detective

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Posts by detective

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  26

  A House Built on Fallacies

  by Farkel in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  here are just a few examples of the kinds of fallacious dub arguments we've heard and used ourselves when we were dubs.

  heck, the whole darn religion is nothing but a series of fallacious arguments!.

  ad hominem - (attack the arguer, not the argument).

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  detective

  Great list! thanks. It's always good to understand a little bit more of what to expect when tangling with Tower reasoning!
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  14

  Attn: Formidable Apostates

  by Bubbamar in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i read the thread yesterday about apostates and started wondering about your families.

  i am thinking about writing a letter to my mom and sharing with her some of the things i have learned about the jw's but also realize that this will make me an apostate and will worsen an already distant and painful relationship.

  i am hoping that some of you will share your experiences on what impact your outspoken "apostacy" has had on your families - how have they reacted to you.

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  detective

  Please consider reading "Breaking the Bonds: Empowering people to think for themselves" by Steven Hassan, cult expert. Before you do anything else, you need to have a plan in place. Extricating someone from the grip of a high control group is a difficult process, and one you will have to carefully plot out. Learning to pay attention to body language and triggers can help you figure out the best times to drop small bits of info that will get them thinking. You'll have to figure out when they are in cult mode and when they are relaxed so that you can test the waters to see how much information they can handle. Whatever you do, don't rush into things. I can't say it enough- you have to plan ahead and expect that it may take some time. You have to find the best ways to open their minds without threatening their sense of security. If you aren't attending meetings, you will have to work that much harden to gain their trust as you slowly encourage them to question. I'd suggest looking back through Amazing's posts as he carefully planned the way in which he was going to get his family out. He managed to get them all out- which is no small accomplishment!

  I think this book will be helpful to you, it was helpful for me when I worked to get my friend out of the group. I found that it gave me some good ideas that I was able to modify for usage in my situation. I suspect you'll find it interesting. Try your local library as you may be able to get it there if you don't want to commit to buying it.

  try www.freedomofmind.com which is Hassan's website.
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  8

  Sun Myung Moon Coronated as Saviour of Earth

  by Satanus in

  1. social
  2. current

  causa international # 401 5th ave., nyc 10016 212-684-6122 .

  professors academy for world peace * .

  international exchange press * .

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  detective

  I saw this piece. Too funny!

  Now, if only the WTBTS had some sort of ahhh, reputable(?!?) journal or magazine of it's own...

  oh,nevermind!
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  180

  Dateline--Fahrenheit 911

  by patio34 in

  1. social
  2. current

  michael moore is being interviewed tonight on nbc dateline @ 8 est and then he'll also be on david letterman at 11:30 est.. p.s.

  http://www.nydailynews.com/news/gossip/story/203263p-175365c.html.

  heated exchange at 'fahrenheit'?.

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  detective

  Just thought I'd drop in and toss up a quote from the Boston Globe review that I thought might be useful...

  For all that, "Fahrenheit 9/11" remains the summer's must-see. Not because Disney tried to censor it; please, the film studio told its Miramax subsidiary it wouldn't distribute the film well over a year ago, and the recent mini-scandal is both pure PR and exactly what Moore and the Weinstein brothers should have done to get the movie to as many people as possible.

  No, "Fahrenheit" should be seen because it takes off the gloves and wades into the fray, because it synthesizes the anti-Bush argument like no other work before it, and because it forces you to decide for yourself exactly where passion starts to warp point of view.

  One last thought: "Fahrenheit 9/11" is many things, but for pity's sake let's not call it a documentary. To do so abuses the word and shames the good and balanced work done by filmmakers as storied as D.A. Pennebaker and Barbara Kopple, as current as Jehane Noujaim of "Control Room," and as hard-working and unheralded as Carma Hinton of Brookline's Long Bow Group.

  Moore, by contrast, is a maker of agit-entertainment, of cinematic essays whose express purpose is to convince. That's fine as long as he's respecting his audience. But when he pushes the camera into Lipscomb's weeping face and keeps it there, he's saying that he doesn't trust you to think for yourself. And that is when he becomes his enemy.

  full review is here:

  http://www.boston.com/movies/display?display=movie&id=7054

  Since when is this a Michael Moore vs. George Bush issue? Michael Moore the entertainer vs. George Bush the President! (I'm quite sure Michael Moore would salivate profusely at the thought of that.) Like I somehow have to pick which one I like less! They both turn my stomach- part of their respective lack-of-charm, I guess.

  My biggest concern as I read through this thread is the amount of people who seem to checking their skepticism in regards to Michael Moore's work. Bush... well, one would hope that you've got the bullsh-t meter on high. But Moore- his entire piece of enterainment is completely crafted around his agenda. Big time! We all understand this, right?
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  28

  Encouragement to get back to the meetings

  by cyber-sista in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i keep getting these forwards from certain ones who i knew in the org.

  they know i have left because i was "discouraged".

  they are keeping their distance by not writing to me anything personal, but keep sending these "encouraging" forwards in hopes that i'll be re-awakened, dust off the book bag and head on back to the old kh.

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  detective

  Recently I had to go to the dentist. Mind you, I had a long day at work, I didn't enjoy my last visit to the dentist... so I really, really just didn't want to go. But I knew that I should go, so I begrudgingly went...

  and guess what?!?

  I felt better afterwards.

  All I can say is I thank my lucky stars I don't have to see my dentist three times a week.

  Nice poem!

  I
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  21

  Mom had another stroke.

  by El Kabong in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  earlier this year, i posted that my mom suffered a stroke and we had to put her in a nursing home.

  i got a call a little while ago that my mom just suffered another stroke.

  she's in the hospital in icu.

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  detective

  my thoughts are with you, your family, and of course your mother.

  detective
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  9

  activism...yahoo.

  by detective in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  okay, i'm not that excited about it, but i feel i've done my part today, albeit, with mixed emotion.. i happened into a clinic at the hospital and lo and behold amidst the peoples and newsweeks in the waiting area... hmmm... someone tucked a few magazines into the reading selections- big surprise, i know!

  it just wouldn't be a waiting area without a "100 best dressed celebs", a dog-eared better housekeeping, a barely touched newsweek and of course, our best protection against satan- the ever-popular watchtower and awake magazines.. ugh.

  now i'm miffed.

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  detective

  Okay, I'm not that excited about it, but I feel I've done my part today, albeit, with mixed emotion.

  I happened into a clinic at the hospital and lo and behold amidst the peoples and newsweeks in the waiting area... hmmm... someone tucked a few magazines into the reading selections- big surprise, I know! It just wouldn't be a waiting area without a "100 Best Dressed Celebs", a dog-eared Better Housekeeping, a barely touched Newsweek and of course, our best protection against Satan- the ever-popular Watchtower and Awake magazines.

  Ugh. Now I'm miffed. I really have no desire to get all activist-y today but clearly something has to be done. I assess the receptionists- are they or aren't they? One in particular looks as if she has plenty of tea length frocks in the closet, if you know what I'm saying. Clearly the grabbing and running approach isn't going to work. But, I'm in an area where the people sitting in this clinic might have occasion to need blood. More so, than in other medical offices, I'd wager. Clearly, something has to be done, whether I like it or not.

  So, I contacted an official at the hospital and they indicated that it would be addressed. And it will be, as when I spoke to the official, I just knew that they understood exactly why it was unacceptable to promote the WTBTS in the hospital environment.

  There, even my lazy arse can do the activist dance every now and again.

  And the kicker. In some weird way, I actually feel a little guilty. Justified and yet guilty. Can you believe it? and to think, I was never even a member of this crazy group! But the receptionist with modest attire- I felt a little bad for her. Weird, huh? But she is (most likely) a member of a destructive high control group, so flowery dress or not, you gotta do what you gotta do. She'll probably be told not to do it again and wonder what mystery person curbed her speading of the "good news". Well, maybe if they had a Weekly World News in the bunch of magazines, I might have overlooked the watchtower infraction...

  Well, maybe not.

  High control groups stink.
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  128

  What are some of the worst movies you've seen?

  by doodle-v in

  1. social
  2. entertainment

  here's my movies that suck list.

  battlefield earth .

  mission to mars .

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  detective

  Pay it Forward

  Trog (Joan Crawford & the missing Link)

  Wild Orchid (Mickey Rourke movie... hooooooooorrrible)
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  61

  Sometimes I Hate Being The Father Of Teenagers . . .

  by Corvin in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am a pretty liberal dad.

  i talk to my kids alot and openly about everything from sex to drugs .

  i always try to give them options and let them make their own decisions .

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  detective

  Rap music is not allowed in my house. I don't care if the artist is black or white, it is not allowed. I want my daughter coming home and saying "hi, how was your day" not stuff like "yo dog, whas up!" I do not approve of improper English and rap is full of it.

  I hear ya, copsec, but rap isn't the only form of music chock full of the bad engleeesh. Jazz music and swing music, as examples, are full of improper English, slang and oodles of innuendo. Country music? Yikes. Spirituals? Forget about doing a jig to an traditional Irish tune...

  I fully appreciate your right to choose whatever music you would prefer not be played in your home. However, if improper English were really the issue, your house would be pretty darn quiet!
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  59

  Idiotic things only a jw would say

  by micheal in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a c.o in one of his friday night talks noticed when he was invited for meals at the brothers and sisters homes that everyone has their chairs and sofa's pointed at the direction of the television set and asked why do people do that.

  then he went on to strongly suggest that everyone change this and either have their furniture pointed somewhere else or get rid of the television.

  what a total moron!!

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  detective

  "I love you, but I love Jehovah more."