my parents are visiting for not-thanksgiving.
dad started bringing up spiritual stuff and i almost screwed up my fade.. it's so hard to have a genuine discussion about the issues in the organization when you have become an atheist.
it feels icky and disgusting to have to pretend and nod your head at such platitudes as "you just need to have faith"..."trust in jehovah"..."jehovah will correct it"..."remember ray franz?
nowwhat? You seem like a good guy I wish you would re think about being an atheist
“I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.” - Stephen Roberts
my parents are visiting for not-thanksgiving.
dad started bringing up spiritual stuff and i almost screwed up my fade.. it's so hard to have a genuine discussion about the issues in the organization when you have become an atheist.
it feels icky and disgusting to have to pretend and nod your head at such platitudes as "you just need to have faith"..."trust in jehovah"..."jehovah will correct it"..."remember ray franz?
Good call Billy.
I predict #1
a big problem i have always had when talking about anything related to jw teachings, is that i get aggravated and frustrated when logical black and white concepts/scriptures are not seen/interpreted in a logical way.
it really frustrates me having to hear '' oh no this does not apply here '' in every scripture that i bring to my parents attention.
starting from when i was 16 to about 20, my frustrations would lead to these anger fits.
Breezy, it happens. In the grand scheme of things your blow-up is no big deal.
The fact is, you are having to suppress your authentic identity and pretend to be someone you're not. This is difficult psychological pressure to have to try and hold inside.
Keep in mind that your parents are in a high-control, authoritarian cult that ruthlessly discourages critical thinking and individuality. Your parents are also conflicted, they just don't understand it like you do.
Hang in there, you'll get better at dealing with it. I suggest you apologize to your parents for HOW you acted, but not for anything you said.
Oubliette
losch's refusal to appear in court when subpeona'd to give testimony before a judge over his involvement in child abuse cover up and endangerment lawsuit .
i think such conduct should take away his freeness of speech and label him as a supreme hypocrite for giving such a talk about letting one light shine when he seems to be afraid to let his light shine in a court of law.
this man's hypocrisy knows no limits, and is extremely shameful.
Possum: If Gerrit Lösch truly believes this shit why isn't he happy and eager to provide testimonies before kings/judges ... instead of hiding under MOTHERS skirts?
Because he is a coward.
And you are most welcome for the link to the documents!
we just returned from seeing spotlight and really enjoyed it.
the film is based on the account of the boston globes expose of the systemic problem of pedophilia within the catholic archdiocese of boston.
the end crawl of the movie documents the prevalence of this problem in archdioceses worldwide that have come to light since that time in the early 2000s..
You just said "pedophiles" and then linked to an article about homosexuals which are different things.
True. I did not write the article and don't feel it's my place to change the title.
Anyone that reads the article will see that Randy Watters addresses both within the ranks of GB members at Bethel.
Thanks for pointing out the need for clarity. ;)
losch's refusal to appear in court when subpeona'd to give testimony before a judge over his involvement in child abuse cover up and endangerment lawsuit .
i think such conduct should take away his freeness of speech and label him as a supreme hypocrite for giving such a talk about letting one light shine when he seems to be afraid to let his light shine in a court of law.
this man's hypocrisy knows no limits, and is extremely shameful.
For those that asked, here is a link to the declaration:
-
Look at Items #8 & 9 on page 2.
my parents are visiting for not-thanksgiving.
dad started bringing up spiritual stuff and i almost screwed up my fade.. it's so hard to have a genuine discussion about the issues in the organization when you have become an atheist.
it feels icky and disgusting to have to pretend and nod your head at such platitudes as "you just need to have faith"..."trust in jehovah"..."jehovah will correct it"..."remember ray franz?
Have you been "testy"?
I thought you were just getting more interesting!
my parents are visiting for not-thanksgiving.
dad started bringing up spiritual stuff and i almost screwed up my fade.. it's so hard to have a genuine discussion about the issues in the organization when you have become an atheist.
it feels icky and disgusting to have to pretend and nod your head at such platitudes as "you just need to have faith"..."trust in jehovah"..."jehovah will correct it"..."remember ray franz?
nowwhat? You seem like a good guy I wish you would re think about being an atheistEveryone is an atheist in regards to most of the gods men have invented over our history: Thor, Isis, Ra, Apollo, etc.
I just believe in one less god than you do. - (paraphrasing Richard Dawkins).
my parents are visiting for not-thanksgiving.
dad started bringing up spiritual stuff and i almost screwed up my fade.. it's so hard to have a genuine discussion about the issues in the organization when you have become an atheist.
it feels icky and disgusting to have to pretend and nod your head at such platitudes as "you just need to have faith"..."trust in jehovah"..."jehovah will correct it"..."remember ray franz?
Cappy: dad said Tony was a loose cannon and that if he doesn't straighten up, Jehovah will deal with him. He brought up Ray Franz as an example of a Governing Body member going bad.
Except Ray Franz left Bethel because he had a crisis of conscience. ToMo is the ultimate "company man" dictating the appropriate tightness of our pants and what kind of socks are acceptable or not.
There is no comparison between the two. Your dad clearly lacks anything resembling critical thinking skills.
At some point you're going to find that you'll have to sit down and have a heart to heart, "Mom and Dad, I love you and would like to maintain a relationship with you, but I can no longer pretend to believe things that are nonsense. I hope you can respect my integrity to reality, but if you cannot then that is your decision to make.
"I will never forsake you. Will you forsake me, choosing loyalty to Tight Pants Tony over your own son?"
we just returned from seeing spotlight and really enjoyed it.
the film is based on the account of the boston globes expose of the systemic problem of pedophilia within the catholic archdiocese of boston.
the end crawl of the movie documents the prevalence of this problem in archdioceses worldwide that have come to light since that time in the early 2000s..
For those not familiar with the issue of pedophiles and homosexuals among the GB members, here is an article Randy Watters wrote about it:
Homosexuality at Bethel and among members of the Governing Body of the Watch Tower Society
In this article, he discusses three former GB members: Leo Greenlees, Percy Chapman and Ewart Chitty.
[Edited for clarity in light of Simon's comments below]
