Posts by Spoletta

44

I appreciate "our" free speech.

by The Rebel in

jw
friends

i had given serious consideration too leaving the board.

i rationalised my views on " muslims" we're not held by the majority so i should leave.

but this would have been wrong thinking, instead i should appreciate the platform i was given to debate with free speech.

Spoletta

Unfortunately, there is a group of people on this forum who are literally poster boys for the whole Watchtower idea of "free speech".

Let me run down the attributes.

Believe only what one side has to say.
Accept cherry picking, half-truths, and outright lies if they are in alignment with their beliefs.
No attempt to ferret out the truth by researching different viewpoints.
"Them against us" attitude.
Respond to any real discussion with deflection, strawman, and red herring arguments when they can't defend a position, and finally resorting to ugly personal attacks.(This last point is something that JWs rarely do, to their credit.)
no ability for critical thinking.
Highly resistant to cognitive dissonance.

They have traded one ideology for another, with no evidence of having learned anything from their experience as a JW.

When I debate them, I'm not trying to engage in real discussion, as I realize that it's a waste of time. I'm just putting out information that others can read, and using their ability to reason, see what's really going on in the world. I feel that it's important that people come to conclusions based on their natural curiosity and desire to learn, rather than marching in step with others based on a biased world view.

When I first started commenting on controversial subjects, I was appalled by the reactions to my arguments, and tried to defend myself by responding in kind.

Now I just point out the biases and inaccuracies of others, and really don't care what they say about me, knowing that the majority here are genuinely caring, thoughtful people with a desire to help others deal with the emotional pain of having been part of an ignorant, misguided viewpoint that poisoned many years of their lives.

46

Russian agents hacked US voting system manufacturer before US election

by Coded Logic in

the guardian: .

russian intelligence agents hacked a us voting systems manufacturer in the weeks leading up to last year’s presidential election .

russian military intelligence carried out a cyber-attack on at least one us voting software supplier and sent spear-phishing emails to more than a hundred local election officials days before the poll.

Spoletta

I wish some of you would actually read the article. Your off subject comments about Liberals, Clinton, the MSM, and illegals voting have nothing to do with the content of the article. It's about the successful hack of a voting machine manufacturer by the Russians. It doesn't say that it changed the vote. It says nothing about the Democrats claiming to have lost the vote due to the hacking. It says nothing about Hillary trying to influence the 2012 Russian Election.

So far, your comments are textbook examples of strawman and deflection. Why don't you stop imitating Trump's Tweets and actually engage in intelligent discussion?

46

Russian agents hacked US voting system manufacturer before US election

by Coded Logic in

the guardian: .

russian intelligence agents hacked a us voting systems manufacturer in the weeks leading up to last year’s presidential election .

russian military intelligence carried out a cyber-attack on at least one us voting software supplier and sent spear-phishing emails to more than a hundred local election officials days before the poll.

Spoletta

You are clearly trying to claim that the election machines were hacked but the original intelligence leak was about attempts to hack.

Wrong. There was absolutely no mention of voting machines being hacked in the article. The article was about a successful hack of the voting machine company to gain information about their systems.

Please stop trying to muddy the waters with the deflection of "no votes were changed". That's not the point. The point is that the Russians successfully hacked the company that supplied the machines. If you disagree, please paste the section of the article that confirms your fantasy. Otherwise, you're just indulging in a straw man argument.

Perhaps you should reread the article.

46

Russian agents hacked US voting system manufacturer before US election

by Coded Logic in

the guardian: .

russian intelligence agents hacked a us voting systems manufacturer in the weeks leading up to last year’s presidential election .

russian military intelligence carried out a cyber-attack on at least one us voting software supplier and sent spear-phishing emails to more than a hundred local election officials days before the poll.

Spoletta

The consensus here seems to be that as long as the Russians weren't successful in changing votes, there's no story here.

This isn't sports, where sometimes you hear the expression "no harm, no foul". Going by your logic, if someone is attempting to commit a crime, and they are thwarted in the process, not able to pull it off, we should not be concerned.

I'm very tired of the lame statement that all the fake negative stories about the Democrats didn't affect the vote. If that's the case, why the billions of dollars spent on advertising by corporations, and the vicious smear tactics used by politicians during elections? Do they think that it has no effect on consumers and voters?

As far as the claims about all the illegal votes cast, why don't you produce some real evidence that it happened. Anyone still clinging to that idea is (in my opinion) just regurgitating Trump's tweets, too lazy to do their own research, only believing what they hear from the right wing.

The Election aside, someone tell me why the Russians attempting to interfere in the politics of other nations is nothing to worry about.

And please! If I hear any responses that contain the words Hillary, Obama, Democrats, left wing, DNC, Podesta, or other deflections, I'll assume that you have no real arguments.

41

48% Capacity at Kingdom Halls - A post on reddit

by berrygerry in

there was a letter read this week, followed by a talk about all the changes that are coming in the next couple of months regarding merging congregations in the area (va/md/dc) - the letter said that the kh's in the area are only being filled to 48% capacity.

this was music to my ears as i have noticed the decline in attendance in all the neighboring congregations.

they will sell some kingdom halls and merge some congregations.

Spoletta

Does it seem that regional assemblies are being held in smaller venues that make the dwindling attendance less visible?

30

Bret Weinstein: Evergreen State College Racism Controversy

by Simon in

great discussion, well worth watching.

covers racism, the bubble that some people live in vs the reality that resulted in trumps election and more (and jws get a mention too).. the rubin report (and many of the guests he has on) repeatedly knock it out of the park with sensible, calm and important analysis and commentary on important issues to our society.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-feapcgxnyy.

Spoletta

I agree with all your points but the last.

As I said, the violent protesters represent a minority, not a majority. Till you have credible statistics to prove otherwise, I'll consider it your opinion, not a fact.

38

Talk to my Dad about beards.

by LovingLifeNow in

jw
friends

so i spoke to my elder dad the other day, and he asked if i still am sporting a beard.

i said yes, then i said, "i thought the society said its ok to have a neat trimmed beard now?

" he said "no, no, no..if you read the article , it says in countries where it is accepted" so my response was "ummm, its pretty accepted here in america"..which he says "it reflects your spirituality" "if another wittness saw you, they would know you are weak"...i was like, "ok, i don't get it, and i follow christ/god, not men..." then he said in his hall" if a brother came in with a beard , he would not have privelages" then i just gave up, and tried to change the subject..ugggggggggg if these people would just listen to themselves , they would see the sillyness of there teachings...

Spoletta

As I note the number of balding JW men who are shaving their heads, I notice that no one talks about their resemblance to many White Supremacists when they are not in their suits. So why the stigma about a beard stumbling someone?

I'd be inclined to be more suspect of a shaved headed man in tee shirt and jeans, than one with a neat beard.

30

Bret Weinstein: Evergreen State College Racism Controversy

by Simon in

great discussion, well worth watching.

covers racism, the bubble that some people live in vs the reality that resulted in trumps election and more (and jws get a mention too).. the rubin report (and many of the guests he has on) repeatedly knock it out of the park with sensible, calm and important analysis and commentary on important issues to our society.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-feapcgxnyy.

Spoletta

In any society there will be hot heads that take any philosophy to the extreme, liberal or conservative.(any that lived through the 60's should realize this).

Painting all liberal college students with the same brush is like saying all Southerners during the Civil Rights movement were racist. Not true.

The actions of the students at Evergreen were abhorrent to the majority of progressives (myself included).

When the MSM begins to praise these individuals, rather than condemn their actions, you will have a valid argument for the loss of free speech in this country.

Till then, this is a small group of extremists, not the majority of liberals.

11

Christian Church Destroyed by ISIS Rebuilt by Muslim Residents

by cofty in

muslims in mosul have helped rebuild a christian church that had been destroyed by isis.. iraq has one of the smallest, but oldest, christian communities in the world but isis oversaw the destruction of iraqi churches, books and christian spaces during their occupation of the city..... it's heartening to see both the military defeat of isis in mosul and the desire for normal relationships shown by the inter-faith community.. there is hope..

Spoletta

We need to stop calling people "good" Christians or "good" Muslims, but simply what they are. They're good people who will always be the majority in any society, despite what the pessimists may say. The "wicked" heart will always be the exception, not the rule.

27

If a person is transgender and gets saved what will they go to heaven as?

by Nikorasu95 in

jw
friends

i know this is a stupid question because the answer is obvious, but if a person was born a male and gets transgender surgery to turn into female will that person go to heaven as a male or female if they died saved?

i think they will go to heaven with the gender they were born with.

Spoletta

If all saved transgenders return as their birth state, won't this also necessitate making all saved LGBTs heterosexual?