1995.
My first search engine was altavista.com. It cost a small fortune to have a dial-up access at the time.
Having an e-mail address was a biggy at the time.
observador
JoinedPosts by observador
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41
The Internet (what year did you first have access)
by Ri ini first had access to the internet in 1994. i thought it was amazing all the information at my fingertips.
i have no idea what search engine i used before google.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl9wu2kwwsy.
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My madly in love friend and what it teaches us about Jehovah's Witnesses
by neverendingjourney ini have a friend (non-jw) who's fallen for a girl who's no good.
she's very pretty, but has been coddled since she was an infant.
the girl is 25 years old and her mother still does all of her laundry, pays for her credit card, and comes over to clean her apartment periodically.
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observador
He sounds and looks like a fool. The key for him to have any chance with her is some serious posturing.
A man who is unwilling to let a woman go, will never conquer her.
Observador.
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Ironclaw needs our support.....
by alamb inhis mother passed last month and he is hurting.
i told him our little family here would support him through this.
he will be following this thread.
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observador
Losing anyone to death is horrible, but losing a mother is even worse. Hang in there. It will pass.
Sending my warmest feelings.
Observador
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SIT DOWN!.....i am going to the meeting next week for sex....
by oompa inactually...i am just hoping that mo/betta sex is just a huge fringe benefit (really hoping that!!!!!!!
) ......i may start going one or two times a month........and it was an idea handed to me by my friend bonnzo here.
he is a great guy all around....who loves his old pioneer mom enough to keep going to the meetings a bit instead of doing what we would both like to and walk away......actually we both would probably prefer that all our family and friends walked away and then it would not even be like walking away.
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observador
Only now I read some comments made by Drew, and want to pickup on some good points made by him.
I remember quite well the times I would try and push a response out of my wife
I was tempted to do the same thing to some relatives. Doesn't work. Being pushy is precisely the opposite of the "Non-Confrontational" strategy I now defend.
Looking back I can see so eaisly how obsessed I was about winning an argument...
Same here. Obssessing about winning an argument is exactly what shows that you are working too hard to pull the person out. Let the person do some work. We must be prepared to lose some arguments to keep the flow of communication going, with eyes in the long run.
In my particuliar case my wife was a lot more ready than I ever realized...
Another fantastic point. Even when a JW gives the impression that he/she is unaffected by what you're saying, she has already being affected and doesn't know. Don't be misled or frustrated by the show of determination. Be patient.
Towards the end I got a bit frustrated, pushed her more than I should of, but it was towards the end.
I know exactly how that feels. My advice now is... don't be pushy. When we push, we give the impression that the person should do something that is in OUR interest, nor hers. That's when all types of shields are raised and she won't do.
Trying to "reason" with people who are outside any sort of common logic is a disaster waiting to happen.
True. These people are in a state where they can't reason.
JWs are NOT logical, you can NOT reason with them.
Not true. They are logical people too. The problem is that when the subject turns to religion and they know we want to win the ideological argument at any cost, their STATE of mind becomes completely irrational. That's why the "Non-Confrontational" approach helps as the JW starts to see no reason for being irrationally defensive.
Just because a Watchtower magazine TRYS TO SOUND LOGICAL...
You're correct again. The JW religion is what I call a pseudo-scientific religion. This is designed to make JWs feel good. However, we can tactifully turn things around. For example, if the conversation is about the Noah's Flood, if the JW says that an archeologist found a piece of timber somewhere, we can briefly say something such as "interesting... the same science that says that, also says that there is no geological evidence of a global Flood. Humm, have you tried this coffee. It's absolutely delicious. Do you have that grocely list with you?"
Master the art of changing subjects, and be delighted with its powerful effects. You can't believe the confused mental state a JW is thrown in when we're talking about religion/doctrines and you crack a joke or two, or tactifully start talking about the weather.
Observador.
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SIT DOWN!.....i am going to the meeting next week for sex....
by oompa inactually...i am just hoping that mo/betta sex is just a huge fringe benefit (really hoping that!!!!!!!
) ......i may start going one or two times a month........and it was an idea handed to me by my friend bonnzo here.
he is a great guy all around....who loves his old pioneer mom enough to keep going to the meetings a bit instead of doing what we would both like to and walk away......actually we both would probably prefer that all our family and friends walked away and then it would not even be like walking away.
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observador
Of course the decision is all up to you, but going back to meetings, even to a few of them, may backfire in your overall strategy, if you have one.
The problem is that doing that sends the wrong signal. She may conclude that she is winning you over; that her ideology is stronger than yours. Also she may conclude that she just needs to keep doing exactly what she's doing, which, of course, goes against your interests in the long run.
I have read a bit about your case, and I think that the best thing for you to do is to formulate a strategy and stick with it. Taking a non-confrontational approach has worked for many people. The more she realizes how opposed you are to the "troof", the more determined she will be. The non-confrontational strategy involves showing her that you want nothing to do with the JW religion, but won't block her to do as she pleases. You may even want to drive her to the KH, assemblies, field service, etc.
As she sees your changed attitude to her religion, women eases up a bit and began to share her true feelings with you. Then, slowly, without showing too much effort, you have to start introducing some doubts and questions in her mind, but keep subtly reminding her that the decision is on her. She needs to realize that SHE needs to do some of the work for her release. In other words, she needs to understand that her putting some effort to reevaluate her faith is something she needs to do for her, not for you.
This strategy takes time. It takes patience. You have to keep your eyes in the greater long term benefits. In the short term, you may even develop better relations with her and, as a consequence, have more sex.
When we find out all the things we now know about the JW religion, our rational minds wants to oppose, and oppose frontally. Some people, however, are not prepared to think rationally. They, too often, think with their emotions. With many women, we have to use some soft skills; we have to approach things psychologically, creating some small cracks in her shield. Bite. Blow, blow. Wait for another opportunity. Bite. Blow. Repeat.
Observador.
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SIT DOWN!.....i am going to the meeting next week for sex....
by oompa inactually...i am just hoping that mo/betta sex is just a huge fringe benefit (really hoping that!!!!!!!
) ......i may start going one or two times a month........and it was an idea handed to me by my friend bonnzo here.
he is a great guy all around....who loves his old pioneer mom enough to keep going to the meetings a bit instead of doing what we would both like to and walk away......actually we both would probably prefer that all our family and friends walked away and then it would not even be like walking away.
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7 Congregations in My Area, VT, MA, NH, Have Been Cut to 3!!!
by Seeker4 ini got this verified today.
seven congregations that were in my old circuits now are only three.. north and south gardner, ma were merged.. north and south claremont, nh were merged.. north adams, ma and bennington, vt were merged.. the wilmington, vt congregation was dissolved.. there has been discussion to merge the keene and swanzey, nh congregations, but there are some strong personalities among the two bodies of elders opposing that, so it is not likely to happen, though i hear that keene has got some big problems in its boe and very poor service, etc.. that's 9 congregations within about a 70 mile radius that are all seeing some serious trouble.. anyone hearing anything similar happening where they are?.
s4.
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observador
Hi Seeker,
This is great news! I can't comment in the numbers here in my area, but there are two aspects of the whole thing that could explain the lower numbers here in New England: a) the immigrant populatin is dwindling given the economic slowdown (many stores closing, house market down, etc. etc.) b) There also is the problem of old age among the JW ranks. Years pass, people get old and die; few are replacing them. When I left my congo 7 years ago, there were quite a few old people in their middle 70s, who are now in their early 80s. When they go, they're gone.
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Widespread speculation you'll never see in print?
by Mickey mouse injws are very good at whipping up speculation without ever putting a word in print.
maybe they learned something from 1975.. what are some of the things you remember hearing that are not "official doctrine" but lots of jws believe it anyway?.
i've heard a lot of speculation that armageddon would either happen on nisan 14 or in october around the time they reckon the gentile times ended in 1914.. name some of the topics you've frequently heard unsanctioned speculation about.. .
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observador
Don't know how widespread that was but I heard in more than one occasion, brothers in the KH, just after 9/11, wondering if that was the beginning of the great tribulation, followed by a creepy smile on the corner of their mouth.
In fact, the reaction of Witnesses to 9/11 was one of the things that made me question the faith.
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No Gentials in New System? Does the WT say that?
by asilentone inread dune's post 788/789.
if you can find wt article about the possibility of no gentials in "paradise", please post here.
thanks!.
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observador
The question that ought to be asked is "Will a ressurrected one be able to at least drink beer"?
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Stan Milosevic's Theocratic Library
by Lady Lee instan miloseciv is an active jw.
he has a pretty extensive online library that contains many interesting articles.
he used to have a link to old kingdom ministries but i seem to have lost the direct link to that.
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observador
Stan has been on the Web for many years now. He likely is one of those diehard JWs, as I don't see any sign from his book library that he's getting any enlighthened.
About the book Historical Dictionary of Jehovah's Witnesses, for example, he says:
Going through this book I noticed very few inaccuracies. The author does an excellent and accurate job of showing what Jehovah's Witnesses believe and how they live.
But then he adds:
Both London Bethel and New York Bethel provided assistance to the author.
I guess if you expected any unbiased work being listed there, go look somewhere else.
Observador.