Posts by Fadeout

71

Sex at 14?

by headisspinning in

jw
friends

hello all.... some of you have been following our story from the beginning - and even those of you who haven't should be able to relate to my quandary.... last week my 14 year old son told me he no longer wants to be a jw.

we laboured over telling his jw dad all week.

well, on friday night he finally came clean.. but in a bizarre and unexpected twist, after having sex with his girlfriend for the very first time - in his father's home that very afternoon.

Fadeout

What would I do? Sure, why not as long as I'm here doling out parental advice

I'm not a parent but I have been a teenager (more recently than many here, I'd wager). I think it comes down to overall philosophy re: parents and children. I am friends with a couple that clearly subscribes to a non-interventionist approach with their four and two-year-olds. My observation is that this method is EASIER FOR THE PARENTS. They do not have to bother settling the children down when they're acting up in public, do not have to take them outside, and simply ignore the disapproving stares of the passersby wondering why the parents don't control their little monsters.

This, punctuated by idle threats of countdowns to "time out."

Then, we have the "parent as authority figure" approach in which the children understand that it is not they, but the parents who are the boss. If this concept has not been instilled in the child by the teenage years, then yes, by then it may be too late.

Teenagers who have sex are also more likely to drink, smoke, and do illegal drugs-- basically, sex is only one symptom of an undisciplined child. Don't misunderstand, by undisciplined I don't mean by the parent, I mean a child who is unable to exercise discipline. This lack of discipline will carry over into other facets of his/her life.

"I know I shouldn't be having sex... but it makes me feel good." Extend that reasoning to other teenage issues. Extend it to their adult lives.

So short answer, I would HOPE that my child would be wise enough to not start having sex at such a young age. But if he did I would make clear the need to stop such behavior and the benefits of doing so, and he would have 14 years of discipline and education backing me up on that point.

71

Sex at 14?

by headisspinning in

jw
friends

hello all.... some of you have been following our story from the beginning - and even those of you who haven't should be able to relate to my quandary.... last week my 14 year old son told me he no longer wants to be a jw.

we laboured over telling his jw dad all week.

well, on friday night he finally came clean.. but in a bizarre and unexpected twist, after having sex with his girlfriend for the very first time - in his father's home that very afternoon.

Fadeout

I'm amazed at some of the responses here. A lot of people seem to have the attitude "Yeah at 14 they're going to do what they want, all you can do is encourage them to be responsible about it."

And if they want to shoot heroin or knock over liquor stores they're going to do that and there's nothing you can do about it, just make sure they have clean needles and a sober getaway driver.

Sorry but I believe that the parent has to be the adult and exercise some AUTHORITY. In our crumbling society the popular idea is that the more permissive you are as a parent, the more of a friend you can be to your child and help their self-esteem, and the more rules you impose on them the more they will only resent you and never realize their full potential.

Of course that's all bullshit, talk to adults and you will find that once they have their grown-up brains they appreciate past parental discipline and resent past parental permissiveness. And almost universally they regret early sexual activity.

Why is having sex with a 14-year-old a crime? THERE IS NO SUCH THING as "responsible" sex among 14-year-olds. Unless you believe that contracting an STD and creating a child are acceptable risks that he's assessed intelligently, or that the sexually active 14-year-olds are the ones who ought to make up his social group.

120

Start preparing now for 2011 memorial night demonstration ! Sunday, April 17, 2011, after sundown

by koolaid-man in

jw
friends

now is a good time to start making preparations for the memorial night demonstration at your kingdom hall sunday, april 17, 2011, after sundown.

the evils of the watchtower org.have to be exposed and this is an ideal time to do it.

many around the world have been adversely affected by their association with jehovah's witnesses.

Fadeout

serenitynow!: I have also thought about going into the memorial and downing the entire glass of wine; not that I even believe in heaven, but it's free wine!

I'm considering doing this. But first, when I eat the bread, I'll cough a bit. Then when I chug the wine, I can glance around apolegetically and say, "Christ was a little dry."

65

Help me become a real CRAZY FUNDIE ATHEIST parent!

by bohm in

jw
friends

hello friends!.

once in a while you hear about fundie atheists, and i have desided to become one.

but i need a bit of advice.. you see, apparently the fundie atheists are as messed up as their worst religious "fundie" counterparts, so i got some expectations to live up to.. i have desided to focus on how i should raise my child, since the religious dickery i hate the most has to do with how children are raised.

Fadeout

tec: No one told themselves at some point, "I'm going to invent this god character, to make myself and others feel better about life and death. Well actually, since I'm inventing him myself, I won't feel better because I know its all make believe... but others will feel better."

I tend to agree that it was not reasoned out like that, but more likely a combination of the natural human tendency toward superstition and the fact that fantastic things happen that people could not explain. Even now people support their irrational belief in god or other supernatural phenomena with "There are things we can't explain."

Imagine how much more we couldn't explain, and therefore how much more present the supernatural was in every aspect of life when we didn't understand what the celestial bodies are, what causes weather, how biology works, etc. I may be mistaken as I'm not an anthropologist, but based on logic alone I would guess that every ancient civilization attached deity to the sun, as one of the most important and most "miraculous" natural phenomena. Since we now understand very well what the sun is and how it works, the Sun God has for the most part found himself out of a job... with some exceptions.

The Jews of course were different in that they were monotheistic; but this is really just an evolution of the earlier god concepts. Instead of different gods with power over certain aspects of the universe, there is one God with power over everything. In reality, it is just as impossible to disprove the existence of Apollo as it is to disprove the Bible God. As I have identical evidence in support of each one (i.e. none), I have no choice but to not believe in either.

443

Generation Teaching - Everyone is speechless?

by Red Piller in

jw
friends

maybe the effect of this change is bigger than realized?

in 1995, it was discussed (positively) by everybody, during the week we studied the wt.

one elder stepped down and was looked down upon.

Fadeout

I love how WT apologists are always reduced to comparing the actions of "God's spirit-directed Organization" with those of Satan-led earthly governments and saying "SEE THEY DO IT TOO!"

Not exactly helpin your case, heh.

65

Help me become a real CRAZY FUNDIE ATHEIST parent!

by bohm in

jw
friends

hello friends!.

once in a while you hear about fundie atheists, and i have desided to become one.

but i need a bit of advice.. you see, apparently the fundie atheists are as messed up as their worst religious "fundie" counterparts, so i got some expectations to live up to.. i have desided to focus on how i should raise my child, since the religious dickery i hate the most has to do with how children are raised.

Fadeout

But no adult knows that about God. Because no one just made Him up to make themselves feel better.

lol

443

Generation Teaching - Everyone is speechless?

by Red Piller in

jw
friends

maybe the effect of this change is bigger than realized?

in 1995, it was discussed (positively) by everybody, during the week we studied the wt.

one elder stepped down and was looked down upon.

Fadeout

Taking bets on whether or not this thread will last longer than the current "generation" teaching.

443

Generation Teaching - Everyone is speechless?

by Red Piller in

jw
friends

maybe the effect of this change is bigger than realized?

in 1995, it was discussed (positively) by everybody, during the week we studied the wt.

one elder stepped down and was looked down upon.

Fadeout

wasblind- Lest I be accused of spreading apostate lies, I should probably note that I made that second cover as a parody. Teehehe!

443

Generation Teaching - Everyone is speechless?

by Red Piller in

jw
friends

maybe the effect of this change is bigger than realized?

in 1995, it was discussed (positively) by everybody, during the week we studied the wt.

one elder stepped down and was looked down upon.

Fadeout

Lisa...

I particularly enjoyed the followup issue published a few years later...

1914 cover

443

Generation Teaching - Everyone is speechless?

by Red Piller in

jw
friends

maybe the effect of this change is bigger than realized?

in 1995, it was discussed (positively) by everybody, during the week we studied the wt.

one elder stepped down and was looked down upon.

Fadeout

After years of hanging out on JW debate forums, I've noticed an interesting commonality among the WT apologists who are most willing to delve into the minutae of WT teachings; namely, they all at some point admit that the WT is currently wrong about certain things, and that they themselves disagree with the WT on certain issues.

Considering that the Watchtower has made clear that even disagreeing in thought with WT leadership is grounds for expulsion, one must wonder how such apologists feel about their own hypocrisy.