Posts by Marvin Shilmer

35

My Story of Waking Up - in retrospect

by cappytan in

so, many of y'all know bits and pieces of my story of waking up, but i thought it might be nice to have it all in one place.. i was baptized at 11, auxiliary pioneered every summer, regular pioneer at 17, ministerial servant by 19, then went to bethel for a year.. i always had minor doubts from time to time, but nothing serious.

always dismissed doubts and decided to "just have faith.".

after leaving bethel, i was never really firing on all cylinders "spiritually speaking.

Marvin Shilmer

I talked to my Dad about what I had found. He said, "Son, we have to ask ourselves, do we have faith that what the Bible says is true? If archeology conflicts with the Bible, we have to side with the scriptures."

More often than not that bit of advice represents a false bifurcation. In the case of Watchtower's chronology it's not as simple as either we accept the Bible or archaeology because Watchtower's interpretation of biblical text could also be wrong. The 607 notion is based on a biblical statement about 70 years, yet when Watchtower wants it asserts that stated periods (e.g., 70 years) are general and not intended to be precise when in text and context the period is presented as though precise.

You know this already from your research I'm sure, but I see this false piece of reasoning offered all the time to JWs doing the hard work of research so I was compelled once again to keyboard it out.

35

My Story of Waking Up - in retrospect

by cappytan in

so, many of y'all know bits and pieces of my story of waking up, but i thought it might be nice to have it all in one place.. i was baptized at 11, auxiliary pioneered every summer, regular pioneer at 17, ministerial servant by 19, then went to bethel for a year.. i always had minor doubts from time to time, but nothing serious.

always dismissed doubts and decided to "just have faith.".

after leaving bethel, i was never really firing on all cylinders "spiritually speaking.

Marvin Shilmer

I decided to study the book with a passion, confirming everything from independent sources so I could inculcate the teachings with conviction to my student.

At one time the Watchtower organization instructed its appointed elders they should not only know answers to the "study questions" but should know the reasons for the answers.

That cause problems when elders started attempting to do that and found what you found.

Watchtower subsequently stopped giving the instruction to elders that they should know the reasons for the answers.

305

McKinney Texas pool party?

by Marvin Shilmer in

so today i was asked my thoughts on the pool party incident in mcminney, texas.

my response: it shows a clash of expectations.

i saw police officers who expected citizens to listen to and follow instructions.

Marvin Shilmer

What I saw was a little man a little police man over reacting to a bunch of kids.

What I saw was a bunch of teenagers who showed no respect for authorities asking them to disperse. Those teenagers expected police officers to react the same way their parents react to disrespectful behavior and just do nothing. That doesn't keep police officers safe to go home to their families, and when agitated crowds are not dispersed bad things happen like people getting seriously injured and killed.

Another thing I saw was that no one was seriously injured the result of the situation or police work.

Edited to add: I also saw some teenagers who respectfully complied with requests made by officers. My hat's off to their parents who taught them to act this way.

305

McKinney Texas pool party?

by Marvin Shilmer in

so today i was asked my thoughts on the pool party incident in mcminney, texas.

my response: it shows a clash of expectations.

i saw police officers who expected citizens to listen to and follow instructions.

Marvin Shilmer

Cops are quitting because they don't want to deal with that shit.

Could not have said it better myself. I hope we don't get to a point where the question becomes "Who you gonna call"?

WHO ARE THE CRIMINALS WHO WERE DOING WRONG?

Nobody wants to talk about this, which is part of what makes policing very difficult in today's environment.

Don't want to be treated badly by the police?
STOP BREAKING THE LAW, ASSHOLE !

That's the best piece of advice for avoiding treatment you'd rather not be exposed to. The non-criminal law-abiding citizen has to remember that our law enforcement personnel are human beings who spend each shift on 100 percent alert for their personal safety (and everyone else's too!). Every day they are faced with criminals that would just as soon spit on them, and many do just that.

Here's another piece of advice for law-abiding citizens: Want to be treated friendly by a police officer? Then reach out to them and make friends. Otherwise it's strictly business, and you'll be subject to being treated like a live machine that needs to be locked-out before a perceived fault is remedied.

141

Schoolyard bully mentality

by FusionTheism in

i'm not naming names, but i just want to encourage people on here or on reddit or twitter, and tell you that you do not have to tolerate people who act like schoolyard bullies in the way they speak to you online.

i think anonymity is a big part of it.

they feel like there is zero accountability so they can be a bully all they want.. i recommend just ignoring or blocking anyone who is verbally abusive or treats you like schoolyard bullies treated you.. life is way too short to spend any time dealing with those kinds of people..

Marvin Shilmer

... why do atheists (9% of the population, maybe) think they have a monopoly on truth, or that they are so superior to the other 91% of people?

That's properly termed a converse accident. As there are some theists who think they are superior to atheists there are also some atheists who think themselves superior to theists. So what? Each is silly nonsensical thinking.

I'll just say again, that almost all the major positive world-changing events in history have been done by theists.

That's a perfect example of an unproven assertion. And, this is how you think?

305

McKinney Texas pool party?

by Marvin Shilmer in

so today i was asked my thoughts on the pool party incident in mcminney, texas.

my response: it shows a clash of expectations.

i saw police officers who expected citizens to listen to and follow instructions.

Marvin Shilmer

Someone CAUSED this and let's not forget - it wasn't the police.
Every time such behavior is excused it is encouraged.

And she's being treated like a queen in the media. Imagine that.

Be critical of the police, sure, but who are you going to call when the unruly and disrespectful mob come to invade your space and take your things? Ghostbusters?

We should be critical of community policing. I hear "professional" and "professionalism" used a lot in this discussion. Law enforcement members receive training for situations they are expected to encounter, and we rightly hold armed police agents to a higher standard of behavior. The thing is that law enforcement can train for and plan for agitated crowds but agitated crowds never go according to plan. Law enforcement officers are trained in techniques and policies, but they are also instructed to seek the best end result, which is public safety. We can kick the one policeman down the street all we want, but it remains the case that in this instance public safety was maintained and no one was seriously injured. We have a good result of the policing that was performed. The result of this incident is that we have no parent and family grieving death of a beloved, something to be thankful for.

305

McKinney Texas pool party?

by Marvin Shilmer in

so today i was asked my thoughts on the pool party incident in mcminney, texas.

my response: it shows a clash of expectations.

i saw police officers who expected citizens to listen to and follow instructions.

Marvin Shilmer

violias, thanks for sharing that well written article.

305

McKinney Texas pool party?

by Marvin Shilmer in

so today i was asked my thoughts on the pool party incident in mcminney, texas.

my response: it shows a clash of expectations.

i saw police officers who expected citizens to listen to and follow instructions.

Marvin Shilmer

You specifically said,"I'll wait to hear a more comprehensive report based on multiple perspectives to the whole incident."
Now you have that.

No. We don't have a more comprehensive report. Read your own sources. The thing remains under investigation. We'll see what comes to light.

Your perspective will not change.

That's silly. My perspectives have been known to change based on evidence. Otherwise why would I post here and talk about Watchtower's silly, damning and downright dangerous doctrines and policies like I do?

305

McKinney Texas pool party?

by Marvin Shilmer in

so today i was asked my thoughts on the pool party incident in mcminney, texas.

my response: it shows a clash of expectations.

i saw police officers who expected citizens to listen to and follow instructions.

Marvin Shilmer

You sound kinda sour.

No sourness here. I have no dog in this issue except my own observations, which have not changed. I'm glad no one was injured in the incident. The officer in this instance was going to have to resign. City officials say what they need to say to keep the greater peace, which is what the said officer did outside the pool area, and he kept the peace too.

305

McKinney Texas pool party?

by Marvin Shilmer in

so today i was asked my thoughts on the pool party incident in mcminney, texas.

my response: it shows a clash of expectations.

i saw police officers who expected citizens to listen to and follow instructions.

Marvin Shilmer

Seems like the police chief who is an actual officer agrees with me...

I'm glad for you. Hope it makes you feel better.