Posts by tyydyy

19

"What If The WT Told You to...

by Francois in

jw
friends

... get your gun out and go to any church of christendom on a certain sunday a few weeks after the publication date of the watchtower that was making the demand, and open up on the congregation?".

that question was asked of active jws in good standing by richard hickman, whom many of you know, when he was doing research for a book he was writing.

strangely enough, the most common answer went something like this:.

tyydyy

Very intersting question Francois,

I asked myself a similar question just before I got out. I remember this religion in Africa where the leader killed several hundred of his followers by burning them alive in the churches. He had help from some of his loyal followers. After the political campaign to complain about the taxes in France I wondered if the Society would one day ask people to do something bad and then what would the reaction be from the rank and file members.

This is one of the things that allowed me to start questioning things in my own mind. I thought it was wrong of them in France to ask everyone to show up and give them an assignment without telling them what it was before hand. I imagined that if someone was not comfortable with this political propoganda campaign they would not be able to say no because of the tremendous peer pressure that situation would create. I would love to hear the thoughts of someone who did participate in that event.

That kind of power and the willingness to use it for self preservation scared me. It still does.

TimB

10

Marijuana - The Bible's View (New Light)

by jterfehr in

jw
friends

genesis 1:29 new jerusalem bible.

god also said, 'look, to you i give all the seed-bearing plants everywhere on the surface of the earth, and all the trees with seed bearing fruit; this will be your food.'.

genesis 1:29 king james bible.

tyydyy

Didn't you know that if you smoke a doobie you'll be invaded by evil spirits.

17

What're the new spins going to be?

by ashitaka in

jw
friends

i was talking with my wife and surmised that in ten years, there would be 'revision' in thought about blood, and that they would allow transfusions, (a conscience matter), but still forbid the eating of blood.. as to disfellowshipping, when it all hits the fan in the media, there may be a change, some time in the future regarding it.

perhaps they will say to only 'spiritually' disfellowship the person, but not encourage the total shunning of them.. do those two hold any merit?

what other things may change at the wtbts?

tyydyy

I'm waving my hands over my crystal ball and softly humming................................................................................I see in the next 5 years the celebration of birthdays will become a concience matter but still frowned upon by the "stronger" witnesses. In fact, I think technically they would not disfellowship you for celebrating your birthday even right now.

Any major changes made will be a result of civil lawsuits. Even though the courts support freedom of religion in criminal matters they seem to have no problem giving monetary compensation for civil cases. It's hard for ex Jws to sue because most who leave are just happy to be out and they don't want to completly lose the association of family members still in the organization.

My opinion is that they are most vulnerable on the blood issue. We have noticed over the last few yrs a relaxing of the rules on blood transfusions a blood componets. One may be able to show the waffling by the rule makers on this life and death situation. This, in my opinion, shows their liablilty. There are many who have died in the past that would not have died using the current rules for blood use. These cases may still be a possibility. We notice the legal department posturing and preparing for this eventuality with the hospital liason committee and the careful wording of their instructions on what to say.

49

What should he do? Can you help?

by Billygoat in

jw
friends

this post is triggered by freepeace's post on alcoholic relationships.

i'd like to share a story of a friend of mine with the hopes that you can provide some advice or insight.

he knows i'm a part of this board and understands how much support/encouragement/advice i get here.

tyydyy

Jerry,

You said:

<<<<Too easy to fall back into old habits>>>>>>

That's because you didn't identify and correct the real reason you couldn't control your eating. The ice cream was not and is not the problem. It's only the symptom.

You said:

<<<<<<<<Can an alcoholic after years of sobriety go back to having an occasional happy hour or a few beers. The evidence is overwhelmingly no, unfortunately.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I have 2 friends who are "alcoholics" who enjoy an occasional beer and it does not destroy their lives. The evidence I see is not overwhelming.

The problem you have with my calling myself an addict because I've been drinking for 20 ys is that it doesn't fit into your neat little package. That's the problem with generalizing and labeling. Yes food is addictive. We are all addicts to a mind altering substance. It just doesn't fit into the neat little moral and legal box that our current society has built.

TimB

49

What should he do? Can you help?

by Billygoat in

jw
friends

this post is triggered by freepeace's post on alcoholic relationships.

i'd like to share a story of a friend of mine with the hopes that you can provide some advice or insight.

he knows i'm a part of this board and understands how much support/encouragement/advice i get here.

tyydyy

I love this conversation! I do disagree with most of the posters here on this subject. Sorry. I have my own opinions.

I have been drinking alcohol for 20 yrs. I don't think I have ever gone a month without having at least 1 beer. So that means I have never been "clean and sober" by a hardline definition. I can say that I have only been "drunk" 3 times in that 20 yr period. Technically that makes me an abuser. Now......Do I care that I am a drug abuser who hasn't been able to kick the habit in 20 yrs. NO! It has not been destructive for me or people around me. If it became destructive then I would have to cut back. If I couldn't cut back then I would have to cut it out completly. Does that make sense? Now put any drug you want in place of alcohol and you have my opinion on that.

We're always trying to alter our mental state. Sometimes we go to an amusement park and ride a rollercoaster to do it. If this activity caused physical and psychological damage then I would advise against it. I undestand that there are many that don't like the way the ride alters their mental state. That's OK. We also use food to alter our mental state and I'm not talking about the obvious ones like chocolate and coffee. I mean some people get grouchy if they haven't had their "fix" (lunch). Their mood changes almost immediately. Does that make them "addicts"? YES! Do they need to cut out food altogether because they are addicted? NO! The food is not destructive unless they're eating to much. When someone is overweight and destroying their life because they abuse food, they need to be taught how to change the problems in their life that's causing them to "abuse" this mind altering substance. They don't have to cut it out altogether. It would be easier to put them in the catagory of "recovered" if they could say that they haven't touched food in 1 year but I wouldn't recommend that.

Some people choose to destroy their lives by abusing drugs. That doesn't make the drugs bad. It means this person needs to change something else in their lives. That's why the AA NA WA EA organizations advocate finding a higher power to help you. They encourage you to give up your personal choices and let some religion or religious ideas control your life. It works for many. It does not work for many. They obviously don't have all the answers. A psychologist who actually understands why people abuse themselves and who applies that knowledge on an individual basis would probably be most effective for an "addict".

This relationship is about a difference of opinion about what they consider acceptable behavior in their relationship. If they can't compromise, or better yet, come to a mutual understanding of each other's wants and desires then the relationship will not be optimum. There is no such thing as a perfect relationship. It's about working with each other. It is not about putting labels on each other that act as wedges.

TimB

24

Mr Dedalus, married man

by dedalus in

jw
friends

foxy and i were married this sunday in a small ceremony before family & friends.

yippie!.

an observation: we hired a justice of the peace more or less at random from the phone book.

tyydyy

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

.

TimB

10

she brought me flowers

by wonderwoman77 in

i just wanted to share with everyone that tonight i went to a basketball game with my gf and she brought me flowers...it was so incredibly sweet...:)

tyydyy

Just for the record.......I prefer fudge. I once got a cookie bouquet..that was cute and delicious. I am sooooooo lucky.

TimB

44

Do you resemble a celebrity?

by duped in

just for fun, i thought we could post what celebrities people may have told us we look like.

i know, i know, it's all fluff baby!

i'll be the first one to say it....i'm mainly a fluff poster.

tyydyy

EYE candy for you ladies out there. If you squint really hard for about 5 min. I slightly resemble a mixture of Russel Crowe and Dennis Quaid which makes sense since I'm in love with Meg Ryan.

. .