Posts by jgnat

29

All religions are false, but god is true.

by Domenic in

jw
friends

i was a jw for many years.

during those years i learned how to identify a false religion.

all the other religions were easy to prove false.

jgnat

Evidence for Satan?

Could we say all people are false, as their personal belief sets are so highly individual? There are errors along the way, being human.

48

having recently been posting on a thread about ot moral values , which are not widely "appreciated " to say the least , i have been thinking about our modern morals about sex and reletionships , or more acurately the lack of any sexual morals todays .

i don't think that we are better off as a society which has gone so far to the do want you want , with whom you want and when you want approach to sexual ethics as we have .

i don't think that women are actually liberated by this attitude .

jgnat

Yeah, where are the statistics that family life is disintegrating? Divorce rates continue to drop.

48

Modern Morality .

by jhine in

jw
friends

having recently been posting on a thread about ot moral values , which are not widely "appreciated " to say the least , i have been thinking about our modern morals about sex and reletionships , or more acurately the lack of any sexual morals todays .

i don't think that we are better off as a society which has gone so far to the do want you want , with whom you want and when you want approach to sexual ethics as we have .

i don't think that women are actually liberated by this attitude .

jgnat

I also have to chime in. Canada is closer to Europe when it comes to sexual mores. One of our most popular Prime Ministers famously said, "There's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation". So you see more sex and less violence in our television programming than you do in the US. Not to mention comedy.

http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categories/politics/rights-freedoms/trudeaus-omnibus-bill-challenging-canadian-taboos/theres-no-place-for-the-state-in-the-bedrooms-of-the-nation.html

I am worried about the teen pregnancy rate in the southern states. That's a sign that something is not right. But I don't think it's a failure of morality. I think it is a failure to convince a young girl she can have a better life.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/10/20/us-usa-births-teens-idUSTRE69J4AE20101020

Using Haidt's moral foundations model, there are societies that put more weight on Care/Harm than on Sanctity/Degradation.

http://moralfoundations.org/

So the question would be for a particular sex activity, who is harmed? As for STD's, countries like Holland that have open dialogue and universal sex education have record low abortion rates and STD's that would do the US proud.

http://www.alternet.org/story/154970/5_countries_that_do_it_better%3A_how_sexual_prudery_makes_america_a_less_healthy_and_happy_place

I would even go so far to suggest that the state could remove itself entirely from marriage and divorce registration.

1

Emotional Response

by SG098 in

im trying to locate a publication by the b0rg about 'grabbing peoples emotions' or 'getting an emotional response' or 'reaching their heart through emotions' (cant remember how it was worded) when they read watchtower literature or look at pictures.

i think it was fairly recent (past 12 months or so).

i thought it was in a km but i went all the way back to january 2013 and its not in there.

jgnat

Unrelated but I remember the advice to show empathy for the householder. How is this accomplished? Look around the yard for cues.

.

Well YEAH. If you aren't supposed to be socializing with your neighbours, you are just gonna have to GUESS, aren't you? Such love and concern.

48

How much of our mind is our own?

by jgnat in

margaret singer, pioneer in the study of cults, chaired the alberta psychological association (apa) task force on deceptive and indirect methods of persuasion and control (dimpac) from 1983-1987. the final report of this task force was rejected by the apa, and has not been published.

the apa noted that the brief characterized the theory of brainwashing as not scientifically proven and lacking scientific and methodological rigor.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/apa_task_force_on_deceptive_and_indirect_methods_of_persuasion_and_control#reported_conclusions_of_the_dimpac_task_force.

the apa has since dismissed the use of the word "cult" and switched to the term "new religious movements".

jgnat

*psst. Here's the trick! When she is in full-on attack mode, back away slowly. Peace offerings all the way. Negotiate only when the subject is restored to a calm condition.

48

How much of our mind is our own?

by jgnat in

margaret singer, pioneer in the study of cults, chaired the alberta psychological association (apa) task force on deceptive and indirect methods of persuasion and control (dimpac) from 1983-1987. the final report of this task force was rejected by the apa, and has not been published.

the apa noted that the brief characterized the theory of brainwashing as not scientifically proven and lacking scientific and methodological rigor.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/apa_task_force_on_deceptive_and_indirect_methods_of_persuasion_and_control#reported_conclusions_of_the_dimpac_task_force.

the apa has since dismissed the use of the word "cult" and switched to the term "new religious movements".

jgnat

I married in to my Hungarian connections! They are the only lot who are more stubborn than the Scottish. The only Hungarian I am familiar with is Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the author of Flow.

http://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow?language=en

I do not believe I am a libertarian. I am too fond of collaborative works such as indoor plumbing and country lanes (without potholes).

Country Lane Elestead

2596

The Pastor of my Old Church Tried to Re-Convert Me Yesterday

by cofty in

yesterday evening my wife and i were invited to friends house for new year's eve.

we met them when i was a christian and we have kept in touch.

they had a few other friends there as well, including the new church pastor and his wife.

jgnat

Stealth, because our knowledge of the world has outstripped our need for a god. Before science and decent instruments (microscope, telescope, hadron collider), "god did it" was the best defence we had for a confusing world.

By the way, it was a Scottish naturalist, James Hutton, who developed a comprehensive theory of the earth including how mountains form. He built an ingenious contraption to show how even rock can be made to bend and fold under pressure.

http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12861

17

My evening at the pub - how many ex-JW's do you think there are?

by berrygerry in

so i'm having a pint and talking to the owner and his gf.. she's talking about her line of work - leads to my family history - and that my wife is in a strange religion.. the owner snorts, and says very disdainfully that his ex was a jehovah's witness.

i said bingo.. then the barmaid pipes in about her grandma and all of her aunts and uncles were witnesses, and were all out.

but the grandma has witness siblings, so went back after 20 years.

jgnat

In hubby's family, at least four of the six brothers married Jehovah's Witnesses, and only one brother is still one. There are also some neices and nephews still involved.

6

Working for JW's

by idiotnomore in

just interested in experiences any of you have had working for other witnesses or companies owned by witnesses.

i heard mutterings occassionally from other witnesses they would never work for another witness.

regardless of anything i said, the owner was adamant in his refusal to believe i had ever done anything more than being a delivery driver.

jgnat

Dad mentioned in his long career with the telephone company, they had one manager who was a Jehovah's Witness. He was the kind who saw every conversation as an opportunity to provide a "good witness". Arrogant, too. The two must be a package deal; unsolicited witnessing and arrogance. Anyhow, the company moved him to Lake Timbuktu where they could minimize the damage he caused.

2596

The Pastor of my Old Church Tried to Re-Convert Me Yesterday

by cofty in

yesterday evening my wife and i were invited to friends house for new year's eve.

we met them when i was a christian and we have kept in touch.

they had a few other friends there as well, including the new church pastor and his wife.

jgnat

“This is rather as if you imagine a puddle waking up one morning and thinking, 'This is an interesting world I find myself in — an interesting hole I find myself in — fits me rather neatly, doesn't it? In fact it fits me staggeringly well, must have been made to have me in it!' This is such a powerful idea that as the sun rises in the sky and the air heats up and as, gradually, the puddle gets smaller and smaller, frantically hanging on to the notion that everything's going to be alright, because this world was meant to have him in it, was built to have him in it; so the moment he disappears catches him rather by surprise. I think this may be something we need to be on the watch out for.”

Douglas Adams

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/70827-this-is-rather-as-if-you-imagine-a-puddle-waking