Hi Kent,
Just now poor JAVA is the game, he’s the one to be hunted down by the wolf-pack this time.
"Poor JAVA"!!! You just blew your entire argument with that comment, Kent. Retract that from the post immediately before I find a Norwegian lawyer to sue for defamation. Heck, I'll bet I could find a WT lawyer willing to sue without a fee; or as Fredhall would say, "pro bone o."
I want to add this to your excellent post; in addition to cultural differences, time on-line tends to allow one more freedom of expression. You spoke about being on the Net for about 7 years; I've been on nearly as long. The Infamous Norway Three have always been (how shall I say this) a little free with their expressions. The longer I've been on-line the easier it is for me, and I think others too, to become a little more honest in expressing feelings. A newbie enters and is shocked with such expressions (unless they're from Norway, of course).
A large forum such as this has folks from every port, some new on-line and others who can give a line. It's nearly impossible to please all and offend none. That doesn't give us a license to be unkind nor does it mean we need to take crap from someone acting like a jerk.
I have mixed feelings about not stubmling the lurkers; that's a little too Watchtower for me. I don't wish to turn a person off who reads the forum, but doesn't post. However, I'm not going to worry about stumbling others at the expense of freely expressing my thoughts. Folks with questions about the Tower will exit when they're ready to exit without love bombing them on this side of the veil. They're going to find jerks at the Kingdom Hall and on this forum. However, they'll find something here they won't find at the Kingdom Hall--honesty.
Thanks Kent, a good post (except for the "poor JAVA" crap).
--JAVA
...counting time at the Coffee Shop
