Posts by Journeyman

50

To All Those Keen To Tell Us About Their Beliefs

by Simon in

we seem to have had an influx of religiots - the people who want to tell us all about how we / the wts / whoever are wrong, wrong, wrong about everything and how right they are.

they obviously have special insight, or voices (probably voices, right?

) telling them the real truth.. as proof, there is inevitably a wall of random scripture references and quotes.. sorry, but we're not here for that.

Journeyman

I agree that it's good that we are free to discuss the possible meaning of Bible verses - or any other such topic within reason - on here, when among JWs we are not free to openly discuss such things.

I think it would be a shame if those discussions were curtailed.

However I do also agree that pages and pages of cut and paste quotes from philosophers or church 'fathers' (or any other sources really) do get tedious and often miss the point. And like TonusOH, I don't find just posting YT links persuasive either, as any of us can do that.

Also, I think it's best to limit any such discussions to no more than a couple of active threads at a time, otherwise it looks like spamming and can be annoying for those not interested. So if I have a desire to mention something but I see a thread already active on a similar topic, I would refrain from starting a new one unless I really thought there was something different to ask/say.

For example, I'm not persuaded by the hype and hysteria about COVID conspiracies, so find too many threads on that topic (or posters who throw the subject in at random on unrelated threads) a bore. So I can understand that those who don't want to read about or discuss Bible topics would be similarly put off by multiple active threads (or posts) on that subject.

77

Biden running in 2024 🤣

by LoveUniHateExams in

i've filed this under news and world events, although i could've posted it under entertainment, lol.

apparently, joe biden will be seeking re-election for another term in the white house.. this, despite a recent poll showing that 70% of people don't want him to run again.. biden just has to be the worst president i've seen.

his gaffes, over-relience on a prompter, and, more than any other president, his refusal to answer journalists' questions, all go to make him top of the list in terms of bad presidents.. it will certainly provide entertainment, if nothing else..

Journeyman

No it doesn't - yeah, it kinda does.

Yes, the George Floyd/BLM madness is but one example.

Others (from a UK perspective) include:

increased profile and celebration of Halloween, which used to be much more low-key until trick-or-treating was imported from the USA. There was an old tradition of going from home to home in parts of Scotland and Ireland but nothing on the scale it is today, and the idea of "trick or treat" (with accompanying cry) was apparently started in Canada then adopted in the USA first decades before crossing the Atlantic.

"Black Friday" sales - we never had such a thing over here until about 5-10 years ago, and the timing fits with the US thanksgiving holiday, which has no equivalent in the UK - our traditional sales periods were Boxing Day (26 December) and the January sales.

There are baby showers and "gender reveal" parties

NFL (which is now increasingly appearing at our main English stadium in Wembley and on UK TV) - which isn't even "N"FL for this country, since it's not from our nation!

A fair proportion of youth slang, including calling the police "feds" (when the UK is not a federation).

And then of course there's cancel culture, an extremist overspill of the MeToo movement - suppressing of viewpoints that are not considered "acceptable", including 'deplatforming' speakers at universities, libraries and other locations

Those are just a few that come to mind. There are many other cultural, linguistic and political behaviours that seem to make their way over here from the US, and I'm sure we're not the only country.

17

Brother Jackson visits the Italy branch

by LaFrancia in

brother jackson visits the italy branch.to all the missing brothers and ex-brothers greetings stay healthy!this week brother jackson from world headquarters is visiting rome and bologna where the new branch will be built (by now the watchtower has turned into a multinational construction company and the old days are just a beautiful faded memory).the bethel of "italian/dissident/fugitive/spiritual" witnesses (active, but who do not agree with the organization's policies and directives because they are unscriptural) which has only a virtual location on the internet, (john 4:23, 24) will inform with a simple report this weekend.these are routine visits, but sometimes information of interest to the lord's servants can come out by mistakegreetings.

stay healthy!

Journeyman

Why is it the watchtower is the the only religious organization that needs hundreds of facilities and billions of dollars just to share the so called good news? Meanwhile how many brothers in Africa are still meeting in shacks?

It's hardly the only religious organisation that has "hundreds of facilities and billions of dollars just to share the so called good news" - you might have heard of a little group called the Catholic Church, for example! But I agree with the latter part - it's hypocritical for them to condemn wealth disparity in other churches, when the GB are happy to demand millions from lowly publishers to splurge on fancy new branches and on video studios while members in other parts of the world still do not have basic facilities.

LaFrancia - thanks for the update so far. It's good to hear an unbiased, straightforward reporting of these events, rather than from the JW website or GB update video where it will inevitably be given an exaggerated spin.

11530

It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

Journeyman

This is vintage Lloyd. For an amateur open mic night, which of course offers no compensation, Lloyd still wants aspiring "musicians" to apply for the "job". Oh, and he wants samples of a few recordings these people have made of themselves. Who is qualified to judge whether an amateur musician is qualified to sit for an Open Mic night? Lloyd Evans of course. He's a musician!

He's trying to set himself up as a gatekeeper / rent-seeker - eventually, for anyone to get to perform, they will have to pay a "fee" to be approved.

What a thought.He must think he could be a promoter, manager and impresario. Like one of these blokes.

It's obviously all about control. And exploiting whoever he can for money.

The mind boggles.

11530

It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

Journeyman

I was thinking ,could it be that mister big head got into an argument with the owners of the DeWine bar , maybe expecting them to pay him now , since that event was mention in a local magazine ? anyway just a thought...

Possibly. He presumably had some kind of falling out with them, whether real, or just imagined in his own head and built up out of proportion. Or perhaps someone in the know about his other 'activities' and behaviours saw the publicity and let the bar owners know, and they decided to end their association? Who knows.

He does seem to leave a trail of chaos and destruction in his wake wherever he goes, doesn't he?

77

Biden running in 2024 🤣

by LoveUniHateExams in

i've filed this under news and world events, although i could've posted it under entertainment, lol.

apparently, joe biden will be seeking re-election for another term in the white house.. this, despite a recent poll showing that 70% of people don't want him to run again.. biden just has to be the worst president i've seen.

his gaffes, over-relience on a prompter, and, more than any other president, his refusal to answer journalists' questions, all go to make him top of the list in terms of bad presidents.. it will certainly provide entertainment, if nothing else..

Journeyman

because it is a civil case not a criminal one - why should a sexual assault case be a civil case, not a criminal one? <---- this is the key question.

Any American more familiar with national and state law might know better, but I understand it's because:

the statute of limitations prevents a criminal rape trial in this instance because too long has passed since the alleged crime (it supposedly happened around 1995-96), but
recent changes to NY state's law mean that victims of historic abuse can now pursue their supposed attacker for recognition of the offence and for compensation (this is the same law change which is allowing many alleged exJW victims to now sue the org years later)

Wikipedia on the case says:

On November 4, 2019, writer E. Jean Carroll filed a lawsuit against Trump, accusing him of defamation by claiming she lied about him raping her in 1995 or 1996. Carroll had first publicly disclosed the alleged sexual assault by Trump in June and said Trump's reaction had directly harmed her career and reputation. Carroll said she was filing this lawsuit on behalf of each woman who has faced harassment, assault, or belittlement. Trump stated that her allegation was a promotion strategy for her book titled What Do We Need Men For? A Modest Proposal, where she discloses details about the alleged assault. The White House Press Secretary responded to the lawsuit claiming it was "frivolous" and that the story was fake, "just like the author".
[...]
Carroll filed a second lawsuit against Trump in November 2022 that renewed her claim of defamation due to additional statements Trump made and expanded her claim to battery under the Adult Survivors Act, a New York law that allows sexual-assault victims to file civil suits beyond expired statutes of limitations.

6

ECHR rules against Jehovah's Witnesses: forbidding field service notes was not an act against religious freedom

by Festus in

it only took 23 years but on 9th of may 2023 echr came to conclusion that forbidding the "namelists" was not an action against religious freedom.

echr's judgments are binding in all eu states.. jehovah's witnesses v. finland (coe.int).

the news made headlines in finland as well.. finland did not violate jehovah's witnesses freedom of religion, european court rules | news | yle uutiset.

Journeyman

GDPR has only been around for a few years, but other data protection legislation in various countries has been around since the late 1990s, for example, here in the UK we had the Data Protection Act 1998.

Apparently, Finland had the Personal Data Act since 1999 (prior to GDPR), and presumably it was under this that their Data Protection Ombudsman first ruled the JWs should not be collecting door-to-door info without the knowledge and consent of the householder.

Point 5 of The Facts section in the latest ruling says: "In October 2000 the Data Protection Ombudsman (tietosuojavaltuutettu, dataombudsmannen – “the Ombudsman”) issued an opinion (89Û/45/97) about the applicant community’s data collection practices indicating, inter alia, that personal data could be collected in the course of door-to-door preaching by individual Jehovah’s Witnesses only with the consent of data subjects."

So yes, it seems the org's lawyers have dragged this on for 23 years!

In Europe at least, those S8 house-to-house records are well and truly dead. If there are any EU countries where branches have not yet withdrawn them and stopped the congregations taking their own records, they will presumably have to do that now.

11530

It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

Journeyman

I doubt any students will be impressed with SlobLloyd. "Look at that old creep; he looks like he has spunk on his head!"

I'm sure that's true, but I'm equally certain it wouldn't stop him from trying to sidle up to them between sets and chat them up, with his "midlife crisis" hair and his patter about how he is a prominent filmmaker and activist, saving people from the clutches of oppressive religions. Makes me cringe just at the thought of it!

I wonder if he ever takes Tibor along too? What a devastating couple of eligible males they'd make on the dating scene...

Actually, if they ever do go out on the town together, this is probably LE after the umpteenth unsuccessful attempt to pull a young student: https://youtu.be/63rcdLeXiU8?t=59

11530

It's been a long 9 years Lloyd Evans / John Cedars

by Newly Enlightened in

original reddit post (removed).

Journeyman

...on Instagram he announced their permanent move to "Night Club Spunk"
Now that is poetry in motion. Lloyd Evans is now performing at a Night Club that shares a name with a vulgar slang term for semen.
Might as well call it Club Ejaculation.

Very apt for someone unable to control his penis! I wonder if he often arrives there too early?

*ahem* Anyway...

Apparently "Spunk" is affiliated with the National and University Library in Zagreb, which is the national library of Croatia and central library of the University of Zagreb, and so is often frequented by students.

That explains the attraction for LE!

https://www.timeout.com/croatia/nightlife/spunk
https://restaurantguru.com/Spunk-Zagreb
https://www.zagreb.com/live-music/10000/spunk/

25

All UK telephone landlines being phased out.....

by BoogerMan in

.....and replaced with voip by 2025. https://www.pmctelecom.co.uk/blog/are-landline-phones-being-phased-out-in-2025/.

just heard this on a radio station's advert..

Journeyman

Yes, and there are going to be lots of serious consequences for communications (especially for vulnerable people such as the elderly and those with physical or learning disabilities), not to mention availability of connectivity and security of data.

What's amazing is that noone is really talking seriously about this - and by "noone", I mean major news, technology and rights organisations or really... anyone.

But then, if there is some conspiracy to tighten control over the masses and gather all possible data electronically, then that would be what we should expect! Not that I'm saying I believe the whole "conspiracy!" idea, but it is is strangely coincidental, the blanket silence on this matter.