Posts by Marvin Shilmer

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

So is assuming that because of that rabid officers actions, there was a safe outcome where everyone went home alive.

No assumptions from me on that point. I'm sure the same end result could have been achieved by an infinite number of sequences of actions. We just happen to know part of the sequence in this case (the part videoed) and we know the outcome was that no one was seriously injured of killed.

I'll add that, based strictly on the video, I was impressed that the officer reacted as quickly as he did to an immediate threat approaching him from behind. I was particularly impressed that his reaction had him pull his gun yet apparently never place his finger on the trigger. He didn't have time to analyze anything. He only had time to react. He reacted to preserve his safety, yet to also refrain from the next step before firing a round, which is placing one's finger onto the trigger.

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 felt betrayed.

And for good reason. All JWs have been betrayed by the Watchtower organization, if for no other reason than this:

Watchtower taught us there were valid, rational reasons for answers (doctrines) that it imposed upon us all under pain of its organized communal shunning policy, and we believed this was true. Yet we find out when Watchtower is asked hard and precise questions designed specifically to learn the reason for a specific doctrine/position the result is a non-answer, no-reason-given response.

That's betrayal.

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

It is just as likely that the situation would have resolved itself peacefully and without further incident...

That is commonly known as Monday morning quarterbacking.

Officers engage in lots of training because in any given moment reaction occurs rather than analysis.

The end officers want is resolution without injury if possible.

Had the then present teenagers and full-grown adults (it was not just teenagers present in the video!) acted promptly to police request to either sit down on the ground or leave we'd have not seen the bikini gal tossed to the ground and we'd have not seen an officer draw his weapon on multiple males aggressively entering his personal space from behind.

Law enforcement officers are not baby sitters. We pay them to deal with messy stuff, and to keep themselves and the public safe. When we call the police via 911 we are not asking for someone to come counsel teenagers; we are asking someone (in this case) to come intervene in a dangerous situation that involves a whole lot of individuals, any one of which could have a concealed weapon and often do have one.

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

During the video officer Casebolt is seen using his radio just moments before the incident with the bikini clad gal and the males approaching him from behind followed by drawing his sidearm. To my knowledge this radio transmission has not be released to the public, or any other communications with dispatch. Have I missed something or has this bit of audio been released and I'm just unaware of it?

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

Just because a bunch of teens are being disrespectful doesn't mean the cops should start pulling guns.

I didn't see a policeman pull a gun because teens were being disrespectful.

I saw an officer pull a gun because he was being approached aggressively from behind by multiple males moving into his personal space, one of which moved his hand behind his back where weapons are often retrieved from.

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?