saw the highly touted a.i.. weak and overrated, i must say.. i've seen the monkey movie.. tepid and ho-hum.
same o, same o, with burton's attempt at "darkness".. lastnight, i went to see babyboy.. .
easily, i say easily, the best movie i've seen all summer, but not highly publicized.. in america?
Saw the highly touted A.I.
Weak and overrated, I must say.
I've seen the monkey movie.
Tepid and ho-hum. Same o, same o, with Burton's attempt at "darkness".
Lastnight, I went to see babyboy.
Easily, I say easily, the best movie I've seen all summer, but NOT highly publicized.
In America? Something good that isn't given pub and a lesser offering is said to be "all that"? Can't be. Go figure. Not in America
p.s. I don't see many movies much, anymore.
go to the hall and face the music or stay home and watch t.v this thought went through my head when an elder asked a sister if her husband was to embarrased to sit in the hall when they made the announcement what do you think?
Amazing, you said,
When we disfellowshipped someone, we normally expected them to stay home on the night of the announcement to prevent discussions and fellowship with JWs before the Service meeting. Although some few showed up for the announcement, most did not.
I was there for mine.
peace,
tj
dear good people of j-w.com,.
i am sitting in my office working on a problem and i need your help.
do you think that these sentences are true?.
larc,
you said,
Are you losing it? Even though we have our disagreements, I don't want to see you unravel. Hang in there buddy. Life is good.
now, THAT was funny.
david and nancy both carry a recessive gene for a disorder called zellweger syndrome, a disease for which there is no cure.
against 1 in 100,000 odds, they had a child who was born with the syndrome.
they named her hope, who struggled with life for 199 days.
Copernicus,
I thought the article was very provocative and apropos to this board, also, and am a tad surprised about the lack of response, but not really.
You said,
I loved the title ?When God Hides His Face? ? perfect. It said it all in only a few words. As far as I can tell, God (if he exists) has hid his face from this young couple, and everyone else as well. I never could reconcile that with his supposed attribute of love, and now I believe that we have created an imaginary God in our image, not vice versa. Humanity needs to get past this worn out concept, but on to what?
You've said a lot here. I understand people's interest in seeing god interact in their life. It's very comforting to think that The Creator Himself sees us and takes an interest in what we are doing. As I mentioned earlier, I lived that way myself for many years. The good times were (supposedly) My Heavenly Father's way of patting me on the back, putting wind in my sails, letting me know that he was smiling on me. The bad times I saw as god's way of testing my mettle, seeing what I was made of. I don't belittle those who still think that way, since I was in their boots for so long. Seriously, in a very real way, I envy their simplistic view of reality.
Anyhow, I copied it and sent it off to a long time friend of mine today and we had quite a discussion about it. We came to the same conclusion as you:
(check your email. I sent you the article in its entirety.)
When you get a little distance from this sort of thinking, as we have, the whole thing looks so ridiculous, doesn?t it?
It does... it really does. So many "mysteries" are cleared up when you take the notion of "god" out of the picture. As you said before, sometimes 'shit happens' and it's just that simple. When I was a dub, I wondered for years about many things. Now that I know what (I think) I know, the answers all fall into place.
Unfortunately there is very little comfort in the ?big picture? either. No baby Hope waiting for them in heaven, or eventually to be resurrected and returned to them in a paradise earth. It isn?t easy to live with the kind of pain the parents have suffered, I guess I can?t blame them for inventing their own escape hatch, despite the cognitive dissonance that has reduced both of them to basket cases.
Indeed, that is the deal, Copernicus. Isn't it comforting for them to think that they WILL see their little baby once more? In a real way, they have a better life than I do, since I think I'm more in touch with "the truth", i.e. their baby is gone forever.
[[If you're interested, go to http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/forum/thread.asp?id=8379&site=3 where I shared with the board an email I sent to my (very inactive) JW sister. Her response to it was basically that she was going to keep believing what our mama taught us, because if it weren't true, she'd probably go crazy. Her comment was ludicrous, but the really sad part is that I understood completely.]]
Thinking that god will one day erase all of the pains we have experienced, all of life's injustices, is hard for people to give up, and frankly, I sometimes wish that I hadn't found out some things, most notably that there probably isn't a god and this life IS all there is. Ignorance is bliss, and one who increases knowledge increases pain, or something like that.
But what am I gonna do? Cry about it? I don't think so. Too late for THAT.
peace, my friend,
tj
i received the suggestion below in an email and thought it might be a nice gesture.
if you would like to send flowers or cards of support to the courthouse the address is:.
adams county courthouse.
btw, the main drag in the city looks kinda homey, wouldn't you say?
http://www.gonorthwest.com/Washington/southeast/ritzville/ritzville.htm
i received the suggestion below in an email and thought it might be a nice gesture.
if you would like to send flowers or cards of support to the courthouse the address is:.
adams county courthouse.
Billygoat,
The zip:
210 W Broadway Ave
Ritzville, WA 99169-1860
there are some really weird and interesting names on this site.
just out of interest, lets swap details of how we selected our chosen "stage name", it could be fun!.
i chose "englishman" when i first started to lurk at h20.
Interesting thread, if you're nosey.
I'm very seldom nosey.
Like I said... interesting thread.
david and nancy both carry a recessive gene for a disorder called zellweger syndrome, a disease for which there is no cure.
against 1 in 100,000 odds, they had a child who was born with the syndrome.
they named her hope, who struggled with life for 199 days.
Hello, Copernicus,
... sad to say, that the old adage ?shit happens? would have covered this situation much more accurately, though of course it?s not nearly as emotionally satisfying as resorting to escapist anthropomorphic delusions. I suppose ?God? is equally intrigued with the pointless suffering of countless millions who don?t even recognize him in the Christian context? Oh well, I guess God is funny that way.
My thoughts, exactly. Millions of people all over the world, from the time people worshipped the sun and thunder, have lived under the delusion that god took an active interest in their life. (I lived that way myself for a number of years.) The friends and family of David and Nancy are no different.
Of all the people in the article, though, David seems to have the right idea. "The sickness in his children was/is due to genetics, nothing else," he seems to say. Then, his last quote suggests that, like many of us who have become ex-JWs, he seems to be thinking of the big picture, of the world beyond his religious concepts. I wouldn't mind knowing how things turned out with them.
tj
i am going to be at a trial in ritzville, washington.
the town is about an hour southwest from spokane, wa.
i will be there on august 14th, which will be on a tuesday.
Kismet,
My two cents:
I wanted to say something earlier this morning, but time would not permit. Those that took issue with your position misunderstood, imo. I think your admonition to Bill (silentlambs) was very appropriate. In the long term, if he takes your advice and shows greater care when making certain statements, it will serve him?and more importantly, the cause--very well. Extreme care must be exercised in this case since the Society is all too willing to play hardball, showing little concern for what really matters, the health of little children. That being the case, every comment must be verifiably true.
Btw, I like the quote you had earlier: The mean between two opposing positions is often where truth can be found.. It's what I strive for.
tj
david and nancy both carry a recessive gene for a disorder called zellweger syndrome, a disease for which there is no cure.
against 1 in 100,000 odds, they had a child who was born with the syndrome.
they named her hope, who struggled with life for 199 days.
Good evening, Rex.
You said,
Man, it sure is nice to talk to someone who is not so darned dogmatic!
HA! If I learned nothing else in my thirty odd years as a dub (and believe me, I learned more than this), I learned that everything I believe hinges on tomorrow's discovery! <g> I ain't leaning too heavy on any of it.
Don't get me wrong... I can be pretty opinionated when I wanna be, but for the most part I believe that none of us know anything, really, so I ain't gettin' mad at anybody because of what they think or believe. If what you believe... or he believes... or she believes is working for ya'll, then I'm happy for ya. Good for you, as long as I don't have to believe it, too. Aahhh, what a lovely thing, freedom, eh?
... the biggest excuse for evolutionists is that "long time cooking" factor in their recipe... The "long time cooking" is also why their dating is so biased and with wide variations. Evolutionists need the cover of a billion years to make their ideas seem reasonable.
Well, you have to admit that, based on the record, the earth has been here a lot longer than the 50,000 or so years that the Watchtower would have its readers believe. I'm not going to front and try to make it seem that I know a lot about this, but based on all the evidence that I've seen, the Watchtower's time frame is ludicrous. Evolution of lower life forms makes sense.
To me, human physiology presents 'problems' for evolution. In the psych class I just took I learned a little more about how chemicals work in the brain to create emotion, hence, behavior. Every time I learn something about the intricacies of the body it seems to call for a belief in a superior designer/creator. Personally, I can't see my way around it.
Sadly, it's the only evidence, a single piece of a huge puzzle, as it were, that points to a Creator. For me, there is no other evidence, anywhere.
later,
tj
