DJS

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Posts by DJS

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  87

  Did you get " Counseled " about the Music you Listened to While you were a JW ?

  by flipper in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  from the time i was a small boy - i loved rock n' roll music.

  beatles, rolling stones, led zeppelin, hendrix.

  i started getting slighted for the music i listened to as i lay in my bedroom listening on headphones to led zeppelin's song " black dog " at age 14 with my elder dad looking suspiciously at me as i'm rocking out .

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  DJS

  The Dark Lords' intrusion into this part of our personal conscience and freedom of choice was one of the defining moments of my exit. Their pharisaical semi, near, almost, kinda sort, mini-me rule making annoyed me and was becoming oppressive, but I listened to what I wanted. When they started making defining rules for what my children and I could listen to, such as rap, and including it in a study article of the WT that we shouldn't listen to any of it, I wrote them a letter telling them kindly but directly that this was my business as a parent and none of theirs.

  I received a letter in response telling me I of course was correct but reminding me that some of us (me) are expected to tow the line, or some such nonsense, since I was in the BOE.

  It may be one of the few times the Dark Lords admitted to being wrong. I kept the letter for years. This was one of the straws that broke this camel's back.

  And if there are any Dark Lord wraiths hovering around this site to find out dark data to return to Mordor with and present it to the Dark Lords, please tell your lord and masters I listen to what I fukking want to listen to, and so do my kids. And they can kiss my ass.
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  20

  Surge in Mormon Suicides

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  last november the mormon cult has issued new rules about homosexuality labelling those in same-sex relationships as apostates who can be excommunicated.

  children of gay couples are now required to leave home and repudiate their parent's relationship before they can be part of the church.. at least 32 gay mormon youths have killed themselves since the announcement of the new policy, and there’s been an alarming increase of suicidal teens and twenty-somethings in the church.....

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  DJS

  Hate has consequences. It doesn't exist in a vacuum.
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  70

  how do most of you now feel about the military?

  by sowhatnow in

  1. social
  2. family

  was not sure where to post this, but i was curious, how do some of you now feel about the military?

  would any of you let your children enlist, or would you yourselves join any military field?

  how do you feel about the idea of women in the military?

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  DJS

  They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. Some of you continue to blame the military for decisions made by policy makers and politicians. The military follows their orders and the rules of combat are typically politically inspired or directed by policy makers. The crisis in Syria is heart breaking, but it wasn't caused by the US military. When you see this:

  
  

  You need to understand that there is a direct link between that picture and the other horrors of the Syrian War and this:

  
  

  Without the pressure on the Intel community from people like Cheney, the arm twisting on people like Colin Powell by people like Rumsfeld and Bush and the intentional misrepresentation of intelligence, we would likely never have gone into Iraq. The war machine behind ISIS resulted in large part by the dismantling of the Iraqi army in the mid 2000s by another US Policy maker. Without those former Iraqi military minds, rolodex, access to funds and other resources and the knowledge of how to take territory and keep it, ISIS would either not exist or would be a minor player - the JV team as Obama once called them.

  The military caused none of this other than following orders.
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  51

  Why facts fail to reach the faithful, (even the intelligent ones)

  by done4good in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i posted this on another thread, and decided it deserves its own...thoughts?.

  an unfortunate artifact of evolution is that belief can, and often does trump fact.

  survival is at the core of what belief is about.

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  DJS

  done4good,

  Great OP. The OP of the year so far. A lot of us have been saying this for a while. You've said it best. Thank you. My Theist wall, as expected, was primarily built of JW bricks. Once I got rid of all of them, the only thing remaining were a few cornerstones and the foundation - belief in the bible, god and/or a 'hereafter'. As you stated, that first stone removed from the theist wall/foundation is done so with the understanding that it all may come down. It may not be for the faint of heart, and there are evolutionary reasons why this is so.

  I methodically removed each stone, examined it - and when I found it wanting - cast it away. Then I dug up the foundation and threw that away. No emotion. No looking back. And the best thing I have ever accomplished.

  Again, well done.
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  21

  Last Day of Chemo

  by azor in

  1. watchtower
  2. medical

  today is the end of my son's 3 -1/2 year treatment for leukemia.

  we had a small party at the hospital with nursing staff and a few friends.

  it has been a great day with the exception of getting walking pnemonia from his sister.

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  DJS

  Great news Azor. Full speed ahead.
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  11

  Measuring my progress by past threads....

  by The Rebel in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  my conclusion is, i hope this site is :-.

  a) first about solving practical problems of people leaving the w.t,.

  b) secondly about if god exists or not.. so what have i learnt since reading my first posts from 6 months ago?.

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  DJS

  The Rebel,

  As I've noted, I was out nearly 20 years before joining any ex-dub site, so I had no clue what the typical ex-dub looked like. We all project onto others our personality traits, so naturally I thought everyone looked like me or Cofty - you know, rational, thoughtful and by now nearly finished with theism.

  I wasn't prepared for the reality. Mr. Impatient (me) meet Mr./Ms. ex-Dub in all of their irrational, emotion driven glory.

  I'm much more of an ass now. But I'm working on it. Otherwise I'm much more educated on topics I didn't know much about, such as evolution.
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  70

  how do most of you now feel about the military?

  by sowhatnow in

  1. social
  2. family

  was not sure where to post this, but i was curious, how do some of you now feel about the military?

  would any of you let your children enlist, or would you yourselves join any military field?

  how do you feel about the idea of women in the military?

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  DJS

  New boy,

  Now that's more like it. Few would disagree with you that the US and other nations too often rush to war. Few would disagree with you that the US at times acts as though the only foreign policy tool they have is a hammer and every issue looks like a nail. Few would disagree that sometimes the US has acted in a despicable manner when it comes to how war has been waged. No one would disagree that we are a violent, pathetic species.

  That's probably for another OP. The millions of individuals serving in our militaries typically have nothing to do with policy making or how or whether wars are fought. They do so honorably to serve and protect.

  When I was a dub this issue was so very black and white. Then I learned the world is full of grey. If the US military went away tomorrow it wouldn't make war go away, nor would it make horrific acts of violence committed in war go away, or even lessen. The US military really does take extraordinary measures to avoid harming innocents, even though they haven't always and they don't always now. That's life and war.

  The US and other Western militaries, like it or not, serve a purpose in this phase of our evolutionary history. Without it and its deterrent effect and hammer, there are a lot of scenarios we could dream up about what life would look like in 2016. And I can't think of any good ones.
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  36

  A JW experience

  by Saintbertholdt in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  this is a quick experience i have recently had and i have two questions at the end.. a couple of weeks ago, the dogs were barking at the gate on saturday morning and wouldn't you know it, it was some witnesses.

  there was a father with his lovely wife and their young daughter.

  the father did all the talking as mother and daughter just dutifully smiled and watched.

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  DJS

  Saint,

  Some possible reasons for his lack of engagement:

  1. This particular publisher wasn't prepared academically to engage you but isn't typical of publishers

  2. This particular publisher was prepared but not emotionally ready to engage on this specific day

  3.This particular publisher was prepared academically but dis-engaged on a permanent basis (loss of commitment) from trying to engage others who present an objection

  4. This particular publisher is representative of the typical publisher in their lack of ability/preparation to engage academically in theistic discussions or when objections are presented

  5. This particular publisher is representative of the typical publisher in their lack of commitment to engage anyone at any time once an objection is made

  6. This particular publisher is representative of the typical publisher in both their lack of ability/preparation and commitment to engage once an objection is made.

  Class?
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  70

  how do most of you now feel about the military?

  by sowhatnow in

  1. social
  2. family

  was not sure where to post this, but i was curious, how do some of you now feel about the military?

  would any of you let your children enlist, or would you yourselves join any military field?

  how do you feel about the idea of women in the military?

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  DJS

  New Boy's rant is so lacking in maturity and rational thought that it makes it difficult to believe he is even serious. "We" got free of religion? The world is becoming less religious by the minute, and the world in the future will likely be largely free of religion and/or existing religions will have evolved to be what they should be - support structures for people. We have presented multitudes of data suggesting this.

  The world is in a major paradigm shift already in that regard, and the less religious an individual, state, nation or region are, the more likely they are to be functional. There is nothing religion provides that this planet requires that can't be provided by a government, a group or the individual.

  The absence of government, OTOH, suggests either Anarchy or Self Rule. I'm assuming that New Boy isn't considering anarchy, and we have some very good data as to how "self rule', which existed for about 85,000 of our 100,000 years, would work out. Evolutionary biologists suggest that period was much more violent than now when we have nation/states ruled by governments. Your chances of dying a violent death were many times more likely when we had self rule.

  So unless New Boy can present something rational supported by something close to evidence as to how this brave new world free of government would work, he has reached the point where he should be ignored.
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  70

  how do most of you now feel about the military?

  by sowhatnow in

  1. social
  2. family

  was not sure where to post this, but i was curious, how do some of you now feel about the military?

  would any of you let your children enlist, or would you yourselves join any military field?

  how do you feel about the idea of women in the military?

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  DJS

  Apparently New Boy is capable of only making sense when he is talking about his favorite subject and the only thing he seems to know anything about.

  Himself.