Posts by Xander

9

Okay...what does a "walk away" do abo...

by logansrun in

jw
friends

related to my thread about talking to jw family members who refuse to shun you lol..... i'm a "walk away", no judicial action taken against me.

as it stands, i would like to keep it that way to be able to have a cordial relationship with some family (and perhaps a couple friends).

so here's a problem: at my former kh there sits in a drawer a document that could really screw me if i am in a life threatening situation.

Xander

And don't carry your blood card with you, or any other means to identify you as a witness. If they have no reason to believe they must check for that form, odds are they won't. (IE., in order to check for it, they must firstly know you ARE a witness, then which congregation your DPA is at. If you provide neither piece of information, it would then fall to the elders to interfere - which they obviously can't do until they've heard of whatever situation you are in.

At that point, obviously, you supporting S.O. or family or friends will be on hand with your CURRENT form, and no problems.

(Well, no LIFE THREATENING problems, just that, once you recover, you're still auto-DA'ed for accepting blood, so.....)

32

A Story About Faith

by jgnat in

jw
friends

fiancee .

she paced back and forth, fiddling with her hands, fiddling with the ring.

"how can you just sit there so calm, so relaxed, so...unmoveable?

Xander

So be it- if it's not to YOUR liking, who cares?

Well, she does, apparently.

It might seem strange to you, but I still wonder if my story will have the desired impact, if it will manage to say what I have such a hard time expressing

She did not say "I still wonder if my story will have the desire impact TO EVERYONE BUT XANDER" She asked if her story would have the desired impact to whomever read it.

I did not think so, so I commented on that. Some people commented to my reply and a back and forth dialogue occurred that I thought was interesting to everyone involved.

I don't think anyone was offended by that? Except you?? Which is curious, as you really don't have anything to do with this, do you?

28

Help - how to reason from 'best out there'?

by Xander in

okay, another discussion with the brother.

he did mention i was a bad influence, but, feh, he still talks and listens a little, so i'm not too worried.. i've got him whittled down to - "if nothing else, at least this org tries to follow the bible the closest, every other religion has serious flaws.".

this is kind of a hard one to beat, as, in the end, what the society says is generally quite good and positive.

Xander

Yeah, but as long as he keeps buying 'new light', that will never phase him.

I just don't know what tack to take, really. It's more of a social club to him now. All his 'friends' are in, and although he acknowledges that not one of them is someone he would hang with if NOT for their religious similarity - he somehow rationalizes that its a GOOD thing. IE., I wouldn't have these people as my friends if not for our religion, so thank god for our religion, or I wouldn't have any friends.

I think pete might be right - as long as I show him how happy the wife and I are, how much better we get along than he and his wife, etc, it will be the only way to REALLY errode his beliefs. I think.

It's hard to reason with him because he doesn't WANT to think about it. He has 'the truth'. Period. His whole life revolves around it now - such as it is - and I don't think he wants to think of life without it. Both because he has no experience with that life, and is afraid of the unknown; and he doesn't want to admit that his choices have doomed his course of life to a certain path he would NEVER have taken otherwise (IE., he's dropped out of community college, works full time as a sales associate at a chain store, married someone he has nothing in common with but religion, drinks like a fish whenever he can, etc.)

28

Help - how to reason from 'best out there'?

by Xander in

okay, another discussion with the brother.

he did mention i was a bad influence, but, feh, he still talks and listens a little, so i'm not too worried.. i've got him whittled down to - "if nothing else, at least this org tries to follow the bible the closest, every other religion has serious flaws.".

this is kind of a hard one to beat, as, in the end, what the society says is generally quite good and positive.

Xander

Okay, another discussion with the brother. He did mention I was a bad influence, but, feh, he still talks and listens a little, so I'm not too worried.

I've got him whittled down to - "If nothing else, at least this org tries to follow the bible the closest, every other religion has serious flaws."

This is kind of a hard one to beat, as, in the end, what the society SAYS is generally quite good and positive. What is actually DOES is not relevant to him - he's falling back on the old "it's run by imperfect man" argument again. (Why god leaves his one true followers in the hands of such flawed men is not a point he's willing to argue).

So, given that, what would be the best counter? He's not willing to debate the possibility of christianity being false, so I'm not going to try and push that point, but how to get him to see the errors in the JW teachings?

What should I point out as 'gotchas' - teachings that Jesus and disciples espoused that they DON'T follow, or ones they follow incorrectly?

FWIW, I've got him to concede that the prohibition on birthdays is nonsense (don't ask how that came up), but that it is still okay to DF someone for celebrating them, since they would be rebelling against the organization.

He maintains that Jesus and his disciples WERE the 'organization' back in the day, and rebelling from the organization then had the same effect it does now - hence, their DFing policy is just by biblical standards. Where to go from there?

32

A Story About Faith

by jgnat in

jw
friends

fiancee .

she paced back and forth, fiddling with her hands, fiddling with the ring.

"how can you just sit there so calm, so relaxed, so...unmoveable?

Xander

I certainly wouldn't expect you to change it. I was merely presenting an alternative viewpoint, something I think that is beneficial for a writer to consider.

The difference between writing to a specific audience vs writing to a general audience is very important. If writing to a specific audience, say, a religious group, talking of faith in such a way works well, and as noted, most would probably find your story encouraging/uplifting. I was merely offering comment on the article from the point of view of a general audience, say, this forum in the 'friends' section.

34

The USA and the 'Divine Mandate'

by Abaddon in

jw
friends

having had a bizzare (for a european) preoccupation with american history in the 19th c, i do find that current american foreign policy still has implict in it the religiously inspired rationale that enabled americans to seriously claim that the ethnic cleansing of the west, and the genocidal behaviours that this often entailed, was because god wanted them to do it.. from certain newspaper articles i've read it seems as if some of those in the white house believe that bush getting in despite not having the majority of the popular vote was a sign, and that 9/11 backed up their belief that bush was a man put in a certain place for a certain time and role.

that bible studies are a regular expected activity of white house staffers.. now, this makes me very nervous.

i prefer my religious fanatics to come from developing countries that may have weapons of mass destruction, rather than from the most powerful millitary country in the world with more weapons of mass destruction than the rest of the world put together.. obviously just because it was in a newspaper doesn't mean it's true (yesterday's guardian i think).. but what do you think?.

Xander

They definitely tried to live peaceably

Uhhhhh....I just......

You're joking, right?

Did the indians eventually feel that they had a spiritual mandate to stop the european? Sure they did

Actually, no, no Native American group ever throught it was their 'spiritual mandate' to stop the Europeans. Not all even felt it was necessary to defend 'their' land, as, to them, it WASN'T theirs.

Those who did fight might have hoped for victory, but the American Indians never felt that some spiritual force ACTED *through* them, as the Europeans did. If they won a battle, their gods were smiling on them. If they lost, they weren't. They never felt their wars were "god's" wars, though. That's a very judeo-christian, and, by extension, muslim concept.

They seek to dominate western ideals and bring people into subjection to Allah

Is it indeed, now?

Sorry, that's just LOL here. I mean, painting these current conflicts as a religious war...it's just....I mean, LOL, really, where do you get this stuff?

8

Garble

by Witch Child in

jw
friends

http://64.4.22.250/cgi-bin/linkrd?_lang=en&lah=12fa932a33a4ad81b88c931f7b6a791d&lat=1043948302&hm___action=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2ewinternet%2ecom%2f%7emikelr%2fflame1%2ehtml .

i don't know if this link will work... but something reminded me of it somehow.. ~witch.

i think we can all find ourselves somewhere on the site.

Xander

Oh, gods, I just want to post the whole list here.

I think I can think of a person on this forum for EACH ONE of those descriptions.

12

Everybody sing George W's song!!

by starfish422 in

jw
friends

sing to the tune of:.

"if your happy and you know it clap your hands" .

if you cannot find osama, bomb iraq.. if the markets are a drama, bomb iraq.. if the terrorists are frisky, pakistan is looking.

Xander

'Nose Candy'

13

Top 17 Bumper Stickers....give me some more

by Tatiana in

i need more to send back to my dad...... .

17. jesus loves you...but everyone else thinks you are an asshole.

16. impotence...nature's way of saying "no hard feelings.

Xander

I have a Heisenburg car: Every time I look at the speedometer, I get lost.

Know God...No peace. No God...Know peace.

Essentially, a religious war is a fight over who has the better invisible friend.

It only seems kinky the first time

Moral Indignation is Jealousy with a Halo

Jesus is coming, look busy!

JESUS SAVES... But Gretzky gets the rebound, he shoots, he SCORES!!

Suicide is a way of telling God 'you can't fire me, I QUIT!'

I have nothing against god, it's his followers that I can't stand

Backoff I'm a postal worker

Do Not Tailgate. Or I Will Flick a Booger on Your windshield!

Hold on before you pass, I'm reloading.

Driver carries only $20 worth of ammunition

I still miss my ex...but my aim is getting better!

FORGET ABOUT WORLD PEACE...VISUALIZE USING YOUR TURN SIGNAL

We're staying together for the sake of the cats

YOU!! Off my planet!

Good Girls Go To Heaven, Bad Girls Go Everywhere

It's been lovely, but I have to scream now

Moody bitch seeks nice guy for love-hate relationship

Take a Bite out of Crime. It tastes like Chicken

Don't steal. The government hates competition

Support your local undertaker - DROP DEAD!

Join the Army: Visit exotic places, meet interesting people and then kill them

Please don't tell my Mama that I work on an oil rig... She thinks I'm a piano player in a whorehouse

FIREFIGHTERS FIND THEM HOT AND LEAVE EM WET

I need someone really bad. Are you really bad?

Smile. It's the second best thing you can do with your lips

Don't piss me off. i'm running out of places to hide the bodies.

Don't laugh at these fogged up windows it's your daughter in here

WE HAVE ENOUGH YOUTH, HOW ABOUT A FOUNTAIN OF SMART

PURITANISM: THE HAUNTING FEAR THAT SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE MAY BE HAPPY

Bad cop...no donut

Do Not Meddle In The Affairs Of Dragons For You Are Crunchy And Good With Ketchup

Edited by - Xander on 30 January 2003 16:2:25

33

Spreekt of schrijft iemand hier Nederlands?

by fulano in

ik wel.

Xander

Is that really dutch?

Gods above, it really DOES look like how the 'Swedish Chef' speaks...

*ducks*