Not BS my green rubber friend, posters just aren't paying attention to what they are reading. This "Senator Bednar" is a college student involved in student government. When you read the links, you can see they are talking about campus life and issues relevant to that arena (sororities, fraternities,athletics, etc.). Often, at a high school or college, those students who act as representatives for the student body are called "senators." That is what they are called at the high school where I teach. When taken in this context, this whole Senator Bednar thing is funny. I hope we can laugh at ourselves over this. Shoshana
La Capra
JoinedPosts by La Capra
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46
Senator Bednar Leaves Watchtower!
by Voyager inthis forum has uncovered many jws who were found out to be political officials.
if this information should be old to some,--then perhaps for those who have just left the borg, might find the information helpful to reinforce their freedom.
the thread is very long, so if it should not work, then please go to kent steinhaug's forum at watchtower observer.. http://kent.steinhaug.com/forum/showthread.php?s=f3aa440065982e1f53cc3efe02055681&threadid=2744 .
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I dread Christmas this year.
by Vivamus ini dread christmas this year.. i have no-one to celebrate it with.. .
i mean, sure, i could invite myself to join in the merryment at some friends places.
but all my friends are celebrating with their parents, and so i won't do that.
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La Capra
Christmas has never been my cup of tea. It has always been totally secular for me. It is also my birthday. This year I will be in travelling with my aunt and uncle. It will also be Hanukah, and my aunt's birthday, and a Radish Festival, which means I will have definite celebration. But when I am "in town" for the holiday, I do a few things to make it celebratory for myself. The first is to get the money I would have spent on my JW relatives (if they weren't JWs) and give it away to the poor homeless folks that are out in the cold on Christmas morning. There are also soup kitchens that need volunteers during the holiday season. In the U.S. there are always lots of programs where one can "adopt" a needy family and help make their Christmas. I have done any number of volunteery things during the season that have infused the season with meaning that I just don't bring to it myself. I can attest to the fact that spending it with people who feel obliged to be there, buy each other gifts and "make a party" falls pretty flat too. But, if you are going to spend the day feeling sorry for yourself, start planning now for lots of self-indulgent treats, movies, books, and other guilty pleasures to make it all worth it. There is no incorrect, or wrong way to spend the day, especially if you switch to green bubblegum for the day. Shoshana
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Watchtower Society Sued For Covering Up For Molestor Derek Packowski
by qua insacramento vicinity (loomis, rocklin, sunset congregations): court documents were just issued charging derek packowski and the watchtower society corporations.
the papers were filed by the legal firm of nolen saul brelsford of sacramento, california.
the child molestor and said corporations headed by the governing body over jehovah?s witnesses, were charged with not reporting to law enforcement and systematically conspiring and suppressing information about sexual molestation committed by packowski when he was in a congregation in des plaines, illinois, also after about 1984 and later in california at the loomis congregation from which formed the rocklin and sunset congregations.
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La Capra
"John Does" are listed so plaintiffs' case won't be dismissed for failure to name relevant parties to the action in their initial pleading papers. Also it allows the complaint to be amended if the identities of more defendants come to light during discovery, without having to start all over. Its just a civil procedure game to ensure that this won't get tossed on a procedure technicality. And who says posting here interferes with my studying for my civ pro midterm? HAH!!! Shoshana
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Where were you at 33 years of age?
by DanTheMan ini've managed to survive 33 years (and a couple of weeks).
what a long strange trip it's been.. in spite of some tell-tale signs of aging (wrinkles around eyes, gray hair, mystified and sometimes terrified by the current youth culture) in some ways i still feel like a little kid who doesn't know anything.
what have you learned since then?
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La Capra
That was two years ago for me. I had been teaching for ten years, and getting really bored. It was about that time that I took stock of my life and decided to make changes, like go to law school, practice Judaism, and clean up my emotional health. I had accomplished a lot "on paper" by 33, but I was socially and emotionally barren. I'm pleased to report that progress, though slow, is being made on that front. I am almost halfway through with law school, and am feeling much more mentally balanced (thanks to this board and a good psychologist who is experienced in problems related to JWs). Shoshana
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JEHOVAH
by minimus inwe all know that we do not know the correct pronunciation of the name of god.
over 6000 times, the tetragrammaton is mentioned in the ot.
yet for some reason, most bibles do not use the name jehovah or yahweh but a few times.
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La Capra
Hey, Minimus, maybe it has something to do with its presence countering the doctrine of the holy trinity. But I think it has more to do with the fact that by tradition "lord" (adonai) was uttered instead.
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JEHOVAH
by minimus inwe all know that we do not know the correct pronunciation of the name of god.
over 6000 times, the tetragrammaton is mentioned in the ot.
yet for some reason, most bibles do not use the name jehovah or yahweh but a few times.
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La Capra
YHVH, or at least those letters are as close to the Hebrews letters we can get in our letters. It shows up a lot, it just was never intended to be pronounced, except by the high priest in the inner temple. We know how practically everything else was pronounced because the ORAL tradition carried it down until someone had the sense to start using vowels. In my limited Hebrew training, I can see from those four letters, if other Hebrew pronunciation rules apply, there are probably TWO syllables. My rabbi told me that scholars of Hebrew and the Jewish bible consider the pronunciation "jehovah" to be a comical, farsical rendition. Kind of like some posters here use the phrase "paradise erf" (I love that one) or "jehoober" (another funny one). Some scholars say that because when YHVH appears in prayers it is uttered "adonai" that the vowel sounds in "adonai" were what was used for the vowels in Jehovah (not quite, from my view), by whomever began using that pronunciation (not the Jewish scholars, that's for sure). For me, I find it that name, or any singular name, too limiting to address all that is encomassed by the notion of a singular, all powerful, sovereign of the universe. I have always wondered why JWs don't wear little gold engravings of the tetragrammaton on necklaces. My mom used to have a little window decal of it that she put in our car window. Shoshana
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Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
by copsec inanyone live there or been there?
is it great?
i am going for a week in february for a little r & r and really looking forward to it.
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La Capra
Don Eduardo tequila is even better. In Mexico, the cabs are really cheap, but ask for the fare in advance, before getting in. And tip the cab drivers. Renting a car there is so expensive, and the cabs so cheap, that this is the way to go. Sign up for some professional tours of the area (they let you drink on the bus), for campy entertainment. I was in the area in 1991 (Zihuataneju) and Cabo in 96. I'm off to Oaxaca next month. The most important thing to remember is to find a cantina that makes good margaritas, chips and salsa, and spend a few hours there every afternoon "resting", visiting with your companions and getting out of the sun. Chill. Shoshana
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Should the JW congregation keep a wriiten record of sins commited ?
by fearnotruth22 inany jw that has been disciplined by a judicial comiitee has the particulars of the sin he has been didsiplined for in a file kept by the elders inside a file cabinet containing other such records in that little room in the back .
that information is aceesible to elders with the key to the file cabinet.
years may go by but the file remains, even when a jw dies the file remains until elders wish to throw it out.
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La Capra
I guess I never knew about this envelope in the file thing. When I read about these things that I know I was oblivious to growing up, it fits in with all my emotional injuries and struggles I still wage war on daily. My inability to forgive myself and let go of my past mistakes could very possibly come directly from the emotional culture that requires such permanent records of mistakes. No wonder I never believed that Jesus really died for our sins...Shoshana
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Marking.
by Englishman ini've heard the expression a few times here but have normally not taken much notice.
i've been exited for 31 years and 4 months, well before the onset of elders, reproofs and marking.. i understand the first 2 but am all at sea about the the third.
someone please tell me exactly what "marking" is and how one becomes marked or a marker.. or markee!
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La Capra
In the context of the high control group, marking is a delightful little invention. When the folks cannot get enough dirt on someone they don't want around, they begin to "mark" someone, even if they cannot put their finger on why they're disliked. And thus, the cycle has begun. This person (can even be a five year old child) now never gets invited to social events, and if she invites others to socialize, the invitation is declined. This practice has basically three results. The first is that the person conforms their personality (even subconsciously) to fit into the "group." This person lives on constant guard of their true self, and in fear that she "will be discovered" for her real self. This is what the cult wants: Robotron conduct thinly veiling utter fear of rejection. Second, the person just withdraws into seclusion and depression. The cult does not mind this, because it is an example to everyone else what happens if you aren't exactly like everyone else-you are doomed to a life of loneliness and rejection. And thirdly, most commonly, the marked person seeks out other social release, which has to be "worldly". By doing this, the "marked" individual acts out a self-fulfilling prophecy: Dubs won't hang out with me, so I hang out with "worldlies" which makes the dubs not hang out with me....Everyone has to belong somewhere, it is part of the human condition, even biology (as some recent psychological studies have tentatively shown). The way that high control groups effectuate control through this need is fascinating. Sad for me, though. I was a victim, and my mom was too, since she let me hang out with "worldly kids" because there were no dubs in our neighborhood.
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Those scary apostates outside conventions with banners and megaphones...
by dolphman inremember those people?
my mom would tell me to not even look at them.
they had bullhorns, banners, waving at us as we walked in.
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La Capra
At the Cow Palace in San Francisco, there were always a few at the entrance gates. However, after driving through the streets of San Francisco, seeing them was a lot less bizarre than many of other sights we had just experienced. I always thought they must certainly be really convinced of what they were trying to tell us to be just a few, making noodles of themselves, in front of thousands of people whose convictions were so diametrically opposed and equally strong. Shoshana