Posts by problemaddict

54

Would Your Family Stone You to Death?

by cofty in

ot law required jews to take the lead in stoning a family member who became apostate.. the watchtower has lamented the fact that the law of the land now forbids them from doing so.. if the law permitted it, as it does in some musim countries, and if the watchtower required it, would your family obey?.

my parents are good people and i believe their love for me is genuine, but i think they would follow orders.. what about yours?.

problemaddict

I guess the reason why I think that peoples parents and family would not ACTUALLY do something like this......is because lets face it......JW's are all talk. They live in an alternate reality of sorts in some ways, but when push comes to shove, most cave.

How many people faced with life or death decisions regarding blood and don't have someone watching them chose the transfusion? LOTS!

How many make excuses or allowances for their own behavior like a liitle medicla weed, a cigar now and then, too much booze, flubbing their time card......LOTS!

Even the overly zealous parents, when faced with throwing a large stone at the head of their kid buried in the sand would not be able to do it. Even those of you with complete jerk parents. Disfellowshipping, shunning, expectation that you may die......all of these things are a far cry from cold blooded brutal murder with your own two hands. Very few humans are capable of this type of bloodshed. These people that did this in Pakistan live a life centuries in the past culturally speaking. A JW in a first world country, may be living in the 60's culturally at best.

5

Looking for info regarding internet

by wandasoo in

could someone help me find info that shows jw's are not to be on the internet or facebook.

hubby says they have never been told not to use the internet by org.. thanks, wandasoo.

problemaddict

I don't believe they have ever been "told not to use the internet" or any variation of that. What made you think that? Like most things, the society has espoused the "dangers" of the internet and "need for caution" in its use.

Casting dubious shadow over something, is not the same as forbidding it. The society does very little outright forbiddance now that the legal dept writes the articles. :)

7

"You should grow a beard if you're a man of God (slam)!!!"

by SonoftheTrinity in

if jehovah's witnesses are taught the "truth" that people are afraid of men with beards, wouldn't sending them the vibe that clean shaven men are creepy, as indeed they are in some localities on some faces be the best favor you could do them.

imagine if every trinitarian christian told them the same thing instead of engaging in a conversation with them.

in the part of california where i live them telling me that beards are threatening to some people is like those hipsters who attend the "no pants subway ride" on the subway in the middle of winter and then say that it just felt too warm today to be wearing pants.

problemaddict

In San Diego, having a beard is about to jump the shark. There is so much facial hair here, that its unique to NOT have it.

44

I'm not gay, but

by FL_Panthers in

you ever seen a guy that you thought, " i'm not gay but hey!

i like the cut of his jib"?.

well here's the: blokes i'd like to "yenz" thread.

problemaddict

I can't say i have ever been attracted to a man. I can acknowledge someone is good looking, but not be attracted to them. I'm not sure i understand baltars chart.

25

How exactly you and your income are being affected by inequality.

by cognisonance in

i found this link really interesting: inequality.is and associated with the excellent robert reich documentary: inequality for all.. .

problemaddict

One thing I certainly do not agree with, is that taxes need to go back to 1950 levels where the top earners can pay as much as 80% of their income. That is just insane.

I would however do away with the idea that capital gains should be taxed at a lower rate than regular income.

25

How exactly you and your income are being affected by inequality.

by cognisonance in

i found this link really interesting: inequality.is and associated with the excellent robert reich documentary: inequality for all.. .

problemaddict

I am a big fan of scandinavian countries. A lot of why the socialist tax and benefit system works there is also cultural. Because everyone benefits, everyone doesn't cheat! Here if you cheat on your taxes, its just sticking it to the man. There if you cheat on your taxes, you simply are not a good person. You would never find anyone bragging about it. There are disadvantages to that system as well......but it doesn't matter. The USA will never go there.

My main concern with how we arrive at our conclusions, not the conclusions themselves. There is clearly too much of a gap.

Specifically the worker productivity vs wages component. Technology and new ways of living are just as responsible for the productivity as the people producing.....if not significantly more. But the tech costs money, and investment. So I am sympathetic to that.

On the other hand, the money that is out there at the higher levels, is so gargantuan, that it is commonly used to bully the chain of operations, boutique businesses,a nd subcontractors, instead of rewarding them for well done work.

41

The dumest thing an elder ever said to me..

by new hope and happiness in

conversation with an elder...i said " did you watch due south yesterday" and he said " ive got far more important things to do".

i mean that comment of his got me to thinking and wondering, and made me see he was missing out on living..and i think that comment was the straw that broke this boys faith, and started my i dont want to be a witness anymore.

kind of wierd how a simple question opened my eyes.. and now as i write this i am watching " the rebel" a 1950s western series, and its great and its even better my 9 year old is watching with me..and there is nothing more important than being happy.. .

problemaddict

One guy told me I was not "respecting his lordship." That was an eye opener.....although I was already pretty open.

Another said the governing body doesn't have to be right all the time, and that while they could humbly change their course to be more in line with the spirit, if we did not support them then we would be in deriliction of duty.

Lastly....and most recently.....someone told me they were deeply saddened i had left "mother".

17

Musings on recent things

by thedog1 in

just some thoughts on all the recent things going on.

i'm still recovering from the whole donation arrangement thing.

was speaking to some relatives who are also jw's and they don't really get what is going on but sense in some way that things are not right.

problemaddict

Hey dog1,

I existed as you do now for quite a while. Tried to remain posative and focus on the "basics". I could only take it for so long. I just found myself saying certain things, even when trying to avoid topics, that would make me feel horrible and like I was not being authentic.

I don't envy the difficulty you must be having. Just hang in there, keep researching,a nd it will come together. You need to get your wife to start thinking, without making her think you are doing that. Its very difficult. Maybe express "concern", or say you have a study projecty on something and it just isn't adding up.....that kind of stuff.

54

Would Your Family Stone You to Death?

by cofty in

ot law required jews to take the lead in stoning a family member who became apostate.. the watchtower has lamented the fact that the law of the land now forbids them from doing so.. if the law permitted it, as it does in some musim countries, and if the watchtower required it, would your family obey?.

my parents are good people and i believe their love for me is genuine, but i think they would follow orders.. what about yours?.

problemaddict

I honestly don't think so. In fact, I may be going out on a limb here......but I think if anyone heres family was faced with the preposterous notion of stoning their child/husband/family with a large stone in such a brutal fashion......that they would be more likely to wake up in that instant, than to follow through with orders.

At least I hope so....

14

Why so many unbelieving spouses?

by garyneal in

jw
friends

i had been thinking about religion and religious services in general and perhaps i am just noticing it more because of my personal involvement but it seems that the jehovahs witness religion tends to have more incidents of mixed marriages where one partner is considered the unbelieving spouse than other religions or churches.

of course, i have not been to church is a while and even when i did go to church i found that there werent as many instances of a spouse going it alone in the church without their partner.

i guess that is partly why i got discouraged in going to church as i felt like i could only bring half my family to it.. the main thing i would like to discuss, though, is why does there seem to be a higher number of mixed marriages within this religion as opposed to other religions.

problemaddict

Your situation is probably a good start. My father is not a JW, my mother is. Here is how it happened.

My mother wanted to help others. She was married very young because she got knocked up (in the 60's). So her husband was working two jobs, but she remembered traveling the world with her father and seeing poverty which was heart breaking. She thought church was madness, and someone came to her door who was very nice, and he and his wife gave her a bible and told her things that were very appealing. She "researched" for herself, and made the jump. My dad was like......whatevr makes you happy.

Four children later, my mother is a pillar of the hall, and very sad to see me not attending or raising my family in the organization. My father got softer as he got older, and has started studying. Probably because he was harsh when we were younger, and wants to feel connected to us. Recently I apologized to him, for not being a better son. I grew up feeling distant from him since he was going to die at armaghedon. He thanked me, and his study is going nowhere. (He researches on the internet like a normal person).

My mother is one of many similar women in the hall like this. Some with husbads deceased, but most were converted without their spouses following suit.

I do know however 3 couples near me where the husband becamse a JW after a decade or more of having their wife. i think they credited their children growing up well with the religion, and they also wanted that closeness with them as they got older.

So the redux is..

1) I think its mostly women with UBM's.

2) I think men sometimes convert later in life, because they want to feel closer to their children, who instinctively have drawn away from their father due to the teachings.

3) Most men never convert witht heir wife, because their wife maybe got a bit more bizarre.

Just my 2 cents.