Posts by slimboyfat

101

HELP needed from folks in UK, esp. in Scotland!

by WTS Archive in

jw
friends

tl;dr: if you live either in scotland or in other parts of uk and you don't mind traveling, you might be able to help a fellow ex-jw by being present during a courtcase where she alone has to face more than two dozens of jws who have ruined their business.

please contact me directly for details on when and where the court case will be held (i will know these details in few days probably).

ps.

slimboyfat

Who knows it might be true. I'm reserving judgement.

The idea that a Polish immigrant might be attracted to JWs, but later discover their darker side on YouTube in her own language, and leave, seems the most plausible and compelling part of the story to me.

What is a bit more difficult to understand is the part where, having discovered that JWs are controlling and abusive through watching the YouTube video, why did it come as a surprise to the Polish woman that she would have problems with her JW employees when she left? You'd think someone in that position would ask a few questions and try to discover the lay of the land. Not simply turn up at work to find a ghost ship. Very dramatic scene, but difficult to comprehend in practice.

101

HELP needed from folks in UK, esp. in Scotland!

by WTS Archive in

jw
friends

tl;dr: if you live either in scotland or in other parts of uk and you don't mind traveling, you might be able to help a fellow ex-jw by being present during a courtcase where she alone has to face more than two dozens of jws who have ruined their business.

please contact me directly for details on when and where the court case will be held (i will know these details in few days probably).

ps.

slimboyfat

I can't find any story. I was also thrown by the "big local newspaper" comment, because Scotland doesn't exactly have a thriving newspaper industry these days. The Herald, The Press and Journal, The Evening Times, The Courier, are biggish regional newspapers. I don't know what you would call a "big" local newspaper, they are all in steady decline. Probably tangential comment but I'm interested in the fate of print media!

However I found this funny story.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12070403.Witnesses_apos__church_gets_in_way_of_festive_lights/

101

HELP needed from folks in UK, esp. in Scotland!

by WTS Archive in

jw
friends

tl;dr: if you live either in scotland or in other parts of uk and you don't mind traveling, you might be able to help a fellow ex-jw by being present during a courtcase where she alone has to face more than two dozens of jws who have ruined their business.

please contact me directly for details on when and where the court case will be held (i will know these details in few days probably).

ps.

slimboyfat

The story does sound a bit incredible. "Speak against our prganisation" and spit in people's face? Sounds like a caricature rather than real JW behaviour. But you never know. Maybe it's an embellished story with some truth to it.

101

HELP needed from folks in UK, esp. in Scotland!

by WTS Archive in

jw
friends

tl;dr: if you live either in scotland or in other parts of uk and you don't mind traveling, you might be able to help a fellow ex-jw by being present during a courtcase where she alone has to face more than two dozens of jws who have ruined their business.

please contact me directly for details on when and where the court case will be held (i will know these details in few days probably).

ps.

slimboyfat

For once, I wished I lived in Scotland!!

Hey, what's this "for once", business?

I've not heard of Polish people becoming JWs en masse in Scotland, but then, how would I know. I remember, around ten years ago, being struck by how many Polish people live in and around Blairgowrie, a congregation I knew at one time. I wonder if it's there, or possibly elsewhere in Perthshire. But there are plenty of Polish people in Glasgow and elsewhere too.

57

How do we know JWs are wrong and how do we convince others JWs are wrong: logic versus persuasion

by slimboyfat in

we like to think we are logical and have good reasons for for our beliefs.

no more so than when it comes to our reasons for rejecting the truth claims of jws.

we reject their version of history, such as the date of the fall of jerusalem, because it doesn't agree with the historical evidence.

slimboyfat

Most people are not even aware of their need to conform. They live under the illusion that they follow their own ideas and inclinations, that they are individualists, that they have arrived at their opinion as the result of their own thinking - and that it just happens that their ideas are the same as that of the majority. Erich Fromm

113

I am deeply ashamed that I didn't accept evolution until a few years ago...

by ILoveTTATT2 in

jw
friends

so... i live in mexico and i am helping with an esl class (english as a second language).

actually, i am helping with two classes.

i get two days a week in which i just stand there and have a debate with the class, encouraging as many as possible to just talk... in english.. anyways, i like talking about subjects that generate debate.

slimboyfat

It does seem that way.

Cofty says people should read the arguments of those they disagree with so they can see both sides before arriving at a view. But he doesn't practise what he preaches when it comes to postmodernism.

What he really means seems to be: 'you should all read books that agree with me and see how wrong you are. But don't expect me to do the same.'

113

I am deeply ashamed that I didn't accept evolution until a few years ago...

by ILoveTTATT2 in

jw
friends

so... i live in mexico and i am helping with an esl class (english as a second language).

actually, i am helping with two classes.

i get two days a week in which i just stand there and have a debate with the class, encouraging as many as possible to just talk... in english.. anyways, i like talking about subjects that generate debate.

slimboyfat

I would not criticise christianity unless I thoroughly understood the beliefs of christians. Christian theology is trivially easy to understand. Evolution is really complex. I have been studying it for 10 years and have only scratched the surface. Amusingly theists think it is intellectually honest to reject the fact of evolution despite never having read a single book on the subject - creationists books don't count!

How come you criticise poststructuralism, Derrida, Foucault, postmodernism, constructionism, deconstruction, and so on without reading any?

114

Jehovah's Witnesses ARE Christians, why do so many ex JW's deny this?

by nicolaou in

jehovah's witnesses accept jesus as christ, the son of god.

they try, in their own way, to live by his teachings and imitate him.

they pray, read the bible and meet together regularly for worship.. i won't minimise any of the harm and damage they cause but for the life of me, i can't see how anyone can credibly deny that they are christians.. why do so many former jws have a problem with this?

slimboyfat

But Jesus/God is shy, lazy or apathetic. He could easily say who are Christians and who aren't but does not .

These are viewpoints that neither JWs nor Christians would accept of course. So if it's only that basis that both are Christians then there's a problem.

It's as if atheists perceive the situation like two children arguing with one another:

First child: I'm the king of the castle!

Second child: no I'm the king of the castle!

Adult: you are both king of the castle, now be quiet!

That's the sort of level at which atheists seem to think they have "settled" this issue of who is Christian. The problem of course is that religious believers don't perceive themselves as squabbling infants and they believe the issue under dispute actually matters.

114

Jehovah's Witnesses ARE Christians, why do so many ex JW's deny this?

by nicolaou in

jehovah's witnesses accept jesus as christ, the son of god.

they try, in their own way, to live by his teachings and imitate him.

they pray, read the bible and meet together regularly for worship.. i won't minimise any of the harm and damage they cause but for the life of me, i can't see how anyone can credibly deny that they are christians.. why do so many former jws have a problem with this?

slimboyfat

No they wouldn't dispute it. They would assert it and then demand respect for their equally risible superstitions.

It sometimes seems like if I say grass is green you'll say not really. But you've got even me scratching my head to understand why you think this is a significant distinction here. Okay they "assert" it instead of "strongly disputing" it. Whatever.

114

Jehovah's Witnesses ARE Christians, why do so many ex JW's deny this?

by nicolaou in

jehovah's witnesses accept jesus as christ, the son of god.

they try, in their own way, to live by his teachings and imitate him.

they pray, read the bible and meet together regularly for worship.. i won't minimise any of the harm and damage they cause but for the life of me, i can't see how anyone can credibly deny that they are christians.. why do so many former jws have a problem with this?

slimboyfat

If there really is a God who inspired the Bible and is the Heavenly Father of Jesus.. if all of that is true, then JWs and and mainstream Christendom can't both be right about Jesus. One teaches that he is the almighty, omnipresent, omniscient creator of the universe. The other teaches that he is a creature, his knowledge is limited, and he's not almighty. Both sides of this debate agree that these differences are so great that they disqualify the other side from being Christian.

Of course if there is no God in reality then the details of such dogma seem pretty trivial. On that basis it's easy to see why atheists would have least problems with calling both groups Christians. But in doing so it's worth baring in mind they rely upon an assumption that the dogma doesn't matter because God doesn't exist anyway. An assumption that both JWs and Christians would strongly dispute of course.