Posts by lauralisa

68

Sheila Bowen's Letter To the GB!

by Ranchette in

jw
friends

i knocked on the locked door of the appeal hearing last night after they had dismissed bill and told the six elders that i had something to say to them and told them it was summed up it a letter i had written.i then asked them if i could read it to them and they could have their own copy when i was finished.they said that would be fine.. here it is.

governing body,.

25 columbia heights.

lauralisa

It is very good to "see" you again, Sheila.... I've missed you

Your letter is concise, and obviously from your heart as well as your brain. There is no one more qualified than you to speak to this issue. I hope you get some relief for all of the turmoil you and your family has endured. I hope that even ONE of those gnat-strainers lets your letter sink into his heart. I hope you get some strength and encouragement in knowing that you are the desperately needed voice for thousands of lambs, and that you are a Godsend to them.

love, lauralisa

"All considered, of how much more worth is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do a fine thing on the Sabbath." Matthew 12:12

12

alicholics

by not interested in

jw
friends

well here i am its about 3:30 in the morning and ive been sitting here and drinking beer and im feeling it i guess this is ultimatly why i was kicked out of the org.

but im in denial that i have a problem with alchoacal maybe because i dont drink all the time maybe cuz i can drink without getting drunk but what is sad is that when im alone i just drink to get drunk cuz i hate being alone what the hell am i doing?

im typing this out loud no wonder i was caught

lauralisa

Hey NI,

I join in with the other blondes here.... you are not alone. But - and I know I'm being a total rocket scientist here - you are obviously hurting. If you don't want to hurt alone, just call, and we'll be there.

Alcohol is an anesthetic. It's legal, and definitely available, and sometimes it even MAKES it stop SUCKING sometimes!!!!! I don't know if you have to go the "ok I'm an alcoholic" route at this point .... that's a completely different discussion.... but I definitely think you are hurting, and you have some damn good reasons to hurt. (If it didn't hurt after what you've endured this past year, you'd be a freak, actually

Yeah, a "normal" girlfriend (they don't exist, btw) would help you, but I think it would be just another 12-pack solution. You are grieving, that's all. You are not alone. Call, write, sing, etc.

love, laura

24

I just don't get it

by safe4kids in

jw
friends

.

nope, i sure don't.

life, the universe, and everything.....

lauralisa

Hey sweetie,

You are SO NOT ALONE here

I'll sit around with ya though and wonder about it all if that will help.

If anyone DOES get it figured out, please contact me, STAT

{{{{{SAFE}}}}}}}}}}

Edited by - lauralisa on 9 August 2002 22:4:3

35

Today is my birthday...

by Preston in

jw
friends

...and i have nobody to celebrate it with.

i wish i could make a big deal about it here but i don't post enough... anywho, remind me to kill the baker and to leave joseph in his cell.

lol, a little post jw humor.

lauralisa

Happy birthday, dear Preston!!!

I'm celebrating for you, right now, as we speak! (Write!) (read!) (whatever!)

lauralisa

16

Does the WTBTS have a milestone around her neck?

by pomegranate in

jw
friends

matt 18:5.

5 "and whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.

6 but if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.

lauralisa

Pom:

Sorry, hun, but you MUST define "sin" first. Good luck!

oh, oh, oh, the miracle of life... "Union"

21

Religion Explained

by JanH in

jw
friends

this is about the most ambitious book title i can remember.

religious studies have been able to collect and present millions of facts about the world's religions, and made a lot of fascinating general theories about belief, myth and rituals, but it would be stretching the truth a lot to say that any general theory of religions stand out as totally convincing.. so far, nobody has even been able to produce a totally convincing defintion of the word "religion".. but if anyone can produce a book actually explaining religion in a credible way, it must be pascal boyer.

i read his book the naturalness of religious ideas: a cognitive theory of religion for my master's exam, and it was really an eye opener in many ways.

lauralisa

Teejay,

Don't you care whether or not my toenail polish matched? HUH????? I swear, some people are so.... uncaring! And another thing. Oh, forget it. ( {{tj}}} ----> hadda sneak that in)

21

Religion Explained

by JanH in

jw
friends

this is about the most ambitious book title i can remember.

religious studies have been able to collect and present millions of facts about the world's religions, and made a lot of fascinating general theories about belief, myth and rituals, but it would be stretching the truth a lot to say that any general theory of religions stand out as totally convincing.. so far, nobody has even been able to produce a totally convincing defintion of the word "religion".. but if anyone can produce a book actually explaining religion in a credible way, it must be pascal boyer.

i read his book the naturalness of religious ideas: a cognitive theory of religion for my master's exam, and it was really an eye opener in many ways.

lauralisa

well one time my toe-nail polish didn't match my panties. It was more than I could take. I went back to that damn salon, and made them get it right. It took like four hours!!! But, it was worth it.

15

things to do before you die

by teejay in

my mom and sister came for a visit this past weekend.

it was a good weekend.. at one point, i asked sis about the new tattoos i noticed that she now has.

"what prompted you to do it?

lauralisa

Hey teejay,

I'm glad you had a cool weekend with your mom and sister.

You don't know how many times I have wondered, when listening to a true believer such as your mom: "how can this be happening"? WHAT HAPPENED to cause this person to acquire such an efficient trigger-response, the likes of which do not exist except within seriously dysfunctional social systems, which sends them immediately to "default key mode"?

I truly wanted to have that much "faith" at one time. I yearned for it. I wanted it to be true SO MUCH

But... there is a point at which one has to stop and question whether an investment they've made is a sound one. It is a healthy, normal and advisable thing to check out the credibility, legitimacy, etc. of any major investment, whether it's a financial one, emotional one, etc... The WTBTS does NOT hold up under scrutiny - even if one employs the most lenient, clouded credibility checks imaginable. And while I would say your mother is admirably strong in many ways, I wonder, I mean really, about whether she can really be 'happy'...

Maybe there is such a thing as being "blissfully unaware". Hey, maybe they're ON to something here! Wow. Let's see... my brain, in exchange for a life-term of repeating the same old lame apologetic - like on a totally daily basis -!- except I will be 'happy" - if I wait long enough - do all things better - wait long enough...
hmmmm... that's tempting........

Well, teejay you know where I stand on this thing, I guess? But is it not totally awesome that you got to spend some good time with people you love, and (I presume here), I think that YOU get to be the happy one in this story! And I'm truly glad about that.

lauralisa

21

Religion Explained

by JanH in

jw
friends

this is about the most ambitious book title i can remember.

religious studies have been able to collect and present millions of facts about the world's religions, and made a lot of fascinating general theories about belief, myth and rituals, but it would be stretching the truth a lot to say that any general theory of religions stand out as totally convincing.. so far, nobody has even been able to produce a totally convincing defintion of the word "religion".. but if anyone can produce a book actually explaining religion in a credible way, it must be pascal boyer.

i read his book the naturalness of religious ideas: a cognitive theory of religion for my master's exam, and it was really an eye opener in many ways.

lauralisa

Jan,

One night last week, I had a great discussion with my S.O. about religion. The book you have referenced here looks fascinating, and I'm gonna get it asap.

We were - uh, under the influence (not alcohol, but at least it was organic) - and we had also just watched "A Beautiful Mind" for the first time.

We were talking about polarities that exist in human culture; when one perceives one is on an EXTREME end of a curve, how much of a struggle it can be to accommodate or reconcile differences with others who exist on the OTHER end, type of thing. 'If those butt-heads were more aware of blah blah, there wouldn't be so much crap' for example. We are both freak libertarians, and I frequently get myself all twisted into a state over how much power is abused, misused, over used, etc. at the expense of the "individual." He listens to me calmly, and frequently helps me get back to a balanced state by just letting me rant on.

Anyway. We decided that we were just TOO evolved for our own good, and were going to have to learn to wait patiently and not get so frustrated with "how things are." We talked about what types of social constraints exist which keep people from thinking, and when are people gonna get with it and start accessing the whatever percentage of their brains that lie dormant; what would help (rationally) narrow the current chasm that exists between physics and "metaphysics" (I hate that word) so that dialogues could actually take place and the human animal could make some very much needed leaps, here, etc. (No, I'm not currently under any influences right now, but it sure sounds like it huh? LOL)

I went on another "religion sux" spiel, lamenting over the fact that while it does sometimes argue successfully that it provides some "moral" compass for humankind, it actually serves as a "brake" on thought development because, obviously, each religious belief system imposes its OWN peculiar constraints on thought... insisting that its adherents stay within its own "belief box"...

Then I had an epiphany (!!!LMAO!!!): Perhaps if humans evolved (intellectually) too quickly, they would eradicate themselves (or significant portions of the human race; of course dependent upon which curve-extreme representatives had the biggest 'toys') in order to maintain status quo.

Therefore, religion DOES have SOME redeemable qualities: it may keep the pace of evolution at a "safe" level.

If you have any feedback - I'd like to hear from you (or anyone else)

lauralisa

14

Harmony

by rolling rock in

jw
friends

tomarow my good friend harmony is moving.

i met her over this fourm and she just so happended to live 4 block's away.

so i wanted to say good by to her over it.

lauralisa

{{{{{MONY}}}}}

Wow your timing was GOOD... Saturday night was intense - you missed it!

The cities and south were all under severe tornado warnings. I was out grabbin a pizza at 6:30 pm; the sky was greeny-purple and the sirens started wailin and Evan called me on my cell to tell me to get my butt home asap! It was go to the basement time!!!

Crop circles formed in the fields, witches were smushed by flying farmhouses, dragons were flying around in the lightning..

I think Minnesota was pissed off that you left..... whaddaya think?

Glad to hear you are there safe and sound. Hugs,

laura