by berylblue 30 Replies latest jw friends
As I wrote my last post about D. H. (the JW woman who was superficially shot by her abusive non-JW husband), it occured to me that the entire story sounded fabricated. It was not, actually. But it got me thinking...I wonder how many of our posts here are fabricated, exaggerated or embellished? Has anyone here actually been caught in an outright lie? How m uch of all this do you all actually believe?
Beryl
Well.....as certain posters can tell you, I am skeptical of anyone asking for money.
Other than that, I believe most stories. There have been a few times when someone uses odd language to describe being a JW...they don't use common slang that JWs came up with. That gives me a heads up.
For the most part, I believe everyone.
I come here to because the board is a catharsis, I would hope that everyone is honest. I know I see know reason to yank anyone's chain. You will find some trolls and you will find some disengenous people but all in all I feel comfortable, especially knowing most have met and like each other.
I think that most people on the board are honest. However, I've read some stories that just didn't have "the ring of truth" to it. It would be easy to tell a tall tale here or to embellish a story. Most people do embellish a story, even without realizing it. I think that if a person on the board gets caught in a lie, we should naturally be very suspect of that person. My eyebrows are raised if I hear a story of a person that just finds this place and decides that he will resign as presiding overseer tomorrow. If a person says they were raped by the entire body of elders, once again, I have to wonder about this. But that's me.
I am pretty good at sniffing out urban legends and chain mail. I check to see if they advise you to BOMBARD (the victim) with E-MAILS and MAKE A DIFFERENCE, or promise that GREAT WEALTH AND BLESSINGS are on their way if you just spread this unsubstantiated rumor to ten of your friends. And if you do not, GREAT DISASTERS are on their way.
Some joker thought it would be fun to post an ad in our local paper that the first Sasquatch had been found and would be on display at WinterFest. My office buddy was furious when she found out it was a hoax. I figured, hey, if it was real, we would have seen a lot more than a quarter page ad in the paper.
On the morning of September 11, I said NO WAY, and went sniffing out the news wires on the internet. I am not sorry that I remained skeptical until I had secondary confirmation. My very next act was to phone my daughter and tell her "Something terrible has just happened."
When reading articles here, ask what the poster might gain from providing that information. Most times, nothing except a sympathetic ear. I have no reason to doubt them. A lot of the factual information can be checked. Sometimes I do go and double-check.
By the way, I am always very cautious when I see only one side of a personal dispute. There is always two sides to a story.
I've come across people who's entire online persona was fraudulent. We often have people embellish their stories to put themselves in the center of the action, etc. Or perhaps they pass on an urban legend, but connect it to themselves; I found someone on another board doing this just recently.
There are alot of sad sacks of s*** out there, and this place (and the www in general) is paradise for them. Think about it, they can be anyone they want to be, they can be at the center of a story, they can be the teller of an exciting story.... and it is very difficult to catch them if they are practised at the art of lying.
We had a poster on this board who began floating the rumor that she was in fact a very famous opera star. Sure, it seems naive to believe, but then again, some lies are effective because of their grandiosity, who would lie about something so public? It plays off the fact that we'd all love to believe that we are hanging out online with someone talented, famous, and important. The same poster went on to manufacture a boyfriend for herself, and have them write each other romantic notes on the board.
Another poster made up a heartwrenching story of a JW inspired suicide, with himself as a bit player, helping the berieved, and dutifully passing on the terrible story to us.
I strongly suspect one of our new, rather flamboyant posters is a fabrication. Time will tell, meanwhile, don't believe everything someone says just because they seem to hate the mean ole WT. They may have made the societies contempt for truth "their own".
By the way, I am always very cautious when I see only one side of a personal dispute. There is always two sides to a story.
Not to disagree with you, just to add to your excellent observation. Someone pointed out something to me once, and I try to remember this when I hear any kind of gossip or personal horror story: There are actually three sides to every story: hers, his and the truth.
Beryl
I don't think we have too many "urban legends" here - unlike the world of dubdom.
But it got me thinking...I wonder how many of our posts here are fabricated, exaggerated or embellished?
Keep an eye open beryl, you will soon see how quickly people who lie are caught out here. There's a lot of sharp people here and they are usually on the ball pretty quick when someone is fabricating.
Brummie
if i ever decide to tell my whole story i will (tellin you all now) change some of the details to protect the innocent. my family was prominent enough that if i did not disguise it im sure it would be recognized. i have no wish to hurt anyone. anyway, everything i have said thusfar is true. the essence of possible future stories will be true.
