Xanthippe: The intelligent, thoughtful, compassionate people are still around and they post occasionally but they seem to have retreated in the face of all the anger around. I miss them.
My sentiments exactly!
Posts by jp1692
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35This Forum. Has it changed? For the better or for the worse? Or not a at all?
by ThomasCovenant inwhen i post i try to imagine that i am at a social gathering or sometimes in someone's house as a dinner guest.
that way it is easier to follow the community guidelines and posting rules set out on the site at the bottom of the page.
i wouldn't want to make a fool of myself in public.
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jp1692
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82
Do You Think The Obama Administration Should Be Investigated For How They Treated The Trump Accusations?
by minimus ini hope that the trump administration looks into obama , clinton and all the other players for trying to usurp the legitimacy of the trump presidency..
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jp1692
If Trump isn’t Putin’s little bitch, why does he act like it—again and again and again?
Don’t bother with personal attacks because I really don’t care what you think of me; just answer the question.
I will only respond to serious attempts at dialogue which address the obvious issue that the current US Administration is completely corrupt and compromised. Any and all other comments will be ignored.
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107
The Mueller Report....will it affect Trump negatively?
by minimus inthey say it will be out any day soon.
do you think the report will do major damage to trump?.
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jp1692
We, the American people, paid for that report. We should and need to see the full report. That is our right.
Complete and full transparency. Nothing else is acceptable. Nothing.
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107
The Mueller Report....will it affect Trump negatively?
by minimus inthey say it will be out any day soon.
do you think the report will do major damage to trump?.
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jp1692
Attorney General William Barr wrote in the letter he submitted to Congress sharing his summary of the main conclusions from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation:
"The Special Counsel states that 'while this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.'"
As any good scientist knows, absence of evidence is not the same as evidence of absence.
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32
Whole Study Article on Commenting at Meetings
by JW_Rogue ini guess less people are commenting now.
last week's whole wt study was dedicating to the issue of commenting.
people were literally making comments about how to comment, it was very meta (not that most there would get that), anyway the main reason that wt gave to explain away people's lack of commenting?
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jp1692
Ugh, I’m so glad I’m not part of that mind-numbing bs anymore.
Since I quit going to meetings I’ve had enough free time to get a real education: a B.A in Music Education and a Ma.Ed. in Education Curriculum and Instruction. I am a high school teacher and have the pleasure every single day of teaching young minds to think, really think.
And they get to ask their own questions, all they want!
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What to do when running in to a JW you know...How is this for a suggestion ?
by stuckinarut2 inhey all,.
so i have recently seen quite a few jws that were former friends in our community.
i am always polite and say hello - although most will not acknowledge me.
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jp1692
I always try to be friendly to still-in JWs when I get the chance, which isn't often.
If asked, I say my life is great never better! (If appropriate, I may mention the one exception is that lack of a meaninful relationship with family that chooses to avoid me, but hey: that's on them, not me.)
Living well is the best revenge! Plus, it makes them jealous.
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Jehovah's Witnesses: A Coercive Organization?
by john.prestor inso in sociology we divide organizations up into three categories or types, you got utilitarian, voluntary, and coercive.
utilitarian means people join to accomplish some purpose like selling food or making furniture, voluntary means they join up just for fun or to hang out with people like the freemasons or a lot of churches, and coercive means they don't really want to be there but they gotta because someone will punish them if they leave, so labor camps, armies, or prisons.. in a paper i wrote for a class a while back i argued that jehovah's witnesses should be seen as a coercive organization.
yeah, people join up and they do leave, nobody beats you up if you stop attending or preaching, nobody imprisons you, shoots your dog, kills your kids that kind of thing, and nobody makes you join up either.
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jp1692
From one jp to another, interesting OP. Thanks!
You overlooked the highly coercive effects of shunning or even the threat of it.
As I know you well know, this keeps many a PIMO JW attending meetings just to avoid losing their families; and many of us that leave do so at the cost of broken and lost relationships.
Because of our deep need to belong, the threat or reality of losing our families is a highly coercive and manipulative tactic used by many cults and other high-control groups, JWs being just one.
No, they don't shoot your dog, but the destroy families. Something which in my opinion is far, far worse.
jp1692
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A Question for Born-ins Who Had a Parent Leave the Cult Before They Did
by jp1692 inquestion: have any of you that are now exjws had a parent leave the religion before you, and you shunned them because of that?
if so—and while you were still in the cult—what, if anything, could your parent have done to reach your heart and begin a reconciliation?
it’s been almost ten years since i left the religion and my two sons continue to shun me and rebuff all efforts i make to reconcile.
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jp1692
Finkelstein,
Yes, I am aware of the changes in WT practices and the reasons behind them. But thank you for sharing for those among us that don't have your 40 years of perspective!
jp
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25
A Question for Born-ins Who Had a Parent Leave the Cult Before They Did
by jp1692 inquestion: have any of you that are now exjws had a parent leave the religion before you, and you shunned them because of that?
if so—and while you were still in the cult—what, if anything, could your parent have done to reach your heart and begin a reconciliation?
it’s been almost ten years since i left the religion and my two sons continue to shun me and rebuff all efforts i make to reconcile.
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jp1692
FYI: I am not disfellowshipped. I quit going to meetings a little over five years ago.
The last meeting I attended was the one in January 2014 when the infamous “Seven Shepherds, Eight Dukes” WT was studied:
At that time, the life-saving direction that we receive from Jehovah’s organization may not appear practical from a human standpoint. All of us must be ready to obey any instructions we may receive, whether these appear sound from a strategic or human standpoint or not. ... Now is the time for any who may be putting their trust in secular education, material things, or human institutions to adjust their thinking. The elders must stand ready to help any who may now be wavering in their faith. – WT, November 15, 2013, paragraph 17
That was it. I was done drinking the Kool-Aid.
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25
A Question for Born-ins Who Had a Parent Leave the Cult Before They Did
by jp1692 inquestion: have any of you that are now exjws had a parent leave the religion before you, and you shunned them because of that?
if so—and while you were still in the cult—what, if anything, could your parent have done to reach your heart and begin a reconciliation?
it’s been almost ten years since i left the religion and my two sons continue to shun me and rebuff all efforts i make to reconcile.
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jp1692
It was nice to wake up this morning and see all the different responses to my late-night (for me) post.
Thank you!
It is interesting—although not particularly surprising—to see how varied your differing responses are. And even though some of the advice offered conflicts with that suggested by others, there is certainly some value and merit in everything that all of you have written. There really is no “right answer.”
This well illustrates the reality of just how difficult it is to deal with the damage done and the broken relationships caused by this cult, it’s policies and practices.
You’ve all given me much to think about.
Again, thanks!
jp