cofty - 'As somebody who was never a JW you should not do it IMO.' Well now that I understand the sensitivities involved I will be more careful in future (and I would never use it as a cheap shot in any case) but seeing as I live with a JW and observe JW thinking and behaviour on a daily basis, I think I am qualified to make judgements about whether someone is exhibiting JW style behaviour or thinking and in some respects having not ever been a JW I am a bit more objective in my observations. Your comment also implies that on JWN there are two classes of people - ex-JWs and others and that the others have less legitimacy in expressing opinions because they have not experienced life as a JW. I am not sure I am comfortable with that. Cheers Fraz
Accusing Ex-JWs of Behaving Like JWs Should be Taboo
by cofty 447 Replies latest members private
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nonjwspouse
I agree with fraz ( suprised?) . I disagree with personal attacks, but agree a non JW with up close and personal experience with a JW can make a personal observation.
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cofty
a non JW with up close and personal experience with a JW can make a personal observation
Of course they can. I never said otherwise. I think I made my point clear in my OP
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Phizzy
You did Cofty, "...... to use it as a cheap shot......" says what you mean about the accusation. As you also observe in your O.P. somethimes it is a statement of fact.
Black and White thinking, being judgemental without justification, or perhaps hanging on to WT/JW exegesis/eisegesis in some way. There are many instances where a few posters do behave like JW's.
Just look at the number of times they have resorted to the Ad Hominem attack when their beliefs are held up to scrutiny, that is a very JW-like thing to do.
I think for a while some of us too have erred on going too far the other way after we first learn of TTATT. We become perhaps Born-again Atheists and are prepared to give too much intellectual leeway to those who oppose the WT's views simply because they are opposers.
The mature thing to do is identify the error in the views and arguments we disagree with and then cogently and clearly explain those errors, "cheap shots" achieve nothing.
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villagegirl
Obliette- "half a decade" ? You mean five years ago you were following the secret elders handbook and sitting in on judicial committee meetings, that protected pedophiles from prosceution by the police ? Really ?
Maybe being a pseudo "scientist" is really another form of being a JW elder?
Pseudo "scientists" can bully believers and think of themselves as "higher"
and "more knowlegable" than people who do not belong to their club,
even mocking actual real scientific geniuses who are believers,
because all the atheists here claim they "know it all" and can
"prove they have the truth" - Oh wait a minute - isn't that another
form of being a Jehovah's Witness ? YES IT IS
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Oubliette
Villagegirl: Obliette [sic] - "half a decade" ? You mean five years ago you were following the secret elders handbook and sitting in on judicial committee meetings, that protected pedophiles from prosceution by the police ?
Yes, sadly it's true, except for the last part.
That is one area where my conscience is clear. We never had a case involving pedophiles in the congregation where I served as an elder. It's hard to say what I would have done if we had. I'd like to think I'd have done the right thing and contacted the authorities. I actually did once involving a case that was NOT related to the congregation, but it's hard to know if it would have been a congregational matter because I was a kool-aid drinking elder for over two decades.
On the other hand, this was one of the many cognitive dissonance inducing issues that led me to begin questioning the legitimacy of the WTBTS and to eventually leave the religion.
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Regarding the rest of your post. I am sure if you're directing that at me or not.
I am not a "pseudo-scientist." I am a science teacher.
I don't believe I've bullied anyone for being a "believer." If you can point out an instance where you think I have, then by all means, show it to me.
I most certainly have never mocked any "actual real scientific geniuses who are believers."
If you think I am an atheist, then you are wrong.
I certainly do NOT claim to "know it all."
Could you PLEASE discuss/argue/debate the point and refrain from personal attacks?
Thank you,
Oubliette
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cofty
Could you PLEASE discuss/argue/debate the point and refrain from personal attacks?
Wow that's a lot to ask Oubliette.
Anybody who dares to use facts to challenge superstitons is fair game for all sorts of personal attacks by VG
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Oubliette
Cofty: Wow that's a lot to ask Oubliette.
I know. I'm greedy that way!
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villagegirl
Cofty - Really ? LOL Perhaps you should review your own posts.
JW's all believe they have the facts. And their knowledge is the "truth"
No similarity there.
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cofty
VG - JWs just like all theists imagine that faith is a valid basis for assertions about reality.
Those of us who learned to give up our most treasured delusions and adopt an evidence-based worldview have good reason for a degree of confidence.
Being a rational, skeptical humanist is not at all like being a JW.