Billyblobber

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Posts by Billyblobber

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  34

  TV.JW.ORG (September 2015): Serving Single - Do not use JW dating sites!

  by Designer Stubble in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  around the 39:00 minute mark the focus shifts to a single sister who cannot find a mate.

  at the 42:30 minute mark she states "i cannot believe it crossed my mind...to look on jw dating sites".

  guess a new unwritten rule is added to the many oral traditions of these pharisees.

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  Billyblobber

  So wait. They lowered the spread of congregations in District conventions, so you only basically meet people in your circuit, and they are bleeding young(er) people at a fantastic rate. How the heck do they expect anyone to meet anyone else?
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  508

  If she doesn't comply an orange jumpsuit is in her future

  by DJS in

  1. social
  2. current

  scotus: kentucky clerk must issue same-sex marriage licenses.

  by ariane de vogue, cnn supreme court reporter.

  updated 8:02 pm et, mon august 31, 2015. let's hope this is the final screech from the haters who wrap themselves in the bible - or their egoist political philosophy i doubt it will be, but let's hope..

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  Billyblobber

  Here's the relevant link:
  http://www.rawstory.com/2015/09/kim-davis-found-in-contempt-and-taken-into-federal-custody-by-us-marshals/
  
  And live feed of the protesters outside of the court:
  http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid3657417266001?bckey=AQ%7E%7E%2CAAADUxzzMgk%7E%2Cakjd2MCec1Jtk_UIfZLyGVtmhD1oVjx6&bctid=3851749531001
  
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  508

  If she doesn't comply an orange jumpsuit is in her future

  by DJS in

  1. social
  2. current

  scotus: kentucky clerk must issue same-sex marriage licenses.

  by ariane de vogue, cnn supreme court reporter.

  updated 8:02 pm et, mon august 31, 2015. let's hope this is the final screech from the haters who wrap themselves in the bible - or their egoist political philosophy i doubt it will be, but let's hope..

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  Billyblobber

  She was divorced three times, and remarried. She issues licenses to divorced people that remarried (and when questioned, said, "it is their conscience." Even if there were a religious exemption, which there is definitely not, she is breaking her own logic in doing this, and it wouldn't stand. She has absolutely no leg to stand on. Even a lot of the extreme religious right is turning on her (basically saying that her history makes her a terrible martyr and defeats the purpose).
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  30

  Debating evolution, intelligent design and cosmology with a JW

  by Thestumbler83 in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  ive been having an email exchange with a jw family member and the discussion seem to have become a bit heated and im not quite sure why.

  i dont think ive said anything obviously offensive and ive been very careful with my wording.

  but i think im sometimes a bit tone deaf with these things.

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  Billyblobber

  What it took a long time to come to grips with is that the vast minority of people don't trend toward logical thinking and nuance, but trend towards emotional thinking and easy answers. Even when people supposedly are "logical" in one area (ie. evolution), you can often see them abandon that in other areas that they personally hold close (things like social issues or relationship issues).

  The only thing you can do is avoid directly "attacking" their beliefs, because people like that view beliefs as an extension of themselves and feel like you are attacking them, personally, but, instead, ask brief questions that might hopefully start a crack and create a chink in their armor.

  For one personal example, my dad was a "weak" JW and questioned everything for quite some time. Then his mother died, and he went on full board and became completely illogical about everything he questioned before. After the point of his mother dying, questioning his faith meant questioning him ever seeing his mother again, and so any logic, etc. was immediately shut down.
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  15

  U.S. JWs: 36% White, 27% Black, 6% Asian, 32% Latino (PEW)

  by Gayle in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  https://baptistnews.com/ministry/congregations/item/30426-racially-diverse-nation-isn-t-mirrored-in-most-religious-groups.

  seventh-day adventists and muslims about the same.

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  Billyblobber

  I'm not really even sure that "black" would be growing. I'll use Detroit as an example.

  Detroit was one of the main cities in which racial practices created a large black inner city low income population. Essentially, the businesses left the city to the suburbs, black people weren't allowed to move to the suburbs to follow them, and instead were forced to rent in the city or buy shrinking property value properties in the city. Due to a mix of outside and inside issues, including the decline of the auto market, the city gradually shrank over time and became more poor, while the suburbs flourished.

  In the 70s, there was huge growth in Detroit among black Witnesses to coincide with this. Incomes were dropping, things were getting worse, and a message of a "paradise earth" were appealing to them. It peaked in the 80s. However, the suburban restrictions began lifting in the 80s, and city congregations started shrinking in the late 80s as black Witnesses with income were finally able to move to the suburbs, and the city itself further shrank.

  Fast forward to now. Detroit bombed out completely right around the housing/auto crisis, and is now experiencing minor growth and a bit of a cultural upsurge. As businesses move back, people are moving back downtown (mostly white), while the outer edge neighborhoods that started suffering in the 60s on, and that were probably most hurt by the economic downturn are emptying even more. That means Detroit congregations are shrinking at an astronomical rate, as they are losing members from the neighborhoods, no one young is joining, and none of the new young influx of upper/middle class people are joining.

  From what I hear, other majorly black cities that followed similar patterns are suffering basically the same fate. And I don't see where the growth would be coming from in Atlanta. Therefore, I cant' figure out where they would be "gaining black people" from; unless there have been smaller community pushes somewhere.
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  324

  VA shooting suspect was raised a JW! He mentions it on his Twitter account

  by WingCommander in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  anyone in the usa following this morning's shooting "on-air" live tv will know what i'm talking about.

  bryce williams (not real name, but on-air name) shot and killed 2 people on live television this morning in roanoke, va. he was wearing a go-pro camera, and uploaded his first-person video onto his social media accounts.

  i've seen his twitter feed (before it was taken down), and not very far down he mentions being raised a jw.

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  Billyblobber

  LoveHateUni, you wrote:
  
  

  Then if you have been that close to someone bipolar - yes, I was. I love my mum more than anyone else in the world.

  you should be familiar with the symptoms and the constant rambling subject changes and paranoia - I have some familiarity, yes. I lived with my mum for the first 18 years of my life. She refused to take lithium three times, and subsequently went 'high' and was hospitalised, on three occasions. At no time was she violent, said 'violent things', or gave any other indication towards violence. The worst thing she ever did was cheat on my dad one time with another inpatient.

  wouldn't be asking those types of questions - f**k off! I will not be lectured over the internet by arrogant pr1cks. I can ask any damn question I like. Geddit?!

  What concerns me is that it's only one step from blaming crimes on mental illness to blaming 'the authorities' or 'the white power structure', or similar, and regarding the perpetrator as the victim.

  Here's my qualifications: although I have no formal qualifications on mental illness, I have lived with someone afflicted with bipolar disorder (my mum) for the first 18 years of my life.

  From 2009 to 2011 - I received a National Diploma in Animal Management at [redacted] College, grade: distinction; merit; merit.

  From 2012 to 2015 - I received a BSc (Hons) in Animal Biology at [redacted] University, grade: First Class.

  Now who the f**k are you?!
  
  You seem to be looking at things strictly through an either/or lens and missing all of the nuance that some of us are referring to, and thus arguing against something that no one is really saying.

  You're reading what people are saying as conflating bipolar people as a default with violence. Thus your defense of "my mom was bipolar, but she was never violent." That's not what's being said.

  What is being said that if someone leans violent for whatever reason, having mental issues like bipolar mood swings or bipolar or schizophrenic paranoia or delusions can magnify it greatly. Combine that with an easy access to guns, and you have a recipe for disaster.
  
  It's no different than the guns + curable severe depression combination. Not everyone that is severely depressed will commit suicide, but if they have easy gun access, then it's dangerous because they're more likely to be able to go through with the act.

  So the point I was alluding to with the statements about the symptoms was that if you understand the paranoia and hallucinations that go along with those issues, and combine it with someone who has a lot of inner anger and access to a weapon, and you have potential problems. Dylan Root is another example; he had documented mental issues, was constantly fed a ton of anti-black rhetoric including race-hating sites he participated in, which gave him a target for an outlet for his issue, and then he had access to guns and was unfortunately able to act on this combination. This guy had the crazy JW background, lived through some actual hate due to his race/sexuality mix, probably had a mental problem, from everyone that knew him's statements, had a lot of inner anger, and had access to weapons. Horrible combination of things.
  
  As for my background, since you asked:
  
  - I lived with a paranoid schizophrenic JW mother until my 20's. I spent a lot of time visiting her in mental hospitals and saw other brands of mental illness there, and I also saw the gradual collapse of mental institutions and all of those people released out on the street or to their families to basically fend for themselves through the 80s/90s. My mother was rarely violent, although there were times where she would go on JW inspired rants about being possessed by demons or God talking to her or Satan talking to her where she had to be restrained when off-medication. Fortunately, we had nothing more than kitchen knives in the house at those times.
  
  - I've had 2 years of collegiate psych and social science classes.
  
  - I dated (and am now close friends with) a professor of social work at one of the colleges in this state. I have also done a lot of side by side work with social workers dealing directly with the mentally ill and have seen the entire spectrum, from the incarcerated violent, to the non-violent - and a range of "out on the street" to "being cared for and doing well." As such, I've seen the utter lack of infrastructure and support for these people, as well as many cases of the downhill turn many make when losing familial support.
  
  So that's the background we asked for. It seems like we relate in a few areas, especially growing up with the close parent with mental illness. The difference here is that you seem focused on assigning "blame" to the individual that commits horrible acts, where I attempt to focus on improving the social conditions that contribute to creating these situations, to help minimize these situations as a whole in the future.
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  324

  VA shooting suspect was raised a JW! He mentions it on his Twitter account

  by WingCommander in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  anyone in the usa following this morning's shooting "on-air" live tv will know what i'm talking about.

  bryce williams (not real name, but on-air name) shot and killed 2 people on live television this morning in roanoke, va. he was wearing a go-pro camera, and uploaded his first-person video onto his social media accounts.

  i've seen his twitter feed (before it was taken down), and not very far down he mentions being raised a jw.

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  Billyblobber

  I kind of agree a lot with the above quote.

  All of these "American headlines discussions" that we have on here seem to have a big problem due to a lot of people outside of the country commenting on solutions to what is happening inside the country based on the news that reaches them now, as opposed to actually being in and -living- here, and understanding why things are the way they are. For example:

  - Commenting on the current civil/racial unrest and movements and not knowing anything about the redlining, zoning, and destruction of progress from outside sources in the mid-late 20th century that created multiple current troubled inner city ghettos that most of those things focus around at their core.

  - Commenting on current instances of violence without being privy to the constant news cycle that surrounds it, or having any knowledge of the decline of mental health support in the country that started with Reagan.
  
  - Speaking about gun culture without being immersed in it due to living around it, and seeing how the media basically uses that issue to constantly manipulate people divided along party lines.
  
  That makes all of these discussions circular - or you get to a point where you attempt to explain how things actually are, or why they are that way (which leads to fixing underlying problems as opposed to providing easy answers), and people on the "outside" basically say, "I don't believe you, I'm right" and it goes nowhere.
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  324

  VA shooting suspect was raised a JW! He mentions it on his Twitter account

  by WingCommander in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  anyone in the usa following this morning's shooting "on-air" live tv will know what i'm talking about.

  bryce williams (not real name, but on-air name) shot and killed 2 people on live television this morning in roanoke, va. he was wearing a go-pro camera, and uploaded his first-person video onto his social media accounts.

  i've seen his twitter feed (before it was taken down), and not very far down he mentions being raised a jw.

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  Billyblobber

  Then if you have been that close to someone bipolar, you should be familiar with the symptoms and the constant rambling subject changes and paranoia, and wouldn't be asking those types of questions, right?
• 
  324

  VA shooting suspect was raised a JW! He mentions it on his Twitter account

  by WingCommander in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  anyone in the usa following this morning's shooting "on-air" live tv will know what i'm talking about.

  bryce williams (not real name, but on-air name) shot and killed 2 people on live television this morning in roanoke, va. he was wearing a go-pro camera, and uploaded his first-person video onto his social media accounts.

  i've seen his twitter feed (before it was taken down), and not very far down he mentions being raised a jw.

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  Billyblobber

  Have you ever met a bipolar or schizophrenic person?
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  9

  People Magazine: Who Was Vester Lee Flanagan, the Man Who Allegedly Shot 3 People on Live TV?

  by AndersonsInfo in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://www.people.com/article/vester-lee-flanagan-bryce-willams-the-man-who-allegedly-shot-3-people-live-tv.

  people magazine: who was vester lee flanagan, the man who allegedly shot 3 people on live tv?.

  born in 1973 in oakland, california, to vester and betty flanagan, he was raised as a strict jehovah's witness.

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  Billyblobber

  If he was bipolar, which is a strong possibility, being raised in an environment of ARMAGEDDON IS COMING EVERYONE IS AGAINST YOU EVERYONE AROUND YOU THAT IS WORLDLY IS WORTH NOTHING AND WILL DIE YOU WILL DIE FOR GAY SEX is one of the absolute worst environments to be raised in to feed that kind of paranoia. Once he cut off family contact, he had no one to keep him in check and it went way downhill from there, unfortunately.