jonah account as given in the bible proves the account is illogical, hence written by thoughtless human writer because:.
1) god is shown to be forcing jonah against his will.
(god would not go against the free-will of his children because history shows: he doesn’t punish atheists nor does he do any favors to theists).
Phizzy's right, it's not literal.
I love the Jonah character he's hilarious and very relatable with his bad luck and feeling sorry for himself the story is full of irony that get's played out in the plots of many a book, movie and play.
Ultimately it's all metaphor and I see the Jonah story as lesson in the futility of running away from truth and one's true self.
be very careful who you "friend" on facebook.people are facing judicial hearings for things they have posted online.so unless you are a real goody two shoes, be careful who you friend and beware of entrapment conversations designed to have you reveal your personal habits or even opinions.happy hollidays.
JWs will use whatever means at their disposal to engage in one of their fave activities - befriend and entrap. It's also how they honeytrap people into joining their cult and marrying them.
I hate facebook anyway, but thanks for the warning.
i think with all the child molestation lawsuits the watchtower corporation is and has been hit with is the main reason for all the prime property sell off recently.
the silent lambs protest back in 2001, and the dateline prime time expose probably was the death knell for the watchtower's hey day in brooklyn.. their membership is drying up, young people are leaving in droves, the situation is no doubt far worse than the annually published yearbook figures show and so they ceased it's publication permanently.
and those left remaining are experiencing a huge grab of money from their congregations accounts and now are required to make pledges about how much they can contribute which i think is a last ditch effort by the governing body to squeeze more money out of the rank and file watchtower indoctrinated drones.. i think all this is happening because even those still loyally attending are hearing reports of these tremendous pay out that the watchtower is making to the victims of their self serving policies that put young ones at great risks so that even the rank and file don't want to contribute to pay court costs and so are withholding giving contributions to a very great extent.
WT has been in the process of weaning them off the literature and onto the website for some time and any kind of weaning process is up and down for a while until the new form of food or in this case propoganda becomes preferable to the old.
Donations may improve once they have been fully weaned and the website is fully accepted as the new Mother.
I 'm watching and waiting on this one.
according to the great apostate, who spent time with police officers at the protest, they informed him that it was not watchtower who called the police in but another exjw who briefly attended the protest and subsequently disapproved of the protesters methods...claiming they were being "violent".. i find this very difficult to understand.
anyone who saw the bravery of the women who stood up in the kingdom hall and told the story of their abuse and rape could not fail to feel compassion and offer their support.. i know there are posters on this forum who disagree with me.they worry that such protests play into watchtowers "persecution" complex, and naturally i understand their position.. but really, how long do we have to fear their power over their members, and through their members, us.. many jw's simply do not know the extent of the paedophile problem,.they do not know about malawi, the un, the bloodless surgery guinea pig deaths ( thank you orphan crow), the suicides....i simply don't believe that protests don't work....if there are enough of them, and they are organized, and most of all if we are united...we shall make a difference, and that difference may be your loved one.. https://youtu.be/ffhr9onbdrk.
Nothing happened at this protest that was in any way threatening, dangerous or violent to anyone. Try going to a football match if you would like to compare. WT infantalizes these people with boogie man stories I refuse to join in.
But, having said that.
I liken individual JWs and individual congregations to employees and customers of a fast food franchise that do NOT have any decision making authority for the franchise they only work there and follow a pre determined procedure or eat there.
IOW Strategically speaking it would be useless to complain to them about policies and procedures only the franchise headquarters has the power to change. Don't take a no from someone who doesn't have the power to say yes.
Still, protest outside establishments with signs t shirts etc is worth it if it draws attention to the problem.
In this case, of course, WT heirarchy is unreachable and their attitude is "talk to the hand" so I understand the frustration, I do, I really do.
i think with all the child molestation lawsuits the watchtower corporation is and has been hit with is the main reason for all the prime property sell off recently.
the silent lambs protest back in 2001, and the dateline prime time expose probably was the death knell for the watchtower's hey day in brooklyn.. their membership is drying up, young people are leaving in droves, the situation is no doubt far worse than the annually published yearbook figures show and so they ceased it's publication permanently.
and those left remaining are experiencing a huge grab of money from their congregations accounts and now are required to make pledges about how much they can contribute which i think is a last ditch effort by the governing body to squeeze more money out of the rank and file watchtower indoctrinated drones.. i think all this is happening because even those still loyally attending are hearing reports of these tremendous pay out that the watchtower is making to the victims of their self serving policies that put young ones at great risks so that even the rank and file don't want to contribute to pay court costs and so are withholding giving contributions to a very great extent.
I think the real donation killer amongst JWs is bored out of their brain apathy.
How could JWs not feel redundant now that witnessing has been replaced by a video and a cart and teaching has been replaced by a website.
we supposedly had more than a few “demonized” people in our congregation.
they would hear voices or feel internal punishment within their souls.
the answer was always—-these people were affected by the demons and they needed counseling!.
Wow sparky! Mystery solved then. The real "demon" was the toyboy husband and JW bitches be crazy.
i had a conversation with my dad concerning the legal cases the jws are loosing and how their policies are still lacking.
he answered that he has confidence that jehovah will give his people the wisdom and discernment necessary to make the changes.
i then explained that most of the improvements were made as a result of various court cases, including the australian commission.. my dad: well, than, jehovah uses the governments to discipline his people just like he did with the jews.
Interesting comment @orphan crow. Thanks.
I knew nothing of that info you wrote there in your comment but when a JW myself I always felt JW heirachy saw them selves was the new and improved Jewish in this arrogant "we can be better Jews than the Jews" kind of way.
we supposedly had more than a few “demonized” people in our congregation.
they would hear voices or feel internal punishment within their souls.
the answer was always—-these people were affected by the demons and they needed counseling!.
Oo, oo we had a sister who was demon-buster in our cong. No shit, she would say that anyone with mental illness was under demon attack and so desperate sisters always sisters (eye roll) would invite her into their homes and she would go through everything with them and collect up the items they would need to destroy.
Sort of like decluttering for demonic hoarders lol.
Once her and another sister said after one of these sessions they actually saw a demon on the road outside the sister's house! I shit you not!
Demons though? No just very stressed, unhappy, confused, people under the control of a demanding asshole of a cult.
i dislike long topics......so here it is.. i suffered for my religion, now it's your turn.. when i first left the corporation my life exploded into a suicidal chaos.. my family broke up.
i lost my so called friends.. luckily, i had worldly friends from all walks of life that supported me, even though they had no idea why i was so suicidal.
in as much as they hadn't left cults.. i went from the corporation to a baptist church.
Aw tah, punk.
Your post inspired me.
Lol at the caterpillar, never heard that one before.
omg my head exploded!in this months broadcast - splian goes off on how much care the wt in making sure its facts are correct, and how they make sure their quotes are not taking from people who have a bad reputation or have an agenda.
and that the make sure its always in context!.
they are such liars!.
Too right BOC they know exactly what they're doing.
