kgfreeperson

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Posts by kgfreeperson

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  5

  Advice

  by kgfreeperson in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i work at a college and just got as a new advisee a young jw woman.

  she came to freshmen registration by herself which surprised me because in her application letter she said throughout her school years her mother impressed on her and her sibs how important education is and that they would be the first in the family to go to college and they would go to college.

  also, she said that her father was self-employed in construction but that her mother was not employed (so free to accompany daughter to this very exciting day, no?

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  kgfreeperson

  I work at a college and just got as a new advisee a young JW woman. She came to freshmen registration by herself which surprised me because in her application letter she said throughout her school years her mother impressed on her and her sibs how important education is and that they would be the first in the family to go to college and they would go to college. Also, she said that her father was self-employed in construction but that her mother was not employed (so free to accompany daughter to this very exciting day, no?) She didn't mention that she was a JW in her letter, but the person who wrote her recommendation letter did. And said something like "she doesn't push but is happy to talk about her religion."
  
  At any rate, she came in a t-shirt and shorts. Not provocative, just ordinary teenager. She certainly was at ease talking to me. Some of her choices surprised me (jazz dance, selling sex in America) so I got a little naughty and suggested Yoga (to go with the dance)--that she wasn't having any of! But she didn't say no, she just kept staring at the book and suggested something else.
  
  I encouraged her to stay with liberal arts courses at first as she would have plenty of time for her major (business) and she happily agreed.
  
  I will probably remain her advisor. Any advice from you for how I might be most useful to her?
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  17

  The more the Governing Body warnsabout the dangers of the Internet the wors

  by frankiespeakin in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the more the governing body warns about the dangers of the internet the worse it gets.

  i think they are going to keep going in the direction of more and more warnings until everybody in jwsville sees the light.

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  kgfreeperson

  This morning, while I was working in my garden, and thinking about the plants I had to protect from the proliferation of other plants, I thought "how can anyone who gardens not understand the ideas of selection and adaptation--cornerstones of evolutionary theory?"
  
  Do you suppose we have cut ourselves off so completely from reality that we actually think we can impose our theories on nature rather than vice versa? That we can make a myth true by the strength of our belief?
  
  If so, the internet, the mother of all mediators, is probably not our savior. As we get more and more able to talk only to people who agree with us, we see everyone else as "the other" and basically either wrong or insignificant.
  
  At any rate, I am constantly amazed at the ability of human beings to delude themselves and to participate in their own oppression.
  
  Did anyone hear Fresh Air Wednesday? http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=13&prgDate=05-18-2005&view=storyview
  
  Chilling. I wish I were more hopeful.
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  29

  Just got my MFA

  by under74 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  yeah....reality still hasn't set in yet but i'm done with grad school.

  finished my thesis and my mfa show on thursday.

  still tired.

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  kgfreeperson

  Congratulations! Make use of your school's career services!
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  11

  Commencement Exercises ??

  by IT Support in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  we received the following card in the mail today from a young us friend:

  the senior class of xx high school announces the commencement exercise <at time> <at place>... .

  she also enclosed in the envelope a couple of pretty photos of herself.

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  kgfreeperson

  It not only makes sense, but you go girl!
  
  The idea of "commencement" exercises is that this is the beginning of something, rather than the end (today is the first day of the rest of your life, kind of thing.) The older I get the more I appreciate the significance and importance of rituals marking milestones.
  
  Fie on JWs prohibitions! (Although I know this must be congregation by congregation as I think attendance at commencement and graduation parties and gifts are common among JWs in this area.)
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  15

  Interesting Talk by the CO today

  by bronzefist in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  thought i would share some notes i took from a talk the co gave at the hall i attended today for the last time.

  the talk was entitled ?act wisely in a senseless world.. .

  the gist of the talk was that we are being conned by everyone in this system of things.. no mention of anyone in the organization doing this.. ?are we willing victims??.

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  kgfreeperson

  I was fascinated to hear that a friend's belief that he would never have to deal with getting old was due to his immature thinking. When I protested that he could hardly fault himself for believing what he had been brought up being taught day in and day out, he demurred. It was his immature thinking. Yes, he's still active. At 60.
  
  So at least some of them buy it--accepting responsibility for whatever happens; never blaming the Watchtower.
  
  Blech.
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  98

  "I prayed for you"

  by Scully in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  if you aren't a "believer", does it bother you when someone says "i'll pray for you" or "i prayed for you"?.

  one of my colleagues is an incredibly kind and sweet person, and i know she says it because she believes she's doing something good on my behalf.

  i always say "thank you for thinking of me", because i know that's the spirit she's intending to convey and that she cares about the situation i'm in vis-a-vis my jw relatives, but she knows i no longer believe in god (at least not in the sense that she does) - i wonder does she think that a few prayers are going to change my mind?

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  kgfreeperson

  I'm more bothered when I'm asked for prayers (i.e., please keep me in your prayers). I get more touchy when wished a "blessed day" or when people assume I am impressed by their public piety (actually, I am impressed, just not favorably.)
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  22

  How can I prove to my wife the WT false prophecy quotes are real?

  by The Leological One in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  .

  my wife's just started reading through a list of false prophecies, and i'm wondering how i can prove these quotes are real and not just put up by people who hate the wt?

  the ones dealing with 1925~!

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  kgfreeperson

  If you are talking to someone who is everything she can to hang on to her beliefs, then nothing is going to help.
  
  The last time I talked to my JW friend, he said something about not expecting to live this long and I stupidly asked why (actually I'd just been talking to a couple of other friends who said the same thing which was shy I didn't immediately connect.) He said "my early religious training." I blinked and said "of course, how insensitive of me." And then he said it was a result of his "immature thinking." In my usual tactful way I said "how can you say that--it is an explicit teaching even now!" And that, of course, ended the conversation.
  
  I don't understand the appeal of this particular cult to this particular person, but I am finally accepting that what I understand doesn't matter at all.
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  144

  An Elder Told Me.... Many To Be Disfellowshipped Soon...

  by Doubtfully Yours in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  an elder told me the book is jehovah's latest provision to cleanse his organization.. he said soon all people that have drifted, inactives, and others baptized and not complying with the biblical mandates for a jw, will be visited and given an option to shape up or ship out.. he said that if the person refuses the help offered by the congregation they'll be notified of the date of disfellowshipping and given time to appeal the decision.. he was so happy stating that this way jehovah's organization was preparing for the final clean-up before armageddon.

  he sounded so convincing that it almost made perfect sense what he was saying.

  i got goose bumps listening to his reasoning.. dy

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  kgfreeperson

  Ténébreux!!!!
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  11

  Servant versus Overseer

  by larc in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  way back when, they used they used the term of servant.

  in the late 60's or early 70's, they changed it to overseer.

  now let us look at these two words.

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  kgfreeperson

  I was surprised when I first learned of the use of the term overseer--to me the connotation is plantation or prison work gang. And, as you have noted, the connotation seems to be apt in the JW instance.
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  70

  My Book of Bible Stories

  by Taylor S. in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i just got my hands on a copy of my book of bible stories ... (1978).

  at first i was excited when a friend pulled it out of his bag, said he'd gotten it as a kid.

  then i started flipping through, looking at the pictures, feeling the memories spin in my brain.

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  kgfreeperson

  "prayer"
  "field service records"
  "an elder"
  "commenting at meetings"
  "informal witnessting"
  "new order family"
  "heartfelt prayer"
  
  are Bible stories?
  
  This is truly a hoot. Thank you valis!