Should our posts keep visiting Jehovah's Witnesses from being upset?

by hamsterbait 17 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  hamsterbait

  On another thread, I just said that I refuse to pander to the cult sensibilities of visiting JWs by wording my posts in a way that will not offend them.

  I am convinced that any dyed in the wool JW, will be offended by ANY of the "apostate" content of this board, no matter how witness friendly the words and phrases actually used.

  Even now, I can see a JW being offended by the word "cult".

  They are also no doubt offended by the suggestion that they have "sensibilities" rather than TRUE beliefs that should be respected.

  They are offended that I disagree with them and see the need to start a thread like this.

  If it scares away a Reniaa, it will save us endless wasted hours dealing with hijacked and derailed threads.

  And, actually if a JW is offended by my way of dealing with the damage, it is a pity they can't respect my own feelings.

  I am not in the business of saving people from themselves. Those who leave the WT organisation do so because they are ready to and are sick of it.

  HB
• 

  leavingwt

  We often overstate our ability to affect any change on the situation of 99.9% of JWs.

  Let's relax.

  Only when an individual WANTS to exit, will it happen. Sensational, unfounded and untrue claims won't prevent them from leaving, once they're ready.
• 

  aSphereisnotaCircle

  I think it depends on why you are here.

  If you post here to help other people, then yes, I think we should be careful how we word things, and be incredibly patient.

  However if your here for recovery, then I think it is very important that we be able to freely express ourselves, even to the point of going on a rant.

  I think the recovery comes first and the helping others comes second.
• 

  AllTimeJeff

  At best, internet boards like this are a resource. They aren't the first cause why a person leaves. The first cause is the permission a JW gives themselves to think for themself and determine to consider other viewpoints besides the GB.

  Every JWN poster is an individual, and if you think about it, it is individuality that is most offensive to a trained and indoctrinated JW. The underlying message from the GB to those who leave is "You prideful son of Satan, how dare you leave US!"

  So whether you try to be nice, or as straightforward to the point of rudeness, it won't matter, to an indoctrinated JW, the point is that you dare left in the first place and spoke your mind, whatever happens to be on your mind.

  Real life ain't pretty, and people are people with their own opinions. This board reflects that. We overrate the board if we think some kind of united effort here will actually help JW's to wake up.

  Remember, as a JW, you were trained and told how to respond, how to think. Until someone of their own volition allows for the possibility that they can consider the words of other former JW's it doesn't matter what is said. So if you think anger will attract a proportianate amount of JW's, I would disagree. I also think a fair amount of empathy is in order. We were once them, and for a while at least, we believed a lie. So are many who are still in.
• 

  flipper

  I think for the most part from what I've noticed most newbies joining this board are inactive witnesses who have stopped attending , or even still attending witnesses who don't believe in the JW mindspeak in the first place. Otherwise - they wouldn't be joining an EX-JW board. So I feel most people coming on here are ready to be informed about the scams of the WT society.

  I've noticed that in the rare instance WHEN a believing JW comes on this board- it's usually by mistake. You can tell by the way they come across so innocent and asking about what kind of board this is. So I will word my threads in ways that someone already doubting will probably lean towards the anti-WT society views I'm instigating. So- I just don't worry about it
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  cantleave

  When I first joined this board I was offended by some of the posts but that did not stop me from reading and learning. I don't think we gain anything by pussy-footing around. Saying that I don't think we need be deliberately offensive to make a point. The guidlines below are good enough for me to ascertain what tone I can use.
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  leec

  Isn't any JW comitting a bad association thing by reading anything more on this site than whatever it takes to realize this isn't a pro-JW site?
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  WuzLovesDubs

  If there is one thing I am CERTAIN of its that the JWs do NOT pussy foot around US while on this WWW! Im sure all of you have SEEN maybe POSTED TO or been DELETED FROM the JW only web sites. Now I ask you....why in the world do you want to cow tow to such a hateful disingenuous self serving bunch of people? Sure there are "nice" JWs...but they dont post much from what I have seen. I see ZERO reason to sugar coat what I have to say here or anywhere else on this box. My feelings are MY feelings and most of them were caused by the Watchtower's Societys interbred minions making my life miserable...STILL making my life miserable.

  If someone "stumbles" into this site, which I dont buy for a nanosecond, asking if it is a "safe site for JWs" then they havent read a single post in here and will soon go in search of, and nest in, one of the thousands of bile filled worldly/apostate hating JW sites where they can and do spew their venom about US.

  Yeah...makes you wanna RUN back to the Kingdom Hall to be a part of that again dont it??
• 

  leavingwt

  What Flipper said.
• 

  WTWizard

  There is no point in going out of one's way to avoid offending the witlesses. In reality, once people have to worry about offending anyone, freedom of speech is about to go totally out the window. I prefer treating people as individuals, instead of having to show reverence for their groups they may happen to belong to. As for the religion itself, they go out of their way to treat people like crap, so the leaders deserve to be called cockroaches and witlesses (as does anyone that is in it for the power and control, or as a blind for molesting children).

  To answer the question about the witlesses offending us, I have heard from the platform apostates being called agents of the Devil. This is not meant to flatter--it is meant as the strongest insult possible. We are accused of slander, twisting the Bible around, and misleading people away from life. Worldly people are called swine, dogs, and other unsavory names. I heard, right from the platform during a public talk, worldly people being compared to urine. Another talk compared worldly people to poison--mixing a little water with poison doesn't make it clean, but a little poison contaminates the water. This is certainly done in an attempt to insult worldly people, and to make the witlesses afraid of them.

  I have heard bad names for worldly religions and institutions, too. I have heard "There sure are going to be a lot of dead Catholics at Armageddon", as well as calling them "cat licks". The Filthful and Disgraceful Slavebugger also has the nerve to call other religions whores and harlots, right in the Revelation book. Regular work is "Egypt". Again, this is in disrespectful reference to Pharaoh and his treatment of the Israelites. They are also disrespectful of worldly holidays and birthdays, the TV (I heard "time vacuum" mentioned numerous time from the platform), and just about everything else associated with the world.

  Therefore, since the witlesses are intentionally disrespectful of the world, I see no reason not to use terminology that might offend them. Besides, it is not the terminology that offends them the most. It is the doctrine, and if we were to avoid offending them, we would have to all abandon this forum forever, go back to the Kingdumb Hell, waste our time in field circus, and only do whatever the Filthful and Disgraceful Slavebugger tells us. Otherwise, we are going to offend the witlesses. Oh yes, and donate all your money to the Worldwide Pedophile Defense Fund--any money you don't use for that purpose offends them, too.