i wanted to share an experience i had and see if anyone else had encountered this same matter.
we always tried to make an extra effort to ensure we stood on the approved hotel lists when going to our special day conventions or district conventions or what they now call regional.
we use to stay many nights a year and i would save up my hotel points to use at a later time.. i remember checking in at popular chain hotel and asked the hotel clerk how many points would i earn for the 3 night stay?
It was happening all the time, and is still going on.
I have points status at a couple of hotel chains and I watch my points pretty close. When I learned about this points stealing scheme many years ago I would still stay at the designated hotel but would rebook under my points and get the stay that way rather than letting Watchtower just rip my off.
Watchtower's repetitive usage of "faithful slave" (or the abbreviated version: "the slave") is very telling. Watchtower once wrote about repetitive usage of terms, and why it's done.
See: Watchtower Identifies Brainwashing
i've made some updates to the user section of the site.
besides some cosmetic tweaks the most notable new feature is the ability to see a listing of the topics someone has posted on - this includes topics they started as well as topics they replied to.. it will look like this when you go to a user page or your own profile page:.
simon.
Not sure why but just in case it matters to the cause...
I use IE11 and the quote feature is not working for me.
Thanks for all your work, Simon! Not trying to add to any burden.
do you get confused sometimes whether this site is a discussion forum or a debating forum ?.
just asking.
whats your thoughts.. smiddy.
"However sometimes a question is used as a trap or weapon....... sometimes as an insult. That should be avoided by moving the debate along if possible....... instead of getting bogged down."
I've never understood thinking like that. Ever!
If a precise question is asked and the answer is relevant to the subject then that question deserves an answer. The only "trap" I see in a question is on the part of someone who does not want to face what the answer says about something they want to hold as valid.
The fastest way to move a discussion along is to give straightforward answers to relevant questions. This is how we learn and grow. If anything, failure to answer questions bogs down honest discussion.
We all should refuse to let questions insult us. We grow by facing questions and answering them.
do you get confused sometimes whether this site is a discussion forum or a debating forum ?.
just asking.
whats your thoughts.. smiddy.
"I come here for the support. I like Terry's description of a triage."
To some extent everyone who participates or lurks here is looking for support of some kind. My personal view is that if we have something we can share that helps someone else then we should share it to help that person. We all have different things and different amounts of things.
The predominate means I use to help people online on forums like this is to make myself available to answer questions and flesh out topics they need help with, if I can. I get the same help myself by engaging with persons who know things I don't, that is so long as they are willing to let themselves be challenged and answer questions accordingly.
do you get confused sometimes whether this site is a discussion forum or a debating forum ?.
just asking.
whats your thoughts.. smiddy.
"New people who are damaged show up here and their capacity to tolerate less-than-diplomatic handling is a disservice to their condition.... I think we could all be a bit more tender with the Newbies, if for no other reason, than because this is Triage. Only a few will make it through the tunnel to daylight anyway."
I don't disagree with that, and what you depict above is not what I was responding to. I was responding to "must" in your sentence saying "If you wish to be persuasive, you must be diplomatic." As I said before, I don't think that's always true (emphasis on "always"). I do not suggest what you say is never true (emphasis on never).
There are lots of folks who need tender handling for all sorts of quite valid and understandable reasons. You articulate an example of that in the many JWs who happen upon this forum looking for help with what's ailing them. As you did above, with my early comments I too offered an example of what I was speaking of. Based on what you write above, I don't think you and I disagree.
do you get confused sometimes whether this site is a discussion forum or a debating forum ?.
just asking.
whats your thoughts.. smiddy.
"If you wish to be persuasive, you must be diplomatic."
I don't think that's always true. Learned readers are not persuaded to accept conclusions of arguments based on diplomacy. Learned readers are persuaded to accept conclusions of an argument based on the veracity of premises in that argument, the level of inference of those premises and, finally, whether the form of argument is valid. If you have solid premises inferring what they are proposed to infer, and if those premises are composed in a known valid logical form of argument then diplomatically presented or not the learned reader will be persuaded.
That said, on forums like this worrying about persuading is a waste of time. I think at most we can hope to share good information and learn along they way. Sometimes what we learn is not what folks think was there to be learned, but it is learning nevertheless.
do you get confused sometimes whether this site is a discussion forum or a debating forum ?.
just asking.
whats your thoughts.. smiddy.
I visit this web forum somewhat out of habit and sometimes to engage a topic.
Responsible and productive discussion and debate both require at least two essential things: presenting precise and challenging questions and answering precise challenging questions.
My experience here is that precise challenging questions often go unanswered, which makes responsible discussion and debate impossible. Very frustrating.
Accordingly, for me JWN seems to be more a gauge of sentiments than either a place to hold discussion or debate.
in the past week, i have heard from a number of friends scattered all over the place.
a number of them are very upset over the congregation being required, to send in all monies over $4,000.
a number of these were kh's that were saving to buy land, and or build new kh's.
"I can't understand the basis that people expect to have money they donated, returned."
When substantial money is donated typically there is an intended use that compelled the donation. When use of the donated money is for something other than intended then hackles get raised because the person feels like they were misled and, basically, suckered for their money.
Otherwise I'm with you. If someone donates money to a cause without it being for something specific then they have little if any reason to complain about how it is used so long as it is used responsibly.
By the way, editing function like the quote feature are not working for me. I'm using IE 11.
in the past week, i have heard from a number of friends scattered all over the place.
a number of them are very upset over the congregation being required, to send in all monies over $4,000.
a number of these were kh's that were saving to buy land, and or build new kh's.
