Posts by done4good

112

Did an EX-JW wake you up to TTATT or did you put the effort to wake up yourself?

by John Aquila in

how many of us were woken up by some apostate yelling false prophets at a convention?.

how many of us were woken up by someone holding a sign and yelling, what happened to 1975.

how many of us were coerced to investigate the wt because some ex-jw pulled up a bunch of old watchtowers magazines and told us to read the false predictions?.

done4good

I would argue that it is impossible to be woken up by someone else, however seeds can be planted that will produce fruit given the proper environment.

I had severe cognitive dissonance for many years before leaving, and did my best not to embrace it. Embracing it means facing the dissonance and trying to figure out why there are logical inconsistencies. This was a painful process, because deep down I recognized there was a severe price to be paid for discovering my beliefs could be wrong. This is why it often takes a personal traumatic situation for someone to wake up, as it did for me.

This article below I believe explains the reasons why even very intelligent people believe nonsensical things. The four keys points represented provide some insight as to why logic alone is not sufficient in most cases for someone to "wake up" and seriously question their belief system.

Why do intelligent and educated people still believe nonsense?

d4g

37

What’s the deal with all the Smart-Educated JWs?

by John Aquila in

we talk a lot about most jws being uneducated, uninformed, and that they lack critical thinking skills, but in my area there is a lot of jws that went to the university, medical school, law school, and came back to the organization.

in my circuit, that i know of, we had two electrical engineers, one computer engineer with a ph.d. eight teachers with a bachelors degree and three of those with a masters in education.

we had two medical doctors, one was a pediatrician who closed his business about 3 years ago and went to bethel.

done4good

Diogenesister - This is not a USA vs. Europe thing. A masters or PhD from any real university is an academically rigorous degree.

We are not just talking about converts that already had their degrees before becoming a JW. This affects born-ins and raised-ins as well, even more so. Many of these folks do go to university, (I did), and what happens is the programming is already well set in by that time, so it is easy to remain in, as one can treat the experience as "necessary business". Remember JWs that do go to university are going for career purposes, not to be enlightened in the general sense, so it is easier for them to have a rather disengaged viewpoint to the experience, even though they may perform well academically. Compartmentalization is the result, unless one is already having doubts.

University educated people have a greater degree of success in aggregate than non-university educated folks. Successful people have higher levels of self-esteem, and generally work to preserve that self-esteem. If something stands in the way of the ability to maintain a healthy level of self-esteem, (such as being wronged in a judicial committee, divorce, etc.), this will lead a successful person to often see things as they really are. Those experiences can happen several years into the future after one's education is completed.

d4g

37

What’s the deal with all the Smart-Educated JWs?

by John Aquila in

we talk a lot about most jws being uneducated, uninformed, and that they lack critical thinking skills, but in my area there is a lot of jws that went to the university, medical school, law school, and came back to the organization.

in my circuit, that i know of, we had two electrical engineers, one computer engineer with a ph.d. eight teachers with a bachelors degree and three of those with a masters in education.

we had two medical doctors, one was a pediatrician who closed his business about 3 years ago and went to bethel.

done4good

A university education does not mean someone will "leave" immediately, if ever. That is a myth. If that were the case I would have left 11-15 years before I did. Those that do leave because they are attending university are already questioning the organization.The GB are just plain paranoid about their constituents being better educated and smarter than they are, as any authoritarian group is.

IMHO JWs compartmentalize JW life vs. "normal" life. In their day to day normal life, they can use critical thinking skills, and become very balanced and successful people, until they are confronted with something that sets off the group think/cult programming. This causes cognitive dissonance as has been mentioned above.

Having said that, successful people do not make good robots, and very often times, with the passing of time and experience, probability dictates that something will happen to these ones that will force them to wake up. This is the real reason a college education is a problem for the WTS. College generally = success, and success = not taking bullshit.

d4g

35

Kick Back and Relax to Some Music

by Finkelstein in

that's right folks time to kick back , pour a cold one and in take in some tunes.. what are you listening to right now ?

.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xu87294pvx8.

done4good

Good thread. Will add later when not at work...Who, Radiohead, Dire Straits...all good.

d4g

15

Huckabee: The US Is More Evil Than The Rest Of The World

by ctrwtf in

jw
friends

https://youtu.be/spnxx52oesa .

mike huckabee thinks that sin and evil, not guns, are the reason the us has so many mass shootings.. if this is true, then all things being equal, the us has more evil and sinful people than the rest of the world.

who's to blame for that?

done4good

Until people start using science and math to reason, (in this case using simple probability theory, not even its more advanced concepts), stupid comments such as Huckabee's, and one I saw yesterday on this forum that the "US has a problem with crazy people", (or something close to that), will continue to proliferate. Sadly, people will believe it.

Yes, I said stupid comments...not stupid people. I don't want to offend the poster that made the above comment I mention, but Huckabee's comment is just another variation thereof. That poster is not stupid.

d4g

73

An 11-year-old boy is in custody for murder for shooting and killing an eight-year-old neighbour girl with a shotgun . . .

by nicolaou in

.

because she would not show him her puppies.. nobody has to tell you what country this happened in, you already know.. source.

done4good

Vidiot - It's not rocket science.

No, it isn't. Its probability theory and considered a basic mathematical requirement in any engineering or scientific area of profession or study. Even a well designed gun cannot be engineered without it.

It is no coincidence either that the same people that tend to be anti-education are also the same ones that tend to be the most pro-gun.

d4g

36

What is your purpose or what do you wish to accomplish while a member of this board?

by Tenacious in

jw
friends

when i joined this forum i was seeking more people who felt the same way i did in terms of seeing the jehovah's witness organization for what it truly was; a false prophet.. once i found like-minded members i slowly started to open up and participate more in trying to help others that were also exiting mentally and physically.

today, i offer support to anyone who desires it regardless of what they believe or not believe.. so what is your purpose on this board?.

support?

done4good

I have been on here over 9 years, not long after leaving the JWs. It started out as mostly a place to have my thoughts validated. I had already read CoC by that time, and Timothy Campbell's Beyond JW site by then.

I would have varying degrees of input over the next 3 years or so, with little contribution between 2009-2013. Last year, a very hurtful personal event brought me back, as I really needed to cathartically express my thoughts about the situation, and still do from time to time. I am also concerned with what goes on in JWdom for the sake of two people I still dearly love.

I now try to help others to the degree my small amount of insight might be beneficial to them.

d4g

73

An 11-year-old boy is in custody for murder for shooting and killing an eight-year-old neighbour girl with a shotgun . . .

by nicolaou in

.

because she would not show him her puppies.. nobody has to tell you what country this happened in, you already know.. source.

done4good

Simon - US politics is simply dysfunctional - everyone knows what needs to be done, the majority support it ... but the laws still cannot be passed
There is something fundamentally wrong with our congressional makeup. It mostly has to do with House districting.

House districts are geographically significant, not populationally significant. There are more districts that represent rural areas in Washington, than those that represent well populated areas, hence more votes representing those interests. Rural areas are generally very conservative in the US, as opposed to well populated areas that are generally much more liberal, and therefore these rural areas are over-represented in Washington. This accounts for the deadlock we see in our system. A Parliamentary type system, such as like that of Canada or the UK is far more efficient when stark differences of political ideals exist from one geographic area to another.

This was not always a problem, however with societal change taking place at the pace it currently is happening, conservative types tend to dig their heels in deep, resisting change. This takes place in fiscal, as well as social matters. Gun control is just one of many things that are affected by this. This is also why the Supreme Court is being called on to play such a significant role in affecting legislation.

d4g

73

An 11-year-old boy is in custody for murder for shooting and killing an eight-year-old neighbour girl with a shotgun . . .

by nicolaou in

.

because she would not show him her puppies.. nobody has to tell you what country this happened in, you already know.. source.

done4good

anything that requires a constitutional amendment to own and use should be questioned to some degree.

Books?

Abortions?

As to realistic solutions, I would start with intense training, in schools, in the safe use of firearms. We're teaching kids to put condoms on bananas, they should also learn how to check the action on a gun. Requiring safe storage is not unreasonable. In the case in the OP, the parents should be charged with negligent homicide.

Notice I said questioned to some degree, not abolished.

There are practical limits that can be applied to gun ownership/use that would still fall within the constitutional allowance. The problem is, the second amendment is treated as an absolute. Even the first amendment does not quite have the reach the second amendment is allowed, let alone have an organization to make sure it is upheld on those absolute terms. The NRA does their damnest to make sure NO gun control is passed. Any sane person can see something is wrong with that.

d4g

73

An 11-year-old boy is in custody for murder for shooting and killing an eight-year-old neighbour girl with a shotgun . . .

by nicolaou in

.

because she would not show him her puppies.. nobody has to tell you what country this happened in, you already know.. source.

done4good

I'm very attached to my guns

Some of my comment was deleted so it made no sense.

In any case, I get being attached to something, (I am to my records, stereo, etc.), but anything that requires a constitutional amendment to own and use should be questioned to some degree.

This isn't Tombstone anymore folks.

d4g