Quote: 'They are all politicians and the electorate fail to punish them for their dishonesty - that is the reason.'
Maybe Simon intended this as a throwaway comment, but I found it prescient.
Consider the Trump phenomenon: as I watched the Republican primary elections, it was impossible to not see that the party itself regarded D. Trump as more threatening than a Hillary Clinton presidency. The party treated him accordingly, and I perceive that this provoked the ire of disaffected Republicans.
So much so, that, it seemed that part of Trumps ascendency seemed little more than a general attempt to 'punish' the Republican party brand, without much regard beyond that simple expression of express disapproval.
hybridous
JoinedPosts by hybridous
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51
Why are Republican's so consistantly dishonest?
by Coded Logic init hasn't gone unnoticed that the republicans who are saying, "we need to get to the bottom of the obama wiretapping" and "let's investigate this" - are the same people, when it comes to trump's russian ties, who are saying, "we shouldn't look at this at all - it's just a bunch of lies and hype.".
no evidence whatsoever for claims about obama need a congressional investigation.
but mountains of evidence about trump with more coming out everyday can be swept under the rug.
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hybridous
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Need your honest opinion
by poopie inthis is the scenario there's a guy who is df and being shunned big time.
we'll he needs a place to stay since he can't stay with his family you know the shunning thing well another jw in good standing says he can stay with him .the df guy is delighted but a little problem the elders are going to find out the df guy car parked at jw house.
no one in the area knows he's df because it's 90 miles from the cong he was df in so i told him he's takeing a risk but he says i'm going to show love to this person no matter what..
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hybridous
Since we're talking about getting around elders, I have to ask...is outright LYING an option?
If confronted, could the JW-in-good-standing just say that arrangements were contracted before the guest's DF status was known?
I am heartened when a JW defies the rules and shows love no matter what. -
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My families shunning has gone to a whole new level
by pale.emperor in8 months df'd.
loving a life of freedom.
however, my family are all shunning me.
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hybridous
Hi, PE -
I have been following your story. What you're going through is brutal, and I'm glad you have people to share it with, who can identify with some of what you're experiencing...
There's some really good advice in this thread. I was really struck by what Scratchme said...'It will get real for her when she realizes that you are no longer trying.'
I found this to be the case in my own life situation. The 'shunning' thing became a contest of endurance and will.
And even if you win, the 'victories' seem pyrrhic in nature, when considering what the costs are in terms of time and suffering.
Keep the lines of communication w/ your brother. As has been mentioned, his willingness to break the rules and speak to you is promising.
If you abide your mothers wishes and stop sending her pictures, she will miss receiving them. Whether-or-not she admits it to herself or any else is immaterial.
The only way I found to turn this crap into something positive, is that it steeled my resolve to provide my children with a WT-Free childhood. This poison ends here.
There is a case to be made that what is really best for your daughter, is total separation (or at least as long as WT 'rules' are applied in all their rigidity). Your mom is seeking a comfortable detante of sorts: where she gets to apply the shunning rule but still have access to her granddaughter. You must, at all costs, deny her any comfort - IMO.Good luck with whatever you decide. Keep us posted.
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Share Your Favorite Shakespeare
by compound complex ingive me my romeo; and, when he shall die,take him and cut him out in little stars,and he will make the face of heaven so finethat all the world will be in love with nightand pay no worship to the garish sun.. -- romeo and juliet 3 ii.
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hybridous
If love be rough with you, be rough with love.Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down.—Give me a case to put my visage in!A visor for a visor.—What care IWhat curious eye doth cote deformities?Here are the beetle brows shall blush for me.
Mercutio was always my favorite. I have forever wished that Romeo stayed out of the fight and let Mercutio finish Tybalt off right then & there, but of course, that scenario preempts the tragic finish. -
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Active JWs celebrating birthdays
by neat blue dog ini remember hearing parents say they're going out to eat for their child's birthday some years ago, and recently i see a lot of active jws wishing each other as well as worldly people on facebook a happy birthday, including emoticons related to partying.
is this a judicial offence, or have you seen anything similar?.
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hybridous
To the OPs point, I haven't seen the 'Happy Birthday' messages on Facebook, but I have heard credible stories of small groups of JW friends having a 'get-together' or going out to dinner for someone's 'NOT-Birthday'...
If they're willing to toe that line (and in some cases deliberately step over it), it tells me that they know the prohibition is bunk. It's all about maintaining appearances. Small steps, but still positive ones. -
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Are they either leaving or going full on 'cult mode'? No quarter.
by punkofnice init might just be me imagining things.. i hear things from my jw spies.. from all that's being said, it seems to me that the rank and file(tm), are either waking up to the scam and fading/leaving.
they are going full on 'cult mode' and acting like 'spiritual police'.. is it just me and my imagination?
have others noticed this?.
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hybridous
One has to wonder, then, what does WT leadership see for itself, if this is the general strategy taken...
This course of action is pretty much a backhanded admission that the days of growing the org are over. Can't march forward. Time to circle the wagons and hold on to what we've got.
Time is not on their side, and they know it. If they were sincerely deluded, wouldn't they be rolling the dice and betting the house that YHVH was going to make it all right? Is the hand of Jehovah short?
These are the actions of people who know better than to expect divine intervention on their behalf. These are the actions of people who don't believe their own bull****.
I hope lurkers read this and realize that the JW ORG doesn't even believe what they're selling...so why should you? -
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How long can this cult remain with only kids becoming members?
by Crazyguy init's become clear that very few from outside the religion are joining anymore.
if only the kids of the people that are already in are the one replacing the members as they die off and 50% let's say of the kids leave then how long can they realistically last before the downturn becomes obvious?.
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hybridous
Quote: 'The increased details on what is involved in shunning disfellowshipped persons suggests that the rank and file are still not fully getting what is required of them.'
Hi Steve, when you say 'not fully getting', do you mean innocent oversight in not understanding official policy/doctrine, or perhaps in an intentional, passive-aggressive rebellious kind of way?
I ask because sometimes I can see certain lines and boundaries being tested within the family, that would've never been dared in previous years. Who knows, maybe the summer assemblies will reign them in, again... -
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Supreme Court Of Russia bans Jehovah's Witnesses as an 'extremist organization'
by EdenOne inread the news here.
the jehovah's witnesses lost their appeal to the supreme court of russia.
bethel to be liquidated.. i bet the gb saw this coming ... here comes the persecution complex paranoia.
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95
Supreme Court Of Russia bans Jehovah's Witnesses as an 'extremist organization'
by EdenOne inread the news here.
the jehovah's witnesses lost their appeal to the supreme court of russia.
bethel to be liquidated.. i bet the gb saw this coming ... here comes the persecution complex paranoia.
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hybridous
Even tho people can be individual members, the members themselves do not have input into the directives that control their lives.
I will point out that, unless were talking about children, people choose to be JWs in the first place, and in doing so, they willfully abdicate all/most of their self-direction.
Adults have the right to do this. -
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WILL this be New Light? Is the Watchtower preparing to say out loud, Jesus is Jehovah?
by Terry inhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vk7ertncbsk
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hybridous
Then again, part of me wonders if this is not exactly the type of compromise the WT will find itself having to make for the sake of political necessity...
What I mean is, right now, the WT doesn't have seem to have much in the way of religious or political allies.Maybe they will find themselves in the position of having to make doctrinal compromises to find common ground with the American Evangelical bunch? Maybe this is how they survive?