Posts by Paris

152

HOW TO AVOID THE A-HOLE SPIRIT OF SOME HERE...

by DATA-DOG in

1) take meds for your megalomania and delusions of grandeur.. .

suggestions welcome.. .

dd.

Paris

DJS and Shirley - You are both determined to

(1) Be Right, no matter what. ( how very JW of you )

(2) Denigrate any believer as not as "smart or well educated" as you are.

Of the highest IQ's in the scientific community, people in advanced hard sciences, like math and physics, 7% of this tiny group are believers, they all have PhD's and teach at Oxford, Harvard, Princeton and the Universoty of California and MIT. And your occupations would be ? Be careful who you denigrate. My guess is you do not have the credentials for that kind of criticism, just give it a rest.

46

Fudging the Numbers: Is the WTBTS in decline?

by Coded Logic in

it's no secret that the wtbts has a cash flow problem.

over the past three years they have closed 20 of their 116 branches.

they have sold off most of their properties in and around ny (including some kingdom halls), drastically reduced the # of printed pages for the watchtower and awake magazines, reduced the printing of books and other materials, increased the number of single page tract campagnes, installed cc machines at their assembly halls, and are now seizing of controll of property assets from local kingdom halls using renovation projects.

Paris

7 million people ? Represents family groups ? The avergae family size in the US is 2.5 people per family? Lets take that low figure and this means there are 2,800,000 total families who are JW's in the entire planet earth. Earth has nearly 8 billion people.

2.8 million families are a a very small number. It is equivalent to a medium sized, not large city. Paris France has 10.8 million people. Los Angeles has nearly 15 million people living in L.A. City. Tokyo, Japan, has over 37 million people in that one city.

63

Where was the dead body of Jesus? Did the disciples disappear it?

by opusdei1972 in

i am currently an skeptic, but i have to admit that i can't assure that all the stuff of early christianity was false.. for instance, we know that the genuine letters of paul were written before the destruction of jerusalem.

so, paul affirmed that jesus resurrected, though he was not there when it supposedly happened.

but, if jesus did not resurrect, why didn't the jews expose this falsehood?.

Paris

For those of you who keep saying "Jesus never existed" There was an actual court case recorded in Roman Law of the Trial of Jesus. naming Pontius Pilate and Jesus and the whole thing. Including his execution.

The Roman Trial of Jesus is studied by Law students at Law Schools. He was a historical actual Rabbi that died at 33 years old executed by the Romans, who like the Germans, kept very accurate and detailed records. Jesus of Galilee, who self identified himself as the Messiah, preached in Synagogues, and had a group of of followers for 3 years and preached to mobs of people.

So just getting on this site and saying, smugly, "jesus never existed", does not make you smart, it makes you gullible to believe that, because you read that statement somewhere on the internet

And as for dead bodies disappearing, there is more than one record of this happening in the Bible.

78

Jesus was a false prophet?

by opusdei1972 in

and he said to them, "i tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of god come with power.

(mark 9:1).

when you are persecuted in one place, flee to another.

Paris

If you start a thread that essentially says Jesus was a false prophet, you have to allow for Christians to make a case that he was not a false prophet, without accusing them of "preaching" at you. Why be like the WT and stifle people ?

I don't know where anyone gets the idea his followers expected him to return in their life time, since they talk about the coming of anti-Christs and of their own deaths.

Beside, he did return to them right after he was resurrected and show himself to them and walk through walls and show his wounds. He also said he would send the holy spirit as a helper and his father and he would come to dwell with people and be with them and reside with them and they would all be one and things would go on through wars and various tribulations and not to think when there were false Christs that it was him returned, he indicated it would be generations away, he said it was a distant time and no one knew when not even him, so where did he lie ?

Some things he said referred to the destruction of the Temple in AD 70 and it has not been rebuilt to this day, in fact the Dome of the Rock, a Muslim mosque, sits on the Temple mound.

He also told the thieves on the crosses next to him, they would be "with him in Paradise". So what does that mean ? JW's come from this mindset that there are "two classes" earthly and heavenly and that seems to lead them to be controlled by the "upper class" Jesus said nothing like this, that should be the main concern here I think.

137

9yr old girl kills her gun instructor with an uzi

by EndofMysteries in

http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/26/us/arizona-girl-fatal-shooting-accident/index.html?hpt=hp_t2.

"a 9-year-old girl learning to fire a submachine gun accidentally killed her instructor at a shooting range when the weapon recoiled over her shoulder, according to arizona authorities.

another reason to go against those arguing that young children should be taught how to use guns.

Paris

Kickback, these weapons exert force that can only be controlled by full grown men with muscles in their arms and chest and back and strong shoulders, this was a little girl, with skinny little arms and no muscle control to handle such a weapon. Its criminal negligence. Recoil sent the weapon over her head. It was Kickback and muzzle climb she could not control. Because she is a nine year old girl, a child. Its a strength, control, issue. With this weapon its way beyond finger control. The weapon exerts force and moves with force against the person handling it.

The weapon recoiled, the muzzle climbed and it kicked back, against her and the weapon rose above her head as she was incapable of controlling it because she was not strong enough, and its on tape so no clairvoyant required.

137

9yr old girl kills her gun instructor with an uzi

by EndofMysteries in

http://www.cnn.com/2014/08/26/us/arizona-girl-fatal-shooting-accident/index.html?hpt=hp_t2.

"a 9-year-old girl learning to fire a submachine gun accidentally killed her instructor at a shooting range when the weapon recoiled over her shoulder, according to arizona authorities.

another reason to go against those arguing that young children should be taught how to use guns.

Paris

Shirley - American ? Republican ? She was a tiny, frail, small, child. her parents and the firing range and the instructor all all at fault and the laws that allow people to arm children. How is it we are horrified by using child soldiers in Africa and set up whole organizations to stop this and then hand lethal weapons to children in the United States ?

An Uzi is not a hunting weapon or even a self defense weapon.

it it a Miltary Grade, blowback-operated submachine gun used by Special Forces in combat.

Blowback is a system of operation for self-loading firearms that obtains energy from the motion of the cartridge case as it is pushed to the rear by expanding gases created by the ignition of the propellant charge. The energy from the expansion of gases on firing appears in the form of kinetic energy transmitted to the bolt mechanism, which is controlled and used to operate the firearm's operation cycle. The extent to which blowback is employed largely depends on the manner used to control the movement of the bolt and the proportion of energy drawn from other systems of operation

Does this sound like a child's toy to you ?

17

Really weird sentence

by Moses Joe in

jw
friends

i've been absent from meetings recently because i'm having serious life challenges that make me really not want to have to deal with all of the people and the sitting.

i had made an attempt to, "simplify my life" that rather than being blessed was meant with unemployment.

lol.. anyway, i finally got tired of all the phone calls checking up on me and sent a message to someone explaining that i just wanted to be left alone (an elder).

Paris

Shirely - I meant the total disappearance act as a metaphor for disengagement.

Datadog - may consider the fact your wife actually does value you above her friends and life in the WT. Have you read Crisis of Conscience ? May be she is not an atheist ( I am assuming you are? ) may be she could be gradually convinced that there is another better, path to God. If she could see this is possible and will save her children from a Cult ? If killing yourself has become an option, how could being open and honest about your feelings be any worse ? It would be a positive project to work on and somehow insincerity is detectable by children on a subliminal level and creates serious trust issues they carry throughout their own lives. Be honest.

40

I got asked THE QUESTION !!

by Tech49 in

a little experience that happened very recently:.

another brother, an elder, and i were talking, i was explaining to him and giving him several examples of how a couple of the elders in our congregation were blatantly trying to run their own show, parading themselves around as "representatives" of the body, when the other brothers didnt know what the hell they were talking about.

they are using their "elder powers" to bully and push people around, causing a bit of angst and hurt feelings.

Paris

Well, when you realize that "Jehovah" IS the organization by Oubliette

Your first premise is false. Jehovah is NOT the "organization" even they do not believe that. They believe the organization is necessary to approach God and they believe Jehovah is God. So the organization and the GB in particular are held up as a Mediator.

The organization followers. believes the organization itself, to be a conduit a vehicle, a passage, a gateway, a sole channel, to access Jehovah, a path that is exclusive and the only way to God himself.

The GB or FDS claim to be the WAY to access God and they claim to hold an exclusive positipon of being put in charge of all spiritual matters on earth and also claim to be the only mediator by which anyone can approach God.

That is blasphemy and false doctrine, arrogance and it is idolatry to accept the so-called FDS as being who they claim to be. There is no scriptural spport for this "system" of worship as practiced by the WT. Its an anti-Christ Cult.

40

I got asked THE QUESTION !!

by Tech49 in

a little experience that happened very recently:.

another brother, an elder, and i were talking, i was explaining to him and giving him several examples of how a couple of the elders in our congregation were blatantly trying to run their own show, parading themselves around as "representatives" of the body, when the other brothers didnt know what the hell they were talking about.

they are using their "elder powers" to bully and push people around, causing a bit of angst and hurt feelings.

Paris

don't you agree that Jehovah is directing his organization right here on earth through his FDS, the governing body, and the elders?

No I do not agree because the word "organization" does not appear in the Bible at all. Jesus Christ is my only mediator because the Bibe says there is only one mediator, the Christ. Any man or group of men who puts themselve between me and the Christ is an anti-Christ, blocking my access to salvation. The FDS has only one scripture to support the idea of a central authority and that scripture was about three servants who were given gold resources and held accountable for whether they used what they had or buried it in the ground and applies to everybody and has no reference to central authority as represented in seven old men in New York. - try that answer

17

Really weird sentence

by Moses Joe in

jw
friends

i've been absent from meetings recently because i'm having serious life challenges that make me really not want to have to deal with all of the people and the sitting.

i had made an attempt to, "simplify my life" that rather than being blessed was meant with unemployment.

lol.. anyway, i finally got tired of all the phone calls checking up on me and sent a message to someone explaining that i just wanted to be left alone (an elder).

Paris

Do not communicate with the Cult. Change your phone number and if possible your name and locate to a different State, or country if possible. Just pack up your car with essential belongings and get out of town and keep driving. Do not look back.