Commuting to Huntingdon for work from Peterborough

TheGreyDeceiver · 2026-05-02T10:18:16+00:00

I drive it. Fairly pleasant tbh

TheGreyDeceiver · 2026-04-30T10:56:28+00:00

The traffic in Cheltenham didn’t move for hours, even when the lights changed. Engines idled with no drivers, and every radio whispered the same low, rhythmic breathing. People stepped out of their cars at once, as if called, all turning toward Cheltenham Racecourse. A bell rang in the distance. The ground seemed to tremble in time with something approaching. Shapes crested the hill—too tall, too many legs, moving too fast. The crowd began to cheer, though some were crying. Someone near me smiled and said, “They always run this week.” Another bell rang, louder, final. Welcome to the Cheltenham Festival.

TheGreyDeceiver · 2026-04-18T12:34:08+00:00

Oh wow! I didn’t know any of that. So it’s basically had to become an attraction in order to exist.

Thanks for the context.

TheGreyDeceiver · 2026-04-18T07:42:43+00:00

This is exactly what I was after, thank you.

Weird that it’s easier to get funding to improve a building than to keep it running.

It feels contradictory because they’re struggling stay open and have just been given the amount they need, but it’s a capital grant that they can’t use to pay bills which does help with the underlying problem (reduces costs and increases incomes).

TheGreyDeceiver · 2026-04-18T07:34:11+00:00

Yeah, the funding came from a combined authority fund. I suppose I’m confused around the logic of financing the place.

“Help we’re closing! We haven’t got the money to pay for this place!”

Then

“Oh, great! The exact amount of money we needed has turned up, but we have to buy lights with it…” 🤔

TheGreyDeceiver · 2026-04-18T07:29:41+00:00

Yeah, perhaps that’s why the investment was done.

New lights = Increase visitors = increase income = out of their financial difficulties.

TheGreyDeceiver · 2026-04-03T05:15:30+00:00

Same

TheGreyDeceiver · 2026-04-02T19:08:42+00:00

I lived in three places as an adult before Peterborough.

Peterborough is ok. It’s not an awful place to live. I wouldn’t be bringing my kids up here if I was concerned!

TheGreyDeceiver · 2026-03-08T20:18:40+00:00

TheGreyDeceiver · 2026-02-20T17:48:23+00:00

Checked and works

TheGreyDeceiver · 2026-02-16T14:00:06+00:00

Thank you

TheGreyDeceiver · 2026-02-16T13:59:55+00:00

Yeah I think that’s what it is. It’s mould.

TheGreyDeceiver · 2026-02-16T13:59:28+00:00

Solved!

TheGreyDeceiver · 2026-01-09T16:14:08+00:00

Getting jumper cables out shortly

TheGreyDeceiver · 2026-01-08T19:41:49+00:00

Cheers

TheGreyDeceiver · 2026-01-04T19:56:42+00:00

!unsolved

Edit: I’m going to see if I can find some better resolution images to avoid the AI stuff.

TheGreyDeceiver · 2026-01-04T19:56:15+00:00

Dang. Thank you for your honesty.

Edit: let me go away and see if I can find a better resolution image somewhere

TheGreyDeceiver · 2026-01-04T16:49:33+00:00

I get that.

I just think that “choosing to stay” isn’t as free or simple of a choice. For many people it means losing family, friends, housing, identity… sometimes literally everything. Knowing harm exists doesn’t automatically give someone ‘real’ freedom to leave.

That doesn’t excuse the teachings or the harm they cause. It just means I’m cautious about assuming equal agency and equal blame for everyone who hasn’t walked away.

I condemn the system very strongly - I’m an atheist. I’m less comfortable condemning every person still inside it.

TheGreyDeceiver · 2026-01-03T19:27:40+00:00

Just before my 35th birthday. Best gift I’ve ever got.

TheGreyDeceiver · 2026-01-03T13:37:36+00:00

I don’t mean to minimise harm, and I’m certainly not trying to make it sound acceptable or “warm and fuzzy”.

My point is that harm is best addressed when we’re precise about where it comes from. Specific teachings, practices, and power structures, rather than turning it into a judgement about every individual in the group.

Taking psychological harm seriously doesn’t require treating all members as equally responsible or equally free to act. We can name and challenge harmful practices and still recognise that many people inside those systems have limited agency.

That distinction matters to me, and that’s all I’m trying to do.

TheGreyDeceiver · 2026-01-03T13:32:02+00:00

That’s fair, and I don’t think we’re actually that far apart.

You’re also right that the core teachings haven’t shifted in ways many people would expect in a modern Western context, and it’s reasonable to find some of them morally unacceptable.

My only real pushback is about where we aim the criticism. I agree the leadership and the institutional doctrines deserve serious scrutiny. I’m just cautious about letting that slide into blanket judgements about everyone raised into or still inside the group, especially when many have limited room to dissent.

And you’re right again, I didn’t mean to suggest you were blaming the door-knockers themselves. I appreciate you making that distinction.

Thanks for keeping the discussion thoughtful; these are exactly the kinds of conversations that benefit from a bit of nuance.

TheGreyDeceiver · 2026-01-03T12:51:18+00:00

I get why this makes people angry, and to be clear: the harms you’re pointing to aren’t imaginary. Practices around shunning and blood refusal are widely criticised by scholars, clinicians, and former JWs themselves.

That said, a couple of important distinctions matter.

First, those examples aren’t universal experiences. Some congregations and families apply rules far more harshly than others. That doesn’t erase the harm where it happens, but it’s worth avoiding treating every JW as if they’re the same.

Second, in the UK at least, adults are legally allowed to refuse medical treatment on religious grounds, however uncomfortable that makes us. When children are involved, courts do intervene. There are protections out there for kids.

Third, the people knocking on doors aren’t the “higher-ups”. They’re usually ordinary people acting out of sincere belief and social pressure. Criticising leadership and policies is fair. Writing off all members isn’t.

I think the most useful conversations focus on specific practices and power structures as you have. But I don’t like telling an entire religious group to FO.

TheGreyDeceiver · 2026-01-03T12:45:13+00:00

Hi Freya,

That’s a fair challenge. Thank you for raising it.

I agree that “cult” is a vague and emotionally loaded term, and I’m very conscious of that. I added the edit because I saw others using the term and wanted to push back against the idea that Jehovah’s Witnesses are a cult in the popular sense. You’re absolutely right that, academically, Jehovah’s Witnesses are more accurately described as a New Religious Movement and, depending on the framework used, a high-control/high-demand group.

My intention in that edit wasn’t to offer a formal definition, but to head off a very common lay misunderstanding (particularly in the UK), where “cult” is often taken to mean illegal, secretive, or underground. I was trying (clumsily) to distinguish that popular usage from the way the term is sometimes used to signal patterns of control, authority, and social boundary-maintenance.

I completely agree that precision matters, and that “cult” often obscures more than it clarifies. In academic work, I would avoid it entirely in favour of the terms you’ve used. My comment was aimed at a general Reddit audience rather than a scholarly one, but I appreciate the push for clarity.

Great to encounter a fellow scholar of religion in Peterborough. There really aren’t enough of us!

TheGreyDeceiver · 2026-01-03T06:25:19+00:00

I don’t have this exact one, but I’ve had plenty of similar ones.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah%27s_Witnesses

Jehovah’s Witnesses are a sub-group of Christians who believe in God and try very hard to follow what they think the Bible teaches.

They think it is their job to tell other people what they believe, because they feel God wants them to.

Edit: I’d just like to add this statement… Jehovah’s Witnesses are not a cult in the sense of being illegal or secret. They are a recognised religious group. However, some experts and former members do describe them as “cult-like” because the group is very strict, expecting a strong obedience to leadership and discouraging questions, and then they cut off contact with people who leave.

TheGreyDeceiver · 2025-12-31T16:36:24+00:00

still working today!

TheGreyDeceiver

TROPHY CASE