scratchme1010

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Posts by scratchme1010

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  16

  First Humans May Have Been European

  by cofty in

  1. social
  2. current

  the fossil record of early hominins in africa is very well established with patterns of later migrations into asia and europe.

  the hypothesis is sometimes referred to as "out of africa".. however a new paper from researchers at the university of toronto describes two fossil specimens of an even earlier ancestor graecopithecus freybergi who lived 7.2 million years ago, putting it close to our common ancestor with chimpanzees.

  crucially these fossils were not discovered in africa but in greece and bulgaria.. the team are proposing that environmental changes that led to the formation of the sahara pushed the ancestors of graecopithecus freybergi further north towards the eastern mediterranean where the chimp-human split occurred.. this hypothesis is likely to be controversial for all sorts of reasons!.

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  scratchme1010

  ...a new paper from researchers at the University of Toronto describes two fossil specimens of an even earlier ancestor Graecopithecus freybergi who lived 7.2 million years ago...
  

  Graecopithecus freybergi is a hominid originally identified by a single mandible found in 1944. Since then analysis of tooth specimens has led to suggestions that Graecopithecus may be the oldest known direct ancestor of modern man, though the claim is contested.

  What is new is the research paper from the University of Toronto, not the finding.
  
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  15

  Lack of open-mindedness

  by ilikecheese in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  a lot of religious folks can have an open-minded discussion about their beliefs without getting defensive.

  some can actually consider things from another point of view and point out the validity in the other person's point.

  obviously, a lot of jws may just be scared to think/speak in a semi-detrimental way about their religion.

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  scratchme1010

  Apart from that, though, what do you think are the differences in mindset here, in regard to religious folks in general? Are the closed-minded ones really only holding on tenuously to their faith? Is it because they just hate other ideas? Is it because they feel self-important due to belonging to a faith they consider superior?
  

  Just random musings I've had recently. What are your thoughts?

  My two cents, and I'm typing things as they come to mind.
  

  I think that as much as people try to bundle every single JW, the reality is that we are all very different people, from different walks of life. As JWs we were indoctrinated, and as such we ended up depriving ourselves from trusting our own instincts, our own feelings, to visualize things to see if they make sense, etc.

  After leaving, or after opening our eyes, or after whatever makes any of us starting to regain that ability and feeling comfortable with trusting our own thoughts and feelings, we start becoming more aware of who we are.

  We are all in different stages of that "reintegration", for lack of a better word. At a given moment during that process, depending on the level of influence we still have or keep from the WT, we. consequently, might still have some of that "mindset', that may come from either still believing in what they teach, or feeling afraid of becoming an apostate.
  

  Some are just not that kind of people. Some people just don't want to learn or discuss different ideas.
  
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  12

  Recovery From The Jehovah's Witnesses - A Guide

  by pale.emperor in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  hey guys.

  a friend online asked me about my recovery and how i managed to recover relatively easily from watchtower indoctrination.

  although i think a major part of it is acquainting oneself with information about the watchtower and it's history, a lot of it (for me at least) was an inner game.

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  scratchme1010

  Thank you for sharing. Beautifully presented.
  

  It's very interesting to note that none of your recovery has anything to do with prophecy or doctrine or the bible or what they say versus what the reality of things is. You don't quote a single line from anyone, not even your own self.

  Thanks again.
  
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  44

  Why Do People Become JWs?

  by minimus in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i was born in the religion but why on earth do people join this religion?

  ?.

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  scratchme1010

  Speaking about my parents who were the ones who joined (I was born in too), what I see is the Wt gave my mother a lot of good things that she otherwise thought she would never get. Hope, literacy, friends, a community, a sense of belonging, a way of using her skills. She was later "blessed" because her alcoholic violent husband also joined.

  Many people are lonely and need a sense of community and belonging. My father didn't have opportunities to learn and study anything and in came the Wt to bring him the opportunity to learn something and be able to teach it to others, and even have a position of leadership.

  Other people I know have joined as a way to stay away from drugs, or to escape (or have an explanation for) bad family situations.

  Using terms like dumb or lazy, I think is a little misleading in most cases, though I do know that there are people who love having everything explained and given to them, or don't want to face life on their own. The cult shields them from doing so, and they are happy living that way (or so they seem).

  Intelligence has nothing to do with what a person feels or their ability to handle their own emotions. The Wt and other cults capitalize in what other people are missing in their lives at a point when they feel that it's important to them.
  
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  10

  Went to a Different Kind of Convention This Year

  by Saethydd in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  my old congregation's regional convention was the week before last, and for the first time in 20 years, i wasn't there.

  instead on the very same weekend, i went to a geeky fan convention called magic city con.

  i had loads of fun there, i cosplayed as a jedi and the doctor (which is my current profile pic).

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  scratchme1010

  Sounds like a lot more fun than the JW conventions for sure.
  
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  11

  We are like pet dogs that run off with wild dogs...

  by dubstepped in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  ...and need a bullet to the head.

  my wife found a post on instagram where some jw nutter claims that either lett or morris said this in a talk.

  any confirmation or video of such?

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  scratchme1010

  Gee, they are running out of cheesy analogies!
  
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  29

  Have you ever come across someone on this site or other exjw site that you knew?

  by karter in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  2 for me 1 from my old congro in the 80's and another that was in the same circle of friends.. karter..

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  scratchme1010

  Not me, but I know there are people here who know me.
  
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  17

  Cross-dressing Jehovah's Witness raped and molested girl

  by cobweb in

  1. watchtower
  2. child-abuse

  http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/cross-dressing-jehovahs-witness-raped-13311020.

  a cross-dressing jehovah’s witness raped and molested a girl while making her wear adult women’s clothes.. david fuge, 69, wore dresses and silky underwear when he repeatedly abused his blindfolded victim from the age of eight to 19.. .

  liverpool crown court heard he gagged her and on one occasion tied a belt around her neck and left her hanging from a hook in a room.. he photographed the child naked, made her read pornographic magazines, beat her with a piece of wood and abused her at a golf course.. .

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  scratchme1010

  Who would support this vile excuse for a human?
  

  Donald Trump supporters.
  

  OK, that wasn't nice (feels good, though). Hillary Clinton supporters (better?).
  

  I made the statements above because of what I am about to write.
  

  You will be surprised that there are always people who support the most vile and hideous criminals. There are serial killer groupies, there are people who support sex with minors and believe that it is possible to have a romantic/sexual relationship between an adult and a child.

  And I wouldn't be surprised if there was some kind of transgender rights advocate who wants to use that to make it about transgender rights, even though cross-dressing and being transgender have nothing to do with each other.

  There are people who believe that the cross-dressing part will be made as some kind of psychological problem, and they oppose to that view, hence may feel that supporting him will make people "aware" of how judgemental people are over people with those proclivities.

  The list can go on and on and on. We are no longer in a world where a crime is just a crime. Crimes are now used as platforms for each one of its components to be exploited by supporters of some cause or point of view.

  And there are some people who somehow convince themselves that the criminal is somehow a "victim". And there are some people who ejnoy getting negative attention by supporting a POS like that. They get a cheap thrill when people around them say "WHAT!" or something.
  
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  24

  Latest son of thunder video on YouTube and the 07 letter to the elders.

  by Crazyguy in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  in his video he mentions an elders letter sent to germany in 07 , i believe.

  in this letter if i'm understanding it correctly the elders are being instructed to send most of any information on hand about child abuse in their congregation to headquarters and any thing else they have at home or in their personal possession to destroy it.

  this seams to be the most obvious case of wt telling their elders to destroy information.

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  scratchme1010

  I think you guys have are suffering of the exact same thing you are criticizing crazyguy of doing. He's been in the forum for quite some time and has posted (when I checked) 5,739 times.

  

  Scanning through his post, they don't strike me as a person just talking out of nowhere.

  Just sayin'
  
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  16

  Beards a-poppin!

  by neat blue dog in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i live in a pretty conservative area of the united states, and in the past two decades i can remember 2, that's right, two instances of seeing a jw with a beard in my area.

  (not counting myself at times, 😜, and i'm obviously not counting bearded visitors dressed in casual clothes).. however at this year's convention, i saw about a dozen bearded jws .

  this is like an explosion where i live.

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  scratchme1010

  ...I realize that none of them are likely Ministerial Servants, and per current policy do not qualify to appear on an assembly program.
  

  Maybe that's why they have it?