Rainbow_Troll

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Posts by Rainbow_Troll

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  19

  Conditional Love

  by Saethydd in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i've noticed several posts recently claiming that jw friends and family members give out conditional love.

  well, i'm not so sure that is entirely accurate, in fact, i would say they tend to be very steadfast in their love.

  the issue is this, they have been taught a poor form of love.

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  Rainbow_Troll

  I suppose that if a JW sincerely believes that:

  1. Apostates will be killed in Armegeddon and
  2. Shunning an apostate will motivate them to return to the fold

  Then shunning could be a (misguided) display of love or a form of "tough love". However, I often got the impression as a JW that it was really more about protecting one's own reputation by not consorting with unclean people like apostates and nonbelievers. Apostasy is analogous to a disease and so the wisest thing to do is to enforce a quarantine until the diseased person is cured.

  
  
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  20

  "I'm Perfect, You're Doomed" . Tales from a Jehovah's Witness Upbringing

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  hey all,.

  we have purchased a bunch of great books recently, and one of them is from author kyria abrahams called "i'm perfect, you're doomed".

  i'm only 5 chapters in at this stage, but i just have to share that this is a great read!.

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  Rainbow_Troll

  schnell23 minutes ago

  Smurf thing? What, that they're "DEMONIZED?!"

  I haven't read the book, but I remember some crazy shit back in the day about the dumbest things. Smurfs, Mork and Mindy, the Legend of Zelda... Just ugh.

  I don't remember anything about Mork & Mindy, but there were several smurf urban legends circulation among JW congregation in the mid nineties (and obviously before).
  

  • In the first legend a little girl buys a smurf novelty necklace and places it around her neck before going to sleep. The next morning her parents find her dead. She had been strangled by the possessed necklace.
  • In the second legend, a little boy brings a smurf plush doll to the Sunday meeting. In the middle of the talk the doll suddenly springs to life and yells "I can't listen to this shit anymore!" He then hops out of the boy's lap and walks out the exit (presumably one of the ushers opened it for him).

  Keep in mind that these were not just funny stories told between JW kids during sleepovers. Adult JWs believed this nonsense, otherwise they wouldn't have forbidden their kids from owning smurf paraphernalia.

  
  
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  20

  Why do you get upset about family shunning you?

  by mr_doubtful in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  i understand people love their family but i also don't understand why you end up caring in the end.

  i'm ready to leave and i 100% don't expecting my family to have any contact with me nor do i want them to contact me.

  if they are going to chose a man made religion over me, that's their choice and i will sleep easy at night.

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  Rainbow_Troll

  When they're all old, sick, in a nursing home I'll simply walk in, ask them if it was worth wasting their whole life shunning their family members instead of enjoying the little time you get with them. I'll then remind them that in actuality, we only get one shot at this life and that I hope they are happy with how they spent there's.
  

  I take it that you don't like your family that much.

  I guess it is pretty easy to shrug off rejection if you already despise the ones rejecting you. Understand, however, that most of us actually like our family to some degree.
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  20

  "I'm Perfect, You're Doomed" . Tales from a Jehovah's Witness Upbringing

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  hey all,.

  we have purchased a bunch of great books recently, and one of them is from author kyria abrahams called "i'm perfect, you're doomed".

  i'm only 5 chapters in at this stage, but i just have to share that this is a great read!.

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  Rainbow_Troll

  I loved that book so much I read it twice! She describes the gloomy banality of the JW life with the wit and humor that only a jew could could muster.

  And yes, it brought back so many memories. Until I read her book I thought the whole smurf thing was unique to my congregation.
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  52

  My families shunning has gone to a whole new level

  by pale.emperor in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  8 months df'd.

  loving a life of freedom.

  however, my family are all shunning me.

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  Rainbow_Troll

  Your post makes me appreciate how moderate my own mother is by comparison. She's still a fanatic relative to most mainstream Christians, but compared to your mum she's a paragon of tolerance and understanding.
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  8

  Think about what they could use their money for

  by jambon1 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  religions wealth has always made me squirm.

  from the catholic church, with its golden city and priceless relics, to the mormons and their absurd temple and huge big fat bank account.

  the jw's are the same.

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  Rainbow_Troll

  Religions do not want to use their money to relieve suffering because most of them thrive on it. If the people aren't suffering, they are a lot less likely to turn to God. It's totally irrational, that we should feel the presence of a benevolent deity at just those times when all the evidence in front of our eyes suggests his absence. People never fail to thank God for escaping a burning building or surviving a hurricane, but they very often fail to thank him for a full stomach or good health.
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  47

  What did you regrettably not do because you were a Jehovah's Witness ?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  jehovah's witnesses cannot do a lot of things.

  i remember pioneers having to quit their jobs because they could not work in a convenience store and sell cigarettes.

  i know of a young man who was offered a scholarship to any college or university if he wanted to go to because of his football abilities.

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  Rainbow_Troll

  I would have liked to participate in more holiday activities in school like exchanging Christmas gifts and Valentines. I really wanted to, but there were JW kids who would have told on me if I did.

  I think my most shameful memory in this regard was when I was in sixth grade. A boy in my class handed me a Valentine card and said: "I know I shouldn't do this this because you're a JW, but here you go." I was both flattered and surprised. This was the first and only valentine I had ever received! I was probably blushing like a rose. I wanted to say thank you and give him something in exchange, but I didn't dare.

  That boy could have been my friend. A REAL friend who would not have tossed me aside like my JW 'friends' did a few years later. I still regret it, but I did learn something from this incident. Ever since I've always spoken from the heart and never censored myself in fear of what others might think.
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  21

  Why do trolls do what they do?

  by Londo111 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i truly don't understand the mindset of a troll.

  i know it's been explained, but i still don't get it.

  it is hard to distinguish between a troll and a jw apologist at times because the reactions are very similar.

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  Rainbow_Troll

  We're bored.

  Also, the complacency, self righteousness, and utter lack of curiosity of most humans drives us to create conflict and mayhem where once reigned peace and bovine contentment.

  I'll admit our methods are rather harsh, but our goal is a noble one. We're very much like the Shadows in Babylon 5. We play devil's advocate and criticize 'common sense' only because we want people to think for themselves. We forment conflicts because war gets people off their ass and forces them to improvise; to think creatively.

  Without trolls, there would be no genuine thought or creativity on internet discussion boards. It would just be a bunch of self-assured boors agreeing with one another and laughing at anyone who thinks differently.
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  210

  Morality Without Deity

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  one of the most persistent arguments for belief in god centres on the necessity of an ultimate law-giver and epitome of goodness.. a softer version is seen in the genuine concern that a loss of faith will result in a corresponding loss of a moral compass - a more strident argument links the existence of good and evil with proof of the reality of god.

  it is often asserted that without god, moral decisions degenerate to nothing more than personal preferences and the victory of "might is right".. i want to succinctly lay out my response as an atheist, and show that a supreme being is not required for objective morality.. it is helpful to distinguish between absolute morality, objective morality and subjective morality.

  christian apologists frequently conflate the first two, and secular debaters often fail to point out the difference.. theists who disagree on everything else, are unanimous that god is perfectly good.

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  Rainbow_Troll

  How can there be any moral absolutes without a God? I have heard this question from so many theists. A better question is: How can there be any moral absolutes with a God? If God is the ultimate arbiter of right and wrong then there can be no moral absolutes. If God says murder your own child (like with Abraham), then this becomes the right thing to do in that particular situation. If 'right' is simply whatever God wills, then whatever God wills is right. 'God is good' means only that God wills what he wills. If God is truly good (in any meaningful, non-tautological sense of that word) then he is good because he obeys a set of moral principles external to himself.

  No ethical theory I'm aware of is totally absolute. Even so, theistic morality has to be the most arbitrary ethical system conceivable. Utilitarianism, Confucianism, virtue ethics, social contract theory, all contain more absolutes than theist morality.
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  22

  Absolute moral standards and fiction.

  by The Rebel in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  not all beliefs are worthy of respect, but when we read a book of fiction in my mind it's easier to travel outside ourselves and our absolute moral standards.

  fiction allows our imagination to be free.

  i haven't read " fifty shades of grey" but i read " romeo and juliet" at school,and juliet was 13, romeo i believe was supposedly around 18 or 19.

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  Rainbow_Troll

  While Romeo & Juliet is fiction, it was pretty normal for men in their late teens/early twenties to marry young teenage girls in Shakespeare's time. That was a case of art imitating life.

  A better example might be the Marquis de Sade's writings since most of the behavior his heroes and heroines engage in would be condemned in almost any society or era. And yes, it is much easier to empathize (is that the right word? Maybe 'grok' would be a better term.) with evil people when we know they are fictional. Partially because fiction is a context in which normal social rules do not apply (at least in this country free speech has always been protected), but also because, in fiction, we get to experience everything from behind the bad guy's eyes. The nature of the medium makes it impossible to not identify with the villain to some degree.