Does anybody know if there are any plans of releasing A Separate Identity on Kindle?
Posts by DT
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by Old Goat inrachael de vienne is one of the authors of a separate identity, an exhaustive history of the watch tower's early years.
this is from her personal blog:.
http://wardancingpixie.blogspot.com/.
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Beatles Songs That Aren't Performed By The Beatles
by DT ini was hoping you could help me with a little research project.. for reasons that are a little hard to explain, i'm interested in watching videos of beatles songs that are performed by anybody except the beatles themselves.
i'm especially interested in performances by people from foreign countries, (i'll provide a few examples.
) but feel free to add any other interesting videos.
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DT
""... by people from foreign countries"
Do you mean not from the United States or not from Great Britain?"
I mostly mean people who have different musical traditions than those found in Europe or the United States, but feel free to post anything you find interesting.
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Beatles Songs That Aren't Performed By The Beatles
by DT ini was hoping you could help me with a little research project.. for reasons that are a little hard to explain, i'm interested in watching videos of beatles songs that are performed by anybody except the beatles themselves.
i'm especially interested in performances by people from foreign countries, (i'll provide a few examples.
) but feel free to add any other interesting videos.
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DT
I was hoping you could help me with a little research project.
For reasons that are a little hard to explain, I'm interested in watching videos of Beatles songs that are performed by anybody except the Beatles themselves. I'm especially interested in performances by people from foreign countries, (I'll provide a few examples.) but feel free to add any other interesting videos. Please don't post any videos of actual Beatles performances unless it is to serve as a comparison to a video of an alternate performance.
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Research on legal implications of group shunning
by BreathoftheIndianNose inhey everyone!
i haven't posted here in a while, over a year i think.
just goes to show where i'm at in the recovery stage.
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DT
Although I think it is morally wrong for a religion to teach that former members should be shunned, I don't think that in itself should be illegal.
The problem I have is that Jehovah's Witnesses continue to meddle with a person's personal relationships and business long after they leave. If you talk to a family member or friend who is a JW, then you are exposing them to the possibility of being punished also as a twisted method of extending their influence over you. They might not be punishing you directly, but they are still interfering with your personal relationships and using a form of blackmail as a form of control.
If someone makes a personal choice to avoid me, that's fine. However, if a third party uses threats and intimidation to try to force others to avoid me, then that is a problem. I don't think that Jehovah's Witnesses could get away with using the same bullying tactics against a racial or religious minority. Yet former members should be able to enjoy the same protections that any nonmember has.
You really aren't free from a religion if they continue to monitor your activities and actively use intimidation to prevent friends and family from having anything to do with you.
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There is law that can be applied to being DFed or DA
by Giordano inhttp://church-discipline.blogspot.com/2008/01/marian-guinn-vs-church-of-christ.html.
liasobessa brought this site to our attention on another related topic.
as i began to read i found that the information was excellent and extensive.
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DT
There are a number of peculiarities about how Jehovah's Witnesses do things that may or may not be relevant legally.
They haven't properly defined what constitutes membership in their organization. The baptism questions are worded in a way that implies that baptism is what makes someone a Jehovah's Witness.
This is peculiar because when someone is disfellowshipped, it is announced that they are no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses. It would almost seem like their baptism has been invalidated. Yet, when they are reinstated they aren't required to be rebaptised.
So was the baptism valid during the disfellowshipping period or not? If the disfellowshipping invalidated the baptism and membership in the religion, then a person who is reinstated and not rebaptised could claim that they have a right to sue if they experience any further disciplinary action. The person wouldn't actually be a member if baptism is what defines membership. (At least that argument could be made.)
On the other hand, it could be argued that disfellowshipping doesn't invalidate the baptism. In that case, someone who has been disfellowshipped and is seeking reinstatement could be viewed as a current member who is experiencing congregational discipline. He will be harassed by the elders and will maintain communication with them. He will be shunned by other members and have to endure a shaming ritual as he attends meetings on a regular basis. If he succeeds in ending this period of congregational discipline, he will not have to undergo a new ritual (baptism) to indicate that he is one of Jehovah's Witnesses.
If that person becomes dissatisfied with how he is being treated and sues, then the Watchtower lawyers would probably claim that this is an internal religious matter and that the courts have no jurisdiction. And they would have a point.
However, if such a situation is truly an internal religious matter, then the announcement that someone is no longer one of Jehovah's Witnesses is a lie for those who have been disfellowshipped.
If that announcement is a lie, it could be argued that it is just code for the idea that the person is still under their control and it is proper to continue to punish and harass the person until the elders say it's time to stop.
In that case, such an announcement would be morally reprehensible if applied to one who disassociates. It could even be problematic from a legal viewpoint if someone found a way to challenge that in court. (This is just an opinion from someone who isn't a lawyer.)
What if baptism isn't what determines membership? It is noteworthy that Jehovah's Witnesses don't use baptism as the criteria for determining the size of their membership. They only count people who share in their ministry. This includes people who haven't been baptized yet and ignores those who have been baptised, but are inactive.
If their ministry is what implies membership (as their name implies), then they have a problem. It resolves certain inconsistencies about baptism, but it implies that anyone who has become inactive for a significant amount of time is no longer a member and should be immune from congregational discipline.
I would love to see some of these issues resolved in a court of law, but I'm not optimistic that it will happen any time soon. The Witnesses seem to like ambiguity and the ability to make contradictory claims so they can use whatever defense has the best chance for success in a particular situation.
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6
Why Do Some People Still Disagree With Special Relativity?
by DT ini have to admit that i feel poorly equipped to address this subject.
i'm more interested in the feedback of others than in trying to persuade others of my opinions.
i should also point out that although this topic is specifically about special relativity, much of what is said could also apply to general relativity.. special relativity has had a profound effect on both science and modern culture.
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DT
Thank you for your comments.
I was thinking about discussing some of the apparent paradoxes of relativity, but then I decided that it might make more sense to discuss each paradox in a different thread to avoid confusion and keep the discussion focused.
One thing that I have found interesting in my research is that the interpretations of Special Relativity have changed somewhat over time. Yet, there seems to be a reluctance for the scientific community to acknowledge past ideas that have now gone out of fashion. It is easy to fall into the trap of being more concerned with defending an idea than in explaining or building upon it. This can obscure areas where additional research could shed greater light on the subject.
I suspect that there will be even greater challenges for the theory in the future as new discoveries are made and new attempts are made to reconcile Relativity with other theories. It will be interesting to see how the scientific community and culture in general will react if the conditions become ripe for a new paradigm shift.
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Why Do Some People Still Disagree With Special Relativity?
by DT ini have to admit that i feel poorly equipped to address this subject.
i'm more interested in the feedback of others than in trying to persuade others of my opinions.
i should also point out that although this topic is specifically about special relativity, much of what is said could also apply to general relativity.. special relativity has had a profound effect on both science and modern culture.
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DT
I have to admit that I feel poorly equipped to address this subject. I'm more interested in the feedback of others than in trying to persuade others of my opinions. I should also point out that although this topic is specifically about Special Relativity, much of what is said could also apply to General Relativity.
Special Relativity has had a profound effect on both science and modern culture. I was a young witness when I first started to learn about relativity. This wasn't exactly encouraged by other witnesses. However, I looked up relativity in the Watchtower index and found a few short articles discussing the basic concepts.
Most witnesses seemed uninterested in what I was learning and were reluctant to talk about it. Then I ran across my first official skeptic of Special Relativity.
We made an appointment to discuss it. I prepared my arguments for why I thought it was a valid theory. I considered the possibility that he would make the claim that it somehow contradicted the Bible. In that event, I was prepared to show him the Awake articles that presented relativity in a favorable light.
Our actual discussion turned out to be a big disappointment. He just said that he didn't think men could figure out and understand things like that. I tried to explain some of the evidence for Special Relativity, but he just didn't have any interest in hearing about it.
I got the impression that it was a little bit beyond what he could easily understand, so he was happy to discount it as silliness.
Later, I learned there was an entire subculture of people who disagree with Special Relativity. I became intrigued by the psychology of those who would put a lot of effort into trying to undermine a theory that appears to have strong experimental confirmation.
I assumed that the critics generally lacked either the imagination or education to properly understand relativity. My own reading of some of their writings confirmed that was sometimes the case. Many of the arguments are hopelessly flawed.
I could also begin to sympathise with some of their frustration. The scientific community is reluctant to address criticisms of Relativity. Critical papers have a hard time getting reviewed and letters to scientists often don't get a reply. Part of the problem is that scientists don't have the time to respond to sheer number of criticisms, especially since many of them have already been addressed when Relativity was young.
It still has to be frustrating. It's understandable how some would get the impression that the scientific community is overly defensive or hiding something.
There is also the factor that physicists have not been able to unify Quantum Mechanics with Relativity. This is a major stumbling block to further progress. It may be necessary to drastically alter our understanding of one or both theories in order to get past this hurdle.
It seems ironic that the scientific community is trying to avoid debates about Relativity when it might be necessary to question past assumptions in order to keep making progress.
Advocates of Relativity have also been guilty of overstating the evidence, explaining the theory improperly and making the same kinds of logical errors as their critics.
You will often hear it said that Special Relativity has been proven experimentally beyond a reasonable doubt. There has indeed been considerable experimental evidence to support certain aspects of Special Relativity. Although the interpretation of the experimental evidence is sometimes disputed, much of it does seem to be consistent with the concepts of time dilation and the constancy of the speed of light.
The concepts of length contraction and relativity of simultaneity have not yet been verified experimentally. Yet advocates of Relativity will often point to confirmation of one aspect of Relativity as confirming the entire theory, even though there are other theories that are also consistent with the available experimental evidence (such as Edwards' Theory and Lorentz Ether Theory).
I'm curious to see if others here have thought about or researched these issues. I have seen discussions on these topics turn nasty in other places, so I hope we can keep this discussion civil (but not so civil that this topic gets ignored completely).
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Comic book's new Arch Villain: The Apostate
by rebel8 ini was just imagining what a super villain would be if it was a compilation of us, all the wt's tall tales about apostates, and the evil characters in the bible.. favorite food: sod pottage.
goal: infect all jws with demons.
secret weapon: possessed tupperware.
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DT
"I was just imagining what a super villain would be if it was a compilation of us, all the wt's tall tales about apostates, and the evil characters in the bible."
I can't say much yet, but I'm working as part of a team on a concept that isn't much different than that. The team includes a talanted comic book artist. We should be able to release more details in a few months. For now, here is some background information.
http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/251968/1/Sparlock-Fiction
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DT
OK, we're going to take the picture now. Say feta!
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HOA suing us any help?
by Crazyguy injust thought i would ask in case any of you have had any experience with a home owners association.
i'm being sued for not paying dues and other fines and went to a mediation hearing a while ago.
we explianed that we we never informed of the hoa when we bought the home and never signed any agreement, infact i was very explicit with everyone involved in the buying proccess to make sure there was no hoa since i did not want to buy if there was one.
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DT
Do you have title insurance? If so, you may want to contact the provider. If they missed something when researching your title, they may have to pay for the legal costs.