Posts by Rivergang

The format of exJW reddit likely appeals well to those raised on the likes of Instagram, Twitter and similar. As for myself (and possibly other more "old school" types), I don't feel so comfortable posting in such an environment.

However, its focus on JW matters rather than on politics is pleasing.

12

Bewildering Background revealing who stopped slavery in the world

by Terry in

jw
friends

bewildering background.

even among the greatest religious thinkers and moral philosophers of civilizations around the world for 1000’s of years slavery was not considered a moral issue.. only one civilization developed a “moral revulsion” against it very late in its history:western civilization.. abraham lincoln said:if slavery is not considered wrong; nothing can be considered as wrong.. but why did not even the leading moralists among other nations and civilizations reject slavery at all?.

there is no evidence that slavery came under attack in any other part of the world before the 18th century.

Rivergang

The mainstream churches played very little part in the abolition of slavery. Quite the contrary, in fact.

For example, the Church of England actually participated in slavery. Its Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts owned sugar plantations in the West Indies, and it almost goes without saying that these were worked with slave labour.

Rather, it was the much-despised Quakers and Non-Conformists who led the fight to firstly end the slave trade, then eventually abolish slavery altogether. William Wilberforce, the key British politician in making the necessary legislative changes that abolished slavery, is described as being a "converted Evangelical Christian."

Back then Evangelical Christians were very much viewed as radicals, who threatened the established order of things. As well as being up against powerful vested interests (the slave trade was a highly profitable business, bringing great wealth to the port cities of London, Bristol and Liverpool), abolitionists such as Wilberforce also carried the social stigma of being "rather odd".

Not sure that they would have exactly fitted into the category of the "Religious Right" !

21

Cowardly Change of Policy in the UK

by Slidin Fast in

the britain branch has called a confidential meeting tonight with a controversial announcement.

the message is of such import that it was transmitted by word of mouth only, nothing in writing, ears only.

a decision made by the governing body of jehovah's witnesses and transmitted orally down the chain of command, a decision proving the leadership of this spirit lead body.. the gdpr laws in the uk have been interpreted by wt lawyers so that all record keeping relating to the public has been banned, telephone witnessing and letter writing also, forbidden.. now in a show of supreme bravado the publishers are to be informed that if they wish to, if they dare, they may write to people at their own risk.. bear in mind, nothing is in writing.

Rivergang

Yeah - there is nothing like wanting to have it both ways. All too typical of that bloody lot!

18

“The Asiatic Mind” — Watchtower 1956

by slimboyfat in

searching instances of the word “simplify” in watchtower literature, i stumbled across this.. the asiatic mind finds it difficult to accept new ways, to simplify and to make advantageous changes.

they fear conversion and dislike others’ offering them help.

many continually live in a realm of unreality and refuse to face modern facts of life.

Rivergang

The term "Asiatic mind" is so general as to be almost meaningless.

Asia's western border is the line formed by the Ural Mountains, then the eastern shores of the Black Sea, Bosphorus, Dardanelles, Mediterranean Sea and Red Sea. Its northern border is the Arctic Ocean, western border the North Pacific Ocean and the southern border the Indian Ocean. Its south-eastern extremities get really interesting, forming a border with the Melanesian islands of New Guinea, and coming to within only a few hundred miles of the northern coastline of Australia.

Encompassed within that area is a very diverse group of peoples, very hard to generalise about. For example, the Asian continent includes the Middle East, where the Jewish people originated from (if not where most of them now live). Few would deny that the Jews have produced more than their share of innovative persons!

18

“The Asiatic Mind” — Watchtower 1956

by slimboyfat in

searching instances of the word “simplify” in watchtower literature, i stumbled across this.. the asiatic mind finds it difficult to accept new ways, to simplify and to make advantageous changes.

they fear conversion and dislike others’ offering them help.

many continually live in a realm of unreality and refuse to face modern facts of life.

Rivergang

Yet one more example of WT pseudo-science.

Reading WT literature is said by some to educate a person to at least the level of a bachelor degree.

A bachelor degree at which university, though? The only one I know of that fits the bill is Tasmania's University of Lower Crackpot.

29

Tony Morris was right

by wolverines in

i have no love loss for the gb or religion and this is not an apologist attempt.

in fact i hate the religion and the gb.

but i watch night after night young kids who's minds have been corrupted by the propaganda and dogma that modern college's are teaching them.

Rivergang

The expression "They have broken out in a fresh place" comes immediately to mind here.

As others have already noted, not much has changed from what that lot were sounding off about 50 years ago. Having worked extensively with university graduates over these last eight years, though, I haven't seen too many waving red flags and singing the The Internationale. Neither have those I deal with shown any difficulties figuring out whether they are Arthur or Martha! In fact, without exception, all the graduate engineers who have come through our office have been quite conservative types.

Once again whenever TMIII opens his mouth, it would require something the size of a Caterpillar 992 front end loader to clear away all the BS that results!

59

Guns...Are You For or Against Legally Owning Them?

by minimus in

jw
friends

there is a surge going on of people buying guns, especially first time buyers.

with talk of police defunding and rioting in the neighborhoods, some people want to protect themselves.. do you support owning and using a gun if needed?.

Rivergang

Joey,

I have certainly seen that - some bumbling amateur with a 9mm automatic.

The only safe person within this guy's vicinity was the one he was trying to shoot!

59

Guns...Are You For or Against Legally Owning Them?

by minimus in

jw
friends

there is a surge going on of people buying guns, especially first time buyers.

with talk of police defunding and rioting in the neighborhoods, some people want to protect themselves.. do you support owning and using a gun if needed?.

Rivergang

I have never had any issue with the legal ownership of firearms.

Having grown up around farms, I learned at a very young age to shoot with a .22 calibre rifle. This was out of sheer necessity, as pest control was (and still is) a major problem in that district. Furthermore, my father worked for a time as a professional hunter. As a consequence, there were always firearms and ammunition readily at hand around the house. Later on, I took up small bore shooting as a hobby - something I have only given away in recent years, after my eyesight deteriorated too badly to be able to continue with it. (All the blessings of growing old!)

Just a word, though, about that article that appeared in The Federalist:

https://thefederalist.com/2018/04/13/britains-knife-control-bad-parody-gun-control/

The homocide situation London compared to New York is in fact rather more complicated than the way it has been presented by this source. It is true that during the month of February 2018, for the first time ever, London reported more homicides than did New York City -15 versus 14 (a fact widely reported on the social media sites). However, what The Federalist did not report that this trend was very much an abberation. For example, the three months January to March of 2018 saw 57 homicides in New York City, while London reported 45 such crimes during the same time period. Furthermore, by the end of June of that year, New York had recorded 141 homicides for the year, almost double London's total of 80 for the same six months.

Consistently over the years, New York's homicide rate has significantly exceeded that of London, as witness last year (2019); in which New York recorded 311 homicides, while London saw 149. Given the two cities have similar sized populations, that makes New York's homicide rate double that of London (despite what that article in The Federalist would have us believe).

While having never visited either city, I have had more than a few encounters with serious crime. For quite a number of years, I was an expatriate worker in a certain Third World country, whose capital city is recognised as being one of the more dangerous in the world. Furthermore, many of its outlying districts - such as where I was based - are even more lawless. There are in fact large rural areas that are scarcely under any form of government control. (To a degree, this was almost inevitable, given the way that that country was propelled literally from out of the Stone Age and into the mid-20th Century in just a few short years). Along with almost all other Expatriates who have ever lived there, I could spend an entire afternoon recounting anecdotes that include such subjects as tribal fighting, armed hold ups, terrorism, political assassinations, mass murders and many other such events:

- But all coming under the general classification "In that particular country, the truth is stranger than fiction!"