Posting guidlines: Claiming to be the messiah etc etc

After joining this forum I saw a number of things and behaviors that I found objectionable . . . even started a thread about it.  What I have since learned is that none of us have the right to be pushing down others throats what sort of Forum this "ought to be" according to our own particular preferences.

Simon allows a fair degree of latitude and that is the prime reason this is such a popular and helpful Forum.  If anyone has a legitimate complaint because posting guidelines have been disregarded (and they are regularly) . . . then PM a moderator.  Just remember if you want to place limits on the freedom of others to express themselves . . . don't come back and complain when you are similarly restricted.

Thanks for the comments.

sizemik I hears you, I do. It's a balancing act for sure. It really depends on what Simon wants and envisions for the forum now and into the future. It's his baby after all.

It just seems to me that passively allowing the delusional behaviours to pass is actually only encouraging them. On a personal level it's damaging the people involved and reinforcing their delusional behaviors and more importantly to me is taking this sites profile down with them in the process and thus undermining it's potential to help more people see the TRUTH and exit.

I'll shut up now ....

I don't think claiming to be the Messiah itself is a violation of posting rules.  However, people that claim to be the Messiah usually end up embarrassing themselves because their prophecies fail.

May 21, 2011 style.

I've only noticed one or two. I've found that over the almost 10 years I've belonged to this forum, ignoring them is better for my blood pressure than giving them attention of any kind.

There are degrees of delusion but who’s to say who the deluded are. Christians consider Atheist to be deluded. Atheists consider Christians to be deluded. And those like me that try to be sympathetic to both sides risk coming across as flaky.

Personally, I enjoy everyone’s contribution and am against censorship. The more whacky a poster, the more the entertainment value. I used to post here as a gladiator claiming to work in a Roman arena and have 300 gods. No one ever challenged my claims! So let’s live and let die – I mean live, I sometimes forget who I am.

Just like JW's are a fringe group, I would like to point out that on the internet, you have nut cases everywhere.

Look at articles on CNN under post your comments, and you will find that it is a shit stirrer's paradise.

What anyone who wishes to participate in an open online community must understand is, you will never be able to shoot down the crazies. They are there solely for attention. The best thing you can do is to ignore them. That shuts off their supply of air that they are looking for.

If you wouldn't engage a crazy person on the street claiming that the world is ending and that he is a chosen one (you would walk across the other side of the street, right?) then why do it here?

Just my two cents.

If you wouldn't engage a crazy person on the street claiming that the world is ending and that he is a chosen one (you would walk across the other side of the street, right?) then why do it here?

Very good point ATJ and i will behave accordingly.

For some stupid reason i couldn't post anything outside the quote box above once selected, so have had to double post to say my bit....

If this site was to ban all the stupid posters..... we would have no site :-)

Lets ban those who claim there's no god.... That's just stupid and annoys the "Hell" out of me.

Lets also ban Christians, I mean they are so self righteous it bothers my conscience  

It is very simple. You just ignore them. But, to be especially effective, tell them in the thread they hijack that you are going to ignore them, that you will henceforth not read even the first word of anything they post. Then truly ignore them. This is the unkindest cut of all to these messianic types. Take away their voice and you take away the power they want to have over you. And don't underestimate the power of people who have your attention. It is your attention only that they have. If they bother you as much as it seems, then it is you who is responsible, not them.

But what if they really are a messiah? How would we know? What if JC (either singularly or in a triad) did come to this forum to spread his blessings upon us?

Oh, no! How could we reject the MESSIAH? 

I mean - look at OBVES. He understands numbers and dates like no one else here. Maybe he is the Messiah!

This does pose a problem for the whole world. If Jesus comes again and walks among us, would any of us recognize him? Or would we just consider him a long-haired hippie or heavy metal rock musician. Maybe Ozzie Osborn is the Messiah!

Sorry - not trying to destroy your faith. But as far as I can tell, even the first "Messiah" was suspect...and still is.

JV

Witness My Fury

For some stupid reason i couldn't post anything outside the quote box above once selected, so have had to double post to say my bit....

I have a cure for that. It's happened to me before now. By trial and error I discovered this method. Cut any text you want to save, in or out of the box, and paste it into Notepad. That's important, because Notepad saves plain simple text and nothing else...no coding. Then, refresh the page. That undoes the invisible code that is creating the perpetual box.

Then proceed as you wish. Just paste the text you want to use FROM Notepad back into the reply space. Don't think to yourself that it will all be on your clipboard and you can paste it just by performing the action Paste, and bypass the Notepad saved text. It won't work. You'll just paste back the invisible code that cauused the perpetual box. You have to cut/copy the text straight from Notepad itself. And hey presto! all will be well.

It works for me!

That same process will work for any font anomalies or any other formatting that has crept in by accident.

Sizemik:

"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."

Nope; I've seen a few people like them. They really are psychotic to the bone. Some may have a sense of humor but mental illness does not necessarily preclude a sense of humor.

As far as lurkers are concerned, they should be able to see, by the comments everyone makes, that OBVES, Lars and company are not representative of JWN.

Lars hasn't been posting for 2 glorious weeks now, so there is hope. ....

Witness My Fury: "Lars hasn't been posting for 2 glorious weeks now, so there is hope. ...."

I'm sure he's just resting over at the funny farm, where life is beautiful all the time  . . . ho-ho; hee-hee; ha-ha . . .

He'll be back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnzHtm1jhL4

If you wouldn't engage a crazy person on the street claiming that the world is ending and that he is a chosen one (you would walk across the other side of the street, right?) then why do it here?

Shame my parents didn't take that attitude - would have saved a heck of a lot of grief.

The born-agains are the most annoying to me. They want to have these doctrinal gunfights, but then retreat to "divine inspiration".

"Oh, you don't understand, because the Holy Spirit hasn't bestowed upon you the secret knowledge I have. You read the Bible with a human mind, while I read it with God's."

I've dealt with people who were certifiably delusional before and that is what they sound like. I guess anyone who's rolling around in the aisles, babbling like an infant, acting like they're "slain in the spirit", and basically acting insane; at least they make it clear where they're coming from.

It's impossible to have a JW/ex-JW forum without having an inordinate number of nut cases. Research has demonstrated JWs have several times the mentally ill as the general population. The people who frequent forums like this are the ones who aren't the mainstream JW. Whether they be too smart, too educated, too crazy, too bad (yes, *gasp*, there are some who were thrown out for legitimate reasons).