doojable

The farmers in New Knoxville say that those sheep are damm liars! ;)

Maybe this is like seeing the validity of Kindergarten when you're 5 or 6 and how inappropriate it is for a 19 year old. Maybe instead of looking at religious experiences as being "in for life," we should look at them as "in for a season." Am I understanding you, SirG?

They got sheep. I'd be wary of anthrax... Seriously, I wish I didn't see "high school diploma" among the minimum requirements. To take put off going to college (even for one year) is a pattern too many of us know all to well. A summer program seems a better choice. Okay, I know, a better choice would be to go to college, get a job, make some money, buy a new truck, buy your own dang farm. Then you could choose your zone and the comfort level.

At least the sheep don't look nervous.

"Students of the Word Equipped and Running to Serve" But it's the caption under a beat up old rusted truck. :blink: <_< The dang truck isn't even running!

The Calvin and Hobbes Snow Gallery :biglaugh: This one ought to be sent to New Knoxville:

I wonder what his snowplow looked like...

I'm gonna throw out a softball here... "Strut on a line it's discord and rhyme "

I'll just drop this.... Back to the subject of the thread... Was TWI no worse that other religions?

I wish I coulda' seen it in the original... was it real..... so-so?

You turned my little snowstorm into a "whiteout"

And the storm the other day?..... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Does anyone have photos?

Rascal... I have never said that we should be quiet. Never have I implied that a story be changed to make it more palatable. I guess my understanding of what SirG was saying (and I'm proposing as well) is to wait a bit longer before responding to a button being pushed. Perhaps respond differently each time. It just seems that it's too easy for the same arguments to stop at the same... exact... tiresome... place... over and over and over and over and over again. That brass ring doesn't look so nice on the 5,000th turn around the carousel. Debates like that leave both parties exhausted and in a pile of sweat and food, each side wondering what if anything was accomplished. If this were a physical cafe and the same people came in everyday for several years - one thing is certain - something would have changed by now whether it is the style of debate or the depth of the debate. I think that avoiding the knee jerk reactions would allow for more truth to be presented because the bait for derail wouldn't be taken. If the point is to tell "the other side of the story" then get on with the telling and leave the bickering on the side of the road. The derails only can happen if the derail tracks are followed.

I *think* I understand what you're saying SirG. We've all seen how threads dealing with difficult subjects go. A topic gets started, bantered about a bit, and then Party A decides it doesn't like where it's going. *Press* there goes a button. Party B responds to the button being pushed (Danger! Danger! Evacuate the area until Party A has been dealt with.) *Press* there goes another button. Now Party A is ticked and retorts back. Button pushing, arms-a-flailing, before you know it a food fight has ensued and no one remembers the original topic. "Lack of Information" served ala "Sloppy Joe" - at it's finest. Sure there's information to be found, but it has to be picked out of hair and clothing and off the walls and reassembled before it's even recognizable, much less palatable. Perhaps (BIG perhaps here) SirG is suggesting PAUSING before pressing the button. Let the emotions and knee jerk reactions simmer just a bit instead of turning the heat up to bring a full boil. Maybe it's like taking the ball out of the pinball machine and letting it roll about freely instead of always relying on the same old bumpers and flippers to get it to it's destination. Though, knowing SirG as I've come to know him (not much, admittedly) he might suggest a brand new destination in yet another game. So to go back to the original topic.... I think that these questions... these "I" questions beg to be answered on a person-by-person basis. Not everyone fits this scenario so there are no one-size-fits-all answers. Plenty of room to speculate and toss around personal stories and find answers in the commonness of experience, but no one answer will do. I think that twi was religion - on steroids. The good, bad, and weird were all hyped up. It makes sense in a way that so much emotion runs around these boards. To minimalize any experience is not right, in my book anyway. The truth is that even if every other religion out there is abusive and wrong, it doesn't make any of the abuse any less abusive. It only makes it more common. One could argue that it makes it even MORE wrong because it's become accepted as a norm. That's like the abusive husband pointing to his wife after hitting her and saying, "Hey, be thankful I didn't do like JimBob down the street did to his wife. He cut her into little pieces after he hit her." The deeper reason.... that will be personal as well, since not everyone stayed. Not everyone saw the same level of abuse and manipulation. There are other religious groups that show abusive, manipulative behavior. Fortunately, most of us have not experienced those religious experiences. What makes one person stay and hope that things will get better? Is it hope that it's not really happening? Not really going to last? Is it denial that something is wrong to begin with? Does manipulation grow more quickly when there are ideals and dreams attached to the one doing the manipulating and abusing? I know. I've just thrown in more questions than answers, but lately I've found that the best way to get an answer is to ask the right questions. Sorry for the derail if I've done so...

I wonder if that was really a call to keep the "family lockbox" tightly sealed. Kids don't get to pick their parents but they do have to deal their actions. I wish only good for these kids.

SWAG here...... "Roger Rabbit"?

Jeff Buckley - "Hallelujah"HereAnother version by several artists:

BINGO! You can't sell what's holy... but you can sell information. Unfortunately it's not the information that makes the difference - it's the person seeking and the reason he or she goes on the quest. Perhaps this is another circle of life...or a merry-go-round... in any case, when they're dizzy enough they'll decide to get off and throw up.

Thanks, Skyrider.

Yes, this is a bit off topic... but... I believe that Mrs.W was closer to being a true minister and vp used her to validate his actions. I also believe that it is entirely possible that her presence in India made it easier for him to appear legitimate. I have no proof (there, I said it WD) but my gut reaction is that vp was a rogue from the start. He may have truly searched for a way to be a good minister, but in the end he let his "first self" prevail. Question - I'm confused about the snow on the gaspumps. Was that a separate incident from the Tulsa snowstorm? (I never paid much attention to either story.)

Too close to home...thanks

Sara Bareilles - "Fairy Tale"

Not really... I had that show in mind for a while.

"Well what do you know... It fits!"