I use mine daily, including making video calls, turning on my Mom's (although, most days she can tell it to play her music on her own), and use it for music and bluetooth. She can also read books to my Mom. So, I find mine really handy. As mentioned above, as my phone already spies on me, I don't worry too much that Alexa will find anything else out.
Spiral
JoinedPosts by Spiral
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17
Do You Use “ALEXA”?
by minimus ini got the amazon echo dot and it’s pretty good.
do you use it for anything?.
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65
Would You Ever Go Back To The Witnesses??
by minimus inevery once in a while you hear people say they actually “miss” their old witness friends and or family.
some would have even stayed in the organization if they became a bit more liberal and open minded.
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Spiral
On the rare occasions I've had to go in the last 15 years (family, funeral, stuff like that) I wanted to stab my eye out within ten minutes of walking through that door. An odd physical experience that is, like your brain is screaming but you have to act nice.
So, no way, never, nope, not happening.
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16
Were the JWs ever anywhere near a bona fide religion?
by punkofnice inthe religion/corporation has changed constantly since the start.
they appear more whacko than ever.. but, were the jws ever anywhere near a bona fide religion at any time?.
disclaimer: i think all religions are a scam.
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Spiral
Religion: A set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.
Or: The belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or Gods.
So, by these definitions found online, the JWs are a religion. They believe in a superhuman (notice, not necessarily righteous) controlling power, and they certainly are into maintaining a "moral code governing the conduct of human affairs."
Speaking for myself, I know that growing up I didn't think "our" religion was exciting. It was missing so much that other religions had: contemplative practices, beautiful churches or synagogues where impressive observances could be seen, wonderful holidays and worship days, schools and summer camps. Culture, art, and rich history could be seen, in my case, from afar.
Being a JW was like being in a bargain-basement religion, totally on the cheap. I was sad about this.
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34
Circus Assembly Jaw Dropper
by Slidin Fast inthe co got on his hind legs for the public talk and repeated twice "tolerance promotes division".
then backed it up by saying that if one group march for some right, another group will march for the opposite.. so jws are intolerant and proud of it.
f@@@k me sideways.. may explain that the baptism tally was 0..
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Spiral
This is probably underpinned by one of their new(er?) expressions, "listen, obey, and be blessed". [Notice thinking about anything is not a part of this equation.]
So everyone has to be the same. In that world, everyone would be lock stepped into the same life pattern.
Easier to control the rank and file that way.
Having said that, I'd also say that this particular CO isn't the sharpest tool in the JW box. A lot of people listening to this might question that statement, even JWs.
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34
Circus Assembly Jaw Dropper
by Slidin Fast inthe co got on his hind legs for the public talk and repeated twice "tolerance promotes division".
then backed it up by saying that if one group march for some right, another group will march for the opposite.. so jws are intolerant and proud of it.
f@@@k me sideways.. may explain that the baptism tally was 0..
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Spiral
Wow. I'm guessing that also means say goodbye to love and forgiveness and all that other Christian stuff. Perhaps disfellowshippings in his circuit will also lovingly increase.
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24
Oh How Far I've Come
by pale.emperor inso this weekend my girlfriend and i will move into our own place together.
it turns out that “a cord of three strands is stronger” is bullshit and two people in a relationship are perfectly capable of being happy without outside influence.
what a journey i’ve had since leaving 3 and a half years ago!
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Spiral
Congratulations, Pale, that is the most awesome news.
Go forward and ENJOY all the wonderful parts of YOUR OWN life!
I'm sure you'll be a great Dad!
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Spiral
Dating in the congregation was always fraught with drama. Then it got worse once you had to have chaperones (what is this, middle ages kind of thinking). We knew couples who had never been alone or had a private conversation before they got married. Or, in one congregation, you could meet at a restaurant (separate cars) and the chaperones would sit at a table close where they could keep an eye on you. Then everyone leaves in their own cars (and the chaperones probably follow you home, IDK) Ugh..... many of those marriages didn't last.
But now I see there is a JWMatch.com website. (Perhaps there's more than one.) I'm sure the GB doesn't approve, but really, if they are going to make people so desperate about trying to get married, they should honor this as a choice. I wonder about the success rate of the marriages it produces.
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36
The sky is falling- maybe
by joey jojo ini am actually not a 'sky is falling' guy, but i wanted to comment on the australian bushfires.. you may or may not believe the science behind global warming, however i personally put more faith in verified, scientific data than the words of fat cat, self-serving politicians.
climate science has predicted, based on data, that we will see more prolonged, extreme weather events, higher average temperatures, rising sea levels due to ocean expansion and glacial melting.
and this is exactly whats happening.
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Spiral
Joey Jojo, I agree. Everything is fine..... until suddenly it's not. It doesn't matter if you believe in global warming, climate change, or not, obviously, something significant is happening.
History is full of events that are created by a combination of situations. Sometimes, these inconvenient events have caused people and animals to die.
One would hope that in the "modern era" mankind could think logically and creatively and think of changes to be made to help things get better. If not, if mankind is too concerned with the status quo and selfishly making money, well, then, we might just go the way of all that unfortunate wildlife.
The universe won't blink an eye, and things will go on. Mankind, even one whole planet, isn't really that important on a universal scale.
I'm so sorry that's happening in Australia, I've been following the news and the events are just heartbreaking. I can see these are lifechanging events for all of you in Australia.
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10
Question: When did the JWs start having judicial committees?
by Spiral ini've been reading the book recommended by zing "soul snatchers, the mechanics of cults" (bought a used copy online) and one of the things mentioned was how cults police all aspects of their members' lives.
so it got me to wondering, when did the practice of three men (elders) having a hearing (or should we say trial) and passing judgment on a member start?
did the early bible students do this?
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Spiral
Thanks for the information.
When you read a book about cults and look at this kind of thing through that lens, you wonder how anyone thinks joining a group like this (outside joining the military) is okay.
I can remember when I was young a talk about the Catholic Church and how confession to a human priest was wrong. How could confession to a tribunal of brothers be any different? At least at confessional, you're in a booth and supposed to be anonymous, from what I understand.
I think that the judicial committee practice is abuse.
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41
147th Gilead prt. 3 - this could stumble people
by neat blue dog induring gerrit loesch's talk just released, he goes on a long list of the false end times predictions throughout the millennia.
i didn't expect it, but then he goes into the precursors to the bible students who, when their dates failed, changed christ's presence to have happened 'invisibly'.
then it goes right into the jws, and he reads the quote from millions now living will never die about how we can 'confidently expect' the resurrection in 1925, and then the life everlasting book that predicted 1975. of course, he doesn't say how it's still going on, namely with the overlapping generation and its' accompanying convoluted chart, but still, this is more than they've ever said on the subject, especially recently.. it almost sounds like a forced statement, to address any backlash from people reading 'apostate lies' online, because he also says how the gb 'humbly' admitted mistakes, referencing the non-apology after 1975 that disturbed raymond franz.
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Spiral
Haven't watched the video, but I'm guessing it is a weird attempt at damage control. Even my PIMI friends (what I have left, can count on one hand) get really uncomfortable when you talk about failed prophecy. It's painful for them to think about, but enough time has gone past that those of us who were born in (or almost) can see that all that stuff we studied and believed is nonsense.
This is when the bOrg will have to start converting into some sort of megachurch, versus being an "on the edge" group who has greater insight into upcoming events. (Which is what they thought they were, LAST century.)
It being so obvious that they have no greater insights at all, about anything.