been going back in forth with my mom (who is a longtime pioneer and dyed-in-the-wool jw) about the term apostate.
she has labeled me one because of my fading and because i stopped attending meetings a few years ago.
i told her that i refuse to accept the term apostate because its a lazy way for the wts to not deal with dissenters and address why people are leaving this organization in droves.
PunkOfNice,
As usual, spot on. I quit using Dub-speak two decades ago. I refuse to use any of their loaded words, and I wish others exiting or exited could do the same. The Dub specific language is a big part of the control, as the wiki article suggests. I'm surprised so many ex-Dubs still use the loaded words. Removing them for use - and subsequently your consciousness - is a major step to moving past the draconian borganization and its control.
Thanks for your contributions to this forum.
approximately 25 yrs ago today, i left the borg forever.. .
thank you jwn/jwd for helping me heal by listening to me.
there are not many greater gifts than freedom..
Rebel8,
You are one of my faves. 20 plus years for me. Isn't freedom from the draconian Borg wonderful? You rock young lady. High five!
Apognophos,
Thank you for your intelligent commentary on this and other topics. This OP should have ended pages ago. Pedophilia is a disorder - not a crime. That is a factual statement. Yawn.
Flip,
Of course it is aberrant. We all have stated that. Acting on it is illegal and damaging to children and society. We all know that and agree. That isn't the point the article is making or the point many of us are making. The condition is who they are. Read the posts on this OP or the article. Pedophiles are sexually attracted to pre-pubescent children in the same manner that I'm attracted to fully formed females. More and more research indicates this is who they are; they didn't choose it.
From Wiki: Pedophilia or paedophilia is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children, generally age 11 years or younger.
Their attraction is NOT a crime. Some studies suggest that half or more of true pedophiles - those who are sexually attracted to children - never act on it. Read the earilier posts on this; there are some very good ones. The reason they place convicted pedophiles on registries, which btw you can google in any US community to see the names, faces and addresses of convicted pedophiles, is that the best research indicates that they may re-offend because the sexual attraction is what and who they are. All we are saying is that the condition and the act are two very different things. The former deserves understanding, treatment, intervention, etc., while the latter deserves the full wrath of society.
DogGone,
Thank you as well for your rational contribution to this topic. I'm at a loss to understand the dumbasses among us who lack the self control to avoid the keyboard when all they have to offer is red-neck, reactionary, emotional hysteria. I see nothing wrong with the article. I would guess that everyone on this site abhors sexual child abuse and none of us have any tolerance for the behavior and believe that society's strongest condemnation and punishment for the act is justified.
It is also likely that those of us who are parents would kill - or feel like kiliing - anyone who touched our child in such manner. Let's all concur and move on to trying to understand this issue. Those who contribute nothing more than emotional, irrational hysteria would do better to exercise self control and learn. Or do some very good research about the topic before posting. That seems to be too much work for some; they would rather vent, showing their stupidity for the world to see.
Flip, pedophilia is NOT a crime. Acting on it is. WTF is wrong with you and those like you? Is heterosexuality a crime? Is being left handed a crime?
Another very good study found that convicted pedophiles are 3 times more likely to be left handed than average, and researchers suggest there may be a neurological link. None of us on this site, to my knowledge, are experts on this topic, but all of us can seek to understand it better. And we owe it to one another, the topic, the lurkers and just damn good debating to keep quiet or provide something of value. I would suggest that those who provide nothing but reactionary emotional nonsense are, by Myers-Briggs, feelers/perceivers, more likely to be theist than non-theist, and less likely to have advanced education.
Otherwise, Gregor and those like him are correct that the sexual abuse of a child is horrific and usually has long lasting consequences. There is no tolerance for such in society, nor should there be. That is not what the discussion is about.
Are you including homosexuality in this list? There is nothing harmful in this behavior. Gays and lesbians harm no one - except people like you and your make believe god. It can be done???? WTF? What planet have you arrived from? Really? It can be done???? I mean, Really?
Preach someplace else, please. Really, it can be done.
GC,
Homosexuality doesn't belong in this list. Your inclusion of it suggests a loaded attempt to prove a point. A very bad one. What consenting adults do with their private parts is none of your - or anyone elses' business. If you can't add anything better than this, exercise some of that self control you are preaching and avoid the keyboard.
Kleptomania is an "inability to resist the urge to steal items." Murderous 'behavior?" WTF??? Are you comparing that to someone born with a sexual desire? Is your heterosexuality a learned behavior? Did someone teach you or enculturate you to be hetero? Or were you born with the tendency and the desires?
Pehophilia is a sexual attraction - nothing more - to prepubescent children according to the experts. Acting on it is the wrong. Being born with the desire isn't. Nymphomania is considered compulsive sexual behavior. It's only a problem if it interferes with life.
There has been a lot of research conducted on pedophilia. Google scholar illustrates the volume. Based on what I read:
1. Pedophiles are almost always male – theories suggest it has something to do with the Y chromosome and other male traits.
2. Not everyone who assaults children is a pedophile – the ‘true’ definition of a pedophile is one who becomes sexually aroused by pre-pubescent children.
3. Not all pedophiles molest children.
4. Some researchers suggest that some causes could be traced to en-utero and be the result of environmental factors such as alcohol, drugs, smoking, lead, etc.
5. Although some suggest that pedophiles are more likely to have been sexually molested themselves as children, when controlled tests were conducted, this became much less significant as a factor. In other words, a lot of pedophiles – once caught – blame shift.
6. Some research suggests that other factors, such as early childhood brain trauma, low IQ, etc. may contribute.
7. “True’ pedophiles become sexually aroused by images of pre-pubescent children, just as most hetero males become sexually aroused by fully formed females .(I’m extremely shallow – without boobs (Big) and a great ass and waist to hip ratio I’m not interested). Regardless of the root cause of a pedophile’s lust, experts indicate that they can’t change this any more than a ‘true’ hetero can change their desires. This is the reason why convicted pedophiles have their names, faces and addresses listed on websites in the US. So one could state that the ‘minimum’ sentence for a convicted pedophile is the rest of their life.
Please read the article. The author indicates that acting on, sexually molesting children, is a crime. The underlying attraction is not. I find nothing disturbing about this article.
at the end of his final talk he said of the gb: they are telling the higher ups , "start getting ready we're not going to be around much longer!
" and we expect the angels to release the four winds any day now!
" my first thought was why are you building a corporate country club then?!
Mary,
I was holding my 1000th post for something of interest to me. Since this kinda sorta speaks to the decay of the Borg and especially the Dark Lords, I am using it. So thanks for giving me a reason!!
I don't doubt that the Dark Lords are preparing the rank and file for the sifting of the chaff from the wheat as they call it and as Hoser referenced. They aren't geniuses but they know quite well what occurred the years following 1975. They likely expect the same thing to occur post 2014. As I recall, the real bleeding didn't begin until a couple of years after '75. It will be interesting to see if the rank and file wait much beyond 2014 to begin their exit. The world wide web, the failed prophecies, the draconian controls, etc. may speed up their exit. We shall see.
The Dark Lords are expecting an exodus; they don't know how many will go, but they are almost assuredly expecting it. Spinning it (which they excel at) is all they can do. Let's hope the exodus is huge and that it hurts them deeply, which will mean a loss of $ rather than a loss of numbers. The latter they can spin; the former is something they can't run and hide from.
