jgnat

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Posts by jgnat

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  43

  US World Power: Time Running Out

  by metatron in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-rise-and-fall-of-modern-empires-2014-9.

  tick tock...... forget about that daniel image/prophecy stuff.

  the process is being accelerated by trying to sanction russia, as they draw closer to china and thereby build an alternative economic system( including a swift banking arrangement of their own).

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  jgnat

  I forget where I heard it, but the idea of inevitable decline of empires is as old as Plato. It does not necessarily play out that way.
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  66

  Reinstatement via Old Cong.

  by startingover13 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i've applied to be reinstatement in a new city after attending meetings for a bit.

  i wrote my letter and they heard my case.

  they were very helpful.

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  jgnat

  I'd like to see you free from this:

  "What does this mean? Is it a rejection? I'm losing my mind trying to figure this out. ... so I'm lost."

  Really, this whole process does not deserve your anxiety. It's not just, it's not swift, and it will never make sense. Find a way to be content whether you are reinstated or not.

  Hubby waited months for his field service cards to be transferred from one congregation to the other. It turns out that elders aren't always in a big hurry to talk to each other. Remember, this whole process is out of your control.

  I love the story of Harrison Ford showing up at auditions in his carpenter's clothes. He needed to eat and if Hollywood wasn't going to cast him, he could always build cabinets. Rare for Hollywood, Harrison gave off an air that he didn't need them.

  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/08/harrison-ford-han-solo_n_2097347.html
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  11

  JW daughter, sent me a check yesterday...

  by jam in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  this is the daughter that told me she will never shunn me.. this is the daughter that told me dad, i pray one day you.

  will be sitting with us (her family) in the assembly, that one.

  day i will come back.. it was a $100.00 check with big bold letters "love you"... i'm going to frame it, she knows i don't need it..she is.

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  jgnat

  Let her know you framed it. That way you satisfy the wife (the money stays in their pockets) and you have a permanent reminder of her generosity and love.
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  48

  How much of our mind is our own?

  by jgnat in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  margaret singer, pioneer in the study of cults, chaired the alberta psychological association (apa) task force on deceptive and indirect methods of persuasion and control (dimpac) from 1983-1987. the final report of this task force was rejected by the apa, and has not been published.

  the apa noted that the brief characterized the theory of brainwashing as not scientifically proven and lacking scientific and methodological rigor.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/apa_task_force_on_deceptive_and_indirect_methods_of_persuasion_and_control#reported_conclusions_of_the_dimpac_task_force.

  the apa has since dismissed the use of the word "cult" and switched to the term "new religious movements".

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  jgnat

  I'm not ready to let this topic rest. I have pondered for years how some children manage to rise above their raising, even though family patterns do seem to repeat themselves (addiction, co-dependency, violence). How do some children find a better way? If they do, is there more than robotic repetitiveness at work? The term I've come across for this ability to break away is "resiliency".

  It can make a huge difference for adult survivors of disaster as well. With or without counselling, those who display greater "resiliency" have healthier outcomes.

  http://www.public.asu.edu/~iacmao/PGS191/Resilience%20Reading%20%231A.pdf
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  16

  Who wrote the bible?

  by Hairtrigger in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  just finished reading "who wrote the bible" ( richard e friedman) ?

  made for a fascinating read.

  the machinations of the various factions of levites and their efforts at centralizing the jewish religion has been adroitly duplicated by the gb.

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  jgnat

  Because I like to make things easy:

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/bible/15384/1/Who-Wrote-The-Bible#.VBMM6vldV8E
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  24

  The sick account of Abraham and Isaac!

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  this has to be watched!!!

  so thought provoking!.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyvcc8ui3cm&list=pl7420408e36541da4&index=2.

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  jgnat

  Karen Armstrong in her essay on Genesis, "In the Beginning..." notes that Isaac was a passive player after that terrifying event. Like he became a shadow of his former self. Heck, he was a passive player on the altar.

  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27307.In_the_Beginning
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  13

  Starting to wonder if I need organised religion.

  by quellycatface in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  .

  i do suffer from bipolar and social anxiety, so sometimes i do withdraw into myself.. what do you think?

  am i just being weird??.

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  jgnat

  In the last year before she died, my mother started attending a local Lutheran church. I suspect one of the reasons was to keep her children off her back, as we were expressing concern about her living on her own. I mentioned that she would get more social interaction in a senior's care facility and so on. So she launched out and found a social group on her own.

  We had a service for her at the church, and I specifically asked for a church potluck, which I think is one of the highlights. It was nice to see that there were people who missed mom and knew her in her last year. One of the congregation members discreetly watched out for me and made sure I was taken care of. That was very nice.

  http://www.frtommylane.com/stories/next_life/keep_the_fork.htm

  I also attend a church regularly and for me it is tying in to the community, seeing the same faces every week, and the singing. There are people checking in on me and asking how I am doing on a regular basis. It is comforting. And I do love to sing.

  That all being said, only go when you feel like it and there is no obligation to continue.
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  14

  Is the Watchtower a secret society?

  by marriedtoajw in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  does the watchtower teach that keeping secrets is ok?

  does its leadership believe that the advancement of the organization hinges on holding back truthful information from prospective members and others who are not in leadership positions?

  do you believe that the organization as a whole has a global agenda?

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  jgnat

  ...as in a secret society bent on dominating the world? No. The WTS is completely absorbed in its own interests and is satisifed to remain passive on world affairs.

  What are its own interests? Continued existence. That's it. Hopefully a steady, profitable existence.

  The WTS is secretive, as in regular members out in field service will not admit to the unsavoury bits of their doctrine. Elders have their secret manual that is readily available on the internet. Judicial meetings are secret. Bethelites keep the inner workings in head office quiet in order not to disturb congregationists.

  A ripe environment for gossip.
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  21

  Ashya King's mother in the newspaper before

  by blondie in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  parent of brain tumour boy ashya king hit the headlines when living in milton keynes.

  the now-famous mum of brain tumour boy ashya king hit the headlines here in milton keynes when she was pregnant with him, the citizen can exclusively reveal.. determined nagmeh king donned a placard over her six- month bump and paraded the streets in a bikini during a battle with a private school five years ago.. she and her husband, who braved arrest to get the right treatment for ashya, lived next door to the grove independent school on redland drive, loughton, for several years, and were prominent members of the citys jehovahs witness community.. a war of words involving lawyers, council official and even police erupted when the school chopped down a boundary hedge, which the kings insisted was theirs.. the row had rumbled on for five years without any resolution until 2009, when then-mum-of-five mrs king took matters into her own hands.. i have walked outside the school with my placards between 8am and 9am every morning, she told the citizen at the time.. im not protesting im just spreading the word as a jehovahs witness should.. other parents complained as she mounted one protest dressed only in her underwear.

  but mrs king insisted she was wearing a bikini.. its not shameful or wrong to wear a bikini when youre pregnant, she said.. a neighbour said: it is a crazy sight a half naked pregnant woman protesting outside a private school.. the kings, who described themselves as missionaries at the time, became even angrier when they replaced the hedge with a fence and the school removed it, saying it was on their land.. the family was accused of dumping rotting rubbish on the disputed boundary line, hanging washing outside the window of school head deborah berkin, and playing loud music during school hours.. milton keynes council confirmed it had been called out several times by the school over dumping, while environmental health officials were monitoring the music levels.. mrs king vowed she would continue to fight, saying: the school had no right to take away our privacy.. three months later little ashya was born.. today jehovahs witnesses across the city are remembering the family fondly and praying for ashyas treatment to be a success.. meanwhile neighbours who once watched mrs kings bikini protests are full of admiration for her courage in defying the nhs.. one said: she is a woman not scared of doing battle.

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  jgnat

  I see that blondie has reported a current article about this history. What gives me the chills is the possibility of Munchausen's.
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  34

  The insensitivity and opportunistic nature of witness at the 9/11 site !

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i saw an online post with pictures of all the witnessing carts all around the 9/11 site during the anniversary of the tragedy.... im appalled at how opportunistic they are, and how they prey on people in a mourning and vulnerable state!.

  apparantly they boast of: "there are 65 carts, with 200 witnesses manning the area... and so far 15 new studies started!".

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  jgnat

  Shameful.