i was invited to a small get-together by a long time friend.
we both served as elders for years.
he is in his late 70s.
JanusFulcrum: you shouldn't make comments on things you don't know about. It makes you appear to buy into bigoted stereotypes.
90+% of the English congregation members on the border are of Hispanic ethnicity.
Source: lived on the Tex-Mex border and belonged to the English congregation in that border town (Laredo) for 22 years and still have family in English congregations on the border.
i am inclined to start this thread in response to some comments made in other threads.
i have been coming around these forum for quite some time now so whatever you find in here is not just related to something someone may have said this week.
it can go months back as well.. i have seen many who claim to respect the belief of others but when it comes down to applying it into practice, things take a whole different tune.
That must be an expression from our friends across the pond.
Ive never heard the expression "home truth" before.
i am inclined to start this thread in response to some comments made in other threads.
i have been coming around these forum for quite some time now so whatever you find in here is not just related to something someone may have said this week.
it can go months back as well.. i have seen many who claim to respect the belief of others but when it comes down to applying it into practice, things take a whole different tune.
Cappy, I am a sweet, lovable person that loves to gve. I never had demands and I am never blistering. I am simply merciless in the arena of ideas, as I believe we all should be.
I should have put blistering demands in quotes. "blistering demands"
That's what it feels like when your brain is panicking because someone actually asked you to back up your assertion with facts and didn't back down.
i am inclined to start this thread in response to some comments made in other threads.
i have been coming around these forum for quite some time now so whatever you find in here is not just related to something someone may have said this week.
it can go months back as well.. i have seen many who claim to respect the belief of others but when it comes down to applying it into practice, things take a whole different tune.
I know well the feeling when someone challenges you on your beliefs and asks you to back it up with facts. If you don't have tangible evidence for that belief, the instinct is to get defensive and say that the person is being unreasonable. Being on the receiving end of that challenge often feels like you're being treated mean or unfairly.
Once you get over that emotional reaction and examine the challenge objectively, you realize it's not that big of a drama and in fact you might be wrong.
I've been on the receiving end of Viv's blistering demands for proof and facts. It wasn't fun. But then I realized it wasn't fun only because I didn't have proof and facts to back up what I was saying. Something clicked, and I realized I needed to have evidence before I went around spouting beliefs willy nilly, otherwise I just look silly.
i am inclined to start this thread in response to some comments made in other threads.
i have been coming around these forum for quite some time now so whatever you find in here is not just related to something someone may have said this week.
it can go months back as well.. i have seen many who claim to respect the belief of others but when it comes down to applying it into practice, things take a whole different tune.
not the belief itself - you've not said which beliefs deserve respect and which don't.
The ones that have no evidence to back them up and are batshit crazy, of course.
j-dubs aint easy to talk to and harder to like...they'd rather give you a tract than say gesundheit...saturday morning, instead of cartoons,xxxxits the watchtower brought to your door...if you say youre not interested, youre outta luck;xxxxtheyll be back next week offering more.. mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be j-dubs...dont let em get baptized at seven years old,xxxxor take em out knockin on doors in the cold.mamas, dont let your babies grow up to be j-dubs...theyll never quite manage to think for themselves,xxxxjust know how to do what theyre told... j-dubs might not smoke weed or watch r-rated movies...theyd rather stay home than go drinking on saturday night...thats all fine and dandy if youre eighty-six,xxxxand waiting, one foot in the grave...but a kid needs some fun in his life while hes young,xxxxstead of being a watchtower slave.. mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be j-dubs...dont let em be judged by a self-righteous putz,xxxxteach em to stand up show they got guts...mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be j-dubs...pretty sure they would rather be shoveling shit,xxxxthen have pedophiles groping their butts.. oh, mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be j-dubs...let em date pretty girls that they know from school,xxxxcollegell teach em theyre nobodys fool.yes, mamas, if you keep your babies from growin up j-dubs...theyll be thankin you all through the rest of your life;xxxxhell, they might even think that youre cool..
i don't know if this has been talked about before but do you think that cart witnessing has made the r&f more accessible to apostates.
why i say this is because if you think of the d2d work the only way that i could make contact with a r&f member would be if they knocked on my door or i was fortunate enough to see them walking down the road, stopped them and began talking.
if it was known that i was an apostate my address would be recorded and no further visits made.. however with the carts it is a completely different story, and it is much harder to walk away particularly in a busy street in the full view of the public.
i wound up buying 26 acres of land in upstate ny, a few years ago.
i bought it strictly as an investment, due to rumors of there going to be huge development of the area.
it seems like casinos, walmart, and tons of building have started in the area, or are now breaking ground, since i purchased it.
ever since my sister gave me an " awakening," i have been somewhat obsessed with the failings of the religion i was born into.
i am especially outraged at the article i read about how the elders are supposed to deal with accusations of sexual abuse (jwfacts.com/watchtower/paedophelia.php).
i myself suffered sexual and emotional abuse from a family "friend"/ministerial servant in a neighboring congregation.
I don't understand this part - how can they think he was innocent if he was actually convicted of the crime?
I can see him claiming he was innocent, however telling the elders that the lawyer recommended he plead guilty to avoid jail time.
I'm not saying it's right. But it seems a likely scenario.
well its that time again when the ghouls come out to play.
i personally think halloween is a bit irresponsible and inappropriate from a sociological perspective.. there's something about the intent of frightening young impressionable children minds with frightening objests.
and feeding them candy which most likely cause tooth decay and stomachs is irresponsible activity conducted by adults.
Fink, yes, I do get where you're coming from. I feel, though, that one can have fun on the holiday without being around those negative aspects.
