Hopefully this will spread like a virus within the Borg. It resembles the fatal flaw of Communism: All of the planning was centrally controlled and the worker bees weren't allowed to see the reward for their hard work.
Posts by DJS
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54New "donation" arrangement begins to FAIL
by Tech49 inso here we are, almost a year into the "new" congregation donation arrangement.
and its beginning, as was predicted, to fail miserably, and to have direct negative consequences on the poor sheep.. let me give you a little experience, directly from our congregation of about 80 publishers.
back in may, after reading the letter about the "new" arrangement, the elder body decided to "donate" the extra funds on hand to wt, as directed.
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59
Asshole Atheism – Not for me, now or ever.
by donny into start off with let me clarify that by asshole atheism i am not referring to strong atheism or any other type of upfront atheism.
what i am referring to is the belligerent, hateful atheism that smacks of trolls and other types who want to derail conversation or comments at any cost..
i enjoy hearing comments from both sides of the subjects of theism, nationalism or politics, especially from those who have intense opinions.
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DJS
Xanthippe:
Your statement: "This is what I was referring to and I have come across it many times. Fortunately not very often these days as we do not have the endless atheists versus believers threads that were prevalent a few years ago. You only arrived a year ago so I suppose it is understandable that you haven't seen them."
I've been on the forum for about 20 months, and I agree completely with your statement. I was surprised to see the level of childish interruptions and attempts to derail or hijack the 'other' camp's OPs, from both theists and atheists. I see very little of that now.
As for this OP, I can't add much. I am not a spokesperson for atheism. My atheism is mine and mine alone, and it occurred naturally after decades of observation and evaluation. I've been a theist; although I sometimes am a wiseass about the topic, I have respect for believers. I don't have respect for those who present themselves as the new GB/FDS/Sage/Prophet and who have the correct scriptural interpretation and a special relationship with god. And I never will; they deserve all of our condemnation. But I'm a wise-ass about most topics; I'm not bad I was just drawn that way.
I also do not know any 'asshole" angry atheists, though I am certain they exist, just as there are angry asshole theists, angry asshole environmentalists, angry asshole liberals, angry asshole conservatives and so on. This OP would have had as much relevance if the term 'asshole atheism' had been replaced with any of those, which is why I haven't participated. The premise of the OP is certainly spot on, but it would be just as spot on regardless of the category.
The data suggests, as I've pointed out before, the more secular or atheistic a nation/state/region/individual is, the more likely it is to be educated, intelligent, functional, happy, and one would assume - less angry, as a result. But of course there are many many intelligent, educated, functional and happy theists.
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15
Stop Writing People Off
by Coded Logic inif you choose to enter into a discussion on this site and you don't have the time, or patience, or are just too damn lazy to defend your position on any given topic that is perfectly fine.
i'm not going to bash you over the head about it.
however, please don't tell me that i'm "wasting my time" or that the person i'm trying to convince, "will never learn.
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DJS
CL,
Nice commentary and I'm glad you are on this site. Cofty used to tell me that, even when it appeared that his research and comments weren't being 'listened' to by the participants in an OP, that it was likely many lurkers were learning from them. But what does he know (just kidding Cofty).
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41
I quit the Theocratic Ministry School
by My Name is of No Consequence inafter almost 24 years in the school and doing it since i was nine years old, i officially resigned.
it has become increasingly difficult to prepare talks, especially with the new format for brothers.
i did not mind doing them; i actually put the time and effort into getting them out.
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DJS
Rattigan,
I didn't pay attention to the Dark Lords in this matter. As you can imagine, I was on a collision course with the BOE. And like the famous 20th Century philosopher John Mellencamp stated, I fight authority but authority always wins.
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41
I quit the Theocratic Ministry School
by My Name is of No Consequence inafter almost 24 years in the school and doing it since i was nine years old, i officially resigned.
it has become increasingly difficult to prepare talks, especially with the new format for brothers.
i did not mind doing them; i actually put the time and effort into getting them out.
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DJS
MyName,
Your comments: "Things changed whenever they went to strictly bible reading as opposed to the "introduction-bible reading-conclusion" format for the first student talk."
That occurred over 20 years ago when I was the TMS Overseer, and it was one of the things that propelled me out of the Borg. By then I was sick of the mind numbing, ever pervasive control, and the Dark Lords' instructions about the bible reading made me see red. There was no rational explanation for it other than control. It was a solution to a problem that didn't exist. I had several conversations with brain dead elders about it, with some suggesting that it was due to the talk going over time on a consistent basis (my response was to give them an extra minute or reduce the number of scriptures to read) or that some bros were providing too much of their own views which might run counter to the Dark Lords' or that the scriptures were sooooo very important they all must be read. Neither of these 'problems,' btw, were 'problems' at our hall or any other hall I knew of.
My comment was that we were supposed to be training speakers and preachers who could teach and motivate, and an organization that was so afraid of giving them a few seconds of analysis and commentary was awfully weak and pathetic. They just looked at me with impotent stupidity, while they were filing it away under "A."
I guess I shouldn't be surprised that it bothered others.
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35
Do you feel bad throwing away literature?
by stuckinarut2 inso do you feel bad throwing away your old literature?.
what about your old song book or bible from your early days in the org?.
if so, is it because of sentimentality, monetary cost or because it might be 'sacred' ?.
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DJS
Getting rid of the WT garbage, which I did about 20 years ago, was empowering. It was kinda like spring cleaning on steroids - you know the feeling you get when you really get rid of old, useless crap. It makes moving forward much easier. -
18
The Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University Cult
by cofty inas an apocalyptic cult the brahma kumaris have some similarities to the watchtower.. they believe that all humans will die during an imminent and desirable end of the world they called destruction, in order that 900,000 faithful brahma kumari followers will inherit a heaven on earth before 2036.. to outsiders, bks refer to this event as a transformation and adherents are led to believe that a heavenly royal status can be achieved after it by donating money, free labor and unquestioning mental submission to the brahma kumari leadership, who will rule the world as emperors and empresses.
the brahma kumaris leadership has sought to cover up or deny child sex abuses at its headquarters, multiple suicides of followers at centers, financial corruption and abuses, immigration abuses, the persecution of minor or breakaway groups and the breaking up of families.. with echos of russell's divine plan of the ages, time, according to the brahma kumaris, is limited to a single, identically repeating, 5,000 year period called, the cycle in which human beings procreated by the power of mind for the first 2,500 years, and will do again from 2036, and the dinosaur period existed at the time of ancient greece.
likewise, in another 2,500 years into the future, brahma kumaris world spiritual university leaders teach that abraham, buddha, christ and mohammed will all be reborn again in order to start to teach, after having re-learnt their religion under them at this time.. the bkwsu leadership continues to financially benefit from their position by encouraging their adherents to a total mental, physical and financial surrender to their god.
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DJS
Perry is awfully silent. There is a lot more I could say, but it has already been said. -
18
A coming out story to my mother.
by JennyBoo inso i actually came out to my mother a few days ago.
told her how i really felt about being a jw (jehovah's witness) and how i wasn't straight.
i wasn't surprised by the disapproving response i got because really, i wasn't expecting any more.
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DJS
JennyBoo,
Welcome. Live your life to the full and let no one judge you. I hope you stick around and participate in our lovely forum.
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Do the Chinese think they will soon take over the World? This is an official response
by fulltimestudent inlot's of people believe that china will soon be a super-power.
while its true that roughly 400 million chinese have attained a living standard approximating the usa, there is still another 700 million who have not.. every year, some 100 million chinese take overseas holidays.
and, many millions of chinese live overseas, either as students or as representatives of chinese companies.. but of the 700 million who have not achieved something like western prosperity, some 90 million still live in poverty, leaving 610 million struggling between poverty and a low level of prosperity.. until they can live more comfortably, the chinese government must focus on building a more prosperous nation.. .
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DJS
Thanks Bobcat,
We have pointed out all of Forbes' list with the exception of No. 1 in previous OPs about this topic. I don't recall anyone bringing that one up. As I've pointed out, the obsession with China seems to come from those who want to bring attention to themselves in a 'you heard it hear first' manner or who simply want someone to read their article. Military leaders have a vested interest in painting China with ominous overtones. Duh.
And then there are the religious who are keenly looking for the next King of the North. Economics is a very complicated topic; when your are considering global macroeconomic policy, application it becomes even more complicated. And when you consider socio-economic issues along with all of this it becomes mind numbingly complicated. That's why they give Nobel Prizes to economists who develop theories and models that work.
The Forbes article left out a lot of the details and some of the other major issues that we have briefly discussed in previous OPs about this, but it doesn't seem to stop the confirmationally biased amongst us from continuing to post nonsense. Well, it does seem to have slowed it down a bit. Thanks again.
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36
Do You Think President Obama Is Muslim?
by minimus ini really think that he is.
not that it's a bad thing...
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DJS
Don't know, don't care. However, I do not think he is a Muslim for one second. The right wing nut cases spin everything in his past to make him appear sinister, just as the left wing nut cases try to make right wing pols appear sinister, which is one of the reasons I am apolitical. Paul Kengor tells me Obama is a Communist because his mentor, Frank Marshall. who was selected by his white grandfather to mentor young Barack for the purest of motives, had Communistic leanings.
Donald Trump tells me that the birther rumors are true, even though the overwhelming evidence says different.
And other right wing nut jobs tell me he is a Muslim because of his father.
If you read Obama's history, he is a child of the planet, having lived around the disadvantaged at a young age and the advantaged later in life. I'm with Cappytan, he is likely an atheist, but that is death to a politician.