Was There Any 1 Thread or Post or Subject That REALLY Got You Thinking???

by minimus 35 Replies latest jw friends

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  minimus

  The Bonny threads.
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  minimus

  UNDERCOVER, notice this question, Can I give you a group hug??
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  stillajwexelder

  mass debates are good
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  undercover

  Can I give you a group hug??

  Now, don't go and start hijacking threads in a perverse manner now...you don't wanna get us banned, do you?
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  hillary_step

  Minimus,

  For some, it depends upon timing. Some people can accept the in your face approach better than others. Most JWs are babies, to begin with. They are often emotionally stunted and cannot accept any type of criticism. That's why group hugs are so popular. To be fair, what's so good about this place is the balance. Otherwise, my bet is that JWD would never have been as successful as it is now. H2O was a great thinking man's site but has pretty much dead for years. And it's not because the posters weren't sharp. It just didn't have a balance that allowed others to feel a comfort level unless they solely wanted to debate. Not all are debaters. Some are lovers.

  I can understand what you are saying, but there is a temptation if you take this attitude to paint a scenario that leads to our own particular cognitive dissonance where we hold that wo types of persons are both right and wrong.

  The reality is that an international discussion board, with hundreds of different personalities, some newly exited from the WTS, some old hacks, some undergoing therapy, some therapists, some clued in, some as dense as boxwood, will never please anybody or everybody. It is the people who try to make a board what it is not and cannot be, that actually cause the most trouble though they will never see it. They tend to want to imbue a 'personality' to the board, in concert with a memory perhaps of a 'spirit' in a congregation. This cannot happen. Discussion Boards do not have personalities. Their currency is words and words cannot do you any harm or ineed any good, unless YOU the reader give them power to do this.

  For example, I recall having a debate with another poster a few years ago in which he used AlanF as an example of how not to post, because his posting style might offend newly emerging JW's. A poster, one of our best TMS wrote these words in a thread on the subject:

  For over four decades I was in the business of influencing beliefs by my words and attempting to "adorn" those words by impeccable conduct. Although basically the same person, I am now out of that business.

  I could put it no better myself.

  HS
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  minimus

  Hillary, I like what you say about the READER making the difference in the board. That's very true. But if most comments tend to be bombastic and overpowering, ESPECIALLY to a newbie, more often a present JW, will run to the hills----logic or no logic.

  Regarding AlanF, I've heard from some of his more intimate associates that he was as bright as they come but couldn't tie his shoes without help. His brilliance might've been irrefutable but his delivery was not always accepted. Ask Simon.
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  jamiebowers

  By the time I found JWD, I'd already been df'd for 18 years for divorcing an abusive jw husband without grounds of adultery. And I'd already discovered silentlambs.org where many women have described the same situation, so I already knew that the WTB&TS was not right. What convinced me that it was a cult was hearing that Mouthy was df'd for simply saying she didn't believe in their 1914 doctrine.
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  minimus

  MOUTHY has helped many many people.
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  hillary_step

  Minimus,

  Regarding AlanF, I've heard from some of his more intimate associates that he was as bright as they come but couldn't tie his shoes without help. His brilliance might've been irrefutable but his delivery was not always accepted.

  DM is talking crap.

  Alan is as clued in about everyday life as he is about the subjects that he discusses on discussion boards. He has a scientific mind, not a creative one, and I am sure that he would be the first to admit that but as a friend who knows him, I find that description of him insulting as well as innacurate.

  The point about 'delivery' is still being missed. To a person who is ignorant of his subject yet pontificating about it at great length (the board has its fair share of these) and is taken to task, ANYTHING said to them in the way of criticism would not be palatable. You can describe someone a 'bastard' or suggest that their parents marry, the end product is the same. You bastard.

  As you have noted, the most worthy posters on this Board have been those who have a blunt, but consistent manner.

  HS
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  minimus

  Hillary, I certainly didn't mean to hit a nerve. I'm sure you can tie your shoes without any help. Personally, I try to wear loafers.