Posts by wisdomfrombelow

246

Black Lives Matter—Do You Agree With Their Philosophy?

by minimus in

jw
friends

i agree with people who say all lives matter.

i think blm is a racist group.

if white people pushed an agenda saying white lives matter, some people would have a conniption..

wisdomfrombelow

Logical fallacy's galore. To think the people involved in "black lives matter" don't value all lives is a mis-characterization. It was a slogan to bring attention to an issue that has disproportionately affected "african american" people. A slogan like "have a coke and a smile" is also not saying that you cannot smile without a coke. If there were a rash of any underrepresented group being mistreated or killed while under police custody anyone and everyone should be outraged.

To believe in the ideal that no one should be marginalized is not the same as being a proponent of the opposite. That's one of the problems with discourse in dealing with issues like this because things are painted as mutually exclusive when there is a lot of overlap and a range of viewpoints.

Women, who make up the majority of people in the USA are also the most likely victims of domestic violence. No one would be thinking it sexist to push for and end to domestic abuse with a slogan that mentioned "Women". And though men are also victims of domestic abuse it is not to the same degree.

Violence is terrible when it happens to anyone, be they law enforcement or civilians or health care workers. When I realized how things are framed shapes perception and started to look at the statements and comments being made it helped me to realize that this type of thought process is deep in the Jehovah Witness pysche.

Either you are for us or against us. Either you love this or you hate it. That's not true. Change a statement into something equivalent and it's easily seen. Either someone loves Jesus or they hate Jesus. What about people who like him somewhat and dislike him somewhat? If someone derived your views on ice-cream based on something like "Do you want to eat ice cream now" and inferred that if you answered "no" that you never wanted to eat ice cream or if you answered "yes" that you always wanted to eat ice cream would miss the possibility that many people only like ice cream some of the time. (I was going to specify a flavor but that might have detracted from the point.)

I prefer to call this type of statement false dichotomy instead of a "black and white fallacy" which it is also known as.

7

Politics Aside...

by wisdomfrombelow in

jw
friends

there seem to many seemingly political topics started in this section.

it's usually something controversial and not related to this subject area.

it would be nice to have this area reserved for it's appropriate subject.

wisdomfrombelow

@RubaDub

I think I was not clear in my original post. The JW Discussion Forum has many sub-forums. I believe this one is "Friends" but there is also "Politics & Current Affairs" and "News & World Events". I was just suggesting to post in the appropriate forum so people can find and discuss in a more orderly fashion.

7

Politics Aside...

by wisdomfrombelow in

jw
friends

there seem to many seemingly political topics started in this section.

it's usually something controversial and not related to this subject area.

it would be nice to have this area reserved for it's appropriate subject.

wisdomfrombelow

There seem to many seemingly political topics started in this section. It's usually something controversial and not related to this subject area. It would be nice to have this area reserved for it's appropriate subject. Just my opinion. Who agrees with me? Who disagrees?

40

we have a laid off bethelite with an engineering degree!

by nowwhat? in

this guy have been at bethel for 25 years when he could have been making 75-100 thousand a year as an engineer.

so they kick him to the curb so they don't have to house him and his wife anymore.

they run into a problem at warwick and they ask him to come back for 3 weeks.

wisdomfrombelow

Like Magnum, I know a lot of JWs with Bachelors, Masters and PhD degrees and most of them are doing well in the job market. I know some Bethelite's with engineering degrees that did just fine when they left Bethel because if their volunteer work was related to their degree they would have experience working for a multinational company and that counts for something.

Most of them are deserving of the degree they got and worked very hard at prestigious universities to get them. To think that just because they were a JW they somehow don't think is really unfair. Is everyone who is is religious and idiot because they accept things that others think is unnecessary or foolish? I can't make that assessment.

If they choose to remain or enter the full-time ministry as a JW then that might limit their job opportunities as often the job offers are for full-time work. But I dislike the blanket statements about not being worthy of graduating. Some people I know who are very bright don't have the self-discipline to finish a course they find "boring" and hence don't graduate. That's just as unacceptable in my book.

There are smart graduates and their are less-bright graduates. Some have good people skills and some don't. But I'd rather have the degree than the same knowledge and intelligence without the degree as sometimes that can help in getting the job when all other things are equal.

47

Serena Williams Pregnant

by wisdomfrombelow in

jw
friends

now that she has announced that she is 20 weeks pregnant and not married, what is her status in the cult?

.

wisdomfrombelow

Now that she has announced that she is 20 weeks pregnant and not married, what is her status in the cult?

39

In praise of Randall Watters

by nicolaou in

jw
friends

exjw's of a certain age will remember randy's site well.

freeminds was instrumental in waking me up along with ray franz's books.

if net soup and armageddon okies mean nothing to you you're probably under 30.. whatever caused randy to post what he did recently is something i can only guess at but it won't be what i remember him for.. randy, i wish you well and thank you for all you've done over the years .

wisdomfrombelow

What happened? The links are all gone on the freeminds website.

19

Looking for a bit of advice in a difficult situation

by Oversteer in

jw
friends

i'm looking for a bit of guidance here and not really sure where to turn.

maybe someone has been in a similar situation and can help me out.. currently i'm an awake, baptized jw.

have been for a few years.

wisdomfrombelow

You should find out your compatibility first. Then you can offer your transplant. I would not discuss your medical plans with your sibling and only with the doctor. If you are a match and the recipient chooses blood free surgery perhaps you, if you are the donor, could choose surgery without that restriction. In the USA confidentiality laws limit what can be told to anyone so you could keep your decision confidential.

No need to "out yourself" or discuss it with anyone else either before or after the surgery. Learn to keep quiet and perhaps you can save your sibling.

14

Impact of NWT

by menrov in

hi all, just recently i was thinking about the period of my study and eventual baptism as jw.

it took many years, i guess in all about 10 years.

various times i stopped the study but after a while it started again.

wisdomfrombelow

I agree with oldhippie on this. If you want to use another translation it might be viewed as odd but that won't stop you from being baptized. The focus of the meetings is not the bible but their bible study aids. That is what they care about. If you can agree with the baptismal questions then you can get baptized no matter what version of the bible you use.

As regarding the "need to get baptized" that is a requirement for Christianity. Almost universally it is done but the method and prerequisties vary amongst the denominations. Some people have many doubts but get baptized anyway in hopes of getting the "prize"

23

Why Marrying An Outsider Is NOT A Disfellowshipping "Offense"

by Divergent in

jw
friends

so yeah, i was thinking about this.

marrying an unbeliever is considered to be wrong, but at the same time, it is not a disfellowshipping "offense".

well, the reason is simple: there is more to gain than to lose by not disfellowshipping.

wisdomfrombelow

You can get disfellowshipped for marrying an unbeliever. And it is automatic if the unbeliever is a disfellowshipped witness. I think the branch manual said that if a person would willfully remarry their disfellowshipped former mate, that would be grounds for their disfellowshipping. Someone can "fact check" that but I believe it is one of the only instances where it is automatic disfellowshipping and not automatic disassociation.

23

Why Marrying An Outsider Is NOT A Disfellowshipping "Offense"

by Divergent in

jw
friends

so yeah, i was thinking about this.

marrying an unbeliever is considered to be wrong, but at the same time, it is not a disfellowshipping "offense".

well, the reason is simple: there is more to gain than to lose by not disfellowshipping.

wisdomfrombelow

So why not allow polygamy?

Where is polygamy shown to be unacceptable for Christians? It used to be permissble for a Jehovah's Witness to have more than one wife in countries where the practice was legal. I think Knorr changed the policy in the 50s so that it became a disfellowshipping offense. But I believe there was a "grandfather clause" where those who had multiple wives were allowed to keep them.