Posts by Amazing

59

2006 WorldWide Service Report

by Midget-Sasquatch in

jw
friends

here it is scanned straight from the feb 1 2007 wt:.

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/5103/rep01dc4.jpg.

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/3761/rep02xh5.jpg.

Amazing

Hi Midget,

The JWs grew by a little over 1% or 13,210 new JWs in the United States to a total of 1,008,281 JWs. This is a pathetic growth compared to what we experienced in the 1970s as Armageddon approached.

The Roman Catholic grew by about 1% in the United States as well ... but the difference is that the Chruch grew by about 562,913 to 67,820,833 in the United States. This is almost 43 times the JW growth. Southern Baptist grew by 1.05% to 16,267,494 or roughly 170,000, which is more than ten times the JW growth. At this rate, the JWs will never catch up.

Jim Whitney

24

BOOKSTORE INCIDENT

by Terry in

jw
friends

as you all know by now, i work in a bookstore in the religion section.

(i also shelve the philosophy and metaphysics sections.).

while straightening the bibles i was approached by a lady customer who seemed perplexed.

Amazing

Terry,

Thanks for sharing the incident and additional facts. While New Testament writings were available over the centuries, the Church (Catholic and Orthodox) mostly developed through traditions held on to fairly tightly since the first century. It is interesting to realize that the Bible, as we know it in the West, was not really confirmed until the 16th century, and then not readily available to the general public until the 17th century. The Eastern Orthodox have the same Bible books as the West, but rely upon different manuscripts than Rome to translate thier Bibles.

The Eastern Orthodox do not hold the Apocrypha to be inspired, but hold them to be important. The East also believe that while the Bible is inspired, it can conbtain errors due to humans not fully responding perfectly to the Holy Spirit. But, they believe these errors are not significant, or unresolvable.

The Evangelical Protestant view of Biblical inerrancy and the Bible being the only foundation for the Faith simply does not fit with the history of Christianity. The argument of Sola Scriptura is a relatively recent development, and is not how the Church was established in the first place. Unfortunately, we see how this view promotes ignorance, and results in pig-headed and pushy views. Or in the case of the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Watchtower Society uses historical ignorance to poison the minds of the JWs to not only accept the premise of Sola Scriptura, but to accept the New World Translation as the legitimate version of the Bible.

Jim Whitney

12

Did You Always Find Yourself "Discouraged"?

by minimus in

jw
friends

as a witness, were you regularly "discouraged"??

since i've been out of the "truth", i rarely here of normal people ("worldly)

Amazing

Minimus,

As a Witness, were you regularly "discouraged"?? No Is "discouragment" a "Witness thing"???? To the extent that the Society regularly talks abou it, as though it were a sin. So, no JW in their right mind wants to admit that they discouraged, if they are. Jim W.

59

Big Question

by choosing life in

jw
friends

i know there may not be an answer to this question, but i am truly interested in other's views.

i know many are of various beliefs and some do not believe in god at all.. the question is: why does god not stop the suffering?

i watch so many suffer for no reason and no matter how i try to figure it out, i always come back to the fact that a loving parent would not allow their child to suffer needlessly.

Amazing

Choosing Life,

I struggled with this issue for some time. I am in the process of developing a good explanation for someone in a private e-mail. When I am donw, and have any counter points from that person worked out, I will post it on JWD. I do think there is a good and reasonable explanation that goes far beyond anything the WTS could ever develop. Thier view that God is allowing human to experiment with self-governance sounds plausible until they add in that everything is controlled by Satan. Then it falls flat, because humans then have never really had their own unique opportunity to self-govern because Satan really runs the show. The WTS view is a load of BS. But, there is another way to view it ... and I will get around to posting it.

Jim Whitney

81

A SIMPLE EXPLANATION of why TIME TRAVEL doesn't work

by Terry in

jw
friends

energy and matter are neither created nor destroyed.. consequently, the building blocks of existence are actually finite parts.. to create things in "tomorrow" which are new, something has to be dismantled to leave spare parts for the new thing.. the old thing deteriorates, (dies) and the parts become the new thing.. time travel requires going to a place where all of today's parts are completely dismanteled and are being used (or not) to maintain yesterday/tomorrow.. ever see the film primer?.

said slightly differently...... you go into a room.

on the table is a box of dominoes.

Amazing

Terry,

Your comments and analysis are interesting, and from the prespective presented, you have a good point. The definition of time travel may be lacking here. For example, Einsteins theory of Special Relativity allows for "skipping" existing time, in a sense, and arrive at a future time. This concept does not mess with matter and energy, but simply warps time so that existing matter and energy are displaced to a future time ... so this would fit with the hypothesis that matter and energy are neven created nor destroyed.

ON the other hand, traveling back in time may also be possible. The concept of how this could be accomplished is far more difficult to explain, if at all. I believe that it is possible, however, but I would not openly develop that here. I would rather do so in a copyright paper that is submitted for peer review and acceptance in the scientific community. I have written a paper on this topic, but choose not to submit it at this time.

Jim Whitney

26

Sacking of entire bodies of elders

by yaddayadda in

jw
friends

i once heard about nearly an entire body of elders in a congregaton that got demoted/sacked from being elders because of some scandal in their congregation that they collectively covered up or didn't deal properly with.

i think it was about some relative of a dominant elder that should've got disfellowshipped but they all brushed it under the carpet.

the branch heard about it and sent a circuit overseer especially out to investigate it and he sacked nearly all of 'em and some new ministerial servant school graduates were quickly assigned to come in and take their place.

Amazing

In Alameda, California in the 1980s, an entire Body of Elders was sacked, and the Presiding Overseer, Jesse James (real name) was disfellowshipped. This is a true story. One of the Elders who was innocent, and reported the problems to the Society, was sacked for appearances sake ... but later offered Eldership again after a few months. He used to work at Bethel, and is highly respected. The Society, through a Circuit Overseer, appointed a Special Committee. They also brought in Elders from other congregations to form a new Body of Elders. I am aware of the facts in the case, as I was a personal friend of the innocent Elder mentioned. I worked with him for a few years at the same company. I would reveal the facts of the scandal as he related them, but I am unsure of the liability involved since his statements are hearsay to me. Given the Society reads this forum, and they know me well, so I will only report the events that I have as they are well known.

Jim Whitney

13

JW's speak about the method used to kill people at armageddon

by jambon1 in

jw
friends

just how is it all going to happen?

i mean, you dont have to be a friggin rocket scientist to work out the logistics of 6 billion+ corpses on the face of the earth!

to be honest, i know its a lot of bullshit but it intrigues/angers me to think back to some of the ludicrous converstaions i overheard regarding the murder of 6 billion+ people in the 'near' future.

Amazing

Kid-A,

Yes, the Governing Body are going to burn forever in HELL for their wicked teachings about Armageddon!

Most good normal Christians, which are the majority, consider Hell to be eternal separation from God. But how that occurs and what features of such an existence are involved are a not understood. Personally, while I continue to be a Christian and affiliate with the Catholic Church, I don't know what to make of Hell. Revelation 20 shows us that both "death" and "hell" are thrown into the Lake of Fire ... this suggests to me that this is a symbolic lake that is used to terminate such things as death and hell (grave). I suppose in this one respect, I have to agree with the JW concepts of Hell.

Jim Whitney

43

HAVE JWS RUINED YOUR LIFE??????

by chuckyy in

jw
friends

im sitting here today thinking:.

"my daughter should have had open heart surgery years ago and she would have been too young to know anything about it.

instead, she is about to face it now....the surgeons were relectant to do it when we were jws and she was so young.

Amazing

Hi Chuckyy,

Yes, I fully agree with you that the JWs messed with our minds and hearts and induced us to make poor decisions for our lives. It's never too late to get into school and get your degree. Today, there are many adult universities that are fully accredited by the same regional accrediting agencies used by the major universities. They have all of the good student loan programs, and their degree programs are quite good and tailored for the working adult lifestyle. So, don't let another day go by without looking into some kind of program. An ex-JW can no longer blame the JWs ... it is now all individual choice. This is the beauty of freedom, but failure to act, we will reap the same results as though one were still a JW.

I was an electrical engineer while a JW, and worked in the construction and operation of nuclear power plants. My problem is that I turned down golden opportunities to move way up the corporate ladder. I turned down an opportunity to be promoted to Bechtel's Purview pool of future executives, which included the company paying for me to get my MBA at UC Berkely, which is a very respected university. From the pool the company selects its vice presidents who are groomed for promotion to senior executive positions within various corporate entities. This also positions one to get called to duty in a Presidential administration. Bechtel has supplied several to our government, such as Casper Weinberger, George Shultz, and Phillip Habib at the Cabinet level and others elsewhere in government, such as Cordel Hull, Jr. who served on the Federal Reserve board. I personally met these people when at Bechtel ... but, turned down opportunities all because I was "Anointed" and was going to heaven to rule the whole damn planet!

But, I am back in university now and shifting my degree to business. Once obtained, I hope to get into a good law school. I am now 55-years old ... so it is never too late.

Jim Whitney

23

One of the worst things I've ever heard WARNING: DISTURBING

by under_believer in

jw
friends

http://www.onnnews.com/?sec=&story=sites/onn/content/pool/200611/595320162.html.

i realize that human stupidity and evil has always existed, and that it's today's technology (enabling the news media) that brings it out into the open.

but damn if that isn't the worst thing i've ever heard.

Amazing

The word "wicked" comes to mind.

Jim Whitney

26

HAS ANYONE BEEN FOLLOWING THE NEWS ABOUT THE RUSSIAN SPY?

by juni in

jw
friends

russian spy defected and was poisoned w/something radioactive.

he has died after 2 weeks of horror.

he had been gathering information about the russian government and was meeting w/an italian professor.

Amazing

Juni,

I think there is too much fear (concern) being generated over Polonium-210. It is an alpha emitter, which means that it cannot penetrate the skin. So, casual exposure on public trtansportation is not all that serious. However, if it gets airborne in any significant concentration, and ingested in the lungs, it can get nasty as we have seen. The people being asked to report to be checked out are not in any real danger, but their cloths and skin need to be checked to be sure that they are not still contaminated. Likely, their homes and personal effects that they have handled recently will have to be checked with a Geiger counter.

There are a number of myths and misinformed stories being generated ... and unfortunately, some stories are confusing Polonium-210 with Plutonium. The difficulty will be the long and tedious task of decontaminating all the places where it was found, such as restaurants and aircraft, or other public places. The quantity discovered in discrete locations (or "hot spots") will determine whether decontamination procedures are required.

Jim Whitney

PS: I worked in the nuclear power industry for 17-years of my 25-year engineering career. I conducted and analyzed a lot of research and destructive testing of components exposed to radioactive environments. Polonium-210 is a by-product that can appear in nuclear reactors, but is not used to power nuclear reactors. It used to be used to power sattelites in the 1950s and 1960s, but was stopped because of its short half-life of 140 days.