Posts by expatbrit

2

JW walks away from job; files complaint

by Gopher in

jw
friends

raymond jones filed a complaint after having angrily stalked off his job during the 1998 holiday season, never to return, at a shoppers drug mart in vancouver, british columbia, because his boss told him to set up artificial poinsettias in a seasonal display, which he took as a directive to support the abhorrent idea of "christmas" (he is a jehovah's witness).

as published in the minneapolis "star-tribune" of march 29, 2001.

"news of the weird" column editted by chuck shepherd

expatbrit

Gopher:

He won the case, too.

But I wonder if the benefits to the WT of winning this type of case are not more than offset by the damages caused by bad publicity?

Expatbrit.

25

Question for gay people

by expatbrit in

jw
friends

the question is about the term "tolerance" or "tolerating".. when someone says something along the lines of "i'm very tolerant of gay people" or "gay people should be tolerated", how do you feel?.

the reason i ask is this: doesn't the concept of tolerating something imply a background negative?

for instance, i can say "i tolerate my brother-in-law".

expatbrit

Outnfree:

Fred's quite amusing sometimes. Some of the things he comes out with are so outrageous you simply have to laugh.....

Since I asked the question about tolerance, I've been thinking about how not to be tolerant, but in a positive sense. If tolerance does in fact imply a negative connotation to whatever I am tolerating (even if this is unintentional on the part of me as the tolerator), then how can I improve?

I came up with a kind of "ladder" of attitudes (worst first):

Hatred
Intolerance
Tolerance
Acceptance
Irrelevance

Why irrelevance? Because I think that I cannot truly claim to have no prejudice against someone, whether of a different nationality, sexual orientation or whatever, until that difference is completely irrelevant (in a negative sense) to my thoughts or course of actions with that person.
In dealing with a gay person, for instance; I may know he/she is gay, but until that is completely irrelevant in that it doesn't create any negativity on my part, I am not free of prejudice. Tolerating, or even accepting, still could point to an underlying negative.

This is not saying that differences should not be acknowledged. Perhaps another rung should be added to the ladder. Can't think of a word, but something involving celebrating differences and using them to create positivity, not negativity.

Jumbled thoughts. You'll just have to tolerate them, I'm afraid!

Expatbrit

37

Isn't the tie a phallic symbol

by hippikon in

jw
friends

i seem to remember reading somewhere that the tie is a phallic symbol.

can anybody shed any light on that.

if this is so it should go the way of beards, birthdays, the cross, rock music, etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc.

expatbrit

Tina:

LOL!

Have you ever met the JW's who espouse the theory that in the new system everyone will go back to being naked?

I have. My reply to them was that, if that was the case, I would wear a very long, wide tie!

In which case, I think it rather necessary that you BRING MY TIE BACK RIGHT NOW, YOUNG LADY!

Expatbrit

9

Who's lying?

by rollercoaster in

jw
friends

today i found out that the elder i admired and thought to be above reproach, was commiting adultery.

the body of elders found out, and he was not removed.

he also gave his part at the assembly.. this is the same elder that told me not to get married.

expatbrit

The difference is that the Catholics are starting to acknowledge and try and make some amends for their abuses.

Expatbrit

37

Isn't the tie a phallic symbol

by hippikon in

jw
friends

i seem to remember reading somewhere that the tie is a phallic symbol.

can anybody shed any light on that.

if this is so it should go the way of beards, birthdays, the cross, rock music, etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc.

expatbrit

The tie is a perfect tool for the society.

Tying a noose around your own neck every day promotes the proper attitude of humility.

(Tina: OK, OK, I know I've used this line on H2O; but when you're a dimwit like wot I am, you gotta recycle stuff...)

Expatbrit

22

Visiting Bethel/new Corp Arrangements

by LDH in

jw
friends

a recent post from a wol newbie:.

please, at least once anyway....it is soooooooooooooo worth it!

any of you visited bethel lately????.

expatbrit

Ah, yes, the pilgrimage to Brooklyn.

On our visit, we were privileged to be invited into the office of Carey Barber, where he entertained us with his sparkling wit, such as calling sunbathers on the grass outside "basting turkeys".

We all giggled sycophantically while we had our picture taken with our idol.

Expatbrit

8