Are we losing our way a bit at JWN?

by nicolaou 80 Replies latest forum suggestions

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  Simon

  Plus this forum seems to have drifted to the right, collectively and as individuals. Maybe that’s just because people have got older

  Hey, why did you look at me when you posted that? :D

  I think some of it is a response to events happening in society. Right now I see the erosion of personal freedoms and undermining of law & due process and politicizing of institutions as a bigger threat than anything the current President is doing (he's simply not the bogey-man many make out) so I am more vocal about those things because of those threats. If he was promoting some unnecessary war on false pretences then I'd be objecting to that and him instead.

  Whereas the young ones who leave JWs these days, some of them seem to just walk off without much fuss. No angst about doctrines such as mediator or 1914 or all that. It probably seems quite archane to most young people these days, inside or outside JWs.

  That's just because kids these days have it easy now - things were tougher back in our day and the ministry work was uphill in both directions.
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  Finkelstein

  I think the forum has evolved into a complacent lack of respectfulness from one forum member to another and has turned into a forum populated by hate, angst and vindictiveness .

  I've been here for along time and I've seen the change ....... worrying
  
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  Jehalapeno

  This forum has always fluctuated politically over the years.

  Theres a reason there’s an actual politics category on here. That category has existed for at least as long as I’ve lurked on this forum. (Over 5 years.) Edit: the earliest post in the politics section is 16 years old!

  I think it seems different to you perhaps because instead of people discussing things rationally, one side pulls out the card of race, Hitler, Nazi, Orange Cheeto in order to shame the side they disagree with. That, of course, fosters more discussion and causes it to devolve into destroying one straw man argument after another.

  Theres an epidemic of putting emotions over rationality in politics lately. Emotions were always a factor, but people used to be able to put their emotions aside and make judgements based off of reason and logic.
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  zophar

  I think this is a very relevant topic and concern. Worrying is my sentiment as well
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  Wonderment

  nicolau said: That being said, things seem to have have taken a turn around here. The first page of active topics is often dominated by political posts, Trump debates or arguments about immigration or Islamic extremism.

  This may be one of those "cycles" poster dubstepped mentioned. In time, people will move one to another subject. But for now, this subject is everywhere. The President, the White House, the News Media, and opposing parties bring up the subject on a daily basis, it seems. So, it is unavoidable.

  The hard part is finding a balance in all this. I tend to put myself in the place of both camps in order to understand them better. I find that people from both sides should be heard. I noticed one poster brought up a video were immigrants were ravishing European countries, creating all sorts of problems. That is definitely a problem over there. But the one who came up with the video obviously cherry picked the WORST side of immigrants. He never bothered to report cases where an immigrant have done something good for the locals. Nor did he report why immigrants were angry. Something similar is happening on our side.
  

  On the other side, who can blame the Germans, French, English, Italians, Greeks, etc. for their feelings of fear from other cultures seeping in. Border safety is a must in every country, including ours. Even immigration growth has to be kept under control. If anyone party believes that unrestrained immigration is good for all of us, they are wrong. That said, one reason there are so many "illegal" immigrants is because most countries have made it difficult, expensive and time consuming to obtain legal status. Those who defend this situation believe in immigration by "merit," where they can cherry-pick their immigrants.
  

  The News Media and the political establishments often tweak news to their benefit. We overwhelmingly get one side of the story over the other. So, in a way, it is good that people are expressing different views on this website, something they couldn’t do as JWs. I often marvel how various posters bring up details I never thought about until they did.

  Overall, the world is a mess. No one can fix it, but God. In the meantime, our challenge is to keep a side of humanity even under threat. Otherwise, we could become like a piece of unresponsive cold, hard metal in the dumpster.
  
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  Jehalapeno

  No one can fix it, but God.

  🤣🤣🤣🤣

  I still upvoted your comment because it was mostly reasonable. But that just made me laugh.
• 

  Whynot

  Can't we all just get along?

  btw There are a lot of immigrants in this forum
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  sparrowdown

  This process of opinion drift isn't a mystery, forums tend to follow the ideologies of the most dominant posters and what management allows, then the "follower" posters go along with it and anyone else just ignores the topics they feel are hot potatoes and post on things that interest them.

  Maybe people change their minds on issues over time as they experience more of life and information, maybe they always were "right" or "left" leaning but didn't feel comfortable being open about it - hey, it happens in groups, people become afraid to voice a dissenting opinion for fear of upsetting the group.

  But tides change and worms turn, shifting sands could be seen as a good thing it means the opinion is not "settled" and things could "change" again.

  Is it supposed to be politically neutral here? (Not being smart just asking.)
• 

  Simon

  Is it supposed to be politically neutral here? (Not being smart just asking)

  There's not really such a thing - no control becomes anarchy which is seeding option to the most vocal. People often view politics as a see-saw with neutral in the middle balancing point but it isn't really as simple as that.

  The best that we can aim for is some balance though where both sides are allowed up to a point, stepping in when things start to become too extreme / propagandist or it's clear people are not here to discuss but just to promote.

  It's the same with religion & belief - if people want to discuss and debate whether the bible is inspired or whatever, fine. But if they just want to tell us that it is and repeat it over and over, without being willing to discuss the pros and cons of either view? Time to call it done.
  
  
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  sparrowdown

  I only ask because it seems some posters ( of which, I'm not one btw) seem to expect a kind of "neutrality" " safe space" like we had in our dub daze.