Posts by slimboyfat

21

Terrific movie monologue from "Three Billboards Outside Ebbings, Missouri'

by Captain Schmideo2 in

jw
friends

just watched this movie last night.. the premise of the title and film centers around the mother of young girl, who was raped, murdered, and set on fire by an unknown killer.

convinced that the local police could be doing more, she erects billboards outside of town, calling into question the efforts of the town's beloved chief of police.

this does not sit well with the other townspeople, and soon, the town priest comes to visit and admonish her.and after hearing him tell her if she came to church more regularly, she would be able to find the peace and resolution she needs over her daughter's death, she delivers this speech to him:.

slimboyfat

Yes I noticed that and enjoyed it and agreed with the sentiment. Only small reservation was it was a bit "preachy" in the context of the film. I'm not so keen on films where the writer or director appear to be pressing a point of view heavily, even if it's one I agree with.

I can appreciate the good in religion as well as the bad. So while I enjoyed this speech, I also enjoyed the recent film "Lady Bird" which portrays a much more benign engagement with religion. Specifically the central character, the teenage girl Lady Bird benefits from mentoring from a nun and she also enjoys the ritual of a Catholic service while away from home.

There are good and bad aspects to religious experience and I appreciate the artistic portrayal of both.

2

If all you require is faith to believe in something then ....?

by smiddy3 in

jw
friends

be my guest :.

santa clause .

the tooth fairy .

slimboyfat

The Yeti theory of God.

https://afkimel.wordpress.com/2015/07/07/fr-robert-barron-on-the-yeti-theory-of-god/

I like the quote from Wittgenstein, that it's now how the world is that's astonishing, but that it is at all.

12

Display on Computer is Upside Down!

by compound complex in

greetings, techies:.

i'm teaching a class right now and my students' desktop computer is showing microsoft word upside down.

we share documents between our two computers but cannot because of this crazy turn of events.. any ideas?.

slimboyfat

Ha! Somebody should write a web page to fix that problem - which is written upside down.

77

North Korea threatening to bomb Guam...

by mikeflood in

crazy kim again....could happen?

thoughts?.

slimboyfat

Yesterday.

What fact did I ignore?

If you watch interviews of Trump in 1999 and now don't you see any difference?

I don't hear him using "nuclear proliferation" in extemporaneous speech these days. It's all big league this, smart person that, rocket man and so on.

12

Display on Computer is Upside Down!

by compound complex in

greetings, techies:.

i'm teaching a class right now and my students' desktop computer is showing microsoft word upside down.

we share documents between our two computers but cannot because of this crazy turn of events.. any ideas?.

slimboyfat

I was talking to someone the other day this happened to. It was a computer virus that caused it. He couldn't fix it so he turned the monitor upside down. Sorry can't be more help.

77

North Korea threatening to bomb Guam...

by mikeflood in

crazy kim again....could happen?

thoughts?.

slimboyfat

That Trump video from 1999 is scary. He was articulate and knowledgeable. What happened?

Trump in 1999: nuclear proliferation is the biggest threat we face.

Trump in 2016: why do we have nuclear weapons if we can't use them?

Trump in 2017: "rocket man"

Heaven help us.

11

An incredible video worth watching

by UnshackleTheChains in

for those of you who are dissillusioned jehovahs witnesses, but still have a love for god, his son and the bible, i urge you to watch the following video.

the lecture given by sean finnegan will help you see things more clearly as a christian.. personally, this has to be one of the best presentations ever given and now know my christian identity.

the answer is given in the video.

slimboyfat

JWs in the context of restorationism:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restorationism

122

CRISIS OF CONSCIENCE

by Newly Enlightened in

https://youtu.be/dpq7j8lkc98.

slimboyfat

If Deborah Dykstra comes across the thread I want to apologise and wish her well. On reflection the points I made about the Trinitarian writer and delays were not important and could have been stated kinder, or not at all. In particular I never thought, or meant to imply, as never a jw took me as saying, that Deborah delayed to help Watchtower, which I always viewed as implausible and bizarre.

32

How many are PIMO ??

by Phizzy in

i know we cannot answer this, how many are physically in, mentally out (pimo), but i heard an amazing piece of news the other day.. an ex-p.o and ex-elder, a long time regular pioneer, and when i knew him a stalwart believer, went for a drink with another jw who has actually left, but is not df or anything.. in the course of conversation he came out with this bombshell "well, i am actually an atheist now, i just go along to keep my wife happy".. i also heard of a number of youngsters that i know personally who are simply living their life as they want, whilst making sure they don't get df'd for family and social reasons.. if as it seems the pimo's are a huge number, could there be a huge " awakening" where they all realize they are in a huge group, and they all say " eff it, lets call it a day on all the jw s**t ".

?.

wishful thinking, but.....just possible ?.

slimboyfat

It's a difficult thing to define because when do questions spill over into doubts and when do doubts spill over into unbelief? It's a long continuum that most people leaving finding themselves travelling along over a period of time. Some people can even go back and forward in their mind as circumstances and focus change.

Plus it's even more complicated than a continuum because there is an infinite variety of accommodation and negotiation among JWs and their acceptance and rejection of Watchtower truth claims. Some JWs even think the GB are not hardline enough (one elder told me blood fractions should not be allowed and the GB made a mistake) which is a different sort of mental deviation than we more commonly refer to. Others might quietly reject the flood, accept evolution, not practice shunning, celebrate birthdays, not dontate any money or actively encourage others to join, yet in some sense still adhere to the religion. Are they mentally out, or somewhere in beteeen?

There also seem to be a number of abusers who cynically use the religion to abuse others. These people are also "mentally out" in a sense, although not in any sense we can readily identify with or approve.

So it's altogether a very complicated concept and of course impossible to quantify. Except perhaps to say that, in some difficult to define sense, the number of people who are "mentally out" appears to be growing.

32

How many are PIMO ??

by Phizzy in

i know we cannot answer this, how many are physically in, mentally out (pimo), but i heard an amazing piece of news the other day.. an ex-p.o and ex-elder, a long time regular pioneer, and when i knew him a stalwart believer, went for a drink with another jw who has actually left, but is not df or anything.. in the course of conversation he came out with this bombshell "well, i am actually an atheist now, i just go along to keep my wife happy".. i also heard of a number of youngsters that i know personally who are simply living their life as they want, whilst making sure they don't get df'd for family and social reasons.. if as it seems the pimo's are a huge number, could there be a huge " awakening" where they all realize they are in a huge group, and they all say " eff it, lets call it a day on all the jw s**t ".

?.

wishful thinking, but.....just possible ?.

slimboyfat

There was an all time peak of 743,586 PIMO during the 2017 service year, which was a 5% increase on the previous year.