Sea Breeze, I notice you used the phrases "re-education activities" and "brown-shirts". Are you really comparing the door-door activity by the Biden administration (which is like some politicians [and their campaign staff] going door-to-door to persuade voters to vote for them) to the forced indoctrination camps of the communist government of China and to the adverse activities of the former Nazi party (whose members were often called the "brown shirts"?
Disillusioned JW
JoinedPosts by Disillusioned JW
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57
What’s Wrong With President Biden?
by minimus ini just watched excerpts from his cnn town hall event and something is seriously wrong with him.
he can’t put together a sentence without getting lost, tripping on his own words, forgetting what he is talking about.……this is embarrassing.
and it’s not because he has a stutter!
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57
What’s Wrong With President Biden?
by minimus ini just watched excerpts from his cnn town hall event and something is seriously wrong with him.
he can’t put together a sentence without getting lost, tripping on his own words, forgetting what he is talking about.……this is embarrassing.
and it’s not because he has a stutter!
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Disillusioned JW
JPenB75, in contrast to what you wrote, I write "If you are a citizen of the USA who loves his/her/'their" country and western civilization but wants them to improve (and for our world to improve overall), instead of becoming destroyed, then vote Democrat (or Green or Progressive)."
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57
What’s Wrong With President Biden?
by minimus ini just watched excerpts from his cnn town hall event and something is seriously wrong with him.
he can’t put together a sentence without getting lost, tripping on his own words, forgetting what he is talking about.……this is embarrassing.
and it’s not because he has a stutter!
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Disillusioned JW
greenhronet, the USA is both a republic and a democracy. We are a republic in that we have an elected President instead of a hereditary monarch or any other kind of monarch. We are a democracy, in the form of a representative democracy. Also to some extent we are a direct/pure democracy since the people, in at at least states, have the opportunity to vote directly on some legislation (and even to write such legislation) in the form of Initiative Ballot Measures. Furthermore, one definition (found in dictionaries) of the word "republic" is "a representative democracy".https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_republic (quote definitions from the definitions from the Oxford English Dictionary ) says "Democracy: "A system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives." Though the original form of democracy was not "through elected representatives", modern ones (at least the vast majority of them) are.
The Wikipedia article also says the following.
"Eugene Volokh of the UCLA School of Law notes that the United States exemplifies the varied nature of a constitutional republic—a country where some decisions (often local) are made by direct democratic processes, while others (often federal) are made by democratically elected representatives.[3] As with many large systems, US governance is incompletely described by any single term. It also employs the concept, for instance, of a constitutional democracy in which a court system is involved in matters of jurisprudence.[3] "
It has been my observation that people who say the USA is "a republic not a democracy" are people who are members of the Republican Party or who align with it, but not with the Democratic Party. In contrast I have never heard (nor read) any Democrat or anyone else say the USA is "a democracy not a republic", though Democrats more commonly say the USA "is a democracy" than they say it "is a republic". To me the USA is a democratic republic.
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57
What’s Wrong With President Biden?
by minimus ini just watched excerpts from his cnn town hall event and something is seriously wrong with him.
he can’t put together a sentence without getting lost, tripping on his own words, forgetting what he is talking about.……this is embarrassing.
and it’s not because he has a stutter!
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Disillusioned JW
WTWizard, you made an extremely false claim (of the magnitude often made by Trump) when you said (on page 1 of this topic thread) regarding Biden "... it is deliberately imposing communism. What else can you call sending troops door to door to force people into getting their torture shots for this little tiny cold?" The Biden administration is clearly not imposing communism. The Biden administration is not going to door to force people get Covid-19 shots (which you call torture shots). The Biden administration is going door to educate people about the benefits of the shots and to encourage people to get them, but not to force them to get them. Furthermore, Covid-19 is vastly more dangerous than the cold - and vastly more dangerous than the flu.
I am astonished that so many twisted statements are made on this site, and that such are posted by so many people. I would think that people on this site would have enough appreciation for truth and have enough self-respect than to say such things. I presume that your comment was said partly to "push people's buttons" (as the saying goes). But if you actually believe what you said, then that might be even more troubling in regards to what it represents about the mindset of apparently so many conservative/"right"-wing people of the USA.
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USA House Bill calling for the global repeal of blasphemy, heresy, and apostasy laws, passed overwhelmingly!
by Disillusioned JW inon december 7, 2020 usa congressman jamie raskin's (md-08) bipartisan house resolution 512, calling for the global repeal of blasphemy, heresy, and apostasy laws, passed the house of representatives by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 386-3; see https://raskin.house.gov/2020/12/house-passes-raskin-resolution-calling-global-repeal-blasphemy-heresy-apostasy .
a description of the bill says "the resolution also calls for the immediate release of religious prisoners of conscience worldwide.
as more than 80 countries use blasphemy laws to persecute and imprison religious minorities and dissenters, the house asserted the essential importance of freedom of religion and liberty of conscience globally.".
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Disillusioned JW
The article called "Human Progress" at https://www.patheos.com/blogs/daylightatheism/2021/07/human-progress/ might be of interest to people. It is written by James A. Haught - the same person who wrote the article about the possible number of secret atheists. I like the article.
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USA House Bill calling for the global repeal of blasphemy, heresy, and apostasy laws, passed overwhelmingly!
by Disillusioned JW inon december 7, 2020 usa congressman jamie raskin's (md-08) bipartisan house resolution 512, calling for the global repeal of blasphemy, heresy, and apostasy laws, passed the house of representatives by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 386-3; see https://raskin.house.gov/2020/12/house-passes-raskin-resolution-calling-global-repeal-blasphemy-heresy-apostasy .
a description of the bill says "the resolution also calls for the immediate release of religious prisoners of conscience worldwide.
as more than 80 countries use blasphemy laws to persecute and imprison religious minorities and dissenters, the house asserted the essential importance of freedom of religion and liberty of conscience globally.".
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Disillusioned JW
The following article is somewhat related to the topic of this thread
https://www.al-fanarmedia.org/2021/07/social-sciences-researchers-enjoy-new-freedoms-in-saudi-arabia/ says in part the following.
"The broad cultural changes Saudi Arabia has witnessed in recent years have been reflected in the development of social sciences teaching methods in universities and the expansion of research topics that were previously not possible, academics who study social science issues say.
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Earlier this year, and for the first time in the kingdom’s history, critical thinking and philosophy started being taught to middle and high school students, with the help of a British teacher-training company.
Moreover, male and female students of anthropology, philosophy and other social sciences have also had opportunities to study abroad with state-supported scholarships."
That article links to an article about critical thinking and philosophy called "Saudis look forward to critical thinking and philosophy lessons in schools" at https://www.arabnews.com/node/1764601/saudi-arabia . It says the following.
'Lecturer Abdulrahman Al-Haidari, who has been teaching English at Umm Al-Qura University in Makkah for 18 years, said he has always found it important to ask his students challenging questions that encourage them to think for themselves.
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“By introducing critical thinking and philosophy into the curriculum, students take charge of their own learning experiences,” she said. “They learn how to think outside the box, ask the right questions, be more creative, solve problems and take the right decisions.”
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“When students develop critical-thinking skills and become familiar with different life-related philosophies, they accept and respect different opinions and see life from different perspectives,” she said. “Hence they become more accepting and tolerant of living in a culturally diverse society.” '
The article at https://www.patheos.com/blogs/daylightatheism/2021/07/closet-atheists-abound-in-america/ is relevant to this topic thread since it mentions how many people in the USA might be secretly atheist. And, we know there are a number of PIMO JWs who are atheists and who would like the freedom to be openly atheistic without their family being psychologically forced to shun them.
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USA House Bill calling for the global repeal of blasphemy, heresy, and apostasy laws, passed overwhelmingly!
by Disillusioned JW inon december 7, 2020 usa congressman jamie raskin's (md-08) bipartisan house resolution 512, calling for the global repeal of blasphemy, heresy, and apostasy laws, passed the house of representatives by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 386-3; see https://raskin.house.gov/2020/12/house-passes-raskin-resolution-calling-global-repeal-blasphemy-heresy-apostasy .
a description of the bill says "the resolution also calls for the immediate release of religious prisoners of conscience worldwide.
as more than 80 countries use blasphemy laws to persecute and imprison religious minorities and dissenters, the house asserted the essential importance of freedom of religion and liberty of conscience globally.".
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Disillusioned JW
Anony Mous, I was not suggesting that it would be good for a bill regarding human rights to stop the USA from ratifying a treaty with an enemy. But I did have in mind that a bill in favor of a "global repeal of blasphemy, heresy, and apostasy laws" might prompt the USA to use leverage for a "global repeal of blasphemy, heresy, and apostasy laws" as part of negotiations with an enemy, and with a country the USA has some degree of friendship with.
I was also suggesting that human rights (pertaining to bill a about "global repeal of blasphemy, heresy, and apostasy laws") might nudge the USA to bring about a UN Treaty regarding "global repeal of blasphemy, heresy, and apostasy laws" and that if such happens, the USA Senate might then ratify that Treaty.
I don't advocate imperialism. While forced imperialism in some cases has brought some good, probably in all cases it has also brought much bad.
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57
What’s Wrong With President Biden?
by minimus ini just watched excerpts from his cnn town hall event and something is seriously wrong with him.
he can’t put together a sentence without getting lost, tripping on his own words, forgetting what he is talking about.……this is embarrassing.
and it’s not because he has a stutter!
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Disillusioned JW
Rather than only watch excerpts that were selected specifically to show the worst moments of Biden's performance, people should watch a much larger percentage of the broadcast. That way they can have a much better impression of how Biden did overall. Also imagine how you would perform if asked the same questions. Ask yourself if you would have learned in advance the answers to all the questions that might asked you, and if you would have trouble remembering and recalling (on the spot) all of the information/data you would need to answer the questions accurately.
Here is a link to the CNN web page which all three parts of the "CNN Presidential Town Hall with Joe Biden (July 21)" of this year: https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/21/politics/full-president-joe-biden-cnn-town-hall-july-21/index.html .
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USA House Bill calling for the global repeal of blasphemy, heresy, and apostasy laws, passed overwhelmingly!
by Disillusioned JW inon december 7, 2020 usa congressman jamie raskin's (md-08) bipartisan house resolution 512, calling for the global repeal of blasphemy, heresy, and apostasy laws, passed the house of representatives by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 386-3; see https://raskin.house.gov/2020/12/house-passes-raskin-resolution-calling-global-repeal-blasphemy-heresy-apostasy .
a description of the bill says "the resolution also calls for the immediate release of religious prisoners of conscience worldwide.
as more than 80 countries use blasphemy laws to persecute and imprison religious minorities and dissenters, the house asserted the essential importance of freedom of religion and liberty of conscience globally.".
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Disillusioned JW
In my prior post where I said "the UN General Assembly" I probably should have said "the UN Human Rights Council (the U.N.’s main human-rights body)".
To see why such resolutions by the USA are needed, or potentially needed, including opposing efforts by the United Nations to implement an international anti-blasphemy norm, see https://www.huffpost.com/entry/blasphemy-resolution-pass_n_788305 (called "Blasphemy Resolution Passes U.N. Committee") and https://www.nationalreview.com/2011/03/anti-blasphemy-measure-laid-rest-nina-shea/ (called "An Anti-Blasphemy Measure Laid to Rest"). The latter article says the following.
'A long-term campaign by the U.N.’s large Muslim bloc to impose worldwide blasphemy strictures — like those in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Iran — was given a quiet burial last week in the Human Rights Council, the U.N.’s main human-rights body. At the session that ended in Geneva on March 25, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), sensing defeat, decided not to introduce a resolution calling for criminal penalties for the “defamation of religions” — a resolution that had passed every year for more than a decade. This is a small but essential victory for freedom.
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The OIC’s anti-defamation effort was inspired by Ayatollah Khomeini’s infamous 1989 fatwa, directing “all zealous Muslims to execute quickly” the British author Salman Rushdie and others involved with his book TheSatanic Verses. While not explicitly embracing vigilantism, the Saudi Arabia–based OIC, an organization of 56 member states, quickly endorsed Khomeini’s novel principle: that Western law should be subject to Muslim measures against apostasy and blasphemy.
The OIC worked to institutionalize this principle within the United Nations. By 1999, it began introducing resolutions annually in the Council’s predecessor (the now-discredited Human Rights Commission) to condemn any expression that could be construed, however broadly, as “defamation of religions” — but meaning, specifically, criticism of Islam.
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In 1999 and 2000, the anti-blasphemy resolutions were adopted by consensus, with, inexplicably, the U.S. joining in.
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However, in 2007, support within the Council declined, and the “yes” votes steadily eroded thereafter.'
The article says that resistance to efforts to pass further UN resolutions against defamation of religion were strengthened in part due to ".. the persistent lobbying efforts against the resolution by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, members of Congress — notably Representatives Chris Smith (R., N.J.), Frank Wolf (R., Va.), Trent Franks (R., Ariz.), and Eliot Engel (D., N.Y.) — and a broad array of non-governmental organizations, from the Becket Fund to Human Rights First."
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12
USA House Bill calling for the global repeal of blasphemy, heresy, and apostasy laws, passed overwhelmingly!
by Disillusioned JW inon december 7, 2020 usa congressman jamie raskin's (md-08) bipartisan house resolution 512, calling for the global repeal of blasphemy, heresy, and apostasy laws, passed the house of representatives by an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 386-3; see https://raskin.house.gov/2020/12/house-passes-raskin-resolution-calling-global-repeal-blasphemy-heresy-apostasy .
a description of the bill says "the resolution also calls for the immediate release of religious prisoners of conscience worldwide.
as more than 80 countries use blasphemy laws to persecute and imprison religious minorities and dissenters, the house asserted the essential importance of freedom of religion and liberty of conscience globally.".
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Disillusioned JW
Anony Mous, there is also a corresponding resolution introduced and passed in the USA Senate (introduced by a Republican); see https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-resolution/458 . The senate has the power to ratify USA treaties. If the House and Senate bills are reconciled, and if USA President Biden signs it, then it becomes law. The USA executive branch has the power to pressure foreign countries to change their practices, including ceasing their human rights violations. One way the US executive branch can do such is through the UN Security Council, as well by direct negotiations with individual countries.
https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-resolution/458 says the following.
"Resolution agreed to in Senate with an amendment and an amended preamble by Unanimous Consent.
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Passed Senate (12/19/2020)
This resolution calls on the President and the Department of State to (1) encourage the repeal of blasphemy, heresy, and apostasy laws in bilateral discussions between the United States and countries that have such laws; (2) designate countries that enforce such laws as countries of particular concern for religious freedom; and (3) oppose efforts by the United Nations to implement an international anti-blasphemy norm. The resolution also calls on the governments of countries that enforce such laws to amend or repeal them and to release anyone imprisoned pursuant to them."
The law is also relevant to the USA because some nations (including Islamic nations) are are trying to get the United Nations (which the USA is a member of) to implement an international anti-blasphemy norm, such as through a resolution of the UN General Assembly. That effort includes trying to pass an international resolution banning people for speaking and writing against Islam and other religions and against belief in God, and thus effects atheists (including me) and others. The resolutions in both chambers of the USA Congress calls on the USA executive branch (including the USA President) to oppose such efforts.
Though the House and Senate bill might only be symbolic (since maybe they don't have the authority to force the President and State Department to take action), if the USA executive branch supports the bills, it might later lay the groundwork for legislation in the USA (and USA court rulings) which prevent religions in the USA from putting excessive pressure against their members and former members for blasphemy, apostasy, and heresy. It might eventually lead to legislation banning the WT/JW religion from mandating (or encouraging) that faithful current JWs shun ex-JWs.