I'm udderly shocked that some JWs would udder such complete nonsense about the role of help-meets in a modern marriage! After all, is not Jehovah the uddermost pinnacle of egalitarianism?
AlanF
Posts by AlanF
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28I can't believe they just sat there...
by troubled mind insaturday i photographed a witness wedding .
during the part about the woman's role the speaker made the comment to the new bride ,"don't try to manipulate your husband .....we know how you women can be ...!".
my jaw noticeably dropped and i uddered " what the heck " as i looked around to look for support from other women there,.
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34
JWs, Higher Education and Misrepresentation by Barb Anderson
by Dogpatch injehovahs witnesses, higher education and misrepresentation.
footnotes and appendices and full article at:.
http://www.freeminds.org/doctrine/education_anderson.htm.
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AlanF
The points Barbara Anderson makes in her article are precisely the sort of thing that got me out of the JWs -- gross, entrenched scholastic dishonesty by Watchtower leaders. These men simply have no respect for truth and honesty. No one who has regard for honest scholarship should have anything to do with Jehovah's Witnesses, or with any other Fundamentalist religion that practices similar dishonesty.
AlanF
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89
Is WTS chronology flawed?
by cultswatter inhistorians agree that jerusalem was invaded by babylon in 586/587bce.
the wts discredits most historical records and says that jerusalem was invaded in 607bce.
the wts start with 587 and add the 70 years that jerusalem lay desolate to obtain the 607 date.. if jerusalem was invaded in 587 then it lay desolate for only 50 years (587-537=50).
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AlanF
Oy vay! Scholar pretendus returns, after having been thoroughly whipped after his last round of nonsensical postings last summer.
For the benefit of thinking readers, the passage in 2 Chronicles that Jeffro quotes, clearly states that Nebuchadnezzar "carried off those remaining from the sword captive to Babylon, and they came to be servants to him and his sons until the royalty of Persia began to reign." Now, Cyrus the Persian began to reign over Babylon shortly after his armies conquered it in October, 539 B.C.E. Even the Watchtower Society acknowledges that Cyrus' 1st regnal year began shortly after that, in the spring (Nisan) of 538 B.C.E. Therefore, the Society also admits that Cyrus' accession year encompassed 539 B.C.E. Therefore, "the royalty of Persia began to reign" in 539 B.C.E. Therefore, the Jews whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried off to Babylon were no longer "servants to him and his sons" after 539 B.C.E. -- just as common sense tells us. Therefore, the 70 years of servitude of the Jews to Babylon mentioned in Jeremiah 25:11, 12 ended in 539 B.C.E. -- not in 537, as the Watchtower Society and scholar pretendus pretend.
Of course, you'll never see these scholastically dishonest people admitting that the Bible and secular history actually agree here. This point has been brought up ad nauseum to scholar pretendus, and he simply ignores it. The same goes for those "celebrated WT scholars" he loves to laud.
Another simple point that scholar pretendus has proved thoroughly dishonest about by failing to admit, is that Josephus and the book of Ezra prove that the Jews returned to Jerusalem in 538 B.C.E. -- not in 537 B.C.E. as the Watchtower Society claims. This means that "the 70 years of Jeremiah" did not end in 537 and could not have begun in 607, trashing the Society's entire claim about "the Gentile times" and 1914. The Society has never even attempted to argue this point, but simply makes a bald claim that the Jews returned in 537. I proved all of this in my post http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/10/118291/1.ashx , which scholar pretendus ultimately ran away from, again proving his scholastic dishonesty.
You'll never see Watchtower apologists like scholar pretendus following through and completely dealing with all the issues. Rather, they use hit and run tactics, always failing to deal with the crucial issues that they know they have no arguments to refute.
AlanF
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229
ALERT: All Child Abuse Lawsuits have been settled. Millions cashed out???
by What-A-Coincidence inre: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/8/116108/1.ashx.
a bethel insider in the know told me that all of the child abuse lawsuits where the watchtower bible and tract society was one of the defendants were settled back in the beginning of this year.
i questioned it and called napa myself and they were absolutely settled back then.
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AlanF
I have mixed feelings about this set of cases being settled.
I'm sure that the victims and the Love & Norris firm carefully weighed the options before accepting the Watchtower's settlement offer, and assuming that the settlement really was a good one, I'm happy for the victims.
On the other hand, I've been hoping for several years that the victims would truly get their day in court in the sense of being able to publicly expose the abuse they had experienced at the hands of this monstrous publishing firm posing as a religion. With a gag order in place, this exposure won't happen except in drips and drabs.
On balance, I'm not sure whether to applaud everyone involved in getting these cases settled secretively, or to condemn some for not having the courage to see this through to the point that Watchtower leaders are exposed. In other words, I'm having trouble weighing whether the interests of society as a whole are better served by a settlement that satisfies victims and their lawyers, or by the larger view that religious organizations that systematically cover up child molestation and intimidate whistleblowers ought to be stopped by public exposure of their methods.
I have no doubt that, over the next several years, and even in the near term, notable publicity will be generated about these cases. Far too many people have been working long and hard to expose the Watchtower for what it is for them to let this issue drop. I also hope that people who are working toward this exposure can put aside petty human issues and keep what's important in front.
AlanF
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17
Charles T. Russell and the Pyramid Measurements
by VM44 inthere is more the the story of russell and the pyramids than has been told.. russell came up with his chronology before he became interested in the great pyramid, and attempted to use the pyramid measurements to collaborate his chronology!.
he obtained the necessary internal "measurements" he required from a diagram of the pyramid included in the book by charles piazzi smyth!.
needless to say, the numbers obtained from such "measurements" were not accurate enough to be used in any prophetic calculations, so the source of these numbers was "obscured".. an attempt to indirectly "validate" the use of these numbers in russell's book, thy kingdom come was made by publishing within the book a kind letter written by charles smyth himself for the prepublication copy that was sent to him.. this was all an attempt to obscure the shaky foundation of the whole matter.. it was deliberately done, and shows that intellectual honesty was not a primary concern of charles t. russell.. now if he didn't actually write the pyramid chapter in his book, that might make matters different, although as the listed author he still had the responsibility of maintaining the accuracy and integrity of the contents of the book.. here is an interesting article about how the pyramid's measurements actually were changed when the 1910 edition of the thy kingdom come was published.. http://www.neirr.org/pyramidscheme.htm.
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AlanF
RR said:
: Actually it was Smyth who "altered" the measurement, and Russell corrected it in his volume.
Please provide your references so that I may obtain them.
AlanF
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41
Breaking my silence
by dawgfan ini am a long time lurker (almost 2 years) but first time poster.
even though you didn't know me before now, i feel like i have known a lot of you for quite a while.
from my time viewing jwd, i have learned many things and have felt like sometimes that you were talking directly to me.
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AlanF
You need to cut your losses and get away from this nutjob as soon as you can. Been there.
AlanF
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14
KNOCKING - DVD Release / What to Expect/ Scenes
by Joker10 inthe knocking dvd comes with a 48-page study/discussion guide.
it includes information about the making of the film, all the main characters, their early history, expansion, civil rights, their community structure, their preaching methods, and distribution of literature ( that adds up to their annual operation expense of over a billion dollars).. some dvd scenes include:.
people from stratton, ohio being interviewed along with the mayor.
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AlanF
I completely agree with you, Jourles.
AlanF
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14
KNOCKING - DVD Release / What to Expect/ Scenes
by Joker10 inthe knocking dvd comes with a 48-page study/discussion guide.
it includes information about the making of the film, all the main characters, their early history, expansion, civil rights, their community structure, their preaching methods, and distribution of literature ( that adds up to their annual operation expense of over a billion dollars).. some dvd scenes include:.
people from stratton, ohio being interviewed along with the mayor.
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AlanF
Joker10 said:
: This PBS program has done more positive for Jehovah's Witnesses than what opposers have managed to do with the media in at least a decade, in my opinion.
Not really. I saw a pre-screening of the "Knocking" documentary last Wednesday night at the University of Colorado in Boulder. It was followed by a half-hour panel discussion by three academics, then by another half-hour of audience questions posed to the producers. Most of the audience appeared to be college students and professors. At least two JWs were there.
The documentary told the stories of two very different JWs, in a fairly sympathetic way -- sympathetic in terms of their human stories, not their stories as JWs per se. One story was of a 23 year old JW man who had liver failure. He was on a bunch of different medicines and still lived with his parents. He couldn't get a liver transplant because most hospitals wouldn't do it without blood, and bloodless surgery for a liver transplant is still considered experimental so most hospitals didn't want to chance losing a precious liver in an experiemental procedure. Eventually the young man's father volunteered to donate part of his liver, and UCLA medical center performed the surgery. It was successful, and a year later the young man was alive and well. What the documentary failed to comment on -- and a great many viewers will pick this up -- is that the young man would have been forcibly disassociated had he had a regular liver transplant, and he would have lost his entire family and his attractive fiancee. So anything the documentary presents as positive in terms of the JW blood stance will be negated by this realization. The grandmother, not a JW and quite critical of them, was allowed to comment on camera that JWs are a destructive cult. She described how non-JW family members are actively excluded from the lives of JWs.
During the question session, I commented on how disfellowshipping and shunning is destructive to families. I described how my own and my brother's immediate and extended families have been shattered both by JW exclusionism and by active shunning. The producers agreed that this was destructive on the part of the JWs. Immediately afterward, another participant commented that such shunning is really a form of violence. Most of the audience agreed, judging the many agreeing noises, and the producers said that that's a good point that they probably should have covered in the documentary.
After the sessions, I had short but pleasant conversations with both producers. I suggested that, if they wanted to get hold of human drama stories, they ought to interview some ex-JWs and they'd have a lot more than they could handle. They could do another PBS presentation about this, to balance what "Knocking" sets forth. Both suggested that I email them by way of reminder, which I have done. So we'll see what happens.
AlanF
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537
evolution or creation? lets talk...
by Sam87 inok, lets have a discussion about where we all came from, evolution or creation?
(or whatever you beleive in of course) every one put down there main reasons, along with reasonable facts and backup as to why.. .
hopefully this doesnt start to many arguments, lol.. .
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AlanF
As usual, TopHat completely misses the implications of a question.
TopHat, you're rapidly becoming my favorite creationist, for the same reason that the poster "scholar" is my favorite JW defender. Neither of you has any idea what you're talking about, and this ignorance produces arrogance in combination with religious belief, so that you're unable to learn anything or make intelligent responses.
AlanF
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537
evolution or creation? lets talk...
by Sam87 inok, lets have a discussion about where we all came from, evolution or creation?
(or whatever you beleive in of course) every one put down there main reasons, along with reasonable facts and backup as to why.. .
hopefully this doesnt start to many arguments, lol.. .
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AlanF
TopHat said:
: I do feel though that the Evolutionist are fearful of a living God.
LOL! This is just so typical of fundamentalists. They are afraid of their God, so they assume that everyone else ought to be, too.
I am not the least bit afraid of this God, for two reasons. First, he simply doesn't exist, any more than the tooth fairy. Second, even if he did exist, I would very much like to meet him in person and talk to him for a long, long time about many things. If he is the God of love that Christians claim, then he'd be cool with this. If he is the God of hate that the Old Testament indicates, then I might be toast, but I want nothing to do with him.
TopHat, your comments about the "ameba" are so grossly ignorant that it's hard to know where to begin to educate you. It's like someone saying, "When Columbia crossed the Indian Ocean in 1492 and discovered California, how could he have found oil to fuel his ship? He couldn't, so the myth that Columbia discovered California is wrong!"
AlanF