull off his plot. A failure of any one of those coincidences and the Great War would never have happened.
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  13

  3rd Update on Fading

  by wallievase in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ok well i have updated you about the dilemma about my wife and family and more recently about the elders trying to schedule a shepherding call.. on our way back from th international convention she basically told me if i were to leave that we should go our seperate ways.. so i took a few days and thought about it.

  it seems she was more mad about my waffling back and forth and going to the hall sometimes and just not making up my mind.. today i gave her a proposal- i will stop going all together unless it it an assembly or convention or memorial for her.. we will not discuss religious topics, as this is where most of our arguments have been centered around, at all.. we will support all of each others endeavors besides religious intrests.

  i will talk to my family and let them know my intentions without getting into an details next month because my mother keeps calling me about it.

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  jgnat

  It sounds like a great proposal. I think the whole exit thing is so much easier when your partner is calm and on your side. There are so many errands and chores you can get done when she is off at the meetings. Hopefully she will begin to appreciate the benefits.

  By the way, I never gave my JW hubby any encouragement that I would become a JW, but I attended about the same as you suggested; the memorial and the conventions. Hubby dropped the conventions before I did. It's been two years since he's attended a memorial. Since he knew how I felt but he also knew we had each other's backs, he came up with bland excuses if anyone asked where I was at. Frankly, I think he enjoyed my spunk (shared with him privately). At the meetings I did attend, I was well-supplied with toys (iPhone, book, blank notebook). I discreetly did what I wanted.

  By the way, over time he skipped more and more meetings, deciding to go to a movie or some other entertainment. I reassured him that I was sure Jehovah understood. I didn't push, but I also didn't hold him back from gradually becoming more himself.
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  20

  Life in the new system

  by moley in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this always bothered me.. so the dust finally settles and your glad your still alive, so the first thing you do is phone your family and friends to see if their ok. no signal.

  ok i'll drive to the kingdom hell to find out what to do.

  driving past all the dead bodies you realise your almost out of petrol, stop at the garage cannot get fuel as there is no power.

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  jgnat

  http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/aftermath/interactives/aftermath-population-zero/

  How about all the locked-in house pets dead within the week? Outdoor dogs gone feral? Not to mention the dairy cattle in trouble within days.
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  151

  If you don't believe in God where do you get the strength to cope?

  by Miss.Fit in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i know there are some here that are going through some tough times.

  some of you do not believe in god.

  some are not sure.. i was told recently by a friend to pray to god for help and he would comfort me.. my first impulse is to pray.

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  jgnat

  Things are interesting now with my rational mind fully activated again, and while continuing to be involved in my church of choice. I am more than reason, and I still get great pleasure from worship. I have no problem praying. I did it before, I do it now. I certainly won't hesitate to pray for a distressed friend, when they ask for it. I may not pray for healing, but I might pray for peace and reconciliation.
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  9

  True Faith

  by paulnotsaul in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i was thinking back to when i believed "the truth".

  i was trying to remember any real emphasis put on faith.

  it always seemed that faith, in the jw mind was a visual concept.

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  jgnat

  Like True Christians perhaps, or a True Scotsman?
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  90

  PEER PRESSURE!!! I gave in to Pioneering during August...I feel dirty...

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  ok, i'll admit it...i am weak.... as everyone knows, the pressure to "pioneer" during "the most momentous, awesome, amazing, centenary anniversay of jesus invisble kigdom rule, & distribute tracts about a dodgy website" campaign is very strong at the moment.... also, many will have read my threads about the extreme views and expectations in our cong for "all appointed men to pioneer" etc..... every elder and ms and their families have been announced as pioneering....i mean everyone's name was read out except mine..... i was not going to do it, as i do not believe anyone should be forced...(and of course its the last thing on earth i would rather do anyway since learning ttatt).

  but i am not quite ready to make the break yet, so i realised that i would stand out more if i didnt put in a form to pioneer.

  yes it would make me more conspicious, and make fading harder to do...it would bring more heat on me if i didnt pioneer.. so i gave in and submitted a form.... now, of course, i'm only going to make sure i'm seen at the key field service groups etc...but then go and do something more interesting...like count blades of grass..... ahh....i feel hypocritical to myself now......

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  jgnat

  Don't forget to count four hours a week for Family Study night. Frankly I think these nights, if used judiciously (exercise a little Headship) can get the whole family some practice in Independent Thinking. Study one bible book. Or the Beatitudes. Without aids. Nice chewy steak instead of pablum for a change.
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  88

  Why Are People Anti-Semitic?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i seriously don't get it.. some people truly hate`jews.. and it's not just jews.... gays, christians, blacks, mexicans, etc.

  are on the list.. intolerance is a terrible thing..

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  jgnat

  Some reassuring research included in Pinker's latest book, "Better Angels of our Nature", is that our tendency to intolerance is not enough for a society to break out in to violent rages. There has to be a contributing force, like a psychopathic autocrat with a core loyal following, to incite ordinary people to violence.

  http://www.ted.com/talks/mellody_hobson_color_blind_or_color_brave