Posts by OneEyedJoe

13

Today is the date of Albert Einstein birthday 14 / 03

by smiddy3 in

can we let this day go past without acknowledging his contributions to the betterment of human society ?.

OneEyedJoe

General relativity was initially rejected by his peers and scientists thought that photon theory, light being made up of small particles was ludicrous. Which is why people make me smile when then demand to see peer review acceptance for every new idea.

Einstein's peer's rejection of his ideas was entirely appropriate. The number of people with crackpot "theories" far outnumber those with ideas backed by actual evidence. Your example does not demonstrate that people should be more accepting of ideas without evidence, it shows that even the most hard-headed scientists will yield to the evidence. Einstein's theories of relativity did away with our intuitions about space, time, and energy - his peers were right to provide resistance. When the predictions of his theory were confirmed time and again, they eventually fell into line. This is in contrast to the far more numerous instances of people presenting absurd ideas that meet resistance and are proven wrong. So, yes, demanding peer review definitely slows down the adoption of new ideas that turn out to be correct, but I'd rather have a slow process that works than a fast one that's wrong more than it's right.

17

Today's WT Paragraph 4

by Slidin Fast in

i thought that this little gem deserved a thread of it's own.. 4. why is it important for us to be present at the memorial if at all possible?.

4 reflect on the importance of attending the memorial.

remember, congregation meetings are part of our worship.

OneEyedJoe

But why is it so important for people that won't partake to attend? It's the same talk year after year. "here's some interesting facts about the wine - it has to be an unfortified wonder with no additives" why does Jesus give a shit if everyone pops by to hear trivia on Passover bread and wine? Could it be that memorial attendance is a key stat that they use to insist that there's tremendous growth? Or maybe that people are more motivated to donate for the memorial? No, it must be that Jesus will kill you if you miss hearing a boring talk for the 28th time.

8

Memorial Invite

by littlerockguy in

jw
friends

i moved back to my hometown almost a year ago after being away for almost 20 years.

since that time it's gotten around to others in the area and my relatives how i view the organization, not to mention that my brother and sister have outed me to some people about my sexual orientation and that's all it takes.

so now i feel estranged somewhat from relatives i used to be close to even though i have not been outright shunned by them.

OneEyedJoe

Yep, happened to me last year. I was sitting on the couch and heard the screen door move a little and assumed it was the wind. When I left an hour or so later, I discovered a memorial invite had been put in it. I'm quite sure that no one in my current territory knows who I am or where I live, so it's not special treatment for apostates necessarily. I think they're generally discouraged and it makes them not want to try very hard anymore. Just gotta get in their time so they can keep their friends.

9

memorial talk, the Sunday before the memorial

by nonjwspouse in

my husband just realized that our trip out of town to see lots of extended family members is over the saturday of the memorial.

he looked all disappointed.

(in light of his recent behaviors this kind of surprised me).

OneEyedJoe

Oh, pre-memorial talk on sunday, I misunderstood. I'm not sure what it's about this year, but generally it goes something like this: State some problem that exists in the world, then assert that only god can fix it and you can feel better about everything if you become a JW, talk to anyone in the congregation about studying. Mix in some guilt, lots of fear mongering and overwhelming statements and that's about it. Then super boring watchtower study afterwards where they read a paragraph and people take turns reading bits of the paragraph back. Occasionally a nutter in the congregation will give a rambling off-topic tirade about their life.

9

memorial talk, the Sunday before the memorial

by nonjwspouse in

my husband just realized that our trip out of town to see lots of extended family members is over the saturday of the memorial.

he looked all disappointed.

(in light of his recent behaviors this kind of surprised me).

OneEyedJoe

Don't get too down in the dumps about him not being far along enough to miss the memorial...that's the biggest thing for all JWs. In hindsight I'm not exactly sure why, but it definitely gets everyone coming out of the woodwork.

Memorial is a boring hour long talk with light refreshments that no one is allowed to eat/drink. Typical JW guilt and sales pitch. As far as interruptions to your plans, it's probably the best you could hope for because due to the scheduling they often shuttle people in and out pretty quickly and have to keep it relatively short.

9

NaijaNews Article: Here Are Seven Beliefs That Make Jehovah Witness Different From Other Christians

by AndersonsInfo in

[the link states "six beliefs" but the title mentions "seven beliefs.

" looks like someone goofed!

here are seven beliefs that make jehovah witness different from other christians.

OneEyedJoe

Is it just me or is this a terribly written article? I don't think articles like this really do anything to dissuade anyone from being/joining the JWs...The things they list hardly make them unique and the article at times almost seems to be in support of the religion - mention of the deaths due to the blood ban is conspicuous by it's absence, they just provide scriptures that seem to support JWs. The writing is absolutely abhorrent and they even forgot they were doing a numbered list by point 3.

The terrible writing will probably keep anyone from ever actually getting to the last three points (the last two of which are essentially the same) which are the only ones that are really likely to raise alarms for most people.

131

Do Jehovah's Witnesses Accept Evolution?

by jukief in

by evolution or by creation?

"the bible is a myth" and "evolution is true".

OneEyedJoe

Darwin's, now infamous, "absurd in the highest degree" quote was the one that did it for me. The creation book used that quote (where he was using a rhetorical device to set up his explanation of how the eye could have evolved) to claim that Darwin acknowledged that the eye couldn't have been formed by an evolutionary process, but what did it for me was their statement right after the misquote - they asked "Has this problem been solved today?" and provided the unqualified answer "No." It was literally solved in the paragraph immediately following their out-of-context quote, by Darwin himself. Up to that point I was aware of a lot of things (like the 607 issue) that I could at least see their side of it being maybe sorta plausible - maybe satan had some grand conspiracy to falsify evidence or something - but in this case it was just blatant dishonesty that could not possibly be forgiven as a mistake. Once I knew that they were willing to lie in their literature, I knew they had done it time and again.

131

Do Jehovah's Witnesses Accept Evolution?

by jukief in

by evolution or by creation?

"the bible is a myth" and "evolution is true".

OneEyedJoe

Thanks, this made me happy. Given that it was the indefensible misquotes and associated outright lies in the creation book that finally broke the cult spell for me, I rather enjoyed this.

27

Satan is "bullying" you through family

by neat blue dog in

just thought i'd share this ridiculous picture from a recent watchtower.

in recent years, the word bullying has been thrown around a lot, and often misused by instigators and subtle bullies themselves.

in this picture we learn that your loving family who wants to continue sharing a family tradition with you, who hands you a beautifully wrapped present with a smile on their face, is in fact bullying you.

OneEyedJoe

It's all very orweilian. Every word is redefined to be it's opposite:

The masters are the "slave" (FDS)

Being "spiritual" means giving materially and with physical acts of devotion.

Kicking someone out on the street and thinking of them as if they have been killed by god is a "loving arrangement"

"The truth" is all lies

"The truth will set you free" - it frees you from being able to do whatever you want and live with the consequences...

It's not brainwashing, it's having your mind cleansed of impure thought

And now, it's not a genuine desire to share happy family traditions and give generously, it's bullying.

27

Solicitors Appontment Tomorrow - Advice Appreciated

by pale.emperor in

following up on this thread: https://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/5012900121935872/am-overreacting-here?page=3#!#5179106934128640.

im seeing my solicitor tomorrow to see about getting an order in place making sure any contact my daughter has with my jw family goes through me and not my ex-wife.. explained the situation briefly to the lawyer, she was asking more and more about why should i be concerned if a jw had access to my child.. i mentioned the blood issue, the shunning, the inappropriate pictures of armageddon in books/mags etc.

do you think i should bring in watchtower literature to show them what i mean?

OneEyedJoe

Along with the negative material meant directly for child consumption, I'd bring the bit where it says apostates are "mentally diseased" and anything you can find where it suggests that apostates are evil, influenced by satan, etc. I think the likelihood that they will interfere with your child and try to poison her attitudes against you with religious dogma would make your concerns extremely relatable.