I have never wanted children and I know I never will. I didn't feel it at 18 and still don't feel it at 27. I've had a complete paradigm change going from being a full-fledged JW to an agnostic now, but my lack of desire for a child has not changed. I'm calling a urologist on Monday. I don't have any desire for any kind of pet either. However, I did want a dog once when I was really young like 5 or 6, so maybe the desire will return one day, but I can't see it right now. Will I feel lonely when I'm older? I don't know, but right now I don't see that as a valid reason to have children. I can't see having someone to take care of me or give me company as a valid reason to bring another human into the world. When I get old and perhaps even unable to live on my own, even if I did have children, I wouldn't want them to have that responsibility. Hopefully, I save enough to have that kind of care paid for, and hopefully, I would have some hobbies and interests, a life of my own.
maxwell
JoinedPosts by maxwell
-
45
A call to the childfree/childless....
by Doubtfully Yours inany particular reason for such decision?
i have health fears, so long ago i decided against having children.
sometimes i feel afraid of growing old alone and lonely, but lately i've realized that having children is no guarantee of any future situation.
-
-
-
29
Poll: Anyone thought they sinned against Holy Spirit? Any anxiety or anger?
by SAHS incertainly not that i would ever imply that anyone would have sinned against the holy spirit, but i was just wondering how may people either think they may have done this, or in the past thought they may have, or if they felt they were ever a victim of that wt scare tactic.
if so, did you at some point in your life feel anxiety over it?
did you ever feel anger about being misled into thinking you had when you realize now that you really couldn?t have (at least by that time)?
-
-
maxwell
I used to be afraid that I had committed the unforgivable sin when I believed in the Bible. Now that my beliefs can be most accurately described as agnostic, I've thought and said all sorts of things about any potential God and his potential spirit, and if he does exist as described in the bible, I suppose I have probably committed the sin, but I have no anxiety over it.
-
129
Blacks can't speak English - Bill Cosby
by closer2fine insorry if this was already posted, i did a search & didn't see it.. .
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?article_id=38565.
minority report.
-
-
maxwell
I didn't read every post in this thread, but I wanted to add my two cents. I see a lot of comments about slang English versus correct English, but I want to comment on the wider issue that Bill Cosby seemed to be addressing that the fact many black people stay on the lower economic class or end up in jail more is because of their own choices. That I agree with.
One example I see locally is the school system. Here in DC the school system has been in turmoil for years with low test scores and poor performance and there's always finger pointing between the school board, teachers and the city government. The school board is elected right now and the mayor wants to take over the schools and appoint a superintendent. They can fingerpoint amongst themselves all they want but it is my contention that the major influence in a child doing well in school is the parent and not the school. I went to a high school that was over 80% black in what was in at least one year said to be one of the three poorest counties in the country. On standardized tests, we consistently came in the lowest in the state. Yet, somehow on all standardized tests I took, I managed to score at least in the 90th percentile (keep in mind this is a comparison against the whole country), I managed to score high enough on both the ACT and the SAT on the first go around to get my college education fully paid for, and I managed to complete my college education successfully in the top 25% of my class. I'm not a genius or any smarter than anyone else, but my parents provided the environment and support for doing the things I needed to do in school and we chose to do that.
On the other hand, these days I hear other PARENTS complaining about how much homework their child has. Are these the same people who complain about their child not getting an adequate education? It is the school's responsibility to provide a child with the information and a little prodding or guidance in the direction needed. It is the parent's and the child's responsibility to make sure the child learns it. It is not the school's responsibility to teach a child morals, proper social behavior, feed them, discipline them or build the child's self-esteem or any other part of their psyche although at times they take on some of these jobs. All of that is the parent's responsibility. When a school system or an individual teacher takes on those tasks, they are going above and beyond. Yet many parents try to push those jobs off on the school or blame the school when the parent has failed at his/her job. I don't see being in a poor or even subpar school district as an excuse not to get an adequate education. A child may not have the latest lab equipment and may not get to go on some of the nicer field trips. They may even have very 20 year old textbooks with a few pages torn out, but the basics haven't changed and a good parent will make sure their child learns the basics. I have a 22 year old Algebra text book in my office now. I was in Alegebra class for the first time about 13 years ago, so I know not much changed up till then. And I'd bet you that 99% of the material is the same as today's textbooks. There's probably a little more geared toward the use of graphical calculators. Probably more has changed in other sciences like biology with the genetic research that has gone on and I hope no one is using a 20 year old biology book, but even there much of the basics are the same.
Schools are just one example. Far too often, I see some black people pull the race card for situation over which they had control. You don't have to break the law. You don't have to insist on speaking slang English or wearing inapprorpriate clothing on a job interview. You don't have to be irresponsible on the job. You don't have to be late. (CP time is BS.) You don't have to waist your money gambling or drinking beer. You don't have to abuse drugs. You don't have to waste your time hanging out or talking with your friends when you should be studying or preparing for the next day's tasks. Many black people already know this, they find out what they have to do to go where they want to go, and they execute. Others, not only blacks, refuse to take responsibility and continue to blame others for the consequences of their own actions.
-
49
How many of you are smokers?
by Joker10 in.
it seems that a lot of people on this board are smokers?
lets get some figures.
-
-
maxwell
I know at least one person who smokes some weed occasionally but no cigs. I smoke no recreational drugs. But sometimes I drink a recreational toxin.
-
31
Whats happening in America's colleges?
by Brummie ini'm no way anti usa as some here have the custom ;) but can anyone explain the reason for this new book?
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?article_id=38512.
if you have been to university would you agree with this author?.
-
-
maxwell
As others have stated, my experience has been that college teaches you to challenge your beliefs. If you successfully teach a person to believe only conservative beliefs or only liberal beliefs then that would be brainwashing. A well rounded person, college educated or not, looks at the both sides of an issue and forms an opinion instead of following some party line.
-
47
How Many of You Felt That The "End" Would've Been Here By Now???
by minimus infor what it's worth, i never did.
i just never really believed in '75 or any other time.....signed, faithless minimus
-
-
maxwell
I remember looking at a Kingdom Ministry once when I was probably not older than my preteens and it had the number of memorial takers as somewhere around 3000. When I first read it I didn't realized that was just the number for the US. I thought it was the total partakers for the whole world and I compared it with the number I had seen on a few years before of 9000. Given that the end was supposed to come before all the annointed were gone that was when I specifically felt the end was very close. I thought that number was dropping very rapidly. Then my mom pointed out that the number was just for the US.
My parents thought I'd never make it out of high school when I was born. Other than the short moment I spoke about above, I never had a specific feeling that the end would be here now. I thought that it was entirely possible that I would never graduate high school or college and I though it was highly unlikely that I would die of old age, but other than what I mentioned above, I never had a firm "It'll be here before _____." thought in my mind.
-
34
Gasoline May 19
by Schizm ini had this sent to me this morning via e-mail.
in the subject line it said: "see if you agree.
this came from my aunt in calif. gasoline may 19.
-
-
maxwell
I read that it can't work because the gas companies track their profits weekly .. besides, if you don't buy gas Wednesday, won't you just buy it Tuesday or Thursday?
This is exactly what I was thinking. I'm sure some people are making sure they fill up on Tuesday so they won't have to buy any gas on Wednesday or they will just wait till Thursday if they have enough to get through Wednesday and that is if they are going along with this plan. If you actually want to make the oil companies feel some financial pain, you would have to get a lot of people to stop driving their cars completely for a few days. But I don't see that happening. Americans love and identify with their cars instead of seeing them as tools. Cars often become an extension of the person's personality and people are not going to give up a part of themselves that easily.
-
34
Did you ever actually make a JW convert from the door-to-door work?
by True North inin all the years i went door to door as a jw, i never once had a study who went all the way to baptism.
in the thirty years i've know my wife -- who has been a jw all this time -- she has never made a single convert from going door to door either.
is this true of others on this forum?
-
-
maxwell
Fortunately, I never converted anyone and only had two studies in my time as a JW. Both my parents had at least one study that eventually got baptized. However, one was disfellowshipped the last I heard.
-
35
Why is it even ex JW's run scared when they hear the word apostate?
by happehanna ini just told them where i work as a volunteer, that i am going to a workshop for those that have left a cult tomorrow.
they were all fascinated and wanted to know which cult i had belonged to.
i said jw's and this one guy said i he used to be one of them.
-
-
maxwell
It sounds like this guy still has some JW beliefs, and considering that his reaction is understandable. I agree somewhat with Markfromcali. The JW religion teaches that apostates are the most evil people out there. While this is not true, it is true that some leave the JW religion and join the anti-JW religion. Now they don't preach all things JW. They go around preaching all things anti-JW. So they have simply become a religious fanatic of another kind and some people associate apostate with that kind of person whether true or false. Few people want to hang around a person who cannot have a conversation without trying to insult some small religious sect, which has very little influence in the world, or whose whole goal in life is to destroy the JW. There are better things to do with one's life.
That said, technically, using the JW apostate definition, I could probably be labeled an apostate considering some of the stuff I tell my wife, who is still a JW, and what I would tell someone who really wanted to know what it was like being a JW. But like some other posters, I don't go around telling people I'm an apostate or that I used to be part of a mind-control group, unless it comes up in normal conversation and the person I'm talking to is genuinely interested in my past. Besides, I don't follow the bible as an authority at all now and my main reason for leaving the religion would apply to all religions. I don't think of myself as an apostate. I'm just a guy trying to live my life as best as possible, and while being a raised a JW was a significant part of my life, it is in my past now.
-
12
JW kid fights back against bully!!! Good for him!
by amac in.
http://www.shortnews.com/start.cfm?id=39268&rubrik1=current%20events&rubrik2=crimes&rubrik3=assault&sort=1&sparte=4
.
-
-
maxwell
Mixed message is right and I get a mixed feeling about this. Of course, you can't let bullies push you around, but could he have chosen way of fighting back other than using a pencil to gouge the guys face? I don't know. I wasn't there. Sometimes you have to make your point in a harsh manner. Kinda of reminds me of that episode of "King of Hill" where Bobby started taking care of the bullies by kicking them in the genitals as he had learned in a female self-defense class.
I was raised a JW, but my dad told me if I didn't fight back against bullies, I'd get a whipping at home. (Not trying to start any discussion over whether corporal punishment is abuse or not here. I don't feel that it is.) So I got the point. I was a consistent honor roll student JW nerd, but after I popped a few wannabe thugs, very few people messed with me physically again. An occasional verbal ribbing is nothing. You just ignore that and most kids get tired of it after they find that it has no effect. I suppose if the physical bullying gets to bad and authorities were doing nothing to stop it, I'd just have to choose to break the silly law. Is my own self-respect worth doing some probation or jail time? I'm sure there are some things many of us would not allow to happen even if it did require us to spend some time in jail.