Always check your cheques.
sizemik
JoinedPosts by sizemik
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90
What it takes to become an atheist.
by dontplaceliterature ini was pondering this today during lunch, and to me it seems that it comes down to whether or not you can accept that you will one day be permanantly gone and anyone you have lost in death will never be alive again.
once a person becomes comfortable with these two ideas, there isn't really any incentive to believe.
maybe it's an over simplification, but it seems to me that this is the heart of the matter.
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Jehovah's Witness School Principal a "tyrant and a bully"
by sizemik ina controversial coney island principal has pulled the plug on patriotism.. her refusal to let students sing god bless the usa at their graduation has sparked fireworks at a school filled with proud immigrants.. greta hawkins, principal of ps 90, the edna cohen school, wont allow kindergartners to belt out the beloved lee greenwood ballad, also known as proud to be an american, at their moving-up ceremony.. context: middle correlation photo five classes spent months learning the patriotic song, which skyrocketed in popularity after the 9/11 attacks and the 2003 invasion of iraq.it was to be the rousing finale of their musical show at the june 20 commencement.
the kids, dressed up for their big day, would wave tiny american flags which, as the lyrics proclaim, still stand for freedom.. but hawkins marched in on a recent rehearsal and ordered a cd playing the anthem to be shut off, staffers said.. she told the teachers to drop the song from the program.. we dont want to offend other cultures, they quoted her as explaining.. the curt edict stunned both staff and parents.. a lot of people fought to move to america to live freely, so that song should be sung with a whole lot of pride, said mom luz lozada, whose son, daniel, is in kindergarten.. the song has been sung at previous school events.
last years fifth-graders, including another lozada child, performed it at graduation.. everybody applauded and whistled, the mom said.
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sizemik
Well this story has grown some legs since yesterday.
Reported in the UK and Europe now . . .
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20
How Will The Watchtower Handle Disclosure?
by metatron infor me, the disclosure of ufo's as being real is just matter of time.
it's not a matter of any mayan calendar or galactic alignment.
it's simply the eventual outcome of increasing and increasingly bold ufo observations.
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sizemik
The leap from Unidentified Flying Object to Extraterrestrials is a very big one IMO.
A UFO is not automatically an alien craft . . . it's simply unidentified and may have a number of very different explanations. In fact, if a UFO is definitively labelled an alien craft . . . it's technically no longer a UFO, as it's been identified.
Anything beyond "Unidentified" is speculation until a preponderance of evidence supports the claim.
But UFO's in the strict sense of the acronym do exist.
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If you never have used the internet, would you have returned to the borg or stay in the organization?
by Iamallcool inif i have never used the internet, i would probably return to the borg by now.
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sizemik
I had serious doubts before I sought answers on the net . . . but things certainly got wheels from there.
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31
My email to my mother - sorry a bit long
by darthweef inhello - i am new here .. just joined a couple of days ago, and have enjoyed the bit of lurking that i have done.
a breif history, i was raised as a jw, was active until i was 36, and was a regular pioneer for 7 years and a ministerial servant for 5 years, and was one when i left.
my reasons for leaving are not important at this point, but i have spent the last year or so researching the flood and more extensively the theory of evolution.. i have finally decided to broach the topic with my mother since after all this time, the last of my jw friends and my brother and sister have all decided that they should shun me now, and i want to make a last ditch effort to convey to my mother that i didn't leave the organization so i could do lines of coke off a cheap hooker, but because i actually believe that this is not the truth.. i'd love some feedback on the email and what you think the possibility of it actually breaking through the "permafrost" created by the society.
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sizemik
Welcome to the forum Stephen . . .
It's a big subject but I think the points you've chosen are good ones. It's easier to break that permafrost if you use a subject that avoids subjective scriptural arguments as you have done. If your Mom has a genuine interest in science, then this may well be a prime choice.
The only qualification I would make is to avoid, as much as possible, directly criticising the organisation in your first foray. It's often a tender spot that brings the shutters down pretty fast . . . and can always be covered later if she thaws a bit first. Having said that . . . you know your Mom best.
Good luck with it. You can only do your best . . . and there's no guarantees of course.
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17
Oh, the pain
by Cirkeline init hurts like hell to listen to my 17 yo girl, crying, saying she misses our real relationship.
that she gets depressed every time we talk about spiritual things.
and i really do the utmost to leave it out of our conversations.
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sizemik
I think what Hamsterbait is getting at is this . . .
Parents love thier children way more than children love them back. I've learned that the hard way too. So she will come across as more hard-nosed, black & white, etc., because of this, and it can be very painful. Parents never condemn thier kid's . . . and yet kid's will blame thier parents for everything wrong in thier life, point it out, and expect you to make the world perfect again immediately, according to their prescription.
She will come back when she has a need . . . that's what parents are for. The only time she will come to realise this is when she has children of her own . . . and she will then feel the point of the knife for herself. And if she thinks about it honestly, she will know that you always loved her.
Just keep loving her and doing what you are doing. Give it time, it's the only card you have to play.
I feel for you at this time. Sometimes being a parent sucks, but it's part of the job description when they start becoming adults. And you're right . . . this religion makes it so much harder.
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30
It's still bugging me...
by mrsjones5 inbut instead saying something i most likely would regret later i'm going to rant here.. this was touched on on otwo's thread.
there's a jw woman who's kids go to the same school as mine.
my oldest son is friends with this woman's oldest son.
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sizemik
Being a complete bastard myself . . . I'm with Glander and BP.
Feed her some bullshit . . . as outrageous as possible but still believable.
Kind of like an incendiary device . . . light the touch paper and stand well clear.
She'll get the picture and you get a laugh . . . it's a win-win.
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20
How Will The Watchtower Handle Disclosure?
by metatron infor me, the disclosure of ufo's as being real is just matter of time.
it's not a matter of any mayan calendar or galactic alignment.
it's simply the eventual outcome of increasing and increasingly bold ufo observations.
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sizemik
Unidentified Flying Objects exist . . . that's an undeniable fact.
The only way to remove them from that category is by a positive identification. Categorising them as "extraterrestrial" is a little more difficult, but only needs one piece of evidence to show that they (it) can't have originated from this planet.
I agree that it's only a matter of time before one or both of the above occurs.
I also agree that WTS and any other fundamentalist belief will have to explain it within the limits of thier theology . . . they have nowhere else to go.
At that point, things will become very amusing. I hope I'm around to see it.
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90
What it takes to become an atheist.
by dontplaceliterature ini was pondering this today during lunch, and to me it seems that it comes down to whether or not you can accept that you will one day be permanantly gone and anyone you have lost in death will never be alive again.
once a person becomes comfortable with these two ideas, there isn't really any incentive to believe.
maybe it's an over simplification, but it seems to me that this is the heart of the matter.
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sizemik
I cannot say what it is that causes someone else to believe or not to believe. . . . tec
May I respectfully suggest this may be a good subject for research.
It has been my experience that "believers" are not comfortable with this subject and tend to ignore it. Identifying the causes for something goes a long way toward understanding the effect.
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24
Jehovah's Witness School Principal a "tyrant and a bully"
by sizemik ina controversial coney island principal has pulled the plug on patriotism.. her refusal to let students sing god bless the usa at their graduation has sparked fireworks at a school filled with proud immigrants.. greta hawkins, principal of ps 90, the edna cohen school, wont allow kindergartners to belt out the beloved lee greenwood ballad, also known as proud to be an american, at their moving-up ceremony.. context: middle correlation photo five classes spent months learning the patriotic song, which skyrocketed in popularity after the 9/11 attacks and the 2003 invasion of iraq.it was to be the rousing finale of their musical show at the june 20 commencement.
the kids, dressed up for their big day, would wave tiny american flags which, as the lyrics proclaim, still stand for freedom.. but hawkins marched in on a recent rehearsal and ordered a cd playing the anthem to be shut off, staffers said.. she told the teachers to drop the song from the program.. we dont want to offend other cultures, they quoted her as explaining.. the curt edict stunned both staff and parents.. a lot of people fought to move to america to live freely, so that song should be sung with a whole lot of pride, said mom luz lozada, whose son, daniel, is in kindergarten.. the song has been sung at previous school events.
last years fifth-graders, including another lozada child, performed it at graduation.. everybody applauded and whistled, the mom said.
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sizemik
A controversial Coney Island principal has pulled the plug on patriotism.
Her refusal to let students sing “God Bless the USA” at their graduation has sparked fireworks at a school filled with proud immigrants.
Greta Hawkins, principal of PS 90, the Edna Cohen School, won’t allow kindergartners to belt out the beloved Lee Greenwood ballad, also known as “Proud to be an American,” at their moving-up ceremony.
Five classes spent months learning the patriotic song, which skyrocketed in popularity after the 9/11 attacks and the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
It was to be the rousing finale of their musical show at the June 20 commencement. The kids, dressed up for their big day, would wave tiny American flags — which, as the lyrics proclaim, “still stand for freedom.”
But Hawkins marched in on a recent rehearsal and ordered a CD playing the anthem to be shut off, staffers said.
She told the teachers to drop the song from the program.
“We don’t want to offend other cultures,” they quoted her as explaining.
The curt edict stunned both staff and parents.
“A lot of people fought to move to America to live freely, so that song should be sung with a whole lot of pride,” said mom Luz Lozada, whose son, Daniel, is in kindergarten.
The song has been sung at previous school events. Last year’s fifth-graders, including another Lozada child, performed it at graduation.
“Everybody applauded and whistled,” the mom said. “They gave it a standing ovation.”
Parents — many immigrants from Pakistan, Mexico and Ecuador — “love it,” Lozada said.
A teacher agreed: “It makes them a little goosebumpy and teary-eyed. I’ve never come across anyone who felt it insulted their culture.”
Department of Education spokeswoman Jessica Scaperotti gave The Post an explanation staffers said they never heard — that Hawkins found the lyrics “too grown up” for 5-year-olds.
The song starts: “If tomorrow all the things were gone, I’d worked for all my life. And I had to start again, with just my children and my wife, I’d thank my lucky stars, to be livin’ here today.”
Scaperotti said the department supports the principal’s decision. “The lyrics are not age-appropriate,” she said.
But Justin Bieber’s flirty song about teen romance, “Baby,” was deemed a fine selection for the show. Hawkins had no problem with 5-year-olds singing lines such as, “Are we an item? Girl, quit playing.”
The other songs: “We’re All Together Again,” popular at Scout campfires; “The World is a Rainbow,” which celebrates diversity; “Shake Your Sillies Out” by Raffi; and “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” from “Toy Story.”
Scaperotti noted PS 90 kids recite the Pledge of Allegiance and sing “America the Beautiful” each morning. Insiders say Hawkins tried to end that tradition a couple years ago but staff objected.
The principal, a Jehovah’s Witness, does not recite the pledge because her religion forbids followers to salute any nation’s flag. Staffers gripe she doesn’t stand in respect during the school-wide ritual.
The song uproar comes amid tensions. Hawkins has been called a tyrant and bully by some staffers.
The DOE reprimanded her in 2010 after teachers complained she called the school “racist” and declared: “I’m black. Your previous principal was white and Jewish. More of us are coming.”
Scaperotti said Hawkins is being targeted by the teachers union and has received hate mail, which is under investigation by the NYPD.