I intend in the future (when I get a cam and can post all the hijinks online) to infiltrate a "meeting" of a certain religious organization which will remain anonymous (no guessing!).
Now, I need to know if there are any laws governing the er "interruption" of a religious gathering?
For example, if I ask a bunch of akward hard to answer questions at inappropriate times? Will this cause any cops to be called to keep the peace?
If I were to wear (under a jacket until the opportune moment) a shirt that was advertising contrary material to what was being preached from the pulpit would I be disciplined by law enforcement?
In other words, what laws are there, since I assume there is at least one or two, that restrict what a person can do/say/behave like at a religious gathering? I ask only because I don't want to put up with the hassle of paying fines, I would gladly be put in jail if that were all there was to it! But, they always want some scratch. Do the crime, pay the fine.
If anyone can illuminate me as to what I'm up against I would be much obliged. :)
Thanks!
smellsgood
JoinedPosts by smellsgood
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Will I Be Breaking Any Laws?
by smellsgood ini intend in the future (when i get a cam and can post all the hijinks online) to infiltrate a "meeting" of a certain religious organization which will remain anonymous (no guessing!).
now, i need to know if there are any laws governing the er "interruption" of a religious gathering?
for example, if i ask a bunch of akward hard to answer questions at inappropriate times?
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smellsgood
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"But he wasn't a REAL Christian!"
by FireNBandits injimmy swaggert (a "swaggert" is a swaggering braggart btw), jim and tammy fakker, or any well-known christian that "blows it" big-time in a public way is sure to elicit that response from the fundagelicals around you.
"but he wasn't a real christian!
" what a convenient psychological device to keep ones fantasy image of ones religion intact!
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smellsgood
"JESUS DELIVER ME FROM THE DEMON OF CHOCOLATE!" It was a very important moment for me. ("She's daft Maritn and you're daft for being here with these daft people.")
LOL! That's f-in funny.
Shall I be a nerd and expound upon all the lovely beneficial properties of Chocolate??
smellsgood eats Chocolate everyday, "Jesus, deliver me a lifetime supply of chocolate!" -
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"But he wasn't a REAL Christian!"
by FireNBandits injimmy swaggert (a "swaggert" is a swaggering braggart btw), jim and tammy fakker, or any well-known christian that "blows it" big-time in a public way is sure to elicit that response from the fundagelicals around you.
"but he wasn't a real christian!
" what a convenient psychological device to keep ones fantasy image of ones religion intact!
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smellsgood
I would add the David Moses guy. Now, he claimed to have the "truth" was a cult leader, etc. He also began one of the most intensely and excruciatingly "non-Christian" doctrine, that to LOVE a child was to have sex with a child.
In his case, I would say
"He never really was a Christian"
There are some outward manifestations that can be helpful in identifying the "truth" about someones "claims." :) -
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"But he wasn't a REAL Christian!"
by FireNBandits injimmy swaggert (a "swaggert" is a swaggering braggart btw), jim and tammy fakker, or any well-known christian that "blows it" big-time in a public way is sure to elicit that response from the fundagelicals around you.
"but he wasn't a real christian!
" what a convenient psychological device to keep ones fantasy image of ones religion intact!
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smellsgood
"What a convenient psychological device to keep ones fantasy image of ones religion intact!"
I can kind of see what your saying, but having never been a JW, it seems to me you may be looking at "Christianity" with a slight bent as a result.
The trouble is, is that although there are the biggies in Christianity, we all know them, they sweat at the pulpit, usually wear rings and a Rolex (much like Jesus) always seem to be in desparate need of donations, and sometimes sell snake oil (like the guy with the miracle water!). However, you seem to be looking at it a little like one might expect, given that the WT tends to homogenize and structurize Christianity in a way similar to its own. That way, if there is something going on with one leader of one group of Christianity, it reflects on the disingenuous hypocrites that are the entire lot.
It is not a group structure, though. I don't think that the ordinary lay "Christian" depends heavily enough on the purity in the pulpit, that if a preacher happened for example, to snort meth off a tranny hookers ass on the weekends, that there is even a remote intertwining of their "belief" or "religion" and their idea of who that preacher was.
Basically, a Christian, unlike a Jehovah's Witness, does not have monthly periodicals pushed in their faith directing them to put their faith in Jesus' REPRESENTATIVE (the GB anointed), but rather Jesus himself. So, no, I don't think it's a fantasy to keep ones "religion" intact whatsoever. It's more that that particular INDIVIDUAL was not BEHAVING as they understand a Christian ought to.
Kind of like if a professed Republican were to sit in the White House and create hundreds of new Government programs and beauraucracies (er, sp?), which is fundamentally against the Republican "principles", you'd have a whole bunch of Republicans grumbling about the fact that that particular individual was clearly not a "true Republican." I don't think it has to do with the actual philosophy of the party though.
" Again, this is to distance Christianity--and hence Jesus--from bad PR. Can you say WATCHTOWER?"
Again, I disagree. It would be a bad reflection on Jesus if that person proclaimed that Jesus had picked him at so and so a time to speak directly on his behalf. Christianity while it was all entangled with the State for example, and individual Christians have always done things that could give "Christianity" bad publicity. Be it the system or the believer. BUT, as Ghandi once said "I like their Christ, not their Christians." It should not have a negative effect on Jesus. If it happens to, then that is the ignorance of someone who can't seem to separate out the individual and the body of believers. What you're saying kind of reminds me of how the family operated in times past, where if say Lucy were to have a child out of wedlock, it would "dishonor" the family name. So it was kept hidden. Luckily, I think we've moved past that for the most part.
In my mind, after having made myself extremely familiar with the Watchtower over the past 5 years, but never having been a JW myself, it is so extremely different than what I've observed a typical Christian group to be its not even funny. No organized top down structure for the group. Entirely a heterogenous bunch. -
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How the Religious View Homosexuality
by serotonin_wraith infor people who are still religious, what are your views on gays?.
for me (an atheist) it goes against my own morality to think of them as sinners or somehow doing wrong, and yet in the bible it teaches that it is wrong.
it's one of the main reasons i could never go along with the jws.. i'm curious how religious people address this issue.
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smellsgood
Hey serotonin_wraith
you said:
"I can agree 100%. However, this comes from human morality, not that of the Bible."
smellsgood: I think that its interesting that you said "human morality." It's interesting to me to think of "morality" in light of all the diverging viewpoints, on well, everything in the world.
So, where does it come from? Especially in light of survival of the fittest...why are we not driven to discard "defective" children for instance? They do nothing for us. They are a burden to their parents and society (even if their parents "love" them). They don't contribute intellectually or financially to our society, etc. So, why don't we, just as the Spartans, or even the Romans, get rid of them? Like Eugenics was trying to do in the early 20th century? Route them out and dispose of them? What is the "moral" hangup and why can we not intellectually overcome it in the interest of bettering our Society? Non-contributive=worthless does it not?
What if I kicked you in the shins because I felt like it? What if you got upset about it? Well, then I say, to hell with your standard, I am autonomous and do as I please.
Please look at this as I do as a philosophical inquiry, trying to leave preconceived notions, ego, prejudices and bias behind.
Interesting thing to think about. I think Neitschze concluded it right before he turned mad.
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Make up: Love it or loathe it?
by Crumpet ini have just gotten around to taking off last nights trowelling and what a relief that is!
i rarely wear make up - maybe once a month, so i probably go over board.
i feel like my skin just suffocated for 24 hrs.. what do you love or loathe about make up?
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smellsgood
I love make-up. I hate not wearing it when I'm in public. It is a bit of a bother to apply though, but I reckon its worth it. I look better that's for sure.
I also love it when guys wear make-up, a la Johnny Depp in Pirates, or Ewan MacGregor whenever. I don't think there's anything immasculating about it, and I'm not attracted to "manly" football loving, beer drinking men anyways. I love the way Rodrigo Santoros makeup looked in 300. Very hot. -
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"Follow the Christ" Study Guide for Kids
by rebel8 indid i say study guide?
i meant brainwashing tool.
http://www.jwforum.net/jw2007dc/index.htm .
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smellsgood
Creepy. Everything....so creepy. Their Jesus portrait is creepy.
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Weird things relating to females at the KH
by Tatiana inwith all the news concerning the child abuse lawsuits, and from reading many comments concerning the wts' view of women, i started remembering lots of little things that were brought up at my kh in the many years i attended.
i don't remember anything pertaining to the brothers.
but, there were things brought up from the platform that just seem ridiculous.
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smellsgood
It's like in Muslim thinking, where the women have to cover up not only to be modest, but to not be "enticing" to horny men. So you're telling me that because men have urges I have to wear a bedspread with eyeholes? No, i'm good. Sort of like, if a woman were to wear something more revealing (like she shows a little wrist) then, if Fahreed starts pawing her, it's cos she asked for it! The tramp!
It's just legalism and control to the last detail. No cream colored stalkings? What verse could they back that up with? 1 Moron 14:9?
I tell you, if I ever get around to stepping foot in a Kingdom hall, I'm going to study these rules very thoroughly so I can make sure there isn't one I don't break.:) Oh, and of course I'll surreptitiously wear one of my long coats at first, and then reveal my www.freeminds.org shirt underneath. -
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If different races are good, why aren't different religions good?
by JH inthe way i see it, if the jw's say that there is only 1 good religion and it's theirs, then it's like saying that out of all the different races of people on earth, just one race is pure.
this sounds racist.. i find it beautiful to see all kinds of people and races and languages, so why not different ways of adoring god?.
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smellsgood
The way I see it, if the JW's say that there is only 1 good religion and it's theirs, then it's like saying that out of all the different races of people on earth, just one race is pure. This sounds racist.
smellsgood: I don't know if I'd compare religion with race. It's kinda like comparing soda to water. Besides, religion is too often thought of in the whats and that magical doctrinal formula, I would suppose perhaps it would be wiser to look at 'who' rather than 'what.' It seems more the point really.
I find it beautiful to see all kinds of people and races and languages, so why not different ways of adoring God?
smellsgood: Eating with your hands serves the same purpose as eating with utensils, still, there are things that you eat that nourish you, and things that can dissolve your liver. -
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A mormon fires back at PBS
by LovesDubs inmy reply is in the next post.
(its long...).
> show even though you devoted 40 minutes to the.
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smellsgood
"And, no, it wasn't necessary to do any elaborate counting. We, also, went back over the video to see how "balanced" it was ... pro-LDS vs. anti-LDS. It was easy to simply count the air time given to the anti side versus the pro side. A 10-1 ratio of anti comments to pro comments can hardly be called "balanced" by any reasonable definition of the term."
Yeah, either way, I don't believe it was 10 to 1, but lets say you're correct:::
Where I think we get into trouble is when as you often see with the Jehovah's Witness, everything is categorized into "pro-JW" vs. "anti-JW." It isn't a boxing match. Also, making it us versus them blurs the facts and makes it about egos rather than sussing out the truth.
What I would be more interested to know; given that you and others in the LDS faith KNOW that there is no extra-BOM evidence, written, oratorical, historical, archaeological, or biological evidence WHATSOEVER that the Israelites migrated to the Americas, why is it not clear that it is FICTION? It's about as factual as Paris Hilton having a genius level IQ.
What purpose does the BOM or any of Josephs Smith's revelations serve in the sphere of the Christian gospel?
Do you have to be a member of the Church to perform the "Salvation rituals"? Or be saved? (I know you'll answer no, just as a JW would, but can you be honest enough with yourself to admit you believe otherwise, or your faith teaches otherwise?)
Doesn't the Mormon Church claim to be first century Christianity restored? Doesn't the Watchtower faith claim the same? Didn't the Way International and countless others claim the same?
Have you read "No man knows my history"?
What's the point of Mormonism? What does it "restore" that was "lost" that is pivotal for "salvation"?
I'm curious.
It would warm your heart no doubt to know that where I'm from, it's swarming with Mormons. The Church has three services that are packed, just want to go in there one day and holler away. It's right by the school, so had alot of Mormon friends growing up.