hi, i really need some advice here.
i was selected to play in a sports team representing the country i live in.
it's no big deal as it wont create any kind of major publicity.
“sir82”: “Any JW can be disfellowshipped for anything that 3 elders agree on.”
Technically, the elders are only allowed to disfellowship somebody if they blatantly and deliberately engage in unscriptural conduct or violate the Watchtower organization’s current policy. However, in practice, if anyone is counselled by the elders about anything and they disregard it, then they can still be disfellowshipped for “brazen conduct” or even just “insubordination.”
2013 was a record breaking year for firearm purchases.
2014 is supposed to be a record breaker for ammunition.. do you own a firearm?
but i support that right for others---if they are qualified..
“Splash”: “Under UK law, an air rifle is considered a firearm.”
Here in Canada, air guns with both a muzzle velocity greater than 500 feet per second and a muzzle energy greater than 4.2 foot-pounds are considered firearms (in the “non-restricted” class) under the Firearms Act and the Criminal Code, and must be obtained with a valid license.
2013 was a record breaking year for firearm purchases.
2014 is supposed to be a record breaker for ammunition.. do you own a firearm?
but i support that right for others---if they are qualified..
I live in Canada, and the federal laws here are ridiculously in favor of the criminal who is breaking into your home and wants to kill you. Here you have to take an official exam just to obtain your firearms license. (It’s called a “PAL,” which means “Purchase and Acquisition License.”) Then you have to store your firearm unloaded and locked/disabled in a securely-locked compartment with the ammunition not within easy access or also stored in a securely-locked compartment. In Canada, firearms can only be used for hunting or target practice, or kept as a collection, but cannot be used for self-defense purposes.
Also, believe it or not, here in Canada any mace products are totally illegal! The only thing you can buy or sell here is a canine repellent spray, which is only about half the strength of mace, or bear spray, which is even stronger than mace but is only for use in bear territory. But any product labeled with the word “mace” is a no-no. And even canine repellent spray cannot be used for self-defense on a person. So if a woman is being threatened and she uses canine spray to defend herself (especially if she is carrying it in an urban setting), she can go to jail! Ridiculous!
I used to own a Browning 12-gauge pump-action shotgun, a S&W .357 magnum revolver with a 2 1/2 inch barrel, a CZ 9 mm semi-auto pistol, a Remington Springfield .30-06 bolt-action rifle, a Marlin .22 long rifle, and an old smoothbore 44-40 rifle a few years ago. At the time my elder father also owned a semi-auto .22 Ruger pistol, an antique .38 revolver, and an over-under 12-gauge shotgun, which he got from his brother-in-law. We only had them for trap shooting (moving clay disks) and target practice. Sort of a little father-son activity.
I currently don’t own any firearms whatsoever. (I sold them to gun stores to slightly improve my financial situation.) However, I am now in the process of obtaining an updated firearms permit because I would like to purchase a good high-powered hunting rifle for target practice at a club. (I’m just waiting for my PAL permit card to arrive.) I really want to be able to show it off to my brother-in-law. He and my sister also are JWs. My brother-in-law has some target and hunting rifles, as well as a 9 mm handgun. They live out in the country, and he does some hunting and target practice. I actually want to get an extremely powerful rifle like a Mark V or Mark XII Weatherby Magnum .460 caliber, or even a .50 BMG just like Jamie and Adam were using in the show “Myth Busters.” I’m one of those fellows who just has to have a “bigger one” than the other guy.
i in a rest.
eating lunch an older lady comes in with her 2 kids.
the lady is fussy and i give her my table.
It’s good that you took them up on what they were trying to peddle you. It seems like you did it in a fairly reasonable and civilized way. Simply exposing the dogma and policy of an aggressive evangelical organization like the Watchtower is really not the same has harassing or attacking someone. The JWs go around peddling their wares right to people’s doorstep early Saturday and Sunday mornings, so, therefore, I believe that people should have the right to respond by presenting the facts to them which their mother organization might not exactly want them to hear.
I don’t believe that in this day and age religion should be just “buyer beware.” The government requires a standardized listing of ingredients and nutritional information on all packaged food items, so, similarly, I think that potential converts to an organized corporate religion deserve to at least get a basic rundown of what would be involved and what they could expect. It’s really not mean simply to inform people of what they have gotten themselves into, or what they are considering to get themselves into. And if they don’t like the smell of the facts presented to them, then that’s just too bad – at least they know that they are able to use those facts to make an informed decision accordingly, if they so wish.
The JWs are always using the analogy of “waking people up” in the world to realize the danger they are supposedly in by remaining asleep spiritually and following the world to their own destruction during the Watchtower’s Armageddon – they liken that to waking someone up who has started to fall asleep and begin succumbing to carbon monoxide or natural gas poisoning. (I’ve heard that one many times from the platform.) . . . . So, it’s rather ironic that the JWs themselves are the ones who need to take a look at how their own religion has been deceiving and manipulating them and certainly is not what it’s cracked up to be – indeed, they are the ones who need to “wake up and smell the coffee!”
i have noticed that there are different reactions to learning the "truth about the truth".
some become quite bitter and angry and become very activist.
others seem to just move on quite easily.. .
I myself have a mixture of resentment and anger tempered with a measure of relief and even validation.
I used to be profoundly upset and frightened around my early teen years about apparently being executed at Armageddon because I really thought that I actually had probably sinned against the holy spirit. (Some bizarre kind of sexual fantasies. Just one of those things; sometimes sh^t happens, especially entering puberty.) But after checking out this site in particular, I came to realize that the rather unique eschatological, apocalyptic prophecies of the Watchtower organization were actually quite contradictory, illogical, and just plain incorrect.
So I eventually ended up being quite resentful for how that egotistical, authoritarian religion manipulates people and plays them for fools, but, at the same time, I also felt relief and even a measure of serenity in knowing that at least I won’t be executed at the Watchtower’s Armageddon – not because I’ve suddenly been “forgiven” and given some kind of second chance at being saved and spared my supposed “divine fate,” but, rather, because my theological and scientific research has led me to the conclusion that there reallyisno Armageddon to be afraid of anyway.
So in the grand scheme of things, I don’t anticipate any kind of salvation into an earthly “paradise” or into a “heaven,” but at the very least I don’t believe that I am condemned to a life now on “death row” awaiting divine execution either. I have resigned myself to the simple fact that I am eventually going to simply die just as all other biological organisms have and always will. So I guess for me, no grand prize and no cigar, but no chopping block either. I’ve been tending toward the purely logical, agnostic, scientific perspective – i.e., to hell with all of this theological, ecclesiastical, evangelical, philosophical, dogmatic puke imposed by any organized religion – and for me, that’s just, well, fine and dandy.
be vigilant with a view to prayers.
present-day christians face a similar challenge because the long night of satans wicked system of things is now at the darkest point in its history.
and how important is prayer with regard to my salvation?.
Good points as usual, Blondie! I always glean some new little perspectives from your clever summations.
My public comment at yesterday’s Sunday Watchtower study included my clarification of the sentence in paragraph 13 which reads: “If we are dealing with illness or are struggling with depression, for instance, . . .” (Emphasis mine) I reiterated that this sentence mentions “illness or . . . depression,” and said that depression IS an illness (i.e., it’s not depression or illness). I then informed everyone that in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Illness, or “DSM” – which is basically the “bible” of psychology and psychiatry (the current version being the DSM-V, or DSM-5, revised 2013) – depression is considered an illness.
I strongly felt that this distinction had to be made, as it seemed to me that the Watchtower was subtly implying that depression is not a bona fide illness but something that is all just “in your head,” so to speak. I believe that it is vitally important for people to call them on specific viewpoints of theirs such as this, as people really need to be brought a proper amount of objective clarity to the discussion.
in the old revelation book there was a section on the cry "peace and security.. "14 in recent years, politicians have used the phrase peace and security to describe various.
human schemes.
or was paul referring only to a specific event of such dramatic proportions.
It’s obvious that the WTS will be forced to remain in their current state of “limbo” because if they were to say that the Biblical proclamation of “peace and security” is currently being or has already been fulfilled, then they would in effect set a new clock ticking which demands results pretty much “instantly,” with the expectation that all false religion worldwide would then be turned on and effectively obliterated; HOWEVER, what they will have to continue to do is point to any kind of political or social turmoil as just further proof that ‘we are indeed deep into the time of the end’ and that the cry of “peace and security” must be ‘in the very near future.’
They have to remain in this sort of “sweet zone” whereby people are kept in expectation and anticipation of this cry of “peace and security,” which begins the final stages of the time of the end, commencing the “great tribulation” and leading right up to the climax of Armageddon – BUT they cannot actually go so far as to make any announcement of the fulfillment of that cry of “peace and security,” as the failure of the “sudden destruction” part (Babylon the Great being turned on by the UN, of all things) would fairly shortly seal their fate as being confirmed false prophets.
So they will have to keep perpetuating the understanding that we are ‘deep into the time of the end’ but not at that very last stages. In other words, the final little fuse is about to be lit, but it never will be (it can’t; reality won’t allow it), and so no need to bother waiting for the big “kaboom” just yet!
i've been here forever.... this site still gives us some of the most up to date info about jws .
it keeps evolving.
sometimes it is the place to be and i think that's especially true for newbies.
This site, I believe, is the best free-speaking site out there for JWs who are curious, questioning, and in different stages of fading; and, of course, former JWs (XJWs) who have “been there” and are now trying to make some sense out of it all and put things into perspective so they can move on with their life with some sort of clarity and dignity.
I’ve been on this site since around the year 2000, and it’s been this very site that has been the thing which has let me discover many telling facts about the JW religion that I needed to see. (The religion and my elder dad have made me feel condemned and unworthy to survive Armageddon, so I thought that if I was going to be executed by God anyway then I might as well go to this site and see what all the “apostate” fuss is about.) This site has also given me a chance to see what a lot of supposed JWs really think and feel about their religion in their heart. It’s like being able to candidly “take the pulse” of a cross-section of the JW community and to sort of “be a fly on the wall” so as to observe what is really in the mind and heart of JWs in various states of covert questioning and personal deliberation.
My hat is off to Simon and all those who have a part in maintaining this site. There is quite a variety of folks on here from all parts of the spectrum, and this is an excellent place where you will get a unique and raw perspective (which you would certainly never be able to get in any conversations with the people at any kingdom hall).
Thank goodness for the Internet. Blatant lies and deception will be exposed, and freedom of thought and expression will live on!
has this been covered yet?.
i was looking to download the new nwt from jw.org and stumbled across an awake on creation - march 2014 edition.
and it always interests me to see the latest spins they'll try to make creation sound plausible.. seems now they are implying the sun, moon, and stars were created when god said "let there be light".
“jws”:
“And God went on to make the two great luminaries, the greater luminary for dominating the day and the lesser luminary for dominating the night, and also the stars. Thus God put them in the expanse of the heavens to shine upon the earth . . .” – (Genesis 1:16, 17)
When the Bible says that God “went on to make” the two “luminaries” of the sun and moon and to “put them” in the expanse of the heavens on the “fourth day,” it doesn’t mean to imply that the very beginning of the formation of our sun and moon occurred on the fourth creative day but, rather, that the fourth day included the culmination of the existence of our sun and moon in relation to our earth as would be observable in that specific location and at that time.
The age of our earth is extremely short when compared to that of our solar system and galaxy, not to mention the entire universe. The events – or processes – culminating in the state of our earth and that which occupies it as observable today, being as extremely long as they may appear relative to the human lifespan, are still actually quite astronomically short in comparison to the events/processes involved to complete the formation of the celestial components of our universe.
Thus it is only logical to realize that the formation of our sun, earth, and moon as a star, planet, and satellite (respectively) – the multi-phased ‘creation of the heavens and the earth’ – had already been completed much, much earlier than any of the relatively very recent events/processes pertaining to the life forms on, and certainly the metrological and geological features of, our planet as would be observable by the fourth creative period, or “day.” The creative “days,” or “tasks” of God, in Genesis would obviously happen concurrently; i.e., they would not have to be in series with one absolutely completed before the next could commence.
As regards the moon being considered a “luminary,” I believe that would be a correct term because light does emanate from the moon, and it is irrelevant in this context as to whether or not that light originates from the moon. A “luminary” is something which illuminates, which could be something providing the light by emission or reflection. (The essence is that which is observed here on earth – i.e., light is light!)
“ ‘. . . scientific conclusions about the age of the universe.’ If the bible and science don’t conflict, you’d be talking ‘days’ in the range of >2 billion years/day, not ‘thousands.’ That’s billion with a B.”
You’re absolutely true on that one!
“Exodus 20:11, ‘For in six days Jehovah made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and he began to rest on the seventh day.’ And Exodus 31:17, it says, ‘for in six days Jehovah made the heavens and the earth and on the seventh day he rested and refreshed himself.’ ”
Again, the original Hebrew word (“yohm”) translated “day” has the meaning of a 24‑hour day but also that of a period, or era, with a varying or indeterminate length. And considering the astronomical differences in these two meanings within a literal and scientific context, as outlined above, it would be totally unreasonable and illogical to impose a literal 24‑hour length to the “days” of creation.
Therefore, in this particular regard, I believe that the Watchtower’s position in the March 2014 Awake! to which you referred above would be the logical interpretation. (Although, I personally incline toward what “Billy the Ex-Beth elite” wrote above concerning the book of Genesis itself as a whole: “Genesis is clearly a variety of legends . . .” – i.e., that the rest of that book is not exactly plausible.)
i have been reading the posts on who is and or had been an elder.
it amazes me at what many have said.
perhaps i have misunderstood what they were saying.
Scientifically speaking, I believe that the reference to and belief in the “holy spirit” is really a self-hypnotic mechanism which has the effect of aiding the person’s own memory recall and putting the person in a more receptive mental cognitive mode (i.e., alpha brainwave range) so as to be better able to think objectively and logically. And, of course, any positive results which may arise from such an improved state of clarity would be attributed to some existential and divine type of source – in effect becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy.
