TimDrake1914

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Posts by TimDrake1914

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  24

  Ever-changing teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses - probably the most comprehensive compendium about Watchtower doctrinal changes

  by WTS Archive in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  two days ago a new book was released for download, called "ever-changing teachings of jehovah's witnesses".

  it was originally written by a polish jw scholar (who never was a jw himself) włodzimierz bednarski, with a help from szymon matusiak, who was a jw and an elder, and is a result of years of labourious work to compile quotes regarding every single doctrine the book describes.

  it covers the most important changes in years 1879—2015.

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  TimDrake1914

  This is going to be a great resource! Thank you!
  
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  71

  2016 Regional Convention - Sunday Morning synopsis

  by Jehalapeno in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  via reddit.

  here are the morning program highlights.

  will update for the afternoon once it's all over.

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  TimDrake1914

  Just an FYI. This convention had a max attendance of 17000+ on Sunday. The number baptized at this convention: 68! Based on my own recollections, I believe this is a record low for the San Diego Spanish Regional/District conventions.
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  18

  Regional Convention

  by raven in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  so how many are not going to the regional convention this year?

  it will be my first year not attending as part of my fade.. i remember going for all of my childhood into adult hood, participating in stage parts even.. however, last assembly i was already mentally checked out.

  i remember looking around and seeing all of people bobbing & nodding at the program talks that had been previously repeated time and time again.. almost seemed like hypnosis.. i also had a hard time with the fact that we're all supposed to be "friends" and everyone had always seemed to be so judgmental.. especially at conventions & assemblies.. things like who had the best outfit for the days, who looked the prettiest, who can snag the single ms brother.. who took the most spiritual food out of the program, how many times can you tally mark jehovah's name.

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  TimDrake1914

  "Almost seemed like hypnosis". More like "ACTUAL hypnosis". Research has found that constant repetition does have a hypnotic effect on people.

  But yeah, enjoy your weekend, cause I will have to be there. The only thing I'm going to tally is the batshit-crazy/cult reinforcing comments.
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  6

  Prince tried to make a recruitment film for jw's?

  by purrpurr in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i've read in an article on that in 2001 prince wanted director kevin smith to make a movie based on his album the rainbow children.

  but the director dropped out when he realised that it was going to be a recruitment film for jw's including flashing messages on screen like "jesus christ is god's son" etc.

  has anyone else heard this before?

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  TimDrake1914

  Partly true, as WingCommander stated. From Kevin Smith's own account, it doesn't sound at all as a film for JW's. It was only for Prince. If you care to watch the account, here it is:

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LhcParuzpc

  Definitely interesting, and quite funny. But definitely confirms how crazy/eccentric he was, as WingCommander also stated.
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  28

  Anthony Morris claims "dogmatic" does not apply to GB.

  by Sanchy in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so i was scrolling through the latest morning worship videos and found our good friend tony m. explaining why the gb is not dogmatic.

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  you can find hirs reasoning at around the 3:30 mark here..

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  TimDrake1914

  I would love to start telling other JW's that I have serious doubts about what the GB thinks is the "truth" and test just how non-dogmatic they really are.
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  21

  If a proposed bill in Mexico passes, new law will mean jailtime for JW´s

  by ILoveTTATT2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  apparently it's true!!

  omg!!.

  i did not want to believe these news, i still feel it's a hoax, it can't be true!.

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  TimDrake1914

  There was another article that was a little more in depth about this specific proposal. It not only targets religions, but even police officers and any other door-to-door merchants who's persistent knockings can be considered harassment. Looking at it from a neutral point of view, I have a hard time seeing this passed as it clearly infringes on religious rights. However, I'm not well versed on Mexican laws so I'm only looking at it from a US perspective. Looking at it from a biased point of view, I really hope it passes to see how WT will spin this. More than likely, it will get people thinking that the "Great Tribulation" is upon us, and I would love to point out how, even from WT's perspective, it is totally out of line with their predicted sequence of events. I can already see the look of cognitive dissonance that will overtake their faces when they realize how it just doesn't add up, until they find a way to rationalize it.
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  11

  Why did I take the red pill?

  by stephanie61092 in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  ignorance really is bliss and reality is harsh.

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  just having a bad, emotional day i suppose.

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  TimDrake1914

  I feel you. I have those days as well. But, ironically enough, I blame the WT entirely for waking me up. They instilled in me a desire for truth, and to stand up for what is right even when everyone else is against you. I never imagined that, one day, I would find the truth outside of them, and then have the need to stand up against them even though everyone inside is now against me in principle for believing the real truth.
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  7

  Did the Brother giving the Memorial talk mention Nisan 14 ???

  by RubaDub in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  in our congregation, the brother mentioned nisan 14 a dozen times.. i thought, with the fact the jewish calendar has nisan 14 in april this year (april 22 i believe) that the nisan 14 thing would be hushed up.. was it mentioned where you attended?.

  rub a dub .

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  TimDrake1914

  Nope. Not one peep from our speaker about it.
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  20

  Words omitted from a Watchtower article

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  a short time ago i sought information regarding a quotation in the watchtower of april 1, 2010, which did not identify the exact source of the quotation from professor oskar skarsaune.

  my interest was heightened because words had been omitted from the source.. the wts provided a copy of the original 29-page article, which is in norwegian.. here is my very unofficial personal translation of the passage from professor skarsaune's article that the watchtower is quoting.

  firstly i provide the text as it appears in the watchtower magazine, highlighting where the text has been omitted.

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  TimDrake1914

  Thank you for that link Doug. I hadn't seen that one before, and it looks like another great study. Coincidentally, I just wanted to personally thank you, Terry and Paul for all the great work you've all done for us EX-JWs. Personally speaking, I've benefitted greatly from all the writings you all have put together, and I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for all the work you all have done. One of the doubts I always had that led me to eventually wake up was the doctrine of 1914, and your writings in particular, Doug, really helped me understand it enough to see the real truth behind it.
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  20

  Words omitted from a Watchtower article

  by Doug Mason in

  1. watchtower
  2. bible

  a short time ago i sought information regarding a quotation in the watchtower of april 1, 2010, which did not identify the exact source of the quotation from professor oskar skarsaune.

  my interest was heightened because words had been omitted from the source.. the wts provided a copy of the original 29-page article, which is in norwegian.. here is my very unofficial personal translation of the passage from professor skarsaune's article that the watchtower is quoting.

  firstly i provide the text as it appears in the watchtower magazine, highlighting where the text has been omitted.

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  TimDrake1914

  Thank you @TheOldHippie! I was not aware of this chapter in the "Scripture Inspired" book, so I had to go and read it. Guess I should have paid more attention to this book back in my Uber-dub days. But admittedly, I didn't become interested in scholarly discussions of the Bible until after I was mentally out, ironically enough. It is quite interesting, and very relevant to this discussion indeed. Having immersed myself more in scholarly writings of the Bible, I was able to understand much more about this chapter than I would have previously. Going back to our original discussion, I must say that this chapter doesn't really disagree too much with what scholars say about how the biblical canon was established. They do acknowledge how it is something that eventually developed over hundreds of years, and even acknowledge that it was the church fathers' opinions that really influenced the eventual canon. But what I found a bit comical was how WT explains what their own criteria for establishing canon is. Using their own criteria, one could definitely make an argument for leaving out books that they themselves consider "canon". Paragraph 6 of that chapter is quite revealing. In regards to determining canonicity, they write:

  "There must be no appeal to superstition or creature worship but, rather, an appeal to love and service of God. There would have to be nothing in any of the individual writings that would conflict with the internal harmony of the whole, but, rather, each book must, by its unity with the others, support the one authorship, that of Jehovah God. We would also expect the writings to give evidence of accuracy down to the smallest details. In addition to these basic essentials, there are other specific indications of inspiration, and therefore of canonicity, according to the nature of each book's contents, and these have been discussed herein in the introductory material to each of the Bible books. Also, there are special circumstances that apply to the Hebrew Scriptures and others to the Christian Greek Scriptures that help in establishing the Bible canon."

  There are many things I could point out about their criteria, but I found the highlighted statement most comical. For anyone familiar with scholarly discussions on textual criticism of the Bible, reading that statement would make one believe that only ONE Gospel should be considered canon at most, or that no gospel should be! HAHAHAHAHA!