Are You Neutral?

[trottigy]

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/excused-juror-reveals-selection-process-trumps-hush-money-trial

 

And - https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/16/politics/takeaways-trump-hush-money-trial-day-2/index.html

 

I was watching a little bit about the Jury selection for former President Trump's criminal trial and saw - they were checking people's social media posts and comments on various websites and then asking them about them. That got me thinking ..

 

If someone looked at MY social media posts for the last decade, would I pass the "neutral" test? 

https://www.facebook.com/jerry.trotter.73/

 

 

It even caused me to go look and see everything I have posted on Facebook - even though I don't post much ... It is good to review your own account from time to time - don't you think?

Edited April 17 by trottigy

[Hope]

*Neutral... 😉  ❤️ 

[Qapla]

Well, I guess if they checked my Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Tik Tok, Instagram and the like - they wouldn't find much since I don't use them.

 

[Tsheppar]

We can do a test! 

 

Does one on these pictures anger you  and stir up deep internal emotions ? 

 

If the answer is yes , then it might be something to think on. 

 

 

[Tortuga]

3 minutes ago, Tsheppar said:

Does one on these pictures anger you  and stir up deep internal emotions ?

Does that include extreme annoyance? 

[tekmantwo]

2 hours ago, Tsheppar said:

Does one on these pictures anger you  and stir up deep internal emotions ? 

Oh yes!

I really don't like red ties!....

[Frances Bennett]

4 hours ago, Tsheppar said:

We can do a test! 

 

Does one on these pictures anger you  and stir up deep internal emotions ? 

 

If the answer is yes , then it might be something to think on. 

 

 

 

If both of them anger me equally does that make me neutral? Is it like weighing scales? 🤣

[IceBreeze]

2 hours ago, Frances Bennett said:

 

If both of them anger me equally does that make me neutral? Is it like weighing scales? 🤣

Yeah...lol. It does make you light weight too, thanks to the scales. 😂

[IceBreeze]

5 hours ago, tekmantwo said:

I really don't like red ties!....

Would you be happy to become friends? I have several red ties...lol 😂

[Qapla]

Is there some significance to those pictures? Why would I have any reaction to those pictures? Who are those people? 

[BlaqueCalalilly]

How about sadness for both families of each individual...😶

[Tsheppar]

In the United States, in my hall, I have seen an uptick in difficulty remaining neutral. Even for myself. I began to notice it in the Obama years, then with Trump- opinions elevated even more.  Now in Bidens term I am seeing it even more. Strong opinions. 

  Where just the " name" of a politician will send some into a frenzy. 

  George Bush wasn't well liked by many in my area. But his name didn't send them into fits. Nobody really cared in the congregation. 

 But Now, You say Trump or you say Biden. There is a strong emotion usually attached. Followed by the statement -but im neutral. 

 

Am I neutral personally? 

No ,probably not. 

But I do try to be. 

It takes effort, whereas in the past, it took NO effort. 

 I view it as another sign of deep into the time of the end . 

[BlaqueCalalilly]

1 hour ago, Tsheppar said:

In the United States, in my hall, I have seen an uptick in difficulty remaining neutral. Even for myself. I began to notice it in the Obama years, then with Trump- opinions elevated even more.  Now in Bidens term I am seeing it even more. Strong opinions. 

  Where just the " name" of a politician will send some into a frenzy. 

  George Bush wasn't well liked by many in my area. But his name didn't send them into fits. Nobody really cared in the congregation. 

 But Now, You say Trump or you say Biden. There is a strong emotion usually attached. Followed by the statement -but im neutral. 

 

Am I neutral personally? 

No ,probably not. 

But I do try to be. 

It takes effort, whereas in the past, it took NO effort. 

 I view it as another sign of deep into the time of the end . 

Very true. Plus with the constant non stop news cycle it can be very hard...I personally find the mute button to be very helpful these days...

[Tortuga]

3 minutes ago, BlaqueCalalilly said:

Very true. Plus with the constant non stop news cycle it can be very hard...I personally find the mute button to be very helpful these days...

When the local news starts to discuss anything political, I pause the TV and do something else for a few minutes, then I fast-forward through the political report and get back to the local news.  

[BlaqueCalalilly]

1 minute ago, Tortuga said:

When the local news starts to discuss anything political, I pause the TV and do something else for a few minutes, then I fast-forward through the political report and get back to the local news.  

Nice but how do you fast forward during a live broadcast of the news? 

[Tortuga]

1 minute ago, BlaqueCalalilly said:

Nice but how do you fast forward during a live broadcast of the news? 

I can pause a live broadcast on TV, then resume it or skip what I didn't see.

[DancesWithWife]

10 hours ago, Tsheppar said:

Does one on these pictures anger you  and stir up deep internal emotions ? 

 

What if you did not care for them before they became president? We have people who are social influencers. There's a lot of personalities I do not care for. What about actors, athletes and musicians and singers who immoral or just bad people? Can I dislike a person for who they are and still be neutral?  In my opinion yes. Neither one of these photos "stir up deep internal emotions". How I feel about them personally is a different matter without taking a side politically.  

 

I felt the "Enjoy Life Forever" study 45 "What it means to be Neutral" :

"4. Be neutral in thought and action

Read 1 John 5:21. Then, play the VIDEO and discuss the questions that follow.

VIDEO: Why True Christians Need Courage—To Maintain Neutrality (2:49)

• In the video, why did Ayenge decide not to join the political party or participate in nationalistic ceremonies, such as saluting the flag?

• Do you think that he decided wisely?

What other situations can test our neutrality? Play the VIDEO, and then discuss the questions that follow.

VIDEO: Lessons From The Watchtower—Remain Neutral in a Divided World (5:16)

• How can we remain neutral when it comes to international sporting events?

• How can we remain neutral even if we are personally affected by the decisions of politicians?

• How could the news media or our associations affect our neutrality?"

[Kwabena]

4 hours ago, Qapla said:

Is there some significance to those pictures? Why would I have any reaction to those pictures? Who are those people? 

Phinehas and Hophni.  JK, JK 😂😂

[Tortuga]

16 hours ago, Hope said:

*Neutral... 😉  ❤️ 

Nuetral is the nu neutral...

[Kwabena]

Nuestra familia neutral

[Qapla]

2 hours ago, Tortuga said:

When the local news starts to discuss anything political, I pause the TV and do something else for a few minutes

 

I just change the channel to a DIY or Food channel and leave the politics to the news channel. I can scan news headlines on my device and read any local news I may be interested in ... no pausing or FF needed.

 

[Katty]

I don't think the issue is as simple or as clear cut as a lot of us would like to believe. Like all of Jesus' disciples including his apostles, we are influenced by the culture we grew up in, and, particularly in America and Europe, different regions are wholly disunited in their views on what abortion is, if same sex marriage constitutes as a marriage that should be recognized and even what a woman is. If we're from left leaning issues, we can easily be more tolerant of progressive views. Whereas if we grew up in a conservative culture, we'll view those, we'll quickly dismiss such ideas as insane. 
Where there are clear truths as defined in the Bible, of course, we must agree with what the Bible teaches, but when the Bible is not clear we can easily insert the view that comes from the culture in which we grew up, before weighing out what Bible principles state. It's an easy way to operate, but, I'm not convinced it always comes with the right answer. 


I might be wrong on this, but I only think it's  a problem if you find your thinking to be more aligned with the thinking of worldly people in your region than with Bible principles or with the thinking of your brothers and sisters in other regions.  I'm not saying Witnesses should agree on everything that the Bible is not clear on: absolutely not! However, at some point, it does become divisive, because, let's face it: there are beliefs that predicate among people in California or New York that are outright offensive to people from Texas or Florida, and vice versa. We should probably be aware if our beliefs are offensive to others. I hope my thoughts aren't too offensive. I am a very opinionated person, and I do try hard not to offend. There are a lot of news sources and a lot of ideas that I see people post that I would perceive as being more left leaning than anything, and I've been trying to just let it pass, because I get that the person posting it very likely believes they are posting the neutral stance on things. I don't think the bias is really something you ever really see until you see something that makes you aware of it. But if someone sincerely believes they are neutral and intends to be neutral even if others perceive their statement as being politically biased in some way, is it still neutral?  You can't say intent doesn't matter in this case. Of course Jehovah takes into account our personal attitudes. 

Edited April 17 by Katty

[trottigy]

38 minutes ago, Katty said:

But if someone sincerely believes they are neutral and intends to be neutral even if others perceive their statement as being politically biased in some way, is it still neutral?  You can't say intent doesn't matter in this case. Of course Jehovah takes into account our personal attitudes. 

 

I don’t think so. It should be obvious to others if you have no leaning vs you do have a leaning.

 

That was the entire point of lawyers looking at posts and asking questions about them. I wonder IF we were up for this jury and they were reviewing all of our posts - what would they think?

[Katty]

2 minutes ago, trottigy said:

 

I don’t think so. It should be obvious to others if you have no leaning vs you do have a leaning.

 

That was the entire point of lawyers looking at posts and asking questions about them. I wonder IF we were up for this jury and they were reviewing all of our posts - what would they think?

I agree that a leaning is obvious in what we say, but it's also easy to portray a leaning in one direction without realizing it?
If you grew up in a place where the school you went to, the media and everyone you knew were far left leaning, you would probably see moderately left leaning as neutral, until you saw something that contradicted that view, and it would probably take a lot to contradict that view in your mind. I'm speaking specifically of things that Christians say. I don't believe anyone in the world is capable of being neutral, which is why it's such a challenge for us. In the long run, I'm just glad it's Jehovah and not me that's going to sort all this out in the end 

[Tortuga]

4 minutes ago, trottigy said:

That was the entire point of lawyers looking at posts and asking questions about them. I wonder IF we were up for this jury and they were reviewing all of our posts - what would they think?

They would think that I can't tell the difference between politicians, they all look and sound the same to me, so I ignore all of them equally.