For a certainty, You Know would be giving the instruction talk, and LarsGuy would be peppering him with interruptions and questions about how the material applies to astrochronology. FredHall would be running the mikes, winking at the cute sisters.
Posts by Seeker
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49What would a meeting be like if.....
by roybatty ineveryone on jw.com were jws and attended the same congregation.
now, i'm not saying that we'd follow brooklyn's rules (how boring).
instead what would it be like jw.com style.
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19
Giving liberals the 'boot'
by Rex B13 insee no evil.
bill o'reily--------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
berkeley, calif. america's most liberal city has come through again.
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Seeker
Rex
Hi Seeker,
What is more generic than 'God bless America'? It suited Tom Jefferson and a few others just fine.
It is just wrong, for God does not bless America, nor should He. As for Jefferson, he didn't believe in the God you worship, so don't go there.
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19
Giving liberals the 'boot'
by Rex B13 insee no evil.
bill o'reily--------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
berkeley, calif. america's most liberal city has come through again.
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Seeker
The ACLU gets involved in those cases because majority thinking sometimes tramples on the rights on the minority, and somebody needs to point out the legal principles that protect that minority. That's the reson, by the way, we live in a republic, not a democracy. The founding fathers felt that if we had a democracy, we would be subject to the tyranny of majority rule. Instead, with a Republic, the majority would elect lawmakers who would, in turn, excercise their political skills to chart a course that would be right for the country, even if the majority were howling about something else. The founding fathers didn't trust the general public to get it right, for they knew how mob rule works.
Similarly, the ACLU doesn't just 'go along' with what 'everybody wants' because sometimes 'everybody' is wrong. If there are legal issues that are being overlooked by the majority, it is their duty to stand up and say so, no matter how unpopular this makes them. Sometimes I agree with the ACLU, and sometimes I think they are idiots. But I greatly appreciate the role they play, for they are consistently on the side of law, and society needs a gadfly to be like that. Look at the current political climate, and how willing most Americans are to throw away their constitutional rights over an emotional decision. If politicians came out with the America First! Bill, and said it would 'fight terrorism' by requiring all those with Arabic names to register with the police and be under constant surveillance, there would probably be a large number of Americans who would applaud this move. The fact that it would be totally unconstitutional wouldn't even occur to them, let alone matter. But the ACLU would step in immediately, as well someone should, so that the next time it won't be all those with Irish names, or Italian, or as with World War II Japanese names. If you don't step in when the thin edge of the wedge is being applied, you run the risk of being too late to stop the whole door from being broken in.
So even if you hate the specific acts the ACLU takes, you should appreciate the principle of what they are doing. Maybe they aren't protecting your rights this time, but if they didn't protect the rights of those you despise, next time it could actually be you that becomes the target.
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2
Poor Sodomites!
by mindfield ini took a huge risk tonight... nonchalantly asked an elder if he could tell me, after some research, if the guys from sodom and gomorrah are going to be resurrected.. told him that i had made the research myself, but just couldn't come up with an answer.
that's understandable... insight book says yes, watchtower from same year says no, revelation says no... who can you trust?
oh yes, the watchtower.
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Seeker
And if a new Watchtower next month says the opposite of what the elder told you, he'll change his mind instantly. And if you ask him, he'll say, "I'm sure."
You nicely illustrated how JWs will accept new light/old light/new light/whatever....
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10
Sex is bad...violence is GOOd. :)
by d0rkyd00d injoelbear brought up a point about something on the sex forum that i've been thinking about for a while, and i'm wondering what the answer to my question is.
dunno if this should be on the relationships forum, but here it is anyways.
why is it such a no-no for kids like myself (i'm 16) to see sex, yet so acceptable for us to see violent movies?
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Seeker
This is not a universal phenomenon, but only in America and a few other places that think like it. Americans freak out over sex, and so the culture states that sex is bad. Meanwhile, America glorifies violence in its culture, so violence is good.
In Scandinavia, they are much more relaxed about sex and nudity, and children there are far more exposed to sexual ideas. As would be expected, their teen pregnancy rate is considerably lower than in America. This makes perfect sense: if you treat sex as the normal part of life that it is, instead of creating some awful Christian condemnation of the subject, children grow up viewing it as anything else. Forbidden fruit, and all that.
So as to your question, the reason sex is considered bad for teens in this country is because of the puritanical culture that formed America. In other countries, it's not this way to the extent it is here.
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19
Giving liberals the 'boot'
by Rex B13 insee no evil.
bill o'reily--------------------------------------------------------------------------------.
berkeley, calif. america's most liberal city has come through again.
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Seeker
What rubbish.
"God Bless America" is a patriotic slogan. It does not encourage church going or spirituality or religious ritual.
ROFL! Yeah, right. I find that phrase extremely offensive, no, more like laughable, as if God would be interested in America.
Berkeley isn't saying "see no evil," even though I don't agree with them. They want to see bin Laden captured, just like Bush. The difference is they don't want to see Afghanistan bombed in addition. I happen to think that this is the only way they will be able to capture bin Laden (if that even works), although I'm sure this will cause many future foreign relation problems.
bin Laden is not Afghan. The Taliban aren't Afghans. The Afghan people are not the problem here, only those who have taken over their country.
And this is not a war, no matter how much propaganda is published saying otherwise. A crime was committed, albeit a massive crime. The people responsible are criminals, not war heroes for their side. If you call this a war, you make them into warriors, not the criminals they are.
Bill O'Reilly could have criticized the Berkeley decision in a logical, factual manner, for I believe there are points of criticism that could be lobbed at them. Instead he decided to use inflammatory rhetoric and half-truths to make his point. I hope all his fans can see that he is not neutral as he claims, but is in fact just another right-wing bigot (just as there are left-wing bigots in the world). Only a bigot would resort to half-truths to make a point.
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9
Venting.....
by Bridgette inwell, i came in this morning, prepared to write a glib little post regarding my astrological findings.
but i find my heart too heavy to do so today.
perhaps its just the timespatriotic fervor sweeps over me.
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Seeker
Vent away! That's what this place is for...
No, I mean completely honest—from the get go. In fact, I’d like to see a return to the placard style witnessing, let’s bring back the radio witnessing! And I want you to show the world that you are: “Jehovah’s Witnesses” and PROUD OF IT. What have you got to hide? I want you to tell the world exactly what you teach about the governments.
I agree. One of the downsides to the mainstreaming that is happening with the WTS is the loss of their stark identity. They used to stand for something come hell or high water. Now they skulk around the back rooms of governments, cutting deals with the fat cats. This sure wasn't MY WTS, but it is the wave of the future. Just as the Catholic church signed a concordat with Hitler's government (and got hell to pay from the Witnesses for doing so), today's Witnesses are signing whatever they can, as fast as they can, as long as their assets are left alone. Just like the Catholics they condemn.
Hypocrites!
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30
A Note From Maximus To You All
by hillary_step inmany of you have wondered where maximus has been the past while and i would like, with his permission, to fill you in on a few details that will shed a light his recent sabbatical.. maximus and others have been working for some while on his book which i can assure you will bring some very interesting information regarding wts issues into the public arena.
without giving too much away, the book will be unique in the sense that it will embody theology with personal experience and present a helping hand through the process of challenging wts theology in a practical way, to establishing a meaningful and fulfilling life after the wts, if a person so chooses to walk this path.
many who know maximus personally will validate the fact that he has a vast fund of knowledge and experience of wts life and that he wishes to use this to heal rather than to further enflame.. the book which is still in its embryonic phase, will be the first of a number of projects developed by a new publishing company to aid those who are undergoing crisis in their lives, whether theologically or emotionally.
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Seeker
Hey Seeker, can't get enough of my ass or what? You must have pretty bad "burns" by now.
No, you asked what seemed to be a serious question, and I gave a serious response. You then took the opportunity to continue to assert it was "fear" on our part, insult me, and ignore my question to you. Perhaps yours was not a serious question after all, and I shouldn't have tried to respond.
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A Note From Maximus To You All
by hillary_step inmany of you have wondered where maximus has been the past while and i would like, with his permission, to fill you in on a few details that will shed a light his recent sabbatical.. maximus and others have been working for some while on his book which i can assure you will bring some very interesting information regarding wts issues into the public arena.
without giving too much away, the book will be unique in the sense that it will embody theology with personal experience and present a helping hand through the process of challenging wts theology in a practical way, to establishing a meaningful and fulfilling life after the wts, if a person so chooses to walk this path.
many who know maximus personally will validate the fact that he has a vast fund of knowledge and experience of wts life and that he wishes to use this to heal rather than to further enflame.. the book which is still in its embryonic phase, will be the first of a number of projects developed by a new publishing company to aid those who are undergoing crisis in their lives, whether theologically or emotionally.
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Seeker
It's not fear, just an understanding of what would happen. For instance, my father is a loyal JW, one of the types who would jump off a bridge if the WTS asked him to. Now, if I were to be DFed, he would immediately begin to shun me. I would hate that, but it would kill him. Yet he would do it, without hesitation.
Now, I could say "to hell with it" and announce my identity far and wide, lose all contact with my dad, and have him suffer terribly. Or I could stay anonymous, and prevent my father from taking a self-destructive act against himself. Since my anonymity makes very little difference here (who cares who I am?), why not act in a way that preserves family contact? It's a small kindness, and doesn't cost me much, and doesn't affect the 99% of my life spent outside this forum anyway. So why NOT be anonymous?
Now, in your case, sf, why do you choose to remain anonymous here? I know you aren't fearful, so you must have a good reason as well.
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501
UNITED NATIONS , NGO's and WTBS
by MacHislopp infollowing the link given by kent,.
i have several observation to make:.
(from the link : http://www.un.org/moreinfo/ngolink/brochure.htm).
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Seeker
Gozz,
That quote from the Theocratic School Guidebook is, hands down, the single most hypocritical statement in the whole of Watchtower history. Usually their hypocrisy is crouched within a sentence fragment, surrounded by accuracy. But this quote is hypocrisy from beginning to end! They haven't followed this paragraph whatsoever.