I'll be speaking at Columbia University next weekend, meetup to follow....

by dubstepped 33 Replies latest jw experiences

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  dubstepped

  So I'll be speaking on a panel as part of the "When Rights and Religions Collide" event next Saturday, October 19. If you'd like to attend you can learn more here:
  
  https://rightsandreligions.com/

  I'm also going to host a meetup on Sunday if any of you are in the NYC area. I'm still putting the finishing touches on the details but if you'd like to join in and meet myself, my wife, and a few people that listen to the Shunned podcast or that are in my Facebook group called by the same name shoot me a private message soon. I'm putting reservations together for dinner on Sunday the 20th. Probably going to eat lunch around Prospect Park, then hang out in the park, then have dinner at another place around the park. People can come for as much or as little as they like.
  
  It would be cool to meet some of you if you're up that way.
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  Simon

  Sounds interesting, good luck with the meetup!
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  dubstepped

  Thanks! I think I have about 15 people so far. Most are exjw but one is ex-ultra orthodox Jewish and one person is from a cult in South Africa. She was on the podcast and I can't remember the name as it was in another language.

  Should be a good time. The panel I'm on at the conference has a person from Quiverfull, Islam, and Catholicism on it as well. Many groups will be represented there.
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  Simon

  It's always fascinating see the similarities in behaviors between religions that have dramatically different belief systems.

  At the end of the day, it's all about people and psychology, which is always the same. The actual mix of beliefs is almost irrelevant.

  Do you know if there are plans to record / youtube the event?
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  waton

  thumbs up for that public exposure, Columbia Uni no less!! The speaker training that wt used to provide to willing males should come in handy.

  Have one coming up on the 19 th too, but not columbia uni.
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  dubstepped

  @Simon - Yep, it's the psychology, the beliefs are often just a vehicle to exploit the psychology. It's one reason I've tried to include people from other groups in my podcasts instead of it just being ex-JWs only. I wanted to show how similar we were to these other groups and how the same tools were used against us all. I've been learning about the Exclusive Brethren lately as someone in my group introduced me to them and their groups and it's interesting. I have a few that will likely tell their stories on my podcast and someone from another cult too.

  I know that there will be some media interest in the event. As far as it being recorded I'm going to do what I can to record some of it. I'm going to try to make a podcast out of it, maybe a video with some highlights. It won't be easy as my camera only lasts so long and it's a day long thing. I don't know if they have anyone recording the whole thing. There was a call for people like podcasters to cover it. I just bought a little recorder that supposedly lasts 20 hours once charged and I'm going to try to get audio from the day and do something with it and some video. We'll see how it all turns out.
  
  I'm doing a live stream with ICSA the following weekend, I believe, as part of a project to help therapists help those that leave. I'll share that here once I get the details sorted. Some may find it interesting.
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  dubstepped

  @waton - Sorry, not crediting the JW speaker training. I'm sure it helped on some level but let's face it, those who could speak naturally did well and those that couldn't didn't fare well. I rarely saw a person that was a terrible speaker flourish due to some magic training of theirs. It just gave those of us with a natural talent the ability to use it. Correlation doesn't necessarily equal causation. I refuse to give them props for something I was just always good at.
  
  Where are you speaking at?
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  Vidiot

  Simon - "It's always fascinating see the similarities in behaviors between religions that have dramatically different belief systems... At the end of the day, it's all about people and psychology, which is always the same. The actual mix of beliefs is almost irrelevant."

  Yup.

  It's not about the Cause.

  It's about the Group.
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  Biahi

  Dubstepped, you really get around! Great job, wish I could be there.
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  Simon

  Ooh, my brain just woke up - I already read about this event from Sarah Haider's twitter feed but didn't connect it as the same thing for some reason.

  The similarities between the challenges for ex-JWs and ex-Muslims is a perfect example of how the psychology and behaviors are often identical even though the religion and beliefs couldn't be further apart.

  Being able to recognize the similarities is what makes these cross-ex-denominational events way more valuable than any single-faith event. Although the ability for believers to be able to clearly see the cognitive issues with someone else's faith while still being completely blind to their own is still something they manage to pull off.