Band on the Run

Joined

• started 198 topics
• posted 9,871 times   see topics posted on
• send a message

Posts by Band on the Run

• 
  19

  Not on JW.ORG: Jehovah's Witnesses being sued again in California for Child Molestation by Pioneer/Servant. Abuse hidden from police by Elders and Watchtower Society.

  by Balaamsass2 in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  orange county lawsuit alleges sex abuse by jehovah's witness leadertwo men said they were abused in laguna hills as teenagers.. .

  by eric hartley / staff writer.

  published: aug. 27, 2014 updated: 7:44 p.m.. two men who say they were molested as teenagers by a jehovahs witness church leader in south orange county filed a lawsuit against him and the church this week.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Band on the Run

  Burdens of proof exist. Tawdry allegations are not facts. When you accuse a remote actor, you must ramp up your factual details. If this is all the evidence that can be mustered against the WT, the WT will win a summary judgment motion. A judge is not likely to share a strong bias against the WT.
• 
  28

  White marine beaten by group of black men using Fergusen case as excuse, media won't say 'black men' though.

  by EndofMysteries in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  this pisses me off, after all the news agencies that point out that things such as the ferguson shooting were a white man killing a black "kid" (18 years old and if an 18 yr old is accused of commiting a sex crime then suddenly they are a "grown man").

  now look at this story from ny times, "a 32-year-old marine was beaten by a group of men outside of a mississippi restaurant after he was warned it wasn't safe for white people in the wake of the michael brown killing in missouri," .

  so black on white crime, i guess they can't say "a group of black men", it just has to be a group of men?

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Band on the Run

  Black people warn me that I cannot be outside after dusk b/c I am white. The police pulled me aside and warned me. Rather than warn me,the Police should arrest the fiends dragging down the entire city. Slavery is no excuse. My family came from hard circumstances in Europe. We never owned slaves nor made a profit from the slave trade. CNN has been too pro-Brown for a news organization. So little is known.
• 
  11

  Did you celebrate the 2nd anniversary of JW.org?

  by defender of truth in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  "the first 5 days of august, 1200 bible studies were requested.. another stat today; in 6 months, jan. thru june, jw.org got 3200 bible study requests.. but this month?

  there have been 3606 to date as of; aug. 19, 2014.".

  http://jwtalk.net/forums/topic/16712-jw-org-website-anniversary/#entry238063.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Band on the Run

  How do we know those figures are truthful? My father used to joke that in good years the Kingdom Farm's bounty was praised. Jehovah was thanked. In years of drought or other adversity, there was no Kingdom Farm. If only four people visited, would they mention it? Context is everything.
• 
  26

  Question: Is JW religion the most attacked one?

  by Da.Furious in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was having a chat with an elder and couple of friends regarding apostates and how to protect ourselves and funnily how to identify them!.

  during the discussion the elder mentioned: jehovah's witnesses is most attacked religion in the world.

  there are no other religions that are under the spotlight.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Band on the Run

  Normal people don't care about the Witnesses. We focus on it solely b/c of our experience. There are far worse religions around in this world. Atheists and agnostics can be just as lacking in common sense and morality than any religion. ISIS definitely has the spotlight. There is some off shoot of Islam in Northern Iraq that has also been on the front page of the New York Times daily.

  My experience is limited. I would say Judaism has many haters. Roman Catholics are also highly suspect. The antagonism towards the RCs is fading. It was unthinkable recent generations ago that more than one Supreme Court justice (Brennan) would be allowed by unwritten rules. I still remember all the chatter about Jack Kennedy's faith. Protestants thought his loyalty to the church would surpass his loyalty to the US. Most present justices are Roman Catholic. It is showing in their rulings, too. Separation of church and state is not at a healthy level.
• 
  108

  Was droping bomb on Hiroshima in 1945 evil?

  by new hope and happiness in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  sorry for such a depressing question, but i was moved by a picture i saw of the consequences.

  ( a woman carrying her child) and i realised:-.

  a) it was a civillian population.. b) i don't see how a nuclear holocaust can ever be right.. c) they could have bombed tokyo where all the generals lived but chose hiroshima.. d) the irony after the bombing america conceeded to many of japans terms.. your opinion would be valued..

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Band on the Run

  I've argued and researched this question. My position is that the United States had a moral duty to drop a demonstration bomb in a remote corner of the Pacific and invite the Japanese through a third party to watch the results. My mom who was actually alive would tell me I did not know what it felt like when the US was losing. The Witness sensibility towards persecution was active. She told me what it felt like when the US retreated from Corregidor. My analysis was too intellectual.

  I had to study Japanese civilization for a while. The reality is that a test would have convinced no one in the Japanese high command. Even after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the military and the emperor refused to even discuss any form of surrender among themselves. It is a very different culture. Many more Allied troops would have died in a land invasion. Also, the way we firebombed Dresden and even French cities under Nazi occupation killed more civilians than the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bomb. It was only when I went to see a gorgeous exhibit of Dresden art that I heard about the firebombs.

  I don't know the answer. Robert Lifton wrote a beautiful book about the survivors. It is not happy reading. The survivors became pariahs in Japan.

  Peace activists in the sixties claimed that we would never drop such a bomb on Germans, Europeans. The bomb was racist. It made sense to me until I read about the fire bombs in Germany.
• 
  152

  HOW TO AVOID THE A-HOLE SPIRIT OF SOME HERE...

  by DATA-DOG in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  1) take meds for your megalomania and delusions of grandeur.. .

  suggestions welcome.. .

  dd.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Band on the Run

  I don't make dumbass comments. You are making enemies where once you had friends. Not a smart move. Join the Politburo.
• 
  30

  Hey There, so...what have I missed in the last couple of years?

  by PSacramento in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  hi everyone,.

  so...what have i missed in the last couple of years?.

  .

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Band on the Run

  You don't have to believe in God to teach theology. Also, there is believing the way I do (and many profs too) and fundamentalism. The better seminary in academic terms was nondenominational. John D. Rockefeller established it b/c his beloved wife was Baptist and there was little respect for Baptism. He decided to not make it a baptist seminary. I would like to hear what my prof believes. There is not the freedom in a denominational seminary. The profs I had there always prefaced that they were using a teaching technique. I asked one why he said it. He could be expelled was the answer.

  It was strange b/c the course I took at the denominational seminary was a cross-section of all different Christian faiths.
• 
  37

  Do you know your neighbors? Is it just me?

  by neverendingjourney in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i'm a single hispanic guy in my mid 30s living by myself in suburban america.

  i own a home in the kind of neighborhood where you have to get hoa permission to do just about anything, including chopping down a tree.

  i'm a white collar worker and lead a pretty boring life.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Band on the Run

  The Latino families stick to themselves. One-third of my high school class was Latino. The white and black kids knew each other. My yearbook is evidence. They were not active in clubs or anything. There were a few exceptions. The language issue was difficult. I met a Latino woman in Manhattan who graduated from my high school the same year. It was funny. I am one of the few with a yearbook. She asked to see it. It was revealing. She only knew Latino people. It is kind of sad.

  Do you have any suggestions? I always feel as tho I am imposing if I speak to them. The same is true with any ethnic enclave.
• 
  82

  Is Faith Immoral?

  by Coded Logic in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  when people willfully believe something without evidence, or contrary to evidence, are they neglecting thier moral responsibility?

  so many people say faith is a virtue but i just can't comprehend why anyone would think that.

  .

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Band on the Run

  I see no correlation between faith and morality. Anthropologists don't talk about morality. The Existentialists were moral. Our culture is too diverse to impose morality standards on anyone. It sounds like one of those Christian network broadcasts. Discussing ethics makes more sense. During WWII some people who never had any philosophy suddenly acted. I used to believe that alcoholics and drug addicts were immoral. Now we know there are chemical imbalances in the brain. No, being gay was considered very immoral.

  I've read several books concerning faith and Americans. America has always been a haven for people on the fringe. We have more fundamentalists than comparable countries.
• 
  37

  Do you know your neighbors? Is it just me?

  by neverendingjourney in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  i'm a single hispanic guy in my mid 30s living by myself in suburban america.

  i own a home in the kind of neighborhood where you have to get hoa permission to do just about anything, including chopping down a tree.

  i'm a white collar worker and lead a pretty boring life.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  Band on the Run

  Do you think there is some racial animus? Just wondering. My family was Dutch and Russian. When we moved to our home no neighbor had a name. There were the Irish, the Pole, the Hungarians, etc. It would take one minute to learn someone's name. It was a typical working class neighborhood. After I graduated, I lucked out with housing in NYC. I knew most of my neighbors. They knew me. People made a concerted effort to know their neighbors. There was a long waiting list to get into the building.

  I bake when there is a new neighbor. It makes economic sense to make friends. They can watch things when you are away. There were business opportunities b/c of the networking. Also, I want to see who my neighbor is.

  The woman who always holds her head down is sad. My mom always looked down with the Witnesses and my father. In fact, the doctors could not believe the remarkable transformation in her after my father died. She ended up working with a ritzy pt practice. Some clients sent home food they prepared in cooking school. I ended up on the floor of a Democratic national convention thanks to her telling the president of ABC News how much I wanted to attend.

  I do know from school and work that different places have different cultures. My parents always viewed people as the enemy b/c of the Witness indoctrination. Do you remember stories about the frontier in America? People travelled days to help each other. It is very sad.