i'm a postman so i get 4 to 5 hours every day with my headphones on and i'm really chewing through some stuff.
i'm after science (evolutionary biology and anthropology especially), history of religion and comedy.
old sci-fi audio books are also a favourite.
I host the Shunned podcast but it sounds like it's probably too long for you to listen to.
If you like comedy and religion then Zealot, How To Heretic, or The Drunk Mormon Podcast might be something you like.
If you're interested in prison life then Ear Hustle is a good listen.
Dumb People Town is funny. I also second Bill Burr's podcast The Monday Morning Podcast that was mentioned. He's great.
this is a true story.
it's about a sister named henriette venema.
she was a very loyal jw.
As a kid I watched a brother have a heart attack in his seat and he was moved to the back out of the way so the show could go on. My mom would rock and be catatonic with some sort of severe mental illness for a while but she was there, because the show must go on, even though elders would rush back many times when she wasn't in the auditorium. We kids were clueless and concerned, but the show went on. I've been at meetings where power went out and the show goes on as we huddled around lights. I've been at meetings in tornado warnings, the show goes on. I've seen elderly people out in ice storms going to the KH because, of course, the show must go on. My dad went out in service with bad neuropathy and blind in one eye because the show must go on, despite falling off people's porches. He gave public talks, not all of which he made it through, because the show must go on. Not much stops the show. It's all about the show and for show.
has anyone seen this video of a man out in field service asking a woman if he can speak to her 15 year old daughter by name?
it is rather disturbing.. https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/mom-confronts-stranger-asking-to-see-her-daughter/983338603.
the link takes you directly to the news station.
The fact that they went there asking for the girl is no big deal. Obviously there's been some previous interaction. I see no issue with the mom questioning and videoing the guy who got cagey about the whole thing in a world where weird people sometimes do awful things to kids. She's just looking out for her daughter (and we don't know if there could be a reason for her to be antsy in particular) and the JW couldn't be a grown up and had to act weird which made it more curious. Him slapping at her was uncalled for.
Funny, JWs have no problem recording things in public but don't like being on the other side of it. You and I know the guy was just some dumb JW trying to get his time in but those on the outside don't. He handled that very poorly.
i saw my mother today for the first time in three years..
she was on one of the witnessing carts in town at a station i don’t usually get off at.
i did today as i was dropping my daughter off somewhere.
Sorry man. I feel like you do about my mom though I have some strong anger on days. I can temper it with understanding.
My dad never took any care of himself despite being diabetic. His neuropathy was bad in his legs and feet and he had high blood pressure. Still went door to door compulsively like most of them and fell down steps and off porches. Gave public talks and didn't finish a few of them. Was blind in one eye and never told anyone and was still driving people in service and drove my mom and sister everywhere.
Denial is the drug most of them are addicted to and it's insane to watch.
the fact that there are pomi ex-jws who have been disfellowshiped or inactive for years who still live in constant fear of armageddon indicates that watchtower will manage to exist in one way or another for years, if not decades, to come.
watchtower, like all other religious cults, operate on the premise that "you can fool some of the people all of the time...and that's enough!
".
Of course they aren't going anywhere. There's a sucker born every minute. Some portion will find their way into this cult. Groups like Heaven's Gate still exist. Belief and faith overcomes reason and if the JWs went belly up financially they'd just go online only and keep it going. The pieces are even in place. They still grow overall in numbers every year. They've gotten leaner by getting rid of many buildings and cashed in on Brooklyn. They'll be fine. I wish that wasn't true, but they'll be fine for a long time. They can drag out "the last days" forever and are already trying to switch to more mainstream Christianity. They'll just end up somewhere close to that and the nuttery we were exposed to won't come to mind anymore than a current JW thinks of Russell.
alex - thank you for your offer to have a conversation about evolution.. i accept the scientific evidence that all life - including humans - evolved from a common ancestor through unguided evolution over millions of years.
this isn't even a controversial position in the scientific community.. the evidence rests on the data from many interconnected fields including paleontology, comparative anatomy, geology and especially genetics.
it is no exaggeration to say that the evidence for your own non-human ancestry is contained in every cell in your body.. it is my experience that jws are generally quite ignorant (not in a pejorative sense) of the scientific case.
Alex didn't last very long before melting down, lol. Perhaps his god was in the privy while all of these things were going on that man has found? Nice work again Cofty.
is it my imagination or are most witnesses weird, odd, and “different “?
it seems every congregation has a couple of weirdo elders, pioneers and ministerial servants.
and then you see those witnesses who attend meetings but most people seldom associate with them because... they are eccentric..
Many that join as adults are running from trauma. Rather than getting adequate help they escape into a cult that thinks for them, feels for them, etc. Eccentricities may come out because these people aren't fully present in their lives.
Those that are born in are forced into a cookie cutter mold their entire lives which is going to push them naturally to differentiate themselves in some way and "weird" behavior may be that way of being "themselves".
I'm sure that they attract people with certain non-conforming behavior anyway as they are non-conforming, well, until you get into the cult and then just conform to their rules.
i have been having discussion with my sister (relative), who is an active witness, about writing a letter of disassociation.
the reason being is that i have not attended the meetings in over a year and it's been 4 years since i have went out in the jw ministry.. i going to try to sum this topic up.
my sister think that i should not da myself because i have not done any immoral act in her thinking.
Absolutely, faders have to censor themselves and hide, sometimes move. Tell me again who's playing their games? Then they often end up shunned anyway. That's the dumbest tag line that is repeated constantly. Come up with something new.
Also, to not take a stand simply because they came up with a term would be playing their game, letting them dictate how you leave.
We ALL play their games to some degree. They impact all of our lives. Own it. Then act accordingly.
i have been having discussion with my sister (relative), who is an active witness, about writing a letter of disassociation.
the reason being is that i have not attended the meetings in over a year and it's been 4 years since i have went out in the jw ministry.. i going to try to sum this topic up.
my sister think that i should not da myself because i have not done any immoral act in her thinking.
Disassociation is the best! My wife and I did it together. The need to constantly bash disassociating is more about the insecurity of those unable to do so than those that actually did it.
Seeing Minimus trolling disassociating is especially ridiculous seeing as how he likes to troll the forum as a whole with posts about how you should take a stand and leave otherwise you tacitly support the JWs. Figure out your stance man. Disassociating is the ultimate in taking a stand against them and not supporting them. You should be in favor. But people just repeat the same tired arguments.
Do what you want and stop throwing shade at others that do the same. Everyone else thinks they get to speak for disassociating when they can't even do it. If you don't want to, then fade away, do your thing and be secure in it enough that you don't have to start taking shots at others to do it. You don't see the disassociated running down those that are disfellowshipped or fade.
read on one of the forums, and maybe this one that the gb are going to start calling themselves the faithful and prudent slave.
my pimi brainwashed wife wouldn't bat an eyelash if they started calling themselves this.
to her it would be new light and they could do nothing wrong.. but, how the not so brainwashed flock take this change?
Lmao, if they do this it is such a J-dub thing to do. They pick at words and change stupid things to 1.) make people feel like something new actually happened and 2.) make you feel pressure to keep up with "Jehovah's chariot" which means that if you don't say it right everyone will know you're falling behind. It's stupid peer pressure b.s. and they'll use the new word to highlight some quality about them that they want you to feel. Utter garbage.
