Posts by Kingpawn

15

Activists vs rationalists

by donkey in

jw
friends

as humans our brain works in ways that make us tend to generalize and categorize things, including the types of people.

being as i am half human (the other three quarters are pure ass...) i do the same.

from my observations i see 3 types of people on this board: the activiststhe rationaliststhe rest of us (rest-of-us (tm)).

Kingpawn

Donkey,

If someone reads from alternative sources that don't fit within the mainstream,does that automatically identify them with the authors whom they learn from?

This is what Cookie asked. But when you answered:

I see nothing wrong with identifying someone with their written views.

You had misunderstood her question. What she was asking, in essence, is if, for example, someone reads Marx's writings and becomes a believer in the theory of Communism, does that automatically make the reader a fellow Communist?

In your answer, when you said "...identifying someone with their written views," (emphasis added), the person in the above example now believes in Communism, but that belief does not make s/he a Communist. But using the reasoning behind your reply one would be justified in calling the new believer an actual Communist. It's a small difference I know, but the gap between what Cookie asked and what you thought she meant would widen over time.

On another topic...when Jim quoted a reply you'd made about him probably being a gay hater...I have to agree with you that you didn't call him one (because of the word "probably"). Hinted at, yes, but actually stated, no.

My pretax $.02

38

Do you plan to donate your organs when you die?

by LyinEyes in

i just saw this movie john q. with denzel washington, and it is a great movie.

the subject is about health care or lack of,,, and the need for organ donations.

i have always felt strongly about this and this movie really made me think about doing something instead of just saying it.

Kingpawn

It's on my driver's license but they won't take my blood. Still I can make someone else's life more meaningful after I die so why not?

29

What am I feeling for her?

by Kingpawn in

this is going to be a little rambling but i hope it makes sense.

i won't use names out of privacy concerns, but it's as true as i can make it.. where i work, i've begun developing very strong feelings for a co-worker.

her shift and mine overlap for a few hours each day, and i see her when one of her duties brings her to my area of the plant (otherwise we work in separate areas).

Kingpawn

Sloan,

How are you doing with the decision of whether you are bisexual or heterosexual?

I don't see it as a "decision." I can only say one night I woke up with strong het feelings that haven't gone away. It's as radical a change as if there was (were? Is there an English teacher in the house?) another person living inside of me.

Another change--well, this was happening before the change in thinking--is a growing apathy with politics and issues again. Maybe it's a feeling that Bush and Co. are unstoppable. Or the same feelings about the Borg.

Crazy--do they sell something over the counter for that?

29

What am I feeling for her?

by Kingpawn in

this is going to be a little rambling but i hope it makes sense.

i won't use names out of privacy concerns, but it's as true as i can make it.. where i work, i've begun developing very strong feelings for a co-worker.

her shift and mine overlap for a few hours each day, and i see her when one of her duties brings her to my area of the plant (otherwise we work in separate areas).

Kingpawn

Sloan, yes. The whole story's in the post that started this thread, at least as it was then.

23

Any advice what to do?

by cecil in

hi folks.

it has been almost a year since my last posting.

my wife and i have tried to move on with our lives, since we decided to stop being "active" about 14 months ago.

Kingpawn

You are faced with a choice and neither one is pleasant. Cut yourself off from your relatives or save yourself the stress of continually dodging the elders.

It wouldn't be much of a choice for me. Due to certain chronic health conditions I have to avoid stress. But I was the only JW in my family and I wasn't particularly close to anyone in the congregation so it was easy for me to ignore them.

I wish you luck in trying to leave with the least amount of pain, but I think the odds against you succeeding are very high.

35

What do you fear the most about the WT cult?

by Claudia Kittel in

when i was a jw, i think what i was most afraid of was being hurt.

i did everything to keep myself from getting hurt.

i banged on doors with the best of the pioneers.

Kingpawn

Dede,

When you look over all you've learned about them--the failed prophecies, the doctrinal screwups and flipflops, the arrogance, the gossiping, the behavior totally unlike what "God's" true followers should be doing--how can you fear them?

Sure, I sometimes vaguely thought about trying to go back, years ago. Now? No way. I've seen too much, read too much, burned my bridges mentally.

I feel sadness for those still in it. I feel frustration when logic and common sense fails to convince an active JW that the GB is wrong on various matters. With some of the stories posted, I sit back and think, "You've got to be...kidding me. Nobody can be that cruel or callous." And then I think of their answers to Silentlamb's charges, the Dateline and Panorama programs, and I think, "You thought you'd seen it all...well, guess what."

If God desired no one die, would He have "shaken the tree" in 1975 and made many fall away by giving the GB false info? Not if Titus 1:2 is right. So I blame those in the GB.

Sometimes I think the WBTS is the biggest con job ever pulled on the world. The ultimate religious scam. Like Christ said about the Pharisees being like whitewashed tombs, outwardly pretty and inwardly dead.

The only thing I "fear" about them is I'll miss seeing them get the royal kicks in the ass they so richly deserve.

29

What am I feeling for her?

by Kingpawn in

this is going to be a little rambling but i hope it makes sense.

i won't use names out of privacy concerns, but it's as true as i can make it.. where i work, i've begun developing very strong feelings for a co-worker.

her shift and mine overlap for a few hours each day, and i see her when one of her duties brings her to my area of the plant (otherwise we work in separate areas).

Kingpawn

Well, reality is quieting the feelings I once had. I've found out that she's a regular at that bar near her house every Friday and Saturday nights.

The reason that bothers me is that in the infomeeting I mentioned earlier, signs of growing chemical dependency included being more "rigid" about drinking. IOW, the drinker begins to set rules for themselves, like if it takes six hours to sober up, then stop drinking six hours before you have to be somewhere important.

In her case it sounds like she's getting a week's restraint made up for on the two nights where she doesn't have to go in to work a few hours later. Maybe she drinks to dull the pain of her husband's insults. Maybe she's religious (or was) and sees her son's illness as a judgment on her past conduct. Maybe she drank while carrying him and fetal alcohol syndrome led to his MD, so that's why she drinks. I dunno.

Apparently her husband/whatever he is was the one sending her the flowers earlier this year.

Maybe those who said it was a crush were right. The feelings are nowhere near as strong as they were. To be honest, she looks cute in the lab coat and hard hat...without it, she's average, somewhere around a five or so on a ten point scale.

As far as harassment...if looks, waves, and a bit of banter years ago don't come under the "light flirting" the Supreme Court accepts than no one is safe. I'm not worried about it greatly, but I do watch my step.

Ah well....

29

What am I feeling for her?

by Kingpawn in

this is going to be a little rambling but i hope it makes sense.

i won't use names out of privacy concerns, but it's as true as i can make it.. where i work, i've begun developing very strong feelings for a co-worker.

her shift and mine overlap for a few hours each day, and i see her when one of her duties brings her to my area of the plant (otherwise we work in separate areas).

Kingpawn

Dantheman,

The more I got to know this sister however, the more I could see that she was just the type of woman who would slavishly submit to an abusive man. She had some very deep issues that needed dealing with.

What are these signs? I could see low self-esteem and maybe a lack of self-confidence, but what else?

29

What am I feeling for her?

by Kingpawn in

this is going to be a little rambling but i hope it makes sense.

i won't use names out of privacy concerns, but it's as true as i can make it.. where i work, i've begun developing very strong feelings for a co-worker.

her shift and mine overlap for a few hours each day, and i see her when one of her duties brings her to my area of the plant (otherwise we work in separate areas).

Kingpawn

Beck, thanks for the thoughts!

Riz--I happened to be in the area where she and a co-worker come to every morning and while she knew I was there, she didn't say hi or anything. Ignored me (a sign?). <sighes>

One of the guys I work with says her husband is constantly making remarks about her weight. Or else, if I heard him right, giving her the silent treatment.

When I first noted she was (I think) in her late twenties, honestly I didn't think how this would look coming from me, a guy who's 45. Literally the implications didn't cross my mind. Guess I was so concerned about accuracy...talk about not seeing the forest for the trees!

But when I said originally it wasn't her age that made her attractive to me, what I meant was that while yeah her being that age bracket helps, it's NOT because I've got a thing for really young women (like 18 years and 2 hours old). Even if she were older the perkiness would still catch my eye.

And the remark she made to her co-worker about "maybe he's not happy `cause you;'re not playin' with his pockets!" makes sense now. Everyone likes to think they're attractive, and to have a good image of themselves. If her husband does say these things about her, the brashness of the remark above would say to me, this is her way of attracting attention. A poor substitute for the attention she should be getting at home.

14

Jesus Chastises Pharisees for not Killing Children

by Faraon in

jesus chastises pharisees for not killing children.

we can see that christians, and religions in general do only as much as allowed by secular governments.. here we see a fine example of the love of jesus for children when he chastises his adversaries for not following the law of jehovah and stoning to death children who curse their parents.. how loving are the provisions of big j and little j!!!.

matthew 15:3-4 jesus replied, "and why do you break the command of god for the sake of your tradition?

Kingpawn

No, He was criticizing the Pharisees for teaching people something that directly contradicted Scripture. They said if you'd promised something as a gift to God you couldn't give it to your parents instead. On the face of it, it makes sense, but on that issue God hadn't said "I always come first." So they were teaching the people to sin. And he called them out on it.