by nicolaou 80 Replies latest forum suggestions
Finkelstein: if all you're going to do is start posting anti-trump messages on this of all topics,
If you reread my posts on the separation thread, you would see that I wasn't positioning my statements toward Trump they were non-political.
Other people on that thread made it political.
Sheesh
Fulani, it does get petty in here doesn’t it?
If you reread my posts on the separation thread, you would see that I wasn't positioning my statements toward Trump they were non-political.
Pure BS. Please just stop.
When you leave the high control of the JWS, you were used to your words, thoughts, and ability to explore new ideas and disagree, to have challenging discussions. I think the politics turn into too many threads on the same subject, also there is not enough discussing of policy, philosophy, and history. I do feel political discussion in this JW forum is a barometer for peoples tolerance of your expressing different opinions.
I have friends on this board that in our own group chat off of her disagree about several things (political) and the discussions are intense, but they are always about the issues, the disagreement and debate is at a high level. And everyone remains close regardless of how intense it gets.
So I see politics and social issues as a barometer for EXJWS how much they allow themselves to understand things first before speaking about them, especially emotionally. Also how they engage disagreement, and it's interesting to see who resorts to the old tactics first, of demonizing the person with the opposing thought, appealing to emotion over logic. Politics, especially in today polarized divide, is a good mental exercise for how you approach the debate. Not which view you hold.
When we discuss these things we should always try to reaffirm what the other person actually believes, and discuss from there because many times we all share the same big principles. I have tried to dig at some opponents on here in political discussions only to find they seem to have no point of view, they are just angry. I find it an interesting exercise in how far each of us has come to combat groupthink and come to our own opinions out of facts, not the raw emotion of the group.
I don’t connect leaving my old JW beliefs and believing in a particular political view. Just because I was a JW, it doesn’t mean that I feel the need to support Trump or Hillary. My political views have nothing to do with me ever being a JW.
We have to give culture a nod on the amount of political discussion here and everywhere, movies, TV shows, ones I used to love, the news, literally every medium right now, is trying to politicize literally everything. EVERYTHING. I used to love late night comedy, it is nonexistent now in the way I used to know it. There has always been a political element to comedy, and TV. And they teased everyone and it was funny. It's not funny anymore because literally, everything has a political slant. And they aren't even trying to get laughter, they are trying to get "clappter". The comedy comes from a spiteful place demanding you agree with or be labeled accordingly. They are apology tours for the latest person to break the PC rules of our ever-increasing thought-policed society. So shows I used to watch like the daily show, SNL, they aren't getting laughs, instead, they are getting people to agree with the accepted narrative and clap in agreement. So I think its fair to say in a society where every iota of life is put into the political space, and you can't escape it, it's going to bleed into everything by nature. We are simultaneously fatigued and engaged in it to no end.
Pure BS. Please just stop.
Well your right Simon looking back on the thread I started into Trump following from what Flipper said, he probably just observed what he got off the news media, but once it came to light that the separation detention policy was created before Trump, I redacted and said it should nevertheless be a humanitarian concern.
I still hold that postilion, it seems even Trump agrees to that now.
I do get the point that in the past undesirable people have made their way into the US causing detrimental havoc.
Immigration needs to be closely regulated to any country no question.
Fink I'm smacking my head right now... what are you doing
I think a large part of the issue is that JWs are not really taught how to debate intelligently. In fact, ask "too many" questions or the "wrong" questions, and you are branded as "weak / brazen / bad association".
JWs are instead taught to assert things. Point to JW sources or the NWT as "proof" - end of argument. If the other person does not accept it, he is "apostate" (if a JW) or "not humble" (if not a JW).
So, people leave the JWs, and suddenly are able to express diverse viewpoints, but lack the skills or vocabulary to do so well.
Also, JW-world is polarized - JWs vs. "worldly", God vs. Satan, "The Organization" vs. "Babylon the Great". If you're not for "us", you must be - you have to be - for "them". That kind of thinking is hard to shake. It takes time and effort to do so. And you first have to realize that you are that way, in order to fix it - not always easy to recognize in oneself.
So - an ex-JW forms a political opinion, and (1) views those who disagree as a "them" and not an "us", and (2) lacks the vocabulary / skills to adequately defend his point of view.
And you end up with threads that go round and round and repeat ad infinitum.
Nearly everybody who is or was a JW is damaged. Some are not able to repair the damage, maybe for a long time, maybe ever.
Political tit for tat threads are just one symptom of the damage incurred.
What do people think about the 3,000 propertys that the watchtower are selling off.Thats one property a day for over 8 years
