has anyone ever studied the salem witch hunts and trails.
what i found interesting about these, is how people who claimed to be peaceful, could get so riled up, that they were willing to kill people.
the spark that lit the fire was often a rumor or false accusations that got out of hand, or perhaps a misunderstanding on a issue or people thinking they saw something they didn't.
kenpodragon,
The History Channel had a show about the witch trials this past week. A researcher says that based on her studies the cause of the seizures, headaches, upturned eyes and so on might have been an epidemic of (I think) encephalitis spread by mosquitos. One clue was that the first victims lived in a swampy area with high mosquito populations.
funniest joke
no kidding.
each country had their funniest joke winners then the votes were cast for the funniest out of all the countries.. i forgot what country the winning joke came from.
How about using a webcam?
dear shanna,.
thank you for writing to amazon.com with your concern.. .
let me assure you, amazon.com does not endorse "understanding loved.
Buying, or not buying, a book from Amazon is something like voting.
If I choose to not buy this book, and if my not buying it is seen as censoring Amazon, isn't that like saying that if I vote for the candidate of party A in my local mayoral race I am censoring party B's candidate?
You could still buy from Amazon and not be accused of supporting pedophilia because you are buying something other than this particular book. If, for example, Danielle Steele's next book is selling so well Amazon has it back ordered, but the pedo book languishes with anemic sales figures, Amazon will notice this (every store tracks what inventory's selling and what isn't) and will not order more copies of the pedo book. Might well be leery of works by the same author or the same subject in the future. No business can afford to alienate its customers to the point the business won't survive.
Not buying the book isn't censorship, imo. If it doesn't sell, that's a choice freely made. Censorship is when the consumer's freedom of choice is ended because the book was banned by the authorities and no other outlets exist--not because the author chose not to produce another loser.
On an almost-unrelated side note....
Crownboy mentioned Mein Kampf. Some might say, as he mentioned, that people could call for its supression because it promotes anti-Semitism. But as Daniel Goldhagen points out in Hitler's Willing Executioners: Ordinary Germans and the Holocaust, anti-Semitism had existed in Germany for over a hundred years before Hitler came to power. Even liberals(!) agreed there was a "Jewish problem" and debated what to do about it. Hardly anyone advocated the drastic solution the Nazis implemented but the attitude was already there.
i just took a look at h2o, which of course was the pioneering internet jw discussion board.
at one time, it was the place.
then this site came along, and nowadays people on h2o are debating whether there is any point in the continued existence of that site:.
Having just read the snippet from H2O posted above, I have to take exception to the jab at this board re: people here aren't allowed to believe in God, that it's a "well-baited honey trap" etc.
My personal experience here is that while some people have expressed either a belief or disbelief in God, I haven't seen such posters attacked regularly. Or have I missed something? And some are adherents of other belief systems entirely, but I don't recall any "you'll burn in hell" replies to these revelations.
I don't know Rick but I get the impression something's going on in his life that's got more to do with his present feelings than the flame war he mentioned from years back.
i just took a look at h2o, which of course was the pioneering internet jw discussion board.
at one time, it was the place.
then this site came along, and nowadays people on h2o are debating whether there is any point in the continued existence of that site:.
As someone who was a newbie (to the whole concept that the WBTS could be anything other than right) this site has helped me enormously.
And as Dutchie and others have said, this is an exciting time. In decades past, especially the 1930's, you'd never see the open questioning of religious scandals like you do now. People feel empowered and they aren't taking it anymore. "Knowledge is power" and the Internet's probably the greatest proof of that we'll see for a while.
It's a certainty that some lurkers here, though they may never post, have had their eyes opened to what's going on on a variety of fronts. Surely those here longer can recall new posters saying they had heard rumors, found this site, and saw the house of cards they were a part of for what it was. The shame is they may not feel safe in posting here. To them I say as long as you don't reveal anything which could be traced back to you, post and welcome! No one's going to rat you out and like the Radio Shack commercial says, "You've got questions. We've got answers."
I've never rated a thread, so I don't know the process, but that might be too subjective to be useful. Is it a popularity contest, iow?
As far as changing the site...I don't know. For one thing, the different forums can quickly guide people to relevant areas. Maybe a blurb that appears onscreen telling what a person will find here, a description of each forum's content, and an explanation of the search feature (and list of keywords) will get them the info they want. Links to other sites that are different (for example, I haven't poked around watchtower.observer.org that much, so if there are "human interest" stories there I missed them) from here, because some people want to read those, some might like hard news, some want things that really hit home like how DF'ed people are treated or the blood issue. Ken's site is like CNN, and here it's more like Oprah. You never know what's going to help someone too shy to post.
those who are not "blacklisted" by the wt, do you often get dubs at your door?
ive been at this address for almost a year and i have never had the pleasure of their witnessing work!
whats going on?
I've had two types of calls: one by phone (maybe `98) from an elder who invited me back (it was a cordial conversation) who said they were reaching out to all DF'ed people, and once in person. After I told them I was DF'ed no one's come by since--umm, maybe once--left an Awake! Usually we don't answer the door to anyone anyway
dear shanna,.
thank you for writing to amazon.com with your concern.. .
let me assure you, amazon.com does not endorse "understanding loved.
OK, let's beat this dead horse again.
For those of you who live in the US, may I respectfully suggest you get out a copy of the US Constitution and read the damn thing?
We have something in this country called freedom of the press. That allows this type of book (or books/movies/audio tapes on other controversial topics) to be written and sold. That allows you to criticize the writer, subject matter, and the company selling it. That's been done.
A similar fracas has been raging in the Science Fiction Bool Club regarding sexually explicit books and those with lots of obscenities. In the latest newsletter, Senior Editor Ellen Asher says in all honesty she doesn't like some of the books offered, BUT the club isn't her private toy. Some people like to buy them and/or aren't offended by them.
My point? Is anyone forcing you to buy this book all of you have objected to? No. Are you forced to look at it? No. You've told Amazon you're appalled by it and threatened not to shop there again. Do you honestly think they didn't anticipate this kind of reaction from some people? This is one of the risks of doing business anywhere. The market rules.
Sounds to me like some of you feel the world should reflect your personal morality as far as the books we can buy or read, the movies seen, the information available to people, in a nutshell. Dub thinking. "We'll tell you what's best for you to read or think about."
And if somebody here's going to do one of those "Don't you have any sympathy for the victims of child abuse?" responses, I'll say if you have to ask, after reading other posts on other topics by me, you really haven't quite as good an ability to judge character as you thought. Yeah I care. This isn't the proper way to help the victims though. Prosecute the guilty. Bring them to the public's attention. Sue for $$$. Work to make the shameful practice of child molesting history as much as possible.
You don't have to buy this book. You never have to patronize Amazon again. By the same token, don't accuse anyone who does order a book from them after today of supporting purveyors of pedophilia materials. They aren't a one-interest outfit like NAMBLA. They might even sell gospel CDs. Or hunting magazines. I don't shop there so I don't know what all they offer.
Conclusion: I don't like it that the book exists. (BTW, why not write to the publisher and let `em know you're gonna boycott them from now on, too? Every other title they publish from now on. Also UPS or FedEx or the Post Office because they'll deliver copies of it. AND your Internet Service Provider because you can access Amazon's site through them? Don't forget your phone company if you log on via phone lines. And your PC maker as well.) But I'll defend Amazon's right to sell it. Because the "we will protect you" ethos of censors scares me far more than the existence of a book I wouldn't read anyway.
ok, here's my question.
how do you go from being a jw to being a whatever (methodist, lutheran, etc.
) i've been invited to go to many churches with friends, but, i have no desire to ever set foot in any church.
Buffy--FWIW, I'd take the search slow. One resource on here is in the recent thread "Q & A about choosing a religion" or something like that--search with the phrase "Q & A" and you'll find it. There's a link taking you to a website where you're asked 20 questions about religion and you give a priority to each answer, and then you get a list of 27 different belief systems with % matches to your answers (plus links for fuller explanations of each if you want).
I don't know whether to call it providential, coincidental, or eerie that I've (again) been kicking around this very same question in my head the latter part of this week when I found this thread. (Looking for an omen, maybe?)
What intrigues, or maybe disturbs me the most (not in a bad way though--food for thought kind of way) is why I, who've done OK over the past few years not being religious, keep feeling this need. Especially since I was a JW for much less than a year and have been out for two decades. Why now?
Is it a type of dependency? An inner envy of what others seem to have (inner peace, a sense of values, spirituality--the last, I agree, is how you live and not just beliefs)? The calling of the Holy Spirit? Were we designed to seek out a relationship with God, or some Higher Power? I don't know, but as always there's much to think about in what's been said so far.
I might check out the local UU church in my area. If nothing else, it might be a way to slowly ease back into the spiritual scene.
.
the latest set of ads from geico insurance has one of two women in a cubicle telling how some unnamed person has "really worked his tail off" in raising customer satisfaction.. the second one, who has the looks, glasses, and physique (ok, on the last, i'm guessing) of vivamus, bursts into laughter a half-second before the first woman does, and repeats the "worked his tail off" remark.. cut to a scene where the talking gecko lizard (has an english accent) is standing motionless on a computer keyboard.. cut to the women again, who have within a second or two stifled their laughter.. darned if it doesn't look like her!
or her twin.
Do you get many American commercials in Europe?
There is or was a show on called America's Funniest Home Videos. Sometimes they show commercials from overseas. Besides being funny, they're a tad bit racier than anything we have here--during the family hour anyway. You were the first person I thought of when I saw this latest in a series.
Yep, definitely an eye-catcher!
.
the latest set of ads from geico insurance has one of two women in a cubicle telling how some unnamed person has "really worked his tail off" in raising customer satisfaction.. the second one, who has the looks, glasses, and physique (ok, on the last, i'm guessing) of vivamus, bursts into laughter a half-second before the first woman does, and repeats the "worked his tail off" remark.. cut to a scene where the talking gecko lizard (has an english accent) is standing motionless on a computer keyboard.. cut to the women again, who have within a second or two stifled their laughter.. darned if it doesn't look like her!
or her twin.
The latest set of ads from GEICO insurance has one of two women in a cubicle telling how some unnamed person has "really worked his tail off" in raising customer satisfaction.
The second one, who has the looks, glasses, and physique (OK, on the last, I'm guessing) of Vivamus, bursts into laughter a half-second before the first woman does, and repeats the "worked his tail off" remark.
Cut to a scene where the talking gecko lizard (has an English accent) is standing motionless on a computer keyboard.
Cut to the women again, who have within a second or two stifled their laughter.
Darned if it doesn't look like her! Or her twin.
