usually people are erased from pictures when they defect, but this doesn't look too different, just like they made him have more delicate features.. .

jp1692

These kinds of tweaks just indicate the WT "Creative" people don't have anything substantive or meaningful to do.

2

Find Family Happiness

by jp1692 in

the other day my wife and i were in sonoma.

we were just walking around enjoying the pleasant afternoon in the quaint, old downtown area when i saw two jw women standing by their “witnessing cart.” .

normally, i just ignore them whenever i see jws standing by a cart, but i gotta admit it: this time it really bugged me because of the title on the cart: find family happiness.

jp1692

The other day my wife and I were in Sonoma. We were just walking around enjoying the pleasant afternoon in the quaint, old downtown area when I saw two JW women standing by their “witnessing cart.”

Normally, I just ignore them whenever I see JWs standing by a cart, but I gotta admit it: this time it really bugged me because of the title on the cart: Find Family Happiness.

I was just going to walk on by, but when one of the women made eye contact I just couldn't help myself. I spontaneously blurted out, "You're messed up religion destroyed my family. You should be ashamed of yourself claiming to help people 'find family happiness'!"

Not too surprisingly, she immediately looked away and the other woman suddenly became very preoccupied with something on her cell phone.

I have to admit that I had some mixed feelings about the whole encounter. I am well aware that my behavior likely just invoked their pre-programmed response of the "angry apostate" stereotype. But I also remember that there were more than a few times when I was in the "field ministry" and I encountered angry people. Rarely could any of them articulate their reasons for being angry. Several were so upset they could barely speak. One young man even became violent and physically attacked the other person I was with requiring me to restrain him.

After every one of those times I always walked away wondering, "Why are they so upset? Why are they so upset they can't even explain it?"

Now of course I know.

And so I'm not in the least sorry that I said what I said to these two women. In fact, I'm glad that I was able to say specifically and clearly that it is their religion that directly caused the breakup of my family.

Their. Religion. Destroyed. My. Family.

Perhaps the cognitive dissonance I created within them will resonate for a while. Maybe it will even help one or both of them wake up before their family becomes yet another casualty of this cult.

Rant over.

52

Boyfriend force me to study the bible or no marriage

by MuslimWoman in

my boyfriend, who is a disfellowshipped jehova's witness, asks me to study the bible for 3 months or he won't marry me (i'm a muslim woman).

he loves me and really wants to marry me but he is doing a passive blackmailing: if i don't study for 3 months, 1 time per week, in my home country, and without him, there will be no marriage... as a muslim, i believe the bible is god's word so i look at the bible from time to time and would be happy to study with him.

but the fact that he is kind of saying "study the bible or bye bye no marriage" is really hurtful.

jp1692

This is a major RED FLAG. Ignore it at your own peril.

Show your BF the door. Better yet, use it yourself as your exit to freedom.

1

Find Family Happiness ... NOT!

by jp1692 in

the other day my wife and i were in sonoma.

we were just walking around enjoying the pleasant afternoon in the quaint, old downtown area when i saw two jw women standing by their “witnessing cart.” .

normally, i just ignore them whenever i see jws standing by a cart, but i gotta admit it: this time it really bugged me because of the title on the cart: find family happiness.

jp1692

Okay, this is really bizarre. This is the third time a duplicate form of this post has appeared. (I caught the second one early and turned it into a thread on a different subject.

To anyone that wants to respond, please post on the original thread I started four days ago:

Find Family Happiness ... NOT!

1

Find Family Happiness ... NOT!

by jp1692 in

the other day my wife and i were in sonoma.

we were just walking around enjoying the pleasant afternoon in the quaint, old downtown area when i saw two jw women standing by their “witnessing cart.” .

normally, i just ignore them whenever i see jws standing by a cart, but i gotta admit it: this time it really bugged me because of the title on the cart: find family happiness.

jp1692

The other day my wife and I were in Sonoma. We were just walking around enjoying the pleasant afternoon in the quaint, old downtown area when I saw two JW women standing by their “witnessing cart.”

Normally, I just ignore them whenever I see JWs standing by a cart, but I gotta admit it: this time it really bugged me because of the title on the cart: Find Family Happiness.

I was just going to walk on by, but when one of the women made eye contact I just couldn't help myself. I spontaneously blurted out, "You're messed up religion destroyed my family. You should be ashamed of yourself claiming to help people 'find family happiness'!"

Not too surprisingly, she immediately looked away and the other woman suddenly became very preoccupied with something on her cell phone.

I have to admit that I had some mixed feelings about the whole encounter. I am well aware that my behavior likely just invoked their pre-programmed response of the "angry apostate" stereotype. But I also remember that there were more than a few times when I was in the "field ministry" and I encountered angry people. Rarely could any of them articulate their reasons for being angry. Several were so upset they could barely speak. One young man even became violent and physically attacked the other person I was with requiring me to restrain him.

After every one of those times I always walked away wondering, "Why are they so upset? Why are they so upset they can't even explain it?"

Now of course I know.

And so I'm not in the least sorry that I said what I said to these two women. In fact, I'm glad that I was able to say specifically and clearly that it is their religion that directly caused the breakup of my family.

Their. Religion. Destroyed. My. Family.

Perhaps the cognitive dissonance I created within them will resonate for a while. Maybe it will even help one or both of them wake up before their family becomes yet another casualty of this cult.

Rant over.

105

Another School Shooting: The Gun Violence/Mental Illness Debate Continues

by jp1692 in

in the aftermath of the valentine's day school shooting in florida, i have read quite a number of articles, blogs and posts about the event.

it is disturbing--and i think inexcusable--that many people take the opportunity to use horrible tragedies such as this to push their own particular agenda.. in particularly insensitive and tone-deaf tweet, conservative political commentator tomi lahren wrote: "can the left let the families grieve for even 24 hours before they push their anti-gun and anti-gunowner agenda?

my goodness.

jp1692

I just saw this thought-provoking article on the subject in yesterday's Boston Globe:

WE KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT

Parkland. Las Vegas. Sutherland Springs. Newtown. On and on: In America, mass shootings have become so familiar that they seem to follow the same sad script.

By Nestor Ramos, Globe StaffFebruary 16, 2018

He will be a man, or maybe still a boy.

He will have a semiautomatic rifle — an AR-15, or something like it— and several high-capacity magazines filled with ammunition.

The weapon will have been purchased legally, the background check no obstacle.

He will walk into a school, or a concert, or an office building.

And he will open fire into a crowd of innocents.

Even as he’s still firing — crack crack crack — word will begin to spread. Survivors huddled in closets or behind bandstands will send pictures, text messages, and videos into a world that is again aghast.

Televisions will play the videos recorded amid the carnage, the sound somehow worse than the images. The fear in the victims’ voices will be familiar, yet too potent — a sound outside the boundaries of our own empathy.

We will hear about the heroes: Teachers who barricaded their classrooms or threw themselves between their students and the gunfire; concertgoers who shielded strangers as bullets plowed into their backs.

And we will hear about him: He was strange and troubled and cruel to animals; he’d shown signs of mental illness; he lost his job; he beat his wife.

A chorus will rise to ask why anybody should own such a weapon, much less someone so obviously troubled; another chorus will accuse the first of politicizing tragedy. Some will point to the Second Amendment, and blame a lack of treatment for the mentally ill.

Politicians, and then the president, will emerge. Some will plead for new laws. More will ask only for thoughts and prayers. Some will not mention guns at all.

Any promises will be broken. Beyond the shattered orbit of the school or church or concert that became a shooting gallery, the whole thing will recede too soon into memory.

And then it will all happen again.

Whoever he is, he may already have the rifle. And he will follow the script.

So will we.

There are only three things we don’t know about the next time:

WHO, WHERE, AND HOW MANY?

53

Is Satan Real ?

by jdash in

i've been pondering on this question for awhile now, and i'm starting to think this malevolent spirit creature isn't real.

.

do you guys believe satan is real?

jp1692

I only believe in things for which there is evidence.

There is no tangible evidence for the existence of either Satan or Jehovah.

Therefore I believe in neither.

105

Another School Shooting: The Gun Violence/Mental Illness Debate Continues

by jp1692 in

in the aftermath of the valentine's day school shooting in florida, i have read quite a number of articles, blogs and posts about the event.

it is disturbing--and i think inexcusable--that many people take the opportunity to use horrible tragedies such as this to push their own particular agenda.. in particularly insensitive and tone-deaf tweet, conservative political commentator tomi lahren wrote: "can the left let the families grieve for even 24 hours before they push their anti-gun and anti-gunowner agenda?

my goodness.

jp1692

LR: I am sorry to see the demonization of the FBI on this.

Thanks Lisa for your response.

To be clear, I am most certainly NOT demonizing the entire FBI organization. I wouldn't even "demonize" the specific individuals that had be warned about Nikolas Cruz and failed to follow-up. But I do think we deserve an explanation. Don't you?

My quote, which you excepted, refers to "law enforcement" (LE) broadly. However, it is a fact that, in this particular instance, the FBI had been informed about Nikolas Cruz behavior and didn't act. It highlights a problem that must be addressed.

I agree with you that a resignation of the current FBI director is not a good solution. Heck, if you want to follow that practice to it's logical extreme then every US President should resign anytime a low ranking official makes even the most minor of mistakes or commits the smallest of misdeeds. Obviously, that's a dumb idea and I honestly don't know why people ever suggest it.

Nevertheless, all law enforcement agencies do need to improve their responsiveness to tips and be more proactive.

Maybe it would help if the public knew more about the tragedies that are prevented when LE gets it right!

jp1692

Posts by jp1692

WE KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT

WHO, WHERE, AND HOW MANY?