OneEyedJoe

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Posts by OneEyedJoe

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  16

  Detroit TV station expose' on JWs

  by Emma in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  here's a link to a brief but good, four-minute piece on jehovah's witnesses.

  wdiv in detroit filmed it.

  there's a place for comments so please add helpful info.

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  OneEyedJoe

  Love that they grouped them in with scientology with regard to the shunning.
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  42

  "Just don't overthink the truth"

  by stuckinarut2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so after almost a year of complete inactivity and non attendance, i ran into a nice brother from the local congregation.. after some nice chit-chat, he says "we really miss you and your family...etc...you were always the kind and supportive one, the approachable and encouraging one in the congregation.

  your absence has confused so many".

  i thanked him and said "oh no, no individual has stumbled us.

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  OneEyedJoe

  When I had a discussion with my father-in-law about the reasons for my inactivity he referred to me several times as "computer brained" because I'm logical and have a good memory. He said I was in the same category as someone else he knew that was "computer brained" and had left the cult. Over the course of the conversation he remembered 3 other (4 total) people that he would put in the same category and all had left the cult. You'd think that would tell him something.

  If someone told me not to overthink the truth, I would respond by saying I'd just stopped underthinking life.
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  147

  Challenge to Creationists

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in response to the 37 threads in my evolution is a fact series - see bottom of op for links - perry posted a link to an article "44 reasons why evolution isn't true".. i offered him a challenge on the thread and by pm.

  predictably he is totally ignoring it, so i am offering the challenge to any evolution-denier who thinks they have evidence to support their position.. please present one specific piece of evidence for creationism.. my task will be to refute it with evidence within 24 hours.. then i will present one piece of evidence for evolution and your challenge will be the same.. all posts must be as succinct as reasonably possible.

  entirely in your own words, without copy-paste, videos or links.. please post your interest to take part and we will set it up before the first actual post in the exchange.

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  OneEyedJoe

  OneEyedJoe, the fact that we cannot reproduce the processes in a lab says a lot. What is the chances that it'll take place in the primordial soup? Cells decay and die when they finish their life cycle, they don't improve themselves and turn into a superior cell. That's contrary to nature
  

  You betray a lack of understanding of both how evolution works and the timescales involved.
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  147

  Challenge to Creationists

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in response to the 37 threads in my evolution is a fact series - see bottom of op for links - perry posted a link to an article "44 reasons why evolution isn't true".. i offered him a challenge on the thread and by pm.

  predictably he is totally ignoring it, so i am offering the challenge to any evolution-denier who thinks they have evidence to support their position.. please present one specific piece of evidence for creationism.. my task will be to refute it with evidence within 24 hours.. then i will present one piece of evidence for evolution and your challenge will be the same.. all posts must be as succinct as reasonably possible.

  entirely in your own words, without copy-paste, videos or links.. please post your interest to take part and we will set it up before the first actual post in the exchange.

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  OneEyedJoe

  Conversely, it doesn't rule out the possibility that it happened supernaturally.
  

  My point was that the challenge Cofty presented was for someone to provide evidence for creation, not more unsubstantiated hypotheses that do less to satisfy occam's razor than does evolution.
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  25

  JW Broadcasting is the likely end of the road for JWs

  by oldskool in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i started leaving the group in 04', and quit following what they do around 08'.

  my recent posts express my reaction to what has happened since.. i just "tuned in" to the jw broadcasting episode for may 2016. it is worth a viewing.

  gb member anthony morris describes what is basically the thrust of why this entire effort exists.

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  OneEyedJoe

  You make a great point about real-life experiences. Growing up as a JW, and looking back (even before I left) I realized that there was literally nothing in my life that was good that was because I was a JW. The only reason I was a JW was because I was scared they might be right. If that's the only thing keeping you in, you're much more likely to actually examine the question of whether or not they're right - if they bring benefits NOW (instead of just the claimed benefit of surviving armageddon) it would make people much less likely to even start questioning whether it's true. Most people are, at a basic level, practical about such things - even if it's not true if it benefits you to be a JW you'd not bother looking at whether it's true or not.

  Of course they love to tout that being a JW is the "best way of living" and that they're the "happiest people on earth" but I suspect that most who've grown up as a JW have had some serious reservations about those two claims at one time or another. They rely solely on indoctrination to keep the kids going, and that's a weakness for them - if they reinforced it with some (even just a token) actual benefits I think it would keep a lot more kids trapped in the cult. The problem is that said benefits cost money/time that could be better used if donated to the central org, and therefore it is seen as a waste to do anything like that.

  I'm glad that they're failing so miserably to retain the youth.
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  147

  Challenge to Creationists

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in response to the 37 threads in my evolution is a fact series - see bottom of op for links - perry posted a link to an article "44 reasons why evolution isn't true".. i offered him a challenge on the thread and by pm.

  predictably he is totally ignoring it, so i am offering the challenge to any evolution-denier who thinks they have evidence to support their position.. please present one specific piece of evidence for creationism.. my task will be to refute it with evidence within 24 hours.. then i will present one piece of evidence for evolution and your challenge will be the same.. all posts must be as succinct as reasonably possible.

  entirely in your own words, without copy-paste, videos or links.. please post your interest to take part and we will set it up before the first actual post in the exchange.

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  OneEyedJoe

  Vidqun - where is your evidence though? There's no evidence that eukaryotes were introduced by an intelligence - our inability to recreate their evolution in controlled conditions is not evidence that it did not happen naturally at some point.
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  23

  Cover of the September 2016 Watchtower.

  by jwfacts in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the cover of the 2016 september watchtower has an islander couple preaching.

  the brother looks like he may be fijian in a traditional skirt standing in a river, doing a presentation on an apple ipad.

  i can't imagine there are many families that can afford an ipad in the pacific islands.

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  OneEyedJoe

  Rehosted it for those that don't want to go to JW.org:

  
  
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  4

  JWs predatory letter writing in the news.

  by Dark Knight in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the video is worth watching too.. http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/80454665/grieving-woman-turns-the-tables-by-doorknocking-jehovahs-witness.

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  OneEyedJoe

  This was just a pioneer trying to kill time by wiring something out before moving to the next house. I buy their story that it was a coincidence - if the JW knew of the death, she would've just lead with that. Why would they intentionally do this 3 months after the death? It actually seems like a shame if this story gets much attention because to me it's just a case of unfortunate timing and I think it'll look that way to most people (at least those who aren't grieving and sensitive to the illusion of meaning in minor things). It's a shame because JWs actually DO scan obituaries and write predatory letters to those who have had a recent loss - THOSE are the stories that need exposure and crying wolf like this just makes those stories seem less reliable.
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  5

  Server Error when Checking Messages

  by WITNESS-FOR-WATCHTOWER-REFORM in

  1. forum
  2. tech-support

  when i try to look at my pm's, it keeps coming up 'server error'.

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  any solutions?.

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  OneEyedJoe

  Looks like this started up again for me too
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  29

  Help - I'm going to be conducting the watchtower study

  by Saltheart Foamfollower in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  it looks like i'm going to have to take the watchtower study for a while so i thought i'd seek help.. i wont be outing myself or stating anything too controversial, but so far i have come up with the following tactics : 1) ask questions which will get people thinking even if it is about something insignificant - developing a questioning mind is the key to discovering ttat as far as i am concerned.

  2) highlight any extreme points so that some might realise they are extreme.

  3) highlight any good points - helping others in need for example - just because it is the right thing to do.. if anyone has any general comments which could help, please post them here.

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  OneEyedJoe

  I thought they did away with asking questions outside of the ones provided a decade ago. At least that's what my father (who was the conductor at the time) told me at least - he was disappointed in how rigid it got and didn't enjoy conducting anymore.