Posts by Rivergang

posted

66
Watchtower fined in Belgium
by Vanderhoven7 in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
jehovah's witnesses in belgium have to pay €12k fine for shunning policy.

news.

you have probably heard of the trial going on in belgium about the shunning policy of jws.
Rivergang

Well said, Phizzy.
There are "Voluntary associations", and there are "Voluntary associations". Extricating oneself from a high-control group such as the Jehovahs Witnesses is not nearly as straight forward a process as it may first seem to be (particularly to those whose understanding of such matters is of a more superficial nature).
Sadly, too, you are quite correct about the number of suicides which result from their cruel policy of shunning. Sad as it is, it shouldn't be any great surprise, and is also seen amongst other high-control groups who similarly practice shunning (such as the Exclusive Brethren). Each one of those persons who thus commits suicide is just as dead as anybody who in previous centuries was burned at the stake or stoned to death.
Religious freedom is not absolute. That is the only reason why heretics are no longer burned at the stake for infringement of "theocratic" rules.
47
Do You Support The Death Penalty ?
by minimus in
1. jw
2. friends
do you support the death penalty or do you think the worst punishment should be incarceration?.
Rivergang

If the courts could be guaranteed to get their act together and not convict the wrong person, I would say "go for it".
All too often in this country, a person sentenced to "life" for murder walks free after just ten years of imprisonment.
That surely cheapens human life.
However, our courts are almost by-words for incompetence, so I do have reservations about entrusting the judicial system with making life and death decisions. It would be just like them to send the wrong person to the gallows!
66
Watchtower fined in Belgium
by Vanderhoven7 in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
jehovah's witnesses in belgium have to pay €12k fine for shunning policy.

news.

you have probably heard of the trial going on in belgium about the shunning policy of jws.
Rivergang

There are a lot of similarities between what George Orwell wrote about, and the Jehovahs Witnesses.
66
Watchtower fined in Belgium
by Vanderhoven7 in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
jehovah's witnesses in belgium have to pay €12k fine for shunning policy.

news.

you have probably heard of the trial going on in belgium about the shunning policy of jws.
Rivergang

becoming a JW is a voluntary association.
How can that possibly apply to those born into the religion?
66
Watchtower fined in Belgium
by Vanderhoven7 in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
jehovah's witnesses in belgium have to pay €12k fine for shunning policy.

news.

you have probably heard of the trial going on in belgium about the shunning policy of jws.
Rivergang

Big Brother is watching you if you are a JW!
47
What is the most insensitive thing an Overseer or Elder has ever said and done to you?
by RULES & REGULATIONS in
1. jw
2. experiences
what is the most insensitive thing an overseer or elder has ever said and done to you?

i have had many insensitive things said to me by some elders, but for some reason one self-righteous elder was always on my case.

he didn't like the fact that i missed meetings, didn't like that i never went out in field service, that i didn't answer at the weekly meetings and he didn't like that i carried my books and magazines in my hands and not a service/book bag.
Rivergang

He became an elder and completely changed. He went from encouraging to judgemental pretty much overnight.
A general rule - which applies in the JW World just as much as anywhere else - is "If you want to know what a person is really like, place them in a position of authority".
I recall one brother who even affected a visible bantam rooster strut after being appointed an elder.
66
Watchtower fined in Belgium
by Vanderhoven7 in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
jehovah's witnesses in belgium have to pay €12k fine for shunning policy.

news.

you have probably heard of the trial going on in belgium about the shunning policy of jws.
Rivergang

the practice of the so-called “ostracism” among the Jehovah’s Witnesses,
"So-called"? Then what they do is certainly a bloody good imitation of ostracism!
66
Watchtower fined in Belgium
by Vanderhoven7 in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
jehovah's witnesses in belgium have to pay €12k fine for shunning policy.

news.

you have probably heard of the trial going on in belgium about the shunning policy of jws.
Rivergang

Of course, there is nothing like trying to have it both ways:
- every individual is free to act according to their individual consciences
- however, it their individual consciences do not coincide with the dictates of the Governing Body, then look out!
Talk about Hobson's Choice.
66
Watchtower fined in Belgium
by Vanderhoven7 in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
jehovah's witnesses in belgium have to pay €12k fine for shunning policy.

news.

you have probably heard of the trial going on in belgium about the shunning policy of jws.
Rivergang

I would not like my choice of associates to be regulated by WTBTS. Is disfellowshipping painful? I see that it is. Do I want to be forced not to speak to a disfellowshiped pedophile or diassociated person because a an elder says I must not? No. Not now. Not ever. One's choice of associates, no matter what drives it, should be beyond an elders pureview
That is surely more the issue:
i.e. A court has ruled that no Body of Elders may regulate whom I may or may not talk too, and thus effectively giving the two-fingered salute to the idea that a religious body can dictate who an individual may associate with.
21
Where do JWs stand on sex toys?
by mickbobcat in
1. watchtower
2. beliefs
i think we all know that if they are used alone it would be a no no, but what about in a marriage?

are there limits such as vibrators ok but torso with dildo not ok?.
Rivergang

Really, who cares what they think about your own private life.
Exactly!