I hope we can all meet someday and realize how far we have all come since the WTBS and that we are survivors. I can't thank all of you enough for everything everyone is doing.
Utopian Reformist
JoinedPosts by Utopian Reformist
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22
Could we have a Vigil for Utopian Reformist daughter?
by kls innot to take away from the vigil for ian but all that participate in prayer or what ever you feel you do to help ian could we all also put in our thoughts for utopians daughter?
i really feel that his daughter could use our help and that utopian would know we are helping as much as we can.
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Could we have a Vigil for Utopian Reformist daughter?
by kls innot to take away from the vigil for ian but all that participate in prayer or what ever you feel you do to help ian could we all also put in our thoughts for utopians daughter?
i really feel that his daughter could use our help and that utopian would know we are helping as much as we can.
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Utopian Reformist
All of you with children know that a parental bond is so strong, yet so fragile during painful moments and I cannot find enough words to express my gratitude, my admiration, my sense of respect and my camaraderie with all of you, near and far.
I can only hope that breaking free from the WTBS, my family schisms, this recent tragedy, and the future will not have been in vain and that I will someday have the opportunity to cross paths with as many of you as possible.
I have made two vows to my daughter under sedation. The first is that I will not cut my hair until she comes back fully healed and normal, like her hero, Red Sox outfielder Johnny Damon. And number two, that I am going to to attend one the "Apostofests" so that I can place faces with names and cement the bonds made here in cyberspace.
Thx again for the touching vigil and all of the kindness. -
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Could we have a Vigil for Utopian Reformist daughter?
by kls innot to take away from the vigil for ian but all that participate in prayer or what ever you feel you do to help ian could we all also put in our thoughts for utopians daughter?
i really feel that his daughter could use our help and that utopian would know we are helping as much as we can.
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Utopian Reformist
((((Crying))))!!!
Thank you All for your loyalty and for your support! You guys are the greatest! I wish I knew all of you in person and could lean on you physcially! I would hug all of you right now. -
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How do you know if you are "marked"?
by JH in.
since the last 13 years, i'm inactive.
i might go to 3 or 4 meetings a year... i might go to one memorial out of 3. i was never told that i was "marked".. naturally half of the congregation shuns me to a certain degree, but i still don't know if i'm "marked"..
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Utopian Reformist
You are marked (informally, of course) if:
1. You are not called upon to comment or ignored during meetings
2. You are not included in assignments or volunteer calls for brothers
3. You are not invited to pray / lead a study
4. You are not invited to gatherings
5. You are constantly being watched (peripherally) by elders and servants (and their wives)
There are a few more, but you get the idea. -
245
Are Christians harmless?
by gumby infirst off....let me qualify something.
lets keep this to modern day christians in civilized lands.. many on this board are non-believers, and there are quite a number of christians.....so we have a mix.. non believers feel they need to speak out concerning what they have come to understand regarding the bibles authenticity to believers because they feel these ones need to at least see the sceptical side so they can make an honest choice.. believers feel they need to speak out to others concerning what they have come to understand about salvation.
here's the deal..............if believers can live a happy, good, healthy life, and take this to the grave with them..........should a non-believer try to mess all that up.....or leave well enough alone?.
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Utopian Reformist
Hey there FlyingHighNow:
I appreciate your comments and the golfing analogy. But, I am talking about PERSONAL spirituality. It is that internal motivation or impetus that one either satisfies personally, or gives in to pressure and searches for an external satisfaction, in a group or a church.
I find that it takes an awful lot of effort to force oneself to silently and personally meditate upon life's questions, life's problems, life's directions and death and the future. It is hard to stop and think on your own and train oneself not to consult or collaborate with others and figure out who you really are, what you really believe about a subject. It is a process of struggling and testing one's own fortitude and security.
I believe it is a worthwhile process and brings great benefits. It has helped me trmendously since leaving the JW borg. -
33
Murder is wrong because...
by logansrun in[your answer here].
bradley.
ps...my english class debated this subject for an hour today without a consensus!
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Utopian Reformist
To CZAR:
Thx for correcting my understanding of the causes behind the tragedy in Russia. I only had brief sound bites and news flashes on which to base my limited viewpoint. I am glad to know the authorities were negotiating and making efforts and I am sad it did not have time to work itself out.
Now, onto another matter. I don't know you from Adam. However, common respect and courtesy for a stranger are obviously not in your posession, or at least at that particular moment when you launched your tirade about my viewpoints in this forum. I find that unacceptable. Maybe I should familiarize you with my background.
I have spent 1 1/2 years in maximum security prison for ADW. I was a United States Marine for 5 and a half years and server honorably in Beirut, Grenada, Haiti, Panama and several other theatres. I was airborne, scuba, ranger and pathfinder while serving with a Force Recon unit. I have bare-knuckle brawled for food and for money. I was raised on the streets of Philadelphia.
I was a JW for many years. I also hold a Master's in CIS from Roger Williams University and hold other degrees as well. I have taught and I am currently an independent Senior level consultant, engineer and project manager for network infrastructure projects.
Now, does that sound like I am a care bear philospher without just cause? When was the last time someone struck you physically, or damaged your home, or injured one of your relatives, when were you last robbed, or spent any time in jail?
Basically, you sound like you have a big mouth. Be thankful the old me doesn't get riled up and finds a way to close yours for a change! And, if you have any doubts, check a few sources. -
245
Are Christians harmless?
by gumby infirst off....let me qualify something.
lets keep this to modern day christians in civilized lands.. many on this board are non-believers, and there are quite a number of christians.....so we have a mix.. non believers feel they need to speak out concerning what they have come to understand regarding the bibles authenticity to believers because they feel these ones need to at least see the sceptical side so they can make an honest choice.. believers feel they need to speak out to others concerning what they have come to understand about salvation.
here's the deal..............if believers can live a happy, good, healthy life, and take this to the grave with them..........should a non-believer try to mess all that up.....or leave well enough alone?.
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Utopian Reformist
John Lennon did say it all in that one brief song. Religion is a plague, like aids, like drugs, like crime, like corruption. It should be weeded out of human society.
It's funny how none of the so-called christians and other religious adherents cannot answer a simple question. Why do they need membership in a group, and a set of rules, and the approval of other humans to exercise personal spirituality?
The answer is really simple. They have not developed a personal spirituality and are still functioning under group dynamics, peer pressure and are still prone to superstition about the future and death. If not, they would see the beauty in life and attempt to harmonize with it and all other forms of life and practice the good and spirituality they can only read about in books.
Religious slavery is pathetic.
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33
Murder is wrong because...
by logansrun in[your answer here].
bradley.
ps...my english class debated this subject for an hour today without a consensus!
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Utopian Reformist
In my opinion, murder does exist and is a valid classification to categorize the unprovoked, pre-meditated, conspired action of physically and fatally harming another human(s) until death ensues.
For example, not all murder is illegal. Take the recent hostage tragedy in Russia, the russian authorities are just as guilty of murder as the 28 terrorists. Knowing hundreds of children are at risk should cause any trigger happy military or police to give pause and search for other options. In this isolated case, storming the school and causing the terrorists to start killing hostages was in fact legalized murder.
Thus, murder was committed on both sides of the law. Is there a legal, moral justification for murder? If war criminals are executed, or terrorists are executed, I believe murderers should receive the punishment they have committed against others.
Is self-defense murder? That is a very tricky question.
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Smells like the 60's and 70's to me.....Political Demonstration Arrests
by Frannie Banannie injudge orders demonstrators freed.
by michael powell and dale russakoff.
new york, sept. 2 -- a criminal court judge ordered the release of hundreds of bush protesters thursday, ruling that police held them illegally without charges for more than 40 hours.
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Utopian Reformist
I am a citizen of three countries (Italia, Argentina & USA). I do not vote in elections. As a divorced ex-JW, I did not vote in the state election my ex-spouse ran as a candidate for Governor.
People always tell me that my "voice will not be heard", or my opinions won't count. My favorite is you have no right to criticize unless you vote (how dub-ish).
Anyway, the recent arrests of protesters, the overall Bush administration and the Iraq war have completely cemented my exisiting viewpoints.
Namely, that until we make lobbying illegal, remove corporate influence from government, drastically change the electoral process, and move away from a two party system that uses the population like a tennis ball as they take turns, then we will always have corrupt government and never really get any further ahead.
So, I don't waste my time voting for one of the two parties in a system where candidates are lobbied and influenced by senior officials, business, and more politics.
The simple fact that congress and the senate created legislation and voted themselves out of the social security system is proof enough these politicans see us as a mass and themselves as special. I tell you that only one thing would fix government out of control, revolution! -
245
Are Christians harmless?
by gumby infirst off....let me qualify something.
lets keep this to modern day christians in civilized lands.. many on this board are non-believers, and there are quite a number of christians.....so we have a mix.. non believers feel they need to speak out concerning what they have come to understand regarding the bibles authenticity to believers because they feel these ones need to at least see the sceptical side so they can make an honest choice.. believers feel they need to speak out to others concerning what they have come to understand about salvation.
here's the deal..............if believers can live a happy, good, healthy life, and take this to the grave with them..........should a non-believer try to mess all that up.....or leave well enough alone?.
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Utopian Reformist
Someday, we will conquer the battle over organized religion and begin the worldwide conversion to an academic, secular, scientific, and professional society based upon globally beneficial laws upon a foundation of natural principles. We will actually share this planet and it's resources.
Until then, we will be forced to "deal" with religion, religious people, religious organizations and their never-ending quest to eventually convert others to the madness of searching for peace and spirituality in idols, buildings, icons and historical figures.
It is unbelieveable that some just don't have the courage to test their own internal spirituality, or have the "guts" to think for themselves and look inside and ask what you really beleive, what you are really afraid of, and what you want in life. Instead, like co-dependent battered spouses, or drug addicts, they returning to the feeding troughs of religion and superstition.
I feel sorry for those that cannot break free. I am angry at those that know and yet persist and influence others in the same direction.