Posts by snare&racket

56

JW Net and Politics

by snare&racket in

jw
friends

this site was and remains instrumental in assisting people that want to leave the jw's.. there has been political discussion here for some time now, a good couple of years and it makes me feel a little uneasy.

i just opened up the site for the first time in some weeks, of the 10 posts being discussed, 4 were by the same poster, about politics, promoting their right wing beliefs.. this has been the trend for some time now, the same name behind a peppering of posts stirring the right v left of politics.. i remain forever grateful to the site and it's founders simon & angharad, i appreciate that simon shares some of these these political beliefs.

it would be a shame to see the site evolve from a place for jw freedom of thought and escape, to political squabbling, that the world is frankly tired of right now.. just to clarify, politics is my hobby, whilst my friends read the football scores, i'm reading polling data.

snare&racket

This site was and remains instrumental in assisting people that want to leave the JW's.

There has been political discussion here for some time now, a good couple of years and it makes me feel a little uneasy. I just opened up the site for the first time in some weeks, of the 10 posts being discussed, 4 were by the same poster, about politics, promoting their right wing beliefs.

This has been the trend for some time now, the same name behind a peppering of posts stirring the right v left of politics.

I remain forever grateful to the site and it's founders Simon & Angharad, I appreciate that Simon shares some of these these political beliefs. It would be a shame to see the site evolve from a place for JW freedom of thought and escape, to political squabbling, that the world is frankly tired of right now.

Just to clarify, politics is my hobby, whilst my friends read the football scores, I'm reading polling data. Whilst they watch game highlights, I'm watching depositions, speeches, debates. I devour both sides of the debate, I will watch as much Louder with Crowder as I do YT, I can stand neither of them. I have watched hours of Trump rallies, Putin speeches, North Korea documentaries, I am fascinated by the populist appeal of Trump, the magnetic charisma of Obama and the chess game mind of Putin ......and the car horn of Boris the clown.

In the context of JW's and politics I have much to say as I was suppressed from being political or voting by the JW's. I was a pioneer that loved getting home early on Thursday nights to watch UK politics shows on tv. I was addicted to radio political talk shows and pundits. My parents actually chastised me for my interests, being a JW.

Politics is a passion of mine..... it just feels awkwardly misplaced here, it isn't a debate, it's a promotion of western, right wing, American conservatism. The posts I have read have replies deleted or people shut down if they disagree. I bit my tongue about it and posted/frequented the site less. Now it seems to have become a common theme and feature of the site. The site feels like it has changed dramatically in the last 4 years,

The posts tend to appear to ask a genuine harmless question, then the post is a pro right wing, with heavy left, millennial, snowflake bashing. It's actually quite sad that someone feels the need to flood this site with such posts.

Forgive me if you disagree..... I post this in a hope we can change the course of this site between us all.

Snare x (not a libtard, commie, snowflake, millennial........ an economic and justice conservative with 'socialist' views on community and services)

44

Nurses are unwilling to take the COVID-19 Vaccine

by adjusted knowledge in

jw
friends

i work at two separate hospitals and most of the rns i work with have stated they won't take the vaccine.

i've read a report that 1/3 of rns will refuse the vaccine.

for those in other countries do you see this being an issue or is it more an american phenomenon?.

snare&racket

I work in the region first given the vaccine, it started on last Wednesday, I had mine Saturday, my nurse fiancé had it Sunday.

CNN were filming my colleagues receiving it Wed morning.

I assure you nurses are having it in great numbers, as are all the doctors.

Some may decline it, as they are permitted to, but here in the UK that is certainly not the trend.

16

The Mysterious Missing Islam.....

by snare&racket in

i've discussed this before but not in this context alone.. i remember being about 14 years old, 1994 and starting a study in the uk with a charming muslim from the congo.

he was a very pleasant middle aged guy with a big family, two wives, always the most hospitable.

at the time the watchtower had a book on many religions, a thick red book called 'mankind's search for god' so i would read and discuss the section on islam with him.. interestingly, but not surprising, many details they had were wrong about islam and he would explain how and correct me.

snare&racket

I've discussed this before but not in this context alone.

I remember being about 14 years old, 1994 and starting a study in the UK with a charming Muslim from the Congo. He was a very pleasant middle aged guy with a big family, two wives, always the most hospitable.

At the time the Watchtower had a book on many religions, a thick red book called 'Mankind's search for God' so I would read and discuss the section on Islam with him.

Interestingly, but not surprising, many details they had were wrong about Islam and he would explain how and correct me.

Learning about this religion, even at this age, left me pondering where it was in bible text? There was so much in WT literature about the evil Catholics and potentially early JW protestants (lol). There were endless readings and studying about Baa'l and paganism, both the Roman and Greek religious influences on modern day life.

When talking of 'today' the time of the end there was talk of specific nations that will be important players at the 'time of the end'...America, the UK and the evil Russia (how American-centric and myopic now we think about it). But never mentioned to my 25 year recollection as a JW .... were Muslims and Islam, the 'middle east'.

As the fastest growing religion on earth with 1.6 billion members, Islam is a giant to the 8 million JW's. The PEW religious research centre states "While the world’s population is projected to grow 32% in the coming decades, the number of Muslims is expected to increase by 70% – from 1.8 billion in 2015 to nearly 3 billion in 2060. In 2015, Muslims made up 24.1% of the global population. Forty-five years later, they are expected to make up more than three-in-ten of the world’s people (31.1%)."

The politics and history of the planet for the last 70 years has been revolving around the middle east, oil, beliefs and cultures. How many would argue that 9/11 is arguably the biggest event of our generation post WW2. It has set the world apart, christian v muslim all over again! This is not new to our planet. After the early christians died, it was Christian v's Islam for centuries, battling over the Holy lands in endless wars and history, crusades and jihads that shaped our world today, again none of which was prophesied or forseen.

So why was is Islam, the fastest growing religion, missing from JW doctrine? Why is it missing from the end of the world beliefs and predictions? Why is it missing from bible text?

........well it's real simple! Islam came about AFTER the Bible in approx the 7th century. It would only be in the bible (and therefore JW doctrines) if the bible was written by people able to know the future.

It says much, that it is missing

Just like dinosaurs, which famously also have no mention in the bible, despite these giant beasts one time ruling the planet for millions of years , only to be wiped out and only re-discovered 'at the time of the end'... they too were not written about in the bible because their discovery only came about millenia after, and the bible would have to be written by people who could know the future somehow....AND.... know the past somehow.

It says much that they are likewise missing.

Snare

43

Dumb Elders

by minimus in

jw
friends

i knew a few pretty intelligent elders .

sometimes i would wonder why they remained as elders or even witnesses because they were successful men who made a good living and were highly respected because of their qualities.. that is a rather small group.

most elders that i know of aren’t the brightest bulbs in the sky.

snare&racket

Family members calling me upset because their marriage was in a bad place and the elders came around and didn't help/ couldn't help fix it....

I asked my sibling what the elder did for a living 'painter and decorator',

So, I spelt it out for her... "You are confused as to why a local painter and decorator can't help you with your marriage and relationship issues, his only connection to you being that he goes to the same religious building as you do locally."

Why JW's expect so much from elders is baffling..... they should not be providing pastoral care, teaching, child abuse investigations, judiciary meetings, marriage counselling or even theological guidance. They have ZERO training, their one qualification is consistent field ministry hours.

The ministry school is no PGC, the annual elders teaching days are not equivalent to law degrees, social work degrees or forensic police training. They are instructional days to ensure the elders are on WT's track.

I met intelligent elders, some with successful businesses known nationally. I really liked many of them, but having been a JW, I know they lack the courage and fortitude to doubt or question, the humility to risk being wrong or the dedication to truth so as to sacrifice it all when knowing something wasn't right. This is where intelligence can leave one lacking and left behind, cognitive dissonance,

What makes me sad, is that they will even let their own children and family suffer the same beliefs rather than have the courage to question. Disappointing and heartbreaking beyond belief....

8

Another Rainbow explained....

by snare&racket in

due to the many variables involved it has been difficult for science to predict how proteins fold to form their uniquely functional state.

proteins are built from individual amino acids up, coded by dna.

protein function is dictated by its shape and amino acid make up.

snare&racket

Very rhetorical !

Thank you for finding that brochure, it held the 'gap' of knowledge in protein folding on high, making it out to be a huge issue in the defence of evolution. Utter nonsense and very deceiving.

8

Another Rainbow explained....

by snare&racket in

due to the many variables involved it has been difficult for science to predict how proteins fold to form their uniquely functional state.

proteins are built from individual amino acids up, coded by dna.

protein function is dictated by its shape and amino acid make up.

snare&racket

Due to the many variables involved it has been difficult for science to predict how proteins fold to form their uniquely functional state. Proteins are built from individual amino acids up, coded by DNA. Protein function is dictated by its shape and amino acid make up. The amino acids form a 'tape' like stricture and enter an organelle called a ribosome where a complex folding process takes place and the finished protein exits the ribosome.

Science has ling been able to appreciate the amino acid sequence and the see the final protein molecule. We have not had the calculating power in our hands to work out how exactly each protein folds in the ribosome. This is not because there was an imagined 'magical' or mysterious state between an unfolded and folded protein but simply that it is so complex. The most complex 'origami' imaginable!

For anyone with a basic understanding, you can appreciate the power of complex hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions of the molecule that contributed to the folding but in such a manner that though we understood how, could not predict due to complexity and huge variables.

The JW literature used this knowledge gap in science to insert god. I always thought it was a weak sauce god of the gaps example as it was likely going to be understood soon enough with powerful enough computing. Well I read it in their literature 2008....

Now the gap is closed.... I wonder if the JW's will retract and apologise for their 'hypothesis' or simply stay quiet and say nothing about one more false claim, one more false explanation in defence of creation over evolution, one more disproven claim by uneducated cult leaders...

www.technologyreview.com/2020/11/30/1012712/deepmind-protein-folding-ai-solved-biology-science-drugs-disease/amp/

86

Voter Fraud !

by Sea Breeze in

dick morris sounds the alert:.

https://www.dickmorris.com/fight-massive-democratice-fraud/ .

snare&racket

What is the source for the 6000 vote switch? Not read that anywhere... interesting and concerning if evident.

7

Pioneers privilige

by justice34 in

organization and congregation seems to give so much attention to the pioneers and the hours.

encouraging the members to get even the 30h at the month of c/o visit even if they don't complete the minimum of the hours.

why do they give so much praise and attention to pioneers?

snare&racket

This is a business and belief structure that can't stay stagnant in growth, it would financially implode.

To survive financially it needs constant new members.

Members provide two things, money and new members (ministry and having children).

Every young new member has the potential to supply decades of new members, with about half of their indoctrinated future children staying.

Older new members may leave the WT its finances especially with family distancing based on WT doctrine.

Watchtower know their stats inside out, hence all the data they collect from members. They know roughly how many hours ministry = x1 new member.

Bethelites, CO'S, Elders.... don't bring in new members. Pioneers tended to, just for statistical reasons. Watchtower know their business well and that sustaining it's position it is all about the hours of ministry!

Hence Pioneer privilege.....

But.....this will likely decline as 'the ministry' faces data and truth via the internet. Pioneers and ministry grind can't match an informed public.

I can see WT taking a 'new light' approach to ex members. A large source of potential new members. An 'all is forgiven' new light and new love bombing of long lost family and friends. I also can imagine a attempt to maintain retention by altering strict rules and making JW life a little easier.

86

Voter Fraud !

by Sea Breeze in

dick morris sounds the alert:.

https://www.dickmorris.com/fight-massive-democratice-fraud/ .

snare&racket

There are many statistical methods to detect irregularities in voting, it would be very detectable if mass organized voter fraud took place.

Vote irregularities happen every democratic election. You have to prove intent and assign blame, with evidence. Irregularities will happen at same kind of rate as other elections.

You can't hold weight in anecdotal stories and pictures without hard evidence. Let's imagine candidate X wanted to have a safety net for losing an election, so they have a pile of pro X votes dumped, to undermine the election.

My point being, finding an irregularity such as a pile of dumped votes does not provide motive or the guilty party.

You can't assume the winner cheated just because they won, it may well have been the loser cheating.

Lastly, check your own bias. Want to call the election a fraud and a full recount whoever wins?.... you sure?

12

Pand€mi£ Contribution$

by snare&racket in

jw
friends

hi everyone, hope all are well :).

just wondering, with all these zoom meetings and cancelled assemblies, just how the financial contribution system works in 2020?.

i obviously am wondering if it will have a huge impact on the wt org.. can someone kindly summarise how contributions are managed nowadays, both officially and anecdotally in kh's.. i was last attending around 2004, where there were x2 contribution boxes, the world wide work and kh fund.

snare&racket

As someone long left, it seems bizarre that the god who made the universe, would be counting on a zoom vote to keep the presses printing. When I left, JW's were still very much of the 'old light' that when they start asking for money, that is the day theynhave lost gods favor.

Absolutely bananas!