Joe Grundy

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Posts by Joe Grundy

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  20

  Anglican school phobia

  by Frazzled UBM in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  after a long and frustrating houe search in london we finally found a place that fitted all our requirements and my wife seemed happy with and i was successful in the bidding process and had our offer accepted even though it wasn't the highest beacuse we can exchange contracts quickly and now we have lawyers working on exchanging contracts soon.

  so everything is going swimmingly and then my wife demands that we go and look at a house being offered by the same agent we used to make the offer on the house we are buying.

  i am like wtf, if we ask the agent to see another property they will tell the vendors for the place we are buying and they will revoke acceptance of our offer and we will be back to square one.

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  Joe Grundy

  F-UBM: Just some idle thoughts. I never was a JW, but I do have a Filipina ex-wife and I was, some time ago, a governor of a church Voluntary-Aided school.

  Maybe your wife is relating back to the Philippines where, as you know, religious influence is very strong (mainly RC but also non-conformist protestant). Perhaps you could reassure her that in the UK (or in England, rather) CofE schools are a historical throwback (all mixed up with Church and State, etc.) and if there wasn't a sign outside no-one would know the difference.

  Forgive me if I'm out of order but this may be a bit of cultural difference as well as (or more than) the JW thing. House purchase is always difficult (in London many times more so) and IMHO you should stick to your guns. Would it help if you and she visited the school and she could see for herself just how non-religious CofE schools are? I recall having discussions with the head of the CofE school, who had no religious beliefs whatsoever. The parish vicar wasn't sure whether he was a christian, a buddhist, an atheist or all three.

  IMHO all religious indoctrination of children is pernicious. CofE schools are perhaps the least pernicious.

  Best wishes to you and good luck with it all.
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  15

  Mormons = Anyone Aware of This?

  by Joe Grundy in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  anyone aware of this?.

  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/10619538/head-of-mormon-church-thomas-monson-summoned-by-british-magistrates-court-over-adam-and-eve-teaching.html.

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  Joe Grundy

  BOTR: This highlights a major difference between the US and the UK. Others will be able to discuss this more 'learnedly' than I can. In the UK much is done by subtle understanding of a thousand (or more) years of history. Overall it seems to work OK. One difference may be that movements such as the Millerites, Mormons, JWs, etc., are seen as 'recent' aberrations (less than 200 years old) whereas most towns/cities/villages have churches at least 800+ years old. This may affect thinking.
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  15

  Mormons = Anyone Aware of This?

  by Joe Grundy in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  anyone aware of this?.

  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/10619538/head-of-mormon-church-thomas-monson-summoned-by-british-magistrates-court-over-adam-and-eve-teaching.html.

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  Joe Grundy

  It's an interesting use of the English & Welsh criminal court system (can't speak for the Scottish system) which has largely fallen into disuse. An aggrieved party alleging a criminal offence presents his case to a magistrate. The magistrate - in his role as Examining Justice - determines whether there is prima facie evidence of an offence, can issue summonses and directs the investigation (this is the French/Continental model) and can issue arrest warrants.

  Nowadays in E&W the practice is usually different but it harks back to this system - all citizens are granted powers of arrest without warrant but 'constables' have powers of arrest in wider circumstances (basically 'on suspicion').

  This is a District Judge who has issued the summons. DJs are qualified lawyers (most magistrates are lay people) and Westminster MC is not known for allowing frivolous cases.

  The difficulty - as noted above - is following the case through. If the summons is ignored a warrant for arrest will be issued. That brings the extradition issue into play - and the US is notoriously not keen to extradite its citizens. But an EU arrest warrant could be issued which might lead to the 'interesting' situation where the Head Honcho (aka Inspired Chief Prophet or whatever) cannot travel anywhere in the EU for fear of arrest. Will their god protect him, or is this an indication of the Persecution all cults thrive on?

  Whatever, anything that brings ridiculous beliefs and practices to public notice is a Good Thing, IMHO.
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  15

  Mormons = Anyone Aware of This?

  by Joe Grundy in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  anyone aware of this?.

  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/10619538/head-of-mormon-church-thomas-monson-summoned-by-british-magistrates-court-over-adam-and-eve-teaching.html.

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  Joe Grundy

  Anyone aware of this?

  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/10619538/Head-of-Mormon-church-Thomas-Monson-summoned-by-British-magistrates-court-over-Adam-and-Eve-teaching.html
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  112

  philipines disaster news up on jw.org

  by Captain Blithering in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://www.jw.org/en/news/

  wouldn't it be nice if they said 'you know what, we've made millions in property sales recently, lets donate a couple million to a philipines relief fund..'

  ten vans full, probably just for jw's.

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  Joe Grundy

  emeth:

  short reply: p*ss off.

  long reply: can't be bothered, so same as short reply.
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  112

  philipines disaster news up on jw.org

  by Captain Blithering in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  http://www.jw.org/en/news/

  wouldn't it be nice if they said 'you know what, we've made millions in property sales recently, lets donate a couple million to a philipines relief fund..'

  ten vans full, probably just for jw's.

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  Joe Grundy

  A post from an occasional poster.

  My ex-wife is a filipina, back in the Philippines right now but luckily, I think, out of the main path of destruction.

  I have many Filipina/o friends from my time in Cyprus. Some are back in the Phils, many have friends and family whose lives (crap as they were) have been destroyed.

  WTBTS/GB? A bunch of fat useless bastards who - to me at least - sit rubbing their hands while they could send a fortune to help.

  Damn them to hell (if you believe in it) I say.

  The next dub to come to my door will have some hard questions.
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  16

  FS Visit Today

  by Joe Grundy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just received a fs visit - first for several months.

  an attractive 'yummy mummy' with (what seemed to me) a strained smile and a very young girl (presumably her daughter) about 9 or 10.. the weather was attrocious, i was distracted, and i failed completely to make any comment or to challenge.

  looking at the young girl, particularly, i felt nothing but sympathy.. i accepted a leaflet 'can the dead really live again?

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  Joe Grundy

  FW: If the YM came back to me as a RV (without a child) I would, no doubt do my best to seduce her and take her out of the JW world - but that's just me.

  BUT ... and I don't think I'm alone here, it's a huge step to take away someone's belief system, especially if that's all they have.
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  16

  FS Visit Today

  by Joe Grundy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just received a fs visit - first for several months.

  an attractive 'yummy mummy' with (what seemed to me) a strained smile and a very young girl (presumably her daughter) about 9 or 10.. the weather was attrocious, i was distracted, and i failed completely to make any comment or to challenge.

  looking at the young girl, particularly, i felt nothing but sympathy.. i accepted a leaflet 'can the dead really live again?

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  Joe Grundy

  Well, there are many well-documented cases of cults using sexually attractive members to 'hook in' converts. I'm not aware of JWs using this as a general practice.

  Am I being hypocritical To suggest that an attractive woman would induce me to their crap more than an unattractive person might? I seem to remember reading somewhere that the Moonies etc. chose attractive women as their missionaries ...
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  16

  FS Visit Today

  by Joe Grundy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just received a fs visit - first for several months.

  an attractive 'yummy mummy' with (what seemed to me) a strained smile and a very young girl (presumably her daughter) about 9 or 10.. the weather was attrocious, i was distracted, and i failed completely to make any comment or to challenge.

  looking at the young girl, particularly, i felt nothing but sympathy.. i accepted a leaflet 'can the dead really live again?

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  Joe Grundy

  To be honest, I rather suspect that YM (like most JWs and probably most people who promulgate a faith) would not have been able to explain what she believes. And, just suppose I had challenged her and she ended up looking like a doofus in front of her kid. Not good.

  It is always a balance, I feel - but I have the privilege of never having been a jdub.
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  16

  FS Visit Today

  by Joe Grundy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just received a fs visit - first for several months.

  an attractive 'yummy mummy' with (what seemed to me) a strained smile and a very young girl (presumably her daughter) about 9 or 10.. the weather was attrocious, i was distracted, and i failed completely to make any comment or to challenge.

  looking at the young girl, particularly, i felt nothing but sympathy.. i accepted a leaflet 'can the dead really live again?

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  Joe Grundy

  And I decided a long time ago that to challenge someone's faith - especially if that is a crucial thing in their life - is a big responsibilty.