Posts by kgfreeperson

14

Sunday Program - My input

by Flindersgirl in

hey all!

i have about 9 million emails and phone messages today..so that's interesting.

aside from having the intial reaction of how horrible i look on telly (which i always have) and my partner swatting me for saying it i was amused to see they only used one quote from what was a long interview.

kgfreeperson

Wow.

11

Turning in time reports monthly-

by JohnHag in

jw
friends

if a jw has to turn in a time report each month then it seems like compulsion--when is it out of love that one goes out into service?

kgfreeperson

I think the single most important change in the WBTS teaching would be that since "you shall know them by the love they show each other" helping each other now counts as field service. THE most damaging thing about the cult, from my point of view, is that it enforces isolation not only from the "world" but from others in the congregation. If the WBTS encouraged you, as JWs to spend Saturday mornings helping each other build better lives (help with house projects, jointly doing things with children, planting community gardens to support better diets, etc.) how many of you would have left despite the crazy doctrine? I'd bet if JWs were encouraged to aim for 14 hours a month taking care of each other, a hour a month going door to door might actually get them some converts!

4

I would like to share my latest poem

by Blue in

i haven't posted for a long time.

i hope you all don't mind if i post my latest poem!.

by the fire of god?.

kgfreeperson

amen

3

Space Junk causes unheard prayers

by Nosferatu in

jw
friends

i couldn't help but laugh when i read this!.

http://www.abarnett.demon.co.uk/atheism/space_junk.html.

report : space debris disrupting global prayer services.. theists from all religions are having increasing difficulty making their prayers heard, churches report.

kgfreeperson

That is wonderful! Thank you!

5

Advice

by kgfreeperson in

jw
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?

kgfreeperson

Thanks! Definitely philosophy courses (there is a "critical thinking" requirement and I'll try to steer her away from things like systems analysis and into intro to philosophy. I wish we had a biblical history course--though it would probably take me years to entice her into that!

5

Advice

by kgfreeperson in

jw
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?

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?

17

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

by frankiespeakin in

jw
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.

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.

29

Just got my MFA

by under74 in

jw
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.

kgfreeperson

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

11

Commencement Exercises ??

by IT Support in

jw
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.

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.)

15

Interesting Talk by the CO today

by bronzefist in

jw
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??.

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.