massive numbers of people are out in chicago and have shut his event down.
there were scuffles inside the event.. despite his lame attempt to pretend the violence he instigates is nothing to do with him it's clear that it is as the cnn quotes during the last event showed only too well.. this doesn't happen at anyone else's events - candidates have even given up the stage to protesters, not called for them to be beaten and punched.. trump is an ugly person and this is just a small taste of what a future under his rule would be like.. shame on the gop for not kicking his ass out.
Racism starts with people of a race doing bad things and others don't like it. Racism against blacks is because blacks have made the news more for crimes and violence and wearing their pants on the ground, etc.
- Rattigan350
This type of ignorance never ceases to amaze me.
So, now, to me, you're two for two in demonstrating an inability to keep from being drawn to insular belief systems.
in·su·lar
1.
ignorant of or uninterested in cultures, ideas, or peoples outside one's own experience.
"Are you saying Jehovah hasn't provided enough for you? Wow, I'm really sorry to hear that. I hope things turn around for you. I will pray for you. See you guys some other time!"
(Turn to spouse and start to walk away while saying)
"Honey, we really need to be grateful for all we've been given."
I am absolutely mortified by his selfish behavior. My heart is broken thinking about your wandering in the world by yourself. A post I read recently described the WTS as the institution that makes weapons out of your very own family. I totally agree.
Nonetheless, it sounds like your Dad was insanely cruel to you and I can't help but blame the WTS. I can't see how everybody failed to recognize this for what it was - mental and emotional abuse.
I'm so very proud of what you've accomplished in spite of your upbringing.
On forgiveness, typically I am able to forgive once I have something to which I can attach the behavior. In this case it'd be the WTS. If you've truly forgiven? I'd say go tell him with your head held high, "I've come to say goodbye to you and to let you know I've forgiven you Good luck to you, Dad."
It's funny. As a non witness who knows what to listen for, I have a heightened sense of awareness. It seems witnesses naturally change their language patterns with non witnesses.
But the word that now makes the hair on my arms stand up? ....
APPRECIATE
It is said ad nauseum during the service and is then Incorporated into the hello greeting for the presenters after the service. It's like "dripping syrup into a bag of sugar" level of sweet. I'm baffled as to why nobody gives a more creative compliment.
Next in line...
NON-BELIEVERS
REALLY? As an outsider I'm wondering "I can't think of a higher arrogance! Who are YOU to rank a persons spirituality?!?"
Third,
"SYSTEM OF THINGS"
....of .... things (can someone be more specific?).
things to be over soon (have ya read Amos 5? Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord?)
goverment things vs holy things
Can they not co-exist?
Again non JW here so I can only offer my frame. As I think of more I'll add them.
when faced with awkward questions about the morality of god many christians respond by distancing themselves from the old testament and focusing on "gentle jesus meek and mild" of the new testament.. for bible-believing christians this is intellectually dishonest.. according to christian dogma jesus was the god of abraham isaac and jacob.
the logos, the alpha and omega who is "the same yesterday, today, and forever.".
he claimed that "he that has seen me has seen the father" and that "i and the father are one".. in short, christians assert that jesus is almighty god from all eternity.. it therefore follows that jesus was the god who ordered the nation of israel to take slaves as inheritable possessions.
I'm getting the impression that a few "JWs gone Atheist" believe that the God of the Old Testament, if he were truly good, would not have done anything that would compromise anyone's happiness.
If there was a God, should the circumstances have been kinda like the JW's Paradise? Is that what I'm getting here?
I just read these with curiosity as this perspective is very different from that which I know. And btw, I only passively engage in these debates. I can't learn the mindset of those who I'm trying to help if I'm busy telling people what they should think.
Will be gone for a few hours... but I'm excited to read the thoughts that get added.
let's set aside our differences for the moment and appreciate this excellent documentary cedars put together that should prove to be an invaluable tool in helping to expose the child abuse issues in the organization.. i was humbled to be able to help with this project on such an important subject, though my part in it was insignificant..
first let me introduce my self, i am a 33yo male show spent much of his youth in the jw cult, i was not raised into the truth however thought i found it at the age of 11 when a well caring brother knocked my door, i had no father figure so this brother was everything to me, like a father, i quickly began attending meetings even when my mom used to oppose, i was taken like an example kid because i was an "orphan" in the spiritual sense, i got baptized when i was 12, and spent the rest of my teenage years being this good kid everyone thought i was, i hated that attention and pressure however it felt good to be doing good things, when i was about to finish high school i started to get into punk and ska music, i used to listen to it in secret, one time an elder found out and went to my house when i wasnt there, he went into my room and took all my cds, this was my first time i felt like i was being invaded of my privacy, i was made to feel guilty for liking this music and lost all my priviledges..theres a lot more i can say but i will stick to the main points, i became a reg pioneer, i became an ms, the whole thing, living in new york allowed me to visit bethel many times and had many many friends there, at the head quarters and walkill, in my cong we had bethelite elders etc, so yeah i was "in the club" , i always had a doubt in the back of my mind if what i was doing was the right thing, i used to rent the basement out of en elders house, he is what made me turn, he was the mos unloving person i ever met, for instance he would turn off the heat during snow storms, sometimes due to my pioneering i had no food and he knew this, well no food from him etc.
yet all this time i thought i was doing the right thing, eventually i feel in love and started dating this beautiful pioneer girl, daughter of pioneer parents as well, i never felt fully excepted because of my spiritual orphan status and no family in the truth, eventually got to a point where i could not communicate with her and her parents used to pick up the calls, they told me i could not continue to pursue a relationship with her, i was devastated!
long story short i wanted to see her etc, they put a restraining order and labeled me a stalker, made a mistake of sending her an e-mail and well, that got me arrested!!
Hmpf.... and a few posts ago, I wondered if you were hot, Brandnew. You can forget it now! *giggling*
Welcome NoDoubter! I'm a non-JW who has to swallow chunks of vomit when friends and family talk about everyone being on the same level from Governing Body members on down. "You see," they say, "the churches have all those men with titles and we don't!"
just wondering, as i will be visiting active jw family in ohio in a few weeks, do you think it will be worthwhile dropping it into a conversation, about the wtbts pyramid near his grave, or try some other topic to try and wake them up.
i was never baptized and don't really care if they get upset or not, but it is only a day trip from ohio to pittsburgh, and thought it would be fun if they denied it, and then drove their to see it for ourselves.
