Posts by StephaneLaliberte

20

Love one another intensely...avoid partiality

by RULES & REGULATIONS in

the watchtower—study edition | march 2020. study article 13. love one another intensely.

if we have intense “love for the whole association of brothers,” we will avoid being partial.

7 jesus urged us to keep treating others the way we want to be treated.

StephaneLaliberte

Such articles honorably try to foster friendship and good relationships across cultures and ages. However, the actual outcome is largely not what these articles aim for. This issue applies to all religions where members gather based on their shared faith.

Through the years, I noticed that after such articles would come out, people (including me), would reach out to people they normally didn’t hang out with. These attempts would often fail and result in shallow conversation. Both participants understood the conversation was a result of such articles about “Christian love” and felt a bit forced. Some would give up on these attempts while others would keep trying, appearing phony with many members of the congregations. This whole social endeavor generally ended right back to what people were doing before the articles, except that people judged each other a bit more.

I came to understand this social dilemma years back when I had a conversation with an elder. I confronted him on how the elders basically ignored me for over a year since I had joined their congregation. He started by asking for my forgiveness as he had failed his role as a “Shepard”, but then, provided a bit of a context so that I wouldn’t judge other brothers too harshly. He explained that his life was made up of a wife, children, job, elderly parents, being an elder and hunting. We had none of these things in common. Its easier to make friends with people when we have such things in common. Its just human nature.” In the following months, he invited me in service, gave me parts at the kingdom hall, talked with me after the meetings, etc. I always respected him for that. Yet, I understood that it didn’t come easy for him. He made the effort as he was an elder, it was his “responsibility”. Still, should such expectations apply to everyone in a congregation? Of course not!

Articles like these teach that having faith in common is sufficient for a great friendship. While this might be true for very active members, it will not be the case for most rank and files. Additional shared experiences and interests are needed and people will not become great friends simply because they believe in the same God. You can’t force friendship no more than you can force love and articles such as these don’t seem to set proper expectations.

Hence, in the picture seen above, the elderly brother should not look at the kids thinking: “They’re ignoring me”. He needs to think of what else he can do to have their attention; outside of “spiritual” stuff. Does he have a pool? A chalet? Can he run errands with a car? Does he offer any jobs? Does he offer his house as a place for service and offer coffee when they come in? Does he play chess? Does he have a cool basement with a big tv and mini bar? Does he know a lot about forestry? History? Science? Anything they don’t normally read about in the Watchtower and Awake? People need to understand that they need more than their faith to attract attention.

Ok, sure, the kids could go and great him, but that will generally be a somewhat forced and phony experience for all the reasons I mentioned above. Is this really any better than not saying hi at all?

13

Baldwiin, I did not pull the trigger or point the gun at anyone. LMFAO

by mickbobcat in

ya right because we all know if you let a gun sit on a table long enough it will get up and kill people on its own.

lmao what a total idiot douche nozzle liberal but i repeat myself.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/01/entertainment/alec-baldwin-interview/index.html.

StephaneLaliberte

"I let go of the hammer" on a gun you didn't personally verify if it was loaded. Criminal negligence.

To me, that's the same as driving 300 km/h and blaming someone else for changing in your lane at the last minute. You drive recklessly and cause death? You go to jail. You manipulate a deadly firearm recklessly and cause death? You go to jail.

9

Now question all these people disfellowshipped for adulteres marriage

by Yomama in

jw
friends

do they get apology for getting the boot?.

StephaneLaliberte

The act of getting remarried without scriptural grounds is still considered adultery and you'd likely be disfellowshipped as getting married is obviously a premediated act. However, the change lies in this:

Old spouses can no longer invalidate the new marriages by forgiving their spouse for "cheating" on them. The old marriage is broken and the new one is valid regardless of what they think. That does not change the fact that the person who got married again without scriptural grounds will face a Judicial Committee. Nice weeding gift. :)

16

Did you at one time Believe-that you were not going to die. Does your still in JW spouse still believe?

by pistolpete in

this magazine says it all!.

and many of the older jws believed at one point in their life that they would make it through the great tribulation and into the 1000 year reign of christ without dying.

which is why so many jws stayed in so long.. is the main reason why jws ignore all the child abuse, the end of door to door service, and the closing of kingdom hall for almost two years----because they still believe they will not die?.

StephaneLaliberte

Of course I believed I'd never die. That was one of the reasons I was so arrogant as a kid. I thought everyone around me would die and so, they were unimportant and I was dismissive of their input in my life. There is a saying that kids are raised by villages. However, as I believed most of the village would suffer the wrath of God, their opinion didn't matter any more than the rocks I kicked away as I walked to school.

The result was that I was completely disconnected from everyone even though I lived with everyone. I was the perfect product of JW's indoctrination.

I felt that way until I was about 18/19. I started studying other religions and while I still believed in my religion being the correct one, my view of God changed. It did not make any sense for me that a God of love would kill everyone solely on the fact that they were born into the wrong religion or wrong part of the world. At the same time, I realized that I would very much likely grow old and die in this world.

It was around that time that I started to have a sort of a death whish, driving like a crazy ass hole, hoping that I would inadvertently die in some big car accidents. There were other factors at play in my life at the time, but I can honestly say that the thought that I die and instantly wake up in paradise was very appeasing to me. I thought, if Armagedon doesn't come to the whole world, it could come tomorrow for me. I viewed death as some sort of time machine where my death would bring me into a future earthly paradise in the snap of a finger.

However, life didn't turn out that way. I had a very big accident and amazingly, got out without a scratch. Not so with my sister, she died in another car accident of her own making. When I saw the pain and suffering that caused to everyone around her, I felt I could no longer be careless with my life.

Years later, I came to the realization that the JWs were utterly wrong. Once I left, I also realized that the concept of God and life after death didn't make much sense either. So, here I am, in my 40s, married with children, enjoying life, understanding that all the struggles I go through are worth it for these small miracle moments in my life. Like watching my wife walk down the isle to get married. My kids giving me hugs. Heck, even enjoying the warmth of the sun in the summer while floating in a pool. Small perfect moments.

22

No Time to die.

by mickbobcat in

i watched the movie by streaming it off line.

i don't pay to watch woke movies ever.

the film had great cinematography.

StephaneLaliberte

That would be like Snow White being played by a colored girl

Again, the color of her skin is part of the story itself. She is named Snow white as she has a very light skin. The question is: What, in the story of Bond, depends on him being white? If we leave him in the 1950s.. makes sense. In the 2021, any colored person can be part of MI6, so, what dependency is there on the skin color?

As for him being a man, its part of the story.. he's a womanizer! Even though they are slowly trying to dim this down through the years, he still is.

22

No Time to die.

by mickbobcat in

i watched the movie by streaming it off line.

i don't pay to watch woke movies ever.

the film had great cinematography.

StephaneLaliberte

To be believable, he has to be white. He wouldn't be in the social circles / position he was at the time if black.

If you keep the character living in the 1950s, then I definitely agree with you. However, we now play bond as living 70 years later where blacks are now allowed in those circles.

Why couldn't Harry Potter be a Chinese girl?

I think you may have a point here. While Harry being a girl would be a deal breaker, the color of his skin, like bond, is not relevant to the story itself. However, would the majority of English boys identify as him? Probably not. Same can be said about Bond... would the majority of English man identify as a black Bond? Not as likely. But then again, I bet that if you played a Chinese Harry Potter movie or a Black Bond Movie, people would forget about the race of the actor within the first 20 minutes. That, of course, would happen if the actors behaved as English without the stereotypical racial behaviors. For instance, black actor wouldn't refer to other black men as brothers. And Chinese Harry Potter wouldn't be an overly polite kong foo master.

22

No Time to die.

by mickbobcat in

i watched the movie by streaming it off line.

i don't pay to watch woke movies ever.

the film had great cinematography.

StephaneLaliberte

Bond is British and white that's it. Superman is heterosexual not bisexual.

I agree that superman is heterosexual as it is part of his character arc. He is in love with Louis Lane he's demeaner around women has everything to do with his sexuality. If you change the sexual orientation, you also need to change the character.

They should remake Roots, but with an all white or asian cast.

Root is about a black slave. the entire story is about the color of his skin and origin from africa as this is the very reason he is a slave in the first place. The character arc is dependant on the color of his skin.

So, I'm asking: What character trait or story is dependant on Bond being white? this is an honest question. I guess there could be something, I'm just wondering what?

22

No Time to die.

by mickbobcat in

i watched the movie by streaming it off line.

i don't pay to watch woke movies ever.

the film had great cinematography.

StephaneLaliberte

Not really, he's a 1950's British naval officer ... which means he's a white man.

If you want to keep Bond in the 1950s, then the gadgets, the cars, the weapons, everything has to represent the 1950s.

If Bond lives in a modern 2021 world, than, yes, he could literally be any race as this could be the case with British naval officers today.

What matters is that he's 1) British and 2) a man.

If he's black and they shift the narrative of the story around his race, than I agree. That would be problematic. The bond character is about fighting evil with class, alcohol, women, cars and gadgets. As long as the race of Bond himself is irrelevant to the story, than the actor that portrays him can be any race.

22

No Time to die.

by mickbobcat in

i watched the movie by streaming it off line.

i don't pay to watch woke movies ever.

the film had great cinematography.

StephaneLaliberte

Bond is a guy. He can be black or any race, I don't care. As long as he's a guy that has all the characteristics the OP mentioned. I'm fine with it. But being a man is a must. And he need's to be a man's man.

Its like trying to replace wonder women with a man. It doesn't work! Its a women! Likewise for Bond, he's a man baby! <in an Austin Powers voice>

As for the movie showing a black women holding the "007" number, I believe it was intended for this movie only. It was meant to make Bond more vulnerable, less of an indestructible icon, less of an icon for MI6 itself. They didn't retreat his number, like they do in hockey. Your number is up for grabs by the last agent who joined the group. It really shifted Bond into a relatable human that could even have a family! All this worked great within the "Daniel Craig" universe where he ultimately died a hero. I felt that was an awesome bond.

Bond is somewhat rebooted with every actor shift. The next Bond will have its own story line. I don't believe for one minute that the 007 woman we saw in that movie would be the next bond. Bond is an alpha man.

12

What if Witnesses presented their core beliefs at the door?

by Vanderhoven7 in

here is an interesting skit of what would happen if a witness was transparent at your door.. https://youtu.be/b0koiba2kyq.

StephaneLaliberte

I loved that video. Very, very nice.