Posts by Paralipomenon

57

Love of video games = love of violence? August 2012 Awake!

by sd-7 in

page 4-5:.

"video games: 'the uncomfortable fact is, videogames have an unhealthy obsession with bloodshed,' stated a british magazine for video-game enthusiasts.

it added: 'to some degree, a love of videogames demands a love of violence.

Paralipomenon

I have been playing video games since I was very young. I haven't really cared about the content, if the gameplay is fun I enjoyed it.

One of the early video games that spurred on advocates was Double Dragon, the beginning showed a gang of thugs walk up, punch the lead character's girlfriend and then toss her over his shoulder (you could see her panties too, eeeek) and that set the stage for a Punch 'em up, fighting game to rescue the damsel in distress.

To date, I haven't punched any women or any men for that matter.

I played Wolfenstein, where you mow down nazis, demons and eventually a cybernetically enhanced Hitler. I haven't shot anyone and have no desire to do so.

People love to point to games about shocking antics because it's something they don't understand. If you instill even the basic of parenting into your children they will be able to tell what is fantasy and what is reality. That said, there are psychopaths in this world that don't have any morals. They will be dangerous regardless of what they play or do for entertainment.

57

Love of video games = love of violence? August 2012 Awake!

by sd-7 in

page 4-5:.

"video games: 'the uncomfortable fact is, videogames have an unhealthy obsession with bloodshed,' stated a british magazine for video-game enthusiasts.

it added: 'to some degree, a love of videogames demands a love of violence.

Paralipomenon

So, Diablo III, approved for Witnesses or not?

36

Any more fond (not so) DC memories?

by outsmartthesystem in

my oldest child was barely 4 months old and not an easy baby.

she cried all the time....and getting her to sleep during the day was a pain.....especially in a facility that was 80 degrees with a/c.

on sunday afternoon of the dc....knowing we had a two hour drive home (she also didn't sleep in the car well).....i went to an "off limits" area with her.

Paralipomenon

I remember as a kid, exploring all the areas of the school or arena that were "off limits". We'd sneak up and down trying to avoid the "Assembly Security" that would patrol all these areas.

I remember the "Attendants" used to get special ribbons to pin on like badges. They reused them alot so many of them were faded. When I got olderI noticed a few reading awards at school used the same ribbon type so I would come with a pocket full of them to make sure I got the color right and pin one on as I strutted through these "off limit" areas scolding younger kids. If I did see an attendant, I'd scowl and give him a head nod and ask if he'd seen a kid in a blue suit from his direction. Never got questioned.

Valuable life lesson, if you act like you belong in a place, most people won't challenge you.

28

Why Do Introvert Elders Even Bother, What's Their Game?

by Bubblegum Apotheosis in

something that has troubled me for some time, why do introvert personalities reach out for the office of overseer?.

this personality does not help with shepherding the flock (other brothers pick up their slack, their too shy for judicial committes), they are not upbuidling for the brothers and sisters (their long lost stuttering problem resurfaces when asked to call m.i.a.

congregation memebers) and they are useless for widows and orphans (i can't help little father-less davie, my online role playing games are all time consuming!

Paralipomenon

Introvert just means that you get your drive and energy from quiet activities with your own thoughts. Extroverts get their drive and energy from being around people.

There are shy extroverts and outgoing introverts. For some reason the world seems to view introverts as second class citizens and tout extroversion as the model for all.

Your post comes off as rather offensive to anyone pleased to be an introvert.

44

Latest WT: "Facebook = a powerful medicine"??

by cedars in

ok, i think the writing department has well and truly lost the plot now!.

on page 14 of the august 15th watchtower, there is an extensive section on the perils of the internet, with the caption "do you heed bible-based warnings about the internet?

" in large intimidating letters.

Paralipomenon

I'm fairly certain this article is about MySpace and I have canceled my account.

76

What the Watchtower needs to do to survive.

by jwfacts in

drop its teaching on paradise earth.. the primary issue facing the watchtower results from it's teaching that members will never die, but live forever on this earth in paradise.

this teaching is cause of most of the doctrinal failures, and will be its eventual demise.. the promise of never dying is one of the foremost motivations for people that join the religion, and the message of living forever in paradise is compelling.

however, it is also the watchtower's achilles heel, as it forces false predictions of the nearness of the end.

Paralipomenon

The hardest days for the witnesses are to come.

In the whole history of the religion, there has always been a marker, some obvious, some subtle, and as they approached the marker they had New Light™ that moved it just a little bit further. Since it was a small change, people grumbled a bit, but accepted it and moved on.

The last marker was the 1914 Generation. They made the massive mistake of removing the marker rather than moving it. The overlapping generations excuse isn't understood and people are still looking at where the old marker used to be. The Watchtower is still preaching "the end is near" but for the first time, en masse people are starting to ask "why?"

1975 is coming back to bite them with more of vengance than it did 37 years ago. The kids of the Boomer Generation have watched their parents grow old, screw up their finances and are now at retirement age, but very few had the resources to retire. They will be bitter and that bitterness will grow. The advice to their kids will be "Don't make the same mistake I made, get a career, save for retirement, look after your family".

With that the unthinkable will have happened, while not intended, parents will essentially be telling their kids to "ignore the council of the Faithful and Discrete Slave".

The other factor is, growth is in decline. There are a great number of witnesses that feel that the growth of witnesses is an indication of Jehovah's blessing. Growth is already slowing down, once it hits negative growth it will start to build momentum as people start to wonder where Jehovah's Blessing is and be more open to thinking for themselves.

In all, they need to find a new marker, but I think they have exhausted almost all of them, Barring that, they will need massive reform to stem the tide. I quite agree with Jwfacts list, but would also like to add one to it. Publically making blood transfusions a conscience matter and dropping the liason committee as well as legal challenges.

43

untitled

by Perry in

the original soft tissues, blood vessels, cells and blood components [shown above] in a supposed 65 million year old t. rex dinosaur published in 2005 shocked the secular community, but not literal bible believers.

the stench of rotting flesh could still be smelled.. the chart below is a list of all kinds of things that are supposed to be hundreds of millions of years old , yet the evidence is consistent with a literal biblical view of only thousands of years old.. .

here's a "still pink" supposed 350 million year old shrimp:.

Paralipomenon

And by the way ..... maybe you missed it , but no one asked you to respond to this thread. Not trying to be rude, but your comment seems out of place.

Given that the thread is titled "untitled-topic" I feel it is safe to assume that there should have been no content in the original post. Not trying to be rude, but your title seems out of place.

30

The best ex-JW books - and what made them unique...

by cedars in

jw
friends

at some point in my life, i would really like to write a book about my jw experience and jw teachings in general.

however, if i did, i would preferably like to write from a unique angle that makes the book a little different from the many others out there.

i can imagine some being quite self-indulgent, and i would want to avoid that wherever possible.. i must confess, due to a variety of circumstances i am not well read when it comes to all the various ex-jw books out there.

Paralipomenon

I enjoyed the first half of "I'm perfect..." but the second half lost it's lighthearted feel and starting to feel like depressing rambling. It felt that halfway through the author lost her composure and the hurt she felt became impossible to contain to keep with narative concistency.

One book on my list to read is The Spanking Room. Also, I've never read Combatting Cult Mind Control, I know, I know, it is a staple for any ex-witness to read but the topic doesn't really appeal to me at this time. The Witnesses in my life have made it clear they don't want to talk to me, so there's nothing to combat.

37

Gated Communities in Puerto Rico now required to have a Security Guard and special entrance for Jehovah's Witnesses

by Alfred in

as some of you may recall, on february 11, 2011 the united states court of appeals ruled that most gated communities in puerto rico violated the constitutional rights of jehovahs witnesses by not allowing them unobstructed access to homes and thereby thwarting their right to worship freely.

not sure how the watchtower was able to fool the us court of appeals, but there you have it... the next step in this judicial process is to determine how this needed to happen.. to that end, the us court of appeals has recently ruled that those gated communities in puerto rico that didnt have security guards (i.e.

: have a tele-entry key pad instead) were to hire at least one security guard who would be positioned at the entrance for the purpose of allowing jehovahs witnesses free access to the community.

Paralipomenon

The comment about the 40's/50's being they heyday for Witnesses as they fought many legal battles for freedom of religion reminded me of this article:

How Jehovah's Witnesses helped kill Prop 8

4

I have a new blood card I carry with me.

by Paralipomenon in

jw
friends

blood donor card came in the mail yesterday.. o-.

i'm a universal donor.. suck on that watchtower!.

Paralipomenon

yes, they do call alot. I donated for the first time a couple weeks ago and they were very quick to call back and schedule my next donation.

As a first time donor, I did notice that there were alot of men there. It struck me as a bit odd until I was asked to identify the reason for my visit with one of the options being "I am mainly interested in a HIV test".

Also, I sadly had to tick off that I have had no contact with monkies in the past 6 months.