Xanthippe

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Posts by Xanthippe

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  174

  Awake #4/2016: Homosexuality

  by Designer Stubble in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the new awake is up on jw.orgwith the legalization of gay marriage in many countries, they decided it was time to show: "what does thebible say about homosexuality?

  "does the bible promote prejudice?still, some people would say that the bible promotes prejudice against homosexuals and that those who adhere to itsmoral code are intolerant.

  ‘the bible was written at a time when people were narrow-minded,’ they claim.

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  Xanthippe

  Simply having same sex attraction was never grounds for judicial action.

  Exactly. Nobody grew up in that religion and said I'm gay but I won't practice it. Not in the eighties. People didn't admit to same sex attraction. It wasn't done.
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  33

  I'm still on my JWN holidays but had to pop back to share this experience.

  by nicolaou in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  i'm a postman with the royal mail and was assigned to train a new starter yesterday.

  my line manager introduces me to 'dave', within seconds my jw radar was on maximum!

  in his mid to late 30's, politely spoken and with that haircut - i just knew it.. the post he'd applied for was saturdays only, he said he did a lot of volunteer work.

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  Xanthippe

  Hey Nic I missed you. I was just thinking about you the other day, my shed's fallen to bits and I fancy getting a summerhouse. Really interesting experience. Yes they need our empathy I agree. It's not a great way for anyone to grow up. You sound like you were really cool.
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  174

  Awake #4/2016: Homosexuality

  by Designer Stubble in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the new awake is up on jw.orgwith the legalization of gay marriage in many countries, they decided it was time to show: "what does thebible say about homosexuality?

  "does the bible promote prejudice?still, some people would say that the bible promotes prejudice against homosexuals and that those who adhere to itsmoral code are intolerant.

  ‘the bible was written at a time when people were narrow-minded,’ they claim.

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  Xanthippe

  But an unmarried heterosexual couple living together wouldn't be allowed to be part of the congregation either so they were not making any special rules.

  
  I didn't say they were making any special rules. I merely said it was not allowed and now it has drastically changed. A friend of ours in the '80s moved to another congregation and got disfellowshipped for homosexuality. He moved back home with his parents. Apparently repented and sat at the back of the KH trying to be reinstated for I can't remember how long being ignored. I know it was years rather than months. My husband was an elder so I knew the guy was d'fed for being gay.
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  174

  Awake #4/2016: Homosexuality

  by Designer Stubble in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the new awake is up on jw.orgwith the legalization of gay marriage in many countries, they decided it was time to show: "what does thebible say about homosexuality?

  "does the bible promote prejudice?still, some people would say that the bible promotes prejudice against homosexuals and that those who adhere to itsmoral code are intolerant.

  ‘the bible was written at a time when people were narrow-minded,’ they claim.

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  Xanthippe

  Cofty I left twenty-seven years ago. My point is that this has drastically changed. Gay men were not allowed to be in the JW congregation at all. It's news to me as are many things on this site. The dropping of the 1914 generation in 1995 was a bombshell to me, I had no idea. That's why I came here, to find out what has changed and to see if there is any hope for my brother, sisters and nephews because of the changes.
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  174

  Awake #4/2016: Homosexuality

  by Designer Stubble in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  the new awake is up on jw.orgwith the legalization of gay marriage in many countries, they decided it was time to show: "what does thebible say about homosexuality?

  "does the bible promote prejudice?still, some people would say that the bible promotes prejudice against homosexuals and that those who adhere to itsmoral code are intolerant.

  ‘the bible was written at a time when people were narrow-minded,’ they claim.

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  Xanthippe

  This is totally new to me, that gay men are acceptable in the WTS as long as they don't  practice their sexuality. So do they have to eventually provide evidence that they have 'repented', changed, whatever, by getting married to a woman and having children? It wasn't like this when I left. Gay people were just evil, that's it. The message in the Watchtower was remember what Jehooplah did at Sodom and Gomorrah. Perhaps some new members don't know about this. More new light sneaked in under the radar.
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  5

  HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

  by BeautifulMind in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  from one beautiful mother to all of the beautiful mothers on this site & the beautiful mothers who are no longer with us - including mine (rip) - happy mothers day.

  enjoy your day!

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  Xanthippe

  Happy Mother's Day BeautifulMind. We had ours back in March here in the UK. My lovely daughter bought me chocolates and some gorgeous-smelling hand cream. It reminds me when I left the cult I didn't know our Mothers Day was a moveable feast, I thought it was always on the same day each year, so embarrassing.
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  36

  Gorby says goodbye

  by Gorbatchov in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my eyes for ttatt opened in 1995 with the generation change and the wt magazine stated "some witness thought that the generation started in 1914".

  since 1997, with internet at low speed, i followed h2o hourglass, www.xjw.com and later on www.jehovahs-witness.net.. did a bachelor and post bachelor since then.. now, nearly completed with fading, i feel it's time to go on with my life and do some other things, spending more time with my wife abd children instead of thinking about jw topics in my head.

  goal is being a better person and less grumpy at 45.... everything what could be said is already said.

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  Xanthippe

  Gorby thanks for all your thoughtful posts. Yeah don't think too much about the crazies anymore. Until about three years ago when I looked on this forum I hadn't given them much thought for over twenty years, it was the best way for me, a complete fresh start. Have a wonderful life. 🌷🌷🌷🌷
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  14

  Special Day for our family today!

  by Captain Schmideo2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my son graduates with his bachelors degree, cum laude!.

  he is the first in my family to graduate with a four year degree.

  and he is already in talks for a teaching job.. so, gerrit lush....up your nose with a rubber hose!

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  Xanthippe

  That's wonderful news. You must be so proud of your son. My daughter takes the final exam for her Bachelors degree on Tuesday.
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  2

  "Different to" is new to me.

  by compound complex in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  thanks very much to posters from uk, australia, new zealand, canada, et al.. as an editor, i must keep up with what is current re: so-called standard english.

  english speaking posters outside the united states have presented me with copious writing samples that i have had to research: grammar; spelling; punctuation; etc.. i learned from the following link that american writers' exclusive use of "different from" when stating contrast does present problems in syntactical construction.

  "different to" and "different than" (wrongly maligned) have both been around a long time, but it's you fellow posters across the ponds and borders who've opened up these narrow eyes and mind.. talk about a strange reason for gratitude .

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  Xanthippe

  Different than, different from, or different to?

  Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me.
  F. Scott Fitzgerald 1926

  It’s a situation that crops up all the time – you want to contrast people or things, describing how one is not the same as the other, so you use the adjective different, and decide to follow it with one of three prepositions (either from, to, or than) to introduce the second element of the contrast. You then happily compose your statement, for instance:

  Your goals may be different than mine.

  But tread carefully! The topic of which preposition you choose has been a grammatical minefield for many years. F. Scott Fitzgerald wouldn’t have raised any eyebrows with his famous use of different from in the quotation at the start of this piece, but had he instead written ‘They are different than you and me’, some traditionalists would have started gnashing their teeth. Many people aren’t greatly enthused about the phrase different to, either.

  Why should this be? When we consult the Oxford English Dictionary(OED) for the broader historical picture, we find that different to predates other phrases, being evidenced from the 16th century; different from is first recorded in Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors; different than also first appears in writing in the 17th century. In fact (those of a sensitive grammatical disposition should look away now), there was once a time when different against was also possible, as evidenced by this OEDcitation:

  Humane wisdome, different against the divine will, is vaine and contemptible.

  However, that formation is only recorded in the 17th century and now appears to be as dead as the proverbial dodo, leaving the three main contenders, different from, different to and different than, to be squabbled over by many writers on grammar and usage.

  According to the language expert Michael Quinion and others, the issue of ‘correctness’ or otherwise with regard to prepositions accompanying different first arose in the 18th century, and since then some authorities have ruled that you should only ever say different from, raising stern objections to the other options.

  http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2014/01/different-from-than-to/
  
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  41

  Angst and the Jehovah's Witness Mindset

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  there is no typical jw personality type.. any of us who were in the religion for a number of years will remember all sorts of individuals.

  there is as much variety among jws as there is in the general population.

  some were arrogant and judgemental but others were humble and kindly.

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  Xanthippe

  Angst will continue dominate the thinking of ex-JWs until they give up utopian fantasies. Perfection does not exist and it never will.

  Humans are prone to utopian fantasies. Awake used to be called the golden age. The golden age was a belief in medieval times that there was a time in the distant past when the world was a much better place, with peace and prosperity. The Rennaisance era fed into that fantasy with the excavation of many beautiful temples and statues from the classical period. The Greeks were always fighting one another, see The Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC). Then they would cart off slaves to cut the stone to build their beautiful temples!

  There is a great deal more that must be done to create a better world and further progress is not inevitable.

  Yes I'm always beating this drum. So many fantastic organizations need our support to prevent torture, help people in war zones, protect the environment, inoculate the world's children against horrific diseases, save endangered species, etc. It's so easy to throw up our hands in despair and give up. That just means someone else has to do it.