Posting guidlines: Claiming to be the messiah etc etc

OK I for one am getting Uber pissed off with the all the lunatics and certifiable nuts on this forum claiming to be the messiah, or otherwise some end times prophet in fulfillment of scripture or whatever other deluded reasoning they use.

It doesnt offend me in any kind of Christian way and that isnt my point. My point is that they are ruining this site and pissing all over it, I'm quite sure many lurkers come here and see the nutters postings and then never come back. This is defeating the purpose of this site IMHO.

I dont find them entertaining or to have any value here, they just serve to irritate, annoy and provoke, and they enjoy doing that. From their perspective it is WIN WIN.

It's not like these nutters are temporary, they aren't, they have been here for a very long time and will continue to be here like parasites feeding off this site. Time for a change in policy please.

Ignore them and don't respond to their posts. If everyone had the self-control to do this, those with Messiah complexes wouldn't have the audience they crave.

I completely agree that they can get annoying and just downright ridiculous. But I've managed to calm the feelings down within myself by posting silly pictures in those threads. They are a joke, aren't they? Or am I missing their point?

CoC

I dont find them entertaining or to have any value here

Call me warped . . . but I find them bloody entertaining . . . moreso some of the humerous responses.  I can't imagine an intelligent mind taking any of it seriously including lurkers or newcomers. 

Perhaps they should be simply limited to the entertainment section to avoid confusion.

There's plenty here who take every opportunity to push their personal barrows in a more serious context . . . and they're often off-topic and hijack the thread . . . they tend to be more irritating and valueless IMO.

All said and done . . . it's free speech.  We only think restrictions are good until we become the restricted.

Coc . . . you aint missing anything sir!

I have done that and tried to see it in a more positive light and yes at times I have found them amusing , not them but the responses in their threads.

But it's slipping back again to me just feeling bloody annoyed with them. There's no reasoning with them either is there, and I think it's maybe that realisation that they can't / won't be helped and reasoned with and that whatever you say they will twist back to their advantage. The reality then dawns that these wackos wont go away and are here for good.WIn WIN WIN for them.

So that leaves me feeling like I dont want to be here anymore, that is how I feel sometimes that's all im saying. So I either deal with it or i dont and go I guess.

In the particular thread I've just read, which is the first I've seen like that, first of all I thought it was a serious enquiry, then someone who was actually ill, and then maybe that it was a joke, and that's the trouble, isn't it?

Mental illness is one thing, and can be very hard to deal with for those who have a sick person in the family or among their friends. If it is someone pretending to be ill, then that's a parody too far in my view. But, if it is actuially a joke, then it's clever and quite funny. On the other hand, if it is someone who is genuinely ill, then that's another matter altogether, because people with that type of psychosis need to be treated with respect but care.

I don't know.

Personally, I find these forums stimulating and highly intelligent for the most part, and often entertaining too. Maybe a bit like life...

WMF . . . I can understand being fed up occasionally . . . but they're like booze.  To a point it is enjoyable . . . but if you drink too much it just gives you a headache.

Most of the time they have the decency to start their own thread . . . which makes avoidance easier.

sizemik, Sarcasm my friend, sarcasm. I know I ain't missin' nawtin'. Nawtin' at all.

CoC

sizemik, Sarcasm my friend, sarcasm. I know I ain't missin' nawtin'. Nawtin' at all.

Yeah CoC . . . I got that bit . . . there was also a double meaning in my statement (ie; your humour is timely and on target)

Most of the posters in question have a long track record here and usually get the same response . . . but they keep on going because they just like the attention.  No Messiah is going to be knocked off his perch because people post funny pictures methinks.

@ sizemik - LOL At first I felt a little, just a little, guilty about posting silly pictures. But as I observed other posters doing the same thing, I felt that it could be fun.

I probably look crazier than some of these people as I'm posting these photos because at times I'm dying of laughter!

But alas, the truth is they just can't be shaken. Oh well.

CoC

I don't for a minute believe that some of these Messianic claims are made "in all seriousness" . . . or even total delusion . . . the posters themselves display a clever sense of humour at times.

Yea I have to admit, Lars, er, the Messiah, reacts quite well to certain people mocking him, even if his figure is seen on a dog's butt. 

Flattery seems to get him everywhere!

I cant say i enjoy reading through 200 lines of messianic dribble but do still have a peak... so i guess our resident black gay messiah will feel that he is reaching me...ewwww

On the other had, maybe if a lurker see's these ones with their own version of doomsday predictions it will make them realize that ANYONE including the Watchtower can jump on the wagon? You know... the Jws not so unique

Perhaps you can give the lurkers a little more credit though. Those who look and proclaim us evil and twisted probably come with that intent from the get go.

Those who really want to KNOW seem to be able to get past the messiahs, the trolls, the christians, the comedians, the angry's and such. Not allways easy, but do-able...

hang in there some more

oz

I stumbled upon this site whilst researching 1914, having come to the conclusion myself that 1914 simply was not in the Bible.

At that time, late 2007, their was good old J.Cannon posting, maybe under another name, but it were he, and more rabid christians than now I think.

I soon learned that though there was wisdom to be found here, i.e the great Farkel and a number of others, there was also the ignorant, the JW Apologist, the christian fundie types, and the plain nutty .

It was the joy of seeing this eclectic mix all interacting in an intelligent, and often hilarious way, that kept me visiting the site.

O.K, I was on my way out of the WT without knowing it at the time, but I was not put off by trolls and others who are irritating.

However, I do now tend to avoid the "Lars" type posters , mainly because they do not debate honestly, they simply post their point of view, and no matter how well it is trounced, they are back posting the same tripe under another thread title.

I can't be doing with it.

I think I actually agree with the OP. I think claiming you are the messiah or preaching specific bizarre doomsday prophecies should be banned behavior.

 If these people are actually sick, then giving them attention here is only hurting them. And as much as we would like to say "just ignore them" clearly that isn't working sense everybody likes to get them worked up. I have even been guilty of this. It's hard to resist. But by allowing them to post here we are just acting as enablers for their delusions or encouraging their behavior.

The other side of it is that it makes US look crazy. If some curious doubting witness were to come here and see Lars or OBVES, they would just say "jeese the society was right, these guys speak only twisted things." and be on their way. They would run back into a destructive cult that must have been wearing on them in order for them to ignore the society and come here. All just so we can have fun poking the crazy guy with a stick.

I don't see any good reason to continue to allow behavior that is destructive to others and the ones initiating the behavior, and benefits us in no way. Is there any formal way to put this request forward?

If you genuinely feel it's that bigger deal . . . PM a moderator

                                                                           Lars is the Messiah..

Do you have any Idea how many times he`s been kicked off the forum and resurrected himself over the last decade?..

                                                                                                      ....................;-)...OUTLAW

 I can't imagine an intelligent mind taking any of it seriously including lurkers or newcomers. 

I can.  Because it isn't about intelligence.

It is about cult mind control.

People who are JWs or recently left have not yet removed the cult programmed credulity and replaced it with critical thinking and reason.  They are in a vulnerable position.  I think of myself when I first started exploring outside the Borg.  The first place I found was e-frikkin-watchman and "Jehovah Himself Has Become King" was my first "apostate" book.  I am damn lucky I'm not a Robert King follower to this very day.  That crap is dangerous, as is any religion to someone in the process of escaping a cult.

All that said, I don't think banning is the answer.  Reasoned responses with questions that inspire critical thinking probably work best.

Perhaps a "special" section?