Eutapro,
For goodness sake. (Yes not a critical thinking statement but I had to say it) I am with you dude. And the fact that you make these statements and then are called a troll simply demonstrate that you can take the apostate out of the JWs but you cant take the JWs out of the apostate.
I have stated before that some people just ARE Jehovahs Witnesses. It is not something they do, it is something they are. They continue to be in the thinking mold of the witnesses long after they leave. Or perhaps it is more accurate to say that many people simply do not have incredibly well developed critical thinking skills. I will state I think that applies to the sctientific community as well.
Each group, Jehovah's Witnesses, Ex Jehovahs Witnesses, Scientists, Christians, Atheists, and so on, have the same pattern. While it is true that some groups and some individuals within those groups have more freedom, or more open mindedness, or more facts to support their claims, all of these still eventually react the same. That which supports their agenda, or belief, or need is accepted. That which does not is often reject. The standard is not the same then. Usually that which is evidence contrary to the belief, is held to a stricter set of standards than that agrees with the belief.
You are called a troll. I see that term fly around here so often. Troll is the Online-Ex-Witness version of the Witness term "Worldly." That term has other variations depending on the group you are a part of, Nazi, Feminazi, Samaritan, Pharisee, are some examples. All of these are a variety of ad hominem, which evoke a feeling in the reader. Thus, if the writer can evoke that feeling, apply it to the person he is disagreeing with, readers will then dismiss the person in question, rather than examine their arguements.
Not only is troll often used, but so to is the method of accusing one person of being another. You have a certain pattern of speech, you say certain words use certain phrases. So does another. You must therefore be that person. Well you may be I do not know. I do not care. I will evaluate your statements on their own basis.
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Ok so you do have a point. You came here expecting mostly witnesses or at least a mixture and it is all ex witnesses. Perhaps it would have been more 'honest' to call it exjw.com. However, another thing to think about is that there are many here that are witnesses. Does being one of Jehovah's Witnesses require that you accept all of their teachings and claims? The Watchtowr says it does. But most witnesses do not think so. Most witnesses will disagree with this or that, and demonstrate it by their actions. So too a catholic might believe in birth control. Just because the leaders say you have to not believe in it in order to be catholic, does not make the person not catholic.
So there are many witnesses that come here and do so secretely. Some of the things they agree with, many or most they do not. There is a lot of dissention within their organization right now. More and more of them are getting fed up with the ever tightening grip of the leadership arrangement. But they still believe the core doctrines, no trinity, no hell fire, no immortal soul, etc. Also a great many lurk and never post. I have received emails from such persons. Hey its their bag I dont mind.
Of course if a witness were running a forum, in most cases, not all, you could expect him to prevent exes from posting. And perhaps even remove posts from the forum that are by actives and yet are dissenting. In addition to this the reality is that there are ways of tracking people online. Should a witness post, they may fear being discovered and excommunicated. Shunned.
The long and the short of that is that theonly reason the JWs are not posting, is by their own choice. There are many of them in the United States and Ive seen and chatted with plenty of them on yahoo. But they wont come to this forum in most cases when I invite them. I cuss, very vehemently. I talk about the org. I talk about child molestation. I call the org a devil possessed institution. I am brutal over there. I have been far more gentle coming here because many of the folks here simply do not have the strength to bear me. Yet the witnesses there talk to me. Despite my antics. And though I am probably the worst thing they can run across from the perspective of a witness, they talk to be yet refuse to come to these forums. Why? I dont ask. I dont make them do anything. I am, while vile, laid back. I dont tell them to leave and I dont chide them for their belief. Perhaps that is why.
But as to the possible dishonesty in the name of this site. I am glad for it. I do not think I am required to speak truth at every moment. The emotional damage that is caused by high control groups like the witnesses is intense for many of their followers. If a little domain name lie as is 'told' here, or on http://quotes.jehovahswitnesses.com/ does for others what it did for me, opens their eyes, then I wont complain too much.
As to the comments made about you I would simply ignore them. I usually do about myself.
Except I would like to point out a couple of things. Ignorance is what everyone has. It simply means lack of knowledge. Someone may be an intellectual, or run in those circles, and not know everything about JWs. If they did know, we would not have to warn them would we?
Second, I think I stated most of it at the beginning of my post. Is there a need to be crying troll troll troll at every turn? Why not just respond to the questions, answer them, and move on. Or why not instead just admit there is a little JW hypocrisy in us all and we all like name calling. Then lets go over to the Adults and Disagreement forum, and hurl ad hominems at each other. Insulting folks is a particularly Irish skill, and if it is done well, earns the insulter great respect. But in Irish you could not insult someone by calling them a troll, or jerk, or moron, or any of the various curse words that can fill in because such words just dont exist in that form. Now you have to say something interesting to insult them.
Hope to see you post in the future Eutapro, even if you are someone else. Or not:)
