Turnabout, they say, is fair play.
TerryWalstrom
JoinedPosts by TerryWalstrom
-
17
Who Is America? Sacha Baron Cohen (Ambush humor--what do you think?)
by TerryWalstrom inthere have been many tv programs all the way back to candid camera which set people up for pranks.
it was all in good fun and the results were shown only if a legal release was signed allowing the prank to be broadcast.getting permission after-the-fact was essential, otherwise, you've wasted your efforts.ahhhh, but what about public figures who are legally exempted from the necessary "permission" form agreement?is an ambush set-up fair or even ethical?the answer we give depends on how much we love or hate the victim!if we really, really dislike certain public figures there's a tendency to want to see them embarrassed and exposed as buffoons, idiots, hypocrites, and fools.on the other hand, consider this.
in a nation as divided as is america along color lines, political factions, and social "correctness" concerns--are we lighting a fuse by going too far?____why am i asking this question?i watched this preview and found myself torn.
-
-
-
17
Who Is America? Sacha Baron Cohen (Ambush humor--what do you think?)
by TerryWalstrom inthere have been many tv programs all the way back to candid camera which set people up for pranks.
it was all in good fun and the results were shown only if a legal release was signed allowing the prank to be broadcast.getting permission after-the-fact was essential, otherwise, you've wasted your efforts.ahhhh, but what about public figures who are legally exempted from the necessary "permission" form agreement?is an ambush set-up fair or even ethical?the answer we give depends on how much we love or hate the victim!if we really, really dislike certain public figures there's a tendency to want to see them embarrassed and exposed as buffoons, idiots, hypocrites, and fools.on the other hand, consider this.
in a nation as divided as is america along color lines, political factions, and social "correctness" concerns--are we lighting a fuse by going too far?____why am i asking this question?i watched this preview and found myself torn.
-
-
TerryWalstrom
As I get older (and older) I become more capable of taking a step back to look at the big picture. I guess it is because I'm slowly rotting away from life itself :) That gradual detachment has the one benefit of starting to see things a wee bit objectively now and then.
CRITICS of society are necessary as long as they don't give a distorted end result. We need the Devil's Advocate. We don't need fraudsters.
The end does not justify the means.
When Legal Authorities, for example, use entrapment--they actually provoke law breaking just so they can make an arrest.
To me, I see this as cheating. It is disgraceful. The justification, of course, is that we've taken a Bad Guy off the streets.
Well, bullshit.
The same can be true of Ambush Humor.
I remember a case of a famous football player who was set up for a sting.
The football hero and his wife were ripe targets. They were notorious lovebirds and Christians who constantly talked about their happy marriage.
The football hero was approached in a bar by a gorgeous young lady claiming to be a fan. She was, in fact, hired because she was younger and more beautiful than his wife--and he'd met her before.Cut to the chase: he went to bed with her. He was recorded doing the deed.
A newspaper had engineered this entrapment JUST FOR THE STORY and "gotcha" publicity.
Question: Did this PROVE he was an adulterer all along or that he was of low character?
How many of us could pass such tests?
Anyway...
Sacha Baron Cohen sometimes makes me very uncomfortable because he is like the whore in the bar. He gets a payoff in the same way.
Who am I to judge?
Well, who do I have to be?
I'm just worried that my laugh has come at a disreputable cost.
Like I said, this is mostly because I'm an old man with little time left for ethical introspection. That's why I toss out these questions for you folks to discuss.
When you are young, "ETHICS" can seem like a snooty formality or holier than thou posturing.
Yeah. That's dangerous thinking.
The ties that bind us together as a society are fragile. Very very fragile.
We have to agree to disagree or we'll be cutting each others' throats in a Holy War of righteous indignation.
Over dramatic? Maybe. Maybe not.
Thumb through history and see.
____
http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1997-05-18/news/9705171005_1_kathie-lee-gifford-frank-gifford-globe -
20
Have you ever considered how bizarre the idea of "War in Heaven" really is?
by TerryWalstrom inwhen you grow up and look back on childhood belief you have to laugh at how.
easter bunnies and santa were all too plausible for children because trusted adults who were otherwise unimpeachable sources of truth and reality assured and reassured kids.
why wouldn't they accept it?jehovah's witness kids didn't have santa, we had armageddon.only this morning i suddenly asked myself why i ever accepted the idea of a war in heaven as even remotely sane.
-
-
TerryWalstrom
Basic Mythology is comic book in nature.
The flaws of humans are blown up into larger-than-life stories.
A man is the model for a SUPERman. Halfway between a man and a god is a DEMIgod.
Hercules, for all practical purposes, is Samson.
Hercules is the son of Jupiter. Hercules was a demigod.
Jesus was the son of God and considered by many a demigod.
Shorthand thinking. -
20
Have you ever considered how bizarre the idea of "War in Heaven" really is?
by TerryWalstrom inwhen you grow up and look back on childhood belief you have to laugh at how.
easter bunnies and santa were all too plausible for children because trusted adults who were otherwise unimpeachable sources of truth and reality assured and reassured kids.
why wouldn't they accept it?jehovah's witness kids didn't have santa, we had armageddon.only this morning i suddenly asked myself why i ever accepted the idea of a war in heaven as even remotely sane.
-
-
TerryWalstrom
When you grow up and look back on childhood belief you have to laugh at how
non-analytical you were.
Easter bunnies and Santa were all too plausible for children because trusted adults who were otherwise unimpeachable sources of truth and reality assured and reassured kids. Why wouldn't they accept it?
Jehovah's Witness kids didn't have Santa, we had Armageddon.
Only this morning I suddenly asked myself why I ever accepted the idea of a
WAR IN HEAVEN as even remotely sane. The answer is because my adult mind had never stepped back away from the "received truth" and skeptically vetted the preposterous premises one by one.
Let's do it now--shall we?
There are layers upon layers of false ideas we have to peel away.
The final layer, Jesus on a white horse battling Satan, is the last layer.
Let's take a look in chronological order.
Historically, humans started out ignorant of how the world works, how the Cosmos was configured, how Nature functioned. Naturally, mankind made guesses.
Of course, those guesses were primitive. It's like asking your Preschool child for an opinion on something complicated; the answer will make silly sense while also being laughable.
Thunder and lightning bolts were Zeus.
Tidal waves were Poseidon.
Earthquakes were Antaeus. Etc, etc.
That sort of personification required imagination to explain "invisible presence."
Death? Careful observation of people as they died provided a good guess.
The final act before dying was a long EXHALE. What just left the body?
Respiration-breath--'spirit'?
An invisible "THING" left the body. Surely THAT THING is what LIFE is!
Child-like observation and hypothesis are charming but flawed.
There must be a place--a destination--for human spirits, right?
So...?
Various places could have trees with spirits. Some of our ancestors worshipped trees. Poor saps.
The top of Mount Olympus was asserted by Ancient Greeks to be the home of the Gods! Male gods, female goddesses--all remarkably flawed but powerful!
These gods warred, certainly--humans warred...that's called "projection."And so? So, the idea of a BATTLE IN HEAVEN is an old, old idea brought forward through human history.
____________________
That was Stage One.
Stage Two becomes centered on our BIBLE.
You and I have noticed the Bible is divided into two main parts. Dubs contrarily refuse to use mainstream terminology. Hebrew and Christian Greek are the terms they teach, but O.T. (Old Testament) and N.T. (New Testament) should suffice.
In the O.T. the Creator seemed to accept Satan's presence in heaven during roll call. Job 1:7: “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them”
______
Teaching his Apostles to cast out demons, Jesus is quoted by Luke with this cryptic utterance: Luke 10:17 He says “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven”
_______
In Revelation 12 John sees a vision: “Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven” (7-8).
____
So there we have it.
Cast of characters: Satan, Michael, angels, God, Dragon
____
It certainly sounds objectively like a child's bedtime tale of Lord of the Rings.
Let's move on, shall we?
____
1. Human beings battle with armies on battlefields historically only because they are at cross purposes and have roughly equal chances at getting their way through violence.
2. During our Cold War with the Russians, America and the U.S.S.R. fought proxy battles in Korea and Vietnam, Asia, South America, etc.
3. Modern wars in the Middle East are nasty matchups using Russian and American made technology which drags on and on and on.
Is THIS HOW WE VISUALIZE a WAR in HEAVEN between God and demons?
Why doesn't this strike anybody as silly?
Jehovah is either ALL POWERFUL or He is not. Right?
The Bible gives us IMHO a weird depiction of Jehovah's use of power.
First off, it is very unimaginative and utterly analog.
Sending she bears to maul children who ridicule his prophet for bald headedness is one example.
Turning Lot's wife into a pillar of salt is comic book stuff.
The plagues of Egypt? Crude and inefficient at best--after all--it took TEN F-ing TRIES to persuade Pharoah to let go.
Noah's flood?
Noah's flood was Armageddon if you stop and think about it.
That should have been it. Period. Exclamation point !!!
But nooooo...
It has to start all over again and lead to just another version of the same.
Why is Jehovah so Rube Goldberg if He has any problem-solving skills?
Finally, Jesus, Michael, Jehovah, and heavenly "good" angels should have ALL THE POWER on their side. Right?
Think of how easily the Nazis rounded up the Jews in Germany and Poland.
That sort of thing.
There never was a MASADA in Hitler's Germany for a good reason. Technology.
______
Jehovah's Witnesses teach a peculiar End Times scenario which really morphs again and again and again into a quagmire of "reasoning."
The BATTLE of ARMAGEDDON is just silly, senseless, impossible and unnecessary. It's more comic book superhero Avenger's spectacle for the dim-witted than a description of any future reality.
Why?
It makes no sense.
If I were God and if you were God, we could snap our insuperable fingers and all evil beings would vanish. Snap. All done.
How did we ever believe this craziness?
I'll tell you how: we never really THOUGHT about it.
Armageddon is a big stick of fear used to beat people into cowering submission of their intellect to bullying. Period. -
17
Who Is America? Sacha Baron Cohen (Ambush humor--what do you think?)
by TerryWalstrom inthere have been many tv programs all the way back to candid camera which set people up for pranks.
it was all in good fun and the results were shown only if a legal release was signed allowing the prank to be broadcast.getting permission after-the-fact was essential, otherwise, you've wasted your efforts.ahhhh, but what about public figures who are legally exempted from the necessary "permission" form agreement?is an ambush set-up fair or even ethical?the answer we give depends on how much we love or hate the victim!if we really, really dislike certain public figures there's a tendency to want to see them embarrassed and exposed as buffoons, idiots, hypocrites, and fools.on the other hand, consider this.
in a nation as divided as is america along color lines, political factions, and social "correctness" concerns--are we lighting a fuse by going too far?____why am i asking this question?i watched this preview and found myself torn.
-
-
TerryWalstrom
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l80Um3_xhSs
There is no doubt at all that Sacha Baron Cohen plays off
against very straight people with uproarious results. -
17
Who Is America? Sacha Baron Cohen (Ambush humor--what do you think?)
by TerryWalstrom inthere have been many tv programs all the way back to candid camera which set people up for pranks.
it was all in good fun and the results were shown only if a legal release was signed allowing the prank to be broadcast.getting permission after-the-fact was essential, otherwise, you've wasted your efforts.ahhhh, but what about public figures who are legally exempted from the necessary "permission" form agreement?is an ambush set-up fair or even ethical?the answer we give depends on how much we love or hate the victim!if we really, really dislike certain public figures there's a tendency to want to see them embarrassed and exposed as buffoons, idiots, hypocrites, and fools.on the other hand, consider this.
in a nation as divided as is america along color lines, political factions, and social "correctness" concerns--are we lighting a fuse by going too far?____why am i asking this question?i watched this preview and found myself torn.
-
-
TerryWalstrom
There have been many TV programs all the way back to CANDID CAMERA which set people up for pranks. It was all in good fun and the results were shown only if a legal release was signed allowing the prank to be broadcast.
Getting permission after-the-fact was essential, otherwise, you've wasted your efforts.
Ahhhh, but what about PUBLIC FIGURES who are legally exempted from the necessary "permission" form agreement?
Is an Ambush Set-Up fair or even ethical?
The answer we give depends on how much we love or hate the victim!
If we really, really dislike certain public figures there's a tendency to want to see them embarrassed and exposed as buffoons, idiots, hypocrites, and fools.
On the other hand, consider this.
In a nation as divided as is America along color lines, political factions, and social "correctness" concerns--are we lighting a fuse by going too far?
____
Why am I asking this question?
I watched this preview and found myself torn. Why? Exposing dangerous people who are fools is a public service ON THE ONE HAND.
Tricking somebody by pretending you are a wounded Veteran so you can make a fool out of them--well, that's really disgusting.
I'm asking for opinions. Has Sacha Baron Cohen done us all a public service or pushed America closer to the point of no return?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkXeMoBPSDk -
26
Youth and Spiritual Goals in this week's WT study (Are you F-ing kidding me?)
by TerryWalstrom ini regret following the wrong goals when i was a young person.
such as?such as spending a hundred hours a month of my precious youth rapping my unwrinkled knuckles on doors and waving soon-to-be-obsolete religious messages in front of aghast householders.such as spending my 20th, 21st, and part of my 22nd years in prison imagining anything useful was happening or that i was pleasing the big guy in the sky.such as taking a crappy job as a janitor and trying to support my family on beans and rice while i peddled cult materials, arguing with people who were better educated about fantasy scenarios i was brainwashed into parroting.such as making excuses for my depressing existence for my empty feeling of constant depression by consoling myself that soon billions of people would be annihilated--except for me and those i was able to convince to waste their time too.thanks, watchtower for twenty years of dry rot for my brain, a jehovah sized hole in my heart, and a great big "thank you" in the form of shunning from all my wonderful spiritual brothers and sisters for all my efforts.sure am i glad i didn't "waste" my youth on education, career, lifelong friends, and (gasp) fun!i was 12 years old when i was introduced to the watchtower and the kingdom hall.23 years later, i walked out a free man.the emotional damage took decades to reconcile.i'm 71 and i'd be thrilled to have those 23 years back!the watchtower is one of the most insidious time-devouring organizations on our planet.thanks for nothing!____________________the above is in answer to:.
this week's wt-study:.
-
-
TerryWalstrom
Have you heard this saying about procrastination?
"Why put off until tomorrow what you can do today?"
Well, if we distill the essence of JW theology for practical content wefind the opposite message loud and clear:
"Put off until Armageddon everything normal people do to make life better."
Tim is short.
Life's importance, quality, and character are destroyed by Watchtower's message because it isn't the call to action which has practical benefits.
It is corrupt, inverted, counter-productive and unnatural.
All of those 8 million people are waiting for the Jehovah bus while standing in the rain without an umbrella. That bus has not yet arrived but it is due any minute. Except...it's not coming. -
26
Youth and Spiritual Goals in this week's WT study (Are you F-ing kidding me?)
by TerryWalstrom ini regret following the wrong goals when i was a young person.
such as?such as spending a hundred hours a month of my precious youth rapping my unwrinkled knuckles on doors and waving soon-to-be-obsolete religious messages in front of aghast householders.such as spending my 20th, 21st, and part of my 22nd years in prison imagining anything useful was happening or that i was pleasing the big guy in the sky.such as taking a crappy job as a janitor and trying to support my family on beans and rice while i peddled cult materials, arguing with people who were better educated about fantasy scenarios i was brainwashed into parroting.such as making excuses for my depressing existence for my empty feeling of constant depression by consoling myself that soon billions of people would be annihilated--except for me and those i was able to convince to waste their time too.thanks, watchtower for twenty years of dry rot for my brain, a jehovah sized hole in my heart, and a great big "thank you" in the form of shunning from all my wonderful spiritual brothers and sisters for all my efforts.sure am i glad i didn't "waste" my youth on education, career, lifelong friends, and (gasp) fun!i was 12 years old when i was introduced to the watchtower and the kingdom hall.23 years later, i walked out a free man.the emotional damage took decades to reconcile.i'm 71 and i'd be thrilled to have those 23 years back!the watchtower is one of the most insidious time-devouring organizations on our planet.thanks for nothing!____________________the above is in answer to:.
this week's wt-study:.
-
-
TerryWalstrom
Is there a JW on the planet over 40 who isn't overweight or suffering from diabetes?
I certainly don't wish ill on any of them health-wise, but the Dub diet must consist of Big Macs and soft drinks. -
26
Youth and Spiritual Goals in this week's WT study (Are you F-ing kidding me?)
by TerryWalstrom ini regret following the wrong goals when i was a young person.
such as?such as spending a hundred hours a month of my precious youth rapping my unwrinkled knuckles on doors and waving soon-to-be-obsolete religious messages in front of aghast householders.such as spending my 20th, 21st, and part of my 22nd years in prison imagining anything useful was happening or that i was pleasing the big guy in the sky.such as taking a crappy job as a janitor and trying to support my family on beans and rice while i peddled cult materials, arguing with people who were better educated about fantasy scenarios i was brainwashed into parroting.such as making excuses for my depressing existence for my empty feeling of constant depression by consoling myself that soon billions of people would be annihilated--except for me and those i was able to convince to waste their time too.thanks, watchtower for twenty years of dry rot for my brain, a jehovah sized hole in my heart, and a great big "thank you" in the form of shunning from all my wonderful spiritual brothers and sisters for all my efforts.sure am i glad i didn't "waste" my youth on education, career, lifelong friends, and (gasp) fun!i was 12 years old when i was introduced to the watchtower and the kingdom hall.23 years later, i walked out a free man.the emotional damage took decades to reconcile.i'm 71 and i'd be thrilled to have those 23 years back!the watchtower is one of the most insidious time-devouring organizations on our planet.thanks for nothing!____________________the above is in answer to:.
this week's wt-study:.
-
-
TerryWalstrom
It's rather tacky to criticize the appearance of other people...BUT!
I have yet to run into a JW from the old days who doesn't look like something churned in a blender, wrung out to dry, and giving a coat of gray paint.
Thr lifestyle (if you can even call it that) of the JW is so empty of joy, and optimism or meaningful effort and purpose, there is a direct somatic effect on the health, mental state and--yes-- the physical body of the Witnesses.
Anybody agree with this observation? -
26
Youth and Spiritual Goals in this week's WT study (Are you F-ing kidding me?)
by TerryWalstrom ini regret following the wrong goals when i was a young person.
such as?such as spending a hundred hours a month of my precious youth rapping my unwrinkled knuckles on doors and waving soon-to-be-obsolete religious messages in front of aghast householders.such as spending my 20th, 21st, and part of my 22nd years in prison imagining anything useful was happening or that i was pleasing the big guy in the sky.such as taking a crappy job as a janitor and trying to support my family on beans and rice while i peddled cult materials, arguing with people who were better educated about fantasy scenarios i was brainwashed into parroting.such as making excuses for my depressing existence for my empty feeling of constant depression by consoling myself that soon billions of people would be annihilated--except for me and those i was able to convince to waste their time too.thanks, watchtower for twenty years of dry rot for my brain, a jehovah sized hole in my heart, and a great big "thank you" in the form of shunning from all my wonderful spiritual brothers and sisters for all my efforts.sure am i glad i didn't "waste" my youth on education, career, lifelong friends, and (gasp) fun!i was 12 years old when i was introduced to the watchtower and the kingdom hall.23 years later, i walked out a free man.the emotional damage took decades to reconcile.i'm 71 and i'd be thrilled to have those 23 years back!the watchtower is one of the most insidious time-devouring organizations on our planet.thanks for nothing!____________________the above is in answer to:.
this week's wt-study:.
-
-
TerryWalstrom
An analogy I've used goes like this.
Here is an empty glass. That was me at age 12.
That glass can be filled all the way to the top with something.
Once the glass is filled, there isn't room for anything else.
My glass was kept filled by Watchtower with busy, busy work, meetings, field service, book studies, Bible studies, meetings, etc.
When I left, that glass was so full of WT thinking, ideas, morality, judgments, doctrines that there was still no room for anything else.
I walked around as a non-JW but--for all practical purposes--still a propaganda machine.
The ONLY WAY to change my beliefs, my processing, my attitude was to POUR OUT what was in that glass.
How?
I took a 3X5 card with me wherever I went each day. On the card was a simple vocabulary word which represented important IDEAS--but with correct definitions (to replace WT definitions.)
It took about 5 years and 5 X 365 terms to UN-brainwash myself.
Instead of plunging back into some "other" religion, I studied the art of reasoning as developed by civilizations through history.
Philosophy's purpose was to answer the question: What do we know and how can we know it?
I settled on Aristotle (the father of Logic) and worked my way through the developments of reasoning and the use of non-contradictory definitions.
I started from scratch reading basic Science facts and how those facts were discovered, tested, and determined.
Books I read?
Mortimer J. Adler's 10 Philosophical Mistakes was an eye-opening book. It discloses how little mistakes here and there damaged mankind's ability to find the proper methodology for discovery and knowledge.
I began reading about cults and how they were started, soon mutated and eventually endured: Mormons, Scientologists, Moonies, Hare Krishnas, each had similarities.
Then, mainstream religion was next.
Reading Karen Armstrong's books (The History of God, The Battle for God, the Great Transformation) on religion and god was an astounding education in itself.
Richard E. Friedman's Who Wrote the Bible was and is an enlightening book.
This led to a real deconstruction by "whistleblower" Bart Ehrman and his best-selling books: How Jesus Became God, Misquoting Jesus, God’s Problem, Jesus Interrupted and Forged.
What a journey! Richard Carrier was hoot!
_____
Had I grown up in the computer era and the Worldwide Web, I would like to think it would be impossible to convince me of Jehovah's Witness "Truth."
In fact, I don't know how it is possible today unless the people being converted aren't computer savvy or are simply intellectually dishonest and superstitious people.
I spent a couple of years watching debates on many subjects with such people as late, great Christopher Hitchens and--wow! It's not easy to be naive about religion after that.
I think most of us who leave the Jehovah's Witness cult behind go through necessary but time-wasting stages. It's impossible to avoid.
Problem:
We really begin by asking the wrong questions which lead to wrong answers and blind alleys.
"Who has the true religion?" That is the wrong question.
"What is the correct Bible interpretation?" That is the wrong question.
"How does man determine what is true?" That is the right question.
We can't skip finding out what Logic is (the art of non-contradictory description.)
We can't skip understanding Fallacies, Confirmation Bias, Propaganda and basic Science.
All the above interest me and I've spent considerable time in discovery, contemplation, and dialogue with others.
Note: personal debates are really counter-productive although I surely got into them with a real vengeance.
I say arguments are counter-productive because neither party in a debate is humble and trying to learn. (It is anger and ego tinged with revenge.)
The worst part of being a JW other than wasting your life is the time spent shutting out everything else: i.e. the art of living a happy life.
Loving your life really is the first Art one should master.
