Posts by Village Idiot

13

The "great crowd" before 1935 and since

by Doug Mason in

jw
friends

what was the seismic shift in thinking that rutherford required when he created the great multitude in 1935?

when did the great multitude, or the great crowd as it is now known, become jehovahs witnesses?.

http://www.jwstudies.com/the_great_crowd_before_1935_and_since.pdf.

Village Idiot

From what I recall reading in the book The Finished Mystery there were originally 4 or maybe 5 'classes'.

There were two heavenly classes, the 144,000 and the Great Multitude. The earthly classes included the non-Bible Students who survived Armageddon and two earthly classes including the resurrected Patriarchs (and Israelites) along with a general earthly resurrection. This was Charles Russell's doctrine. Don't know when it was all changed though but it appears that Joseph Rutherford did all the revision/simplification starting after Russell passed away.

39

Petition to Revoke Scientology's Tax Exempt Status

by ABibleStudent in

fyi, if you feel that scientology's tax-exempt status should be revoked, you can sign a white house petition to revoke its tax-exempt status at https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/revoke-scientologys-tax-exempt-status.. i signed the petition even though i have mixed feelings about this petition.

i would prefer that dangerous cults like scientology be reformed by suspending its tax-exempt status until it makes needed changes and i do not like targeting a specific organization when the whole system should be changed.

on the other hand this type of action may help to promote debate about revising the tax codes in the us.. i do prefer revising the tax code like i wrote about in revise tax code to protect children from sexual abuse .. peace be with you and everyone, who you love,.

Village Idiot

@ ABibleStudent,

I believe that Christian Fundamentalists would try to block such legislation with a vengeance. They're always stating the evil Obama is out to get 'Christianity' and their conspiracy theory would extend to this.

74

The Science Is In: God Is The Answer...

by OUTLAW in

the science is in: god is the answer.

research shows kids raised with spirituality are happier and healthier in the vulnerable teen years.

why arent we all signing up?.

Village Idiot

LoveUniHateExams, "... and the Yazidi people have their own religion, too ..."

And Zoroastrians as well.

35

Memorial attendance up or down on last year?

by freddo in

jw
friends

as per the title.

and was the one you attended at an early or late time of the evening.. any partakers?.

Village Idiot

What I don't understand is why the Watchtower does not simply fake their numbers. It would not be beneath their dignity to do so and no one would catch them doing it.

17

Why only 7 or 8 members on the Governing Body?

by Gilgamesh in

now and then someone hears a rumor that the gb might go with 12 members instead of the 8 (or now 7) they currently have.

the value of 12 is understandable, which might even drive the rumors every time they plan to add another 4 or 5 new persons to the gb helpers list.

of course, a rumor that steals their thunder may also promote a delay, even if true.. i'm sure this quote from the watchtower was previously commented upon as a good explanation for the watch tower's best reason to leave the number at 7 or 8:.

Village Idiot

@ FayeDunaway,

"Gilgamesh...cuz I'm feeling lazy, can you tell me what is Ecclesiasticus? Im guessing it is apocrypha?"

Yes, it is from the Apocrypha.

My understanding is that it was written around 250 BC.

16

When did Christianity Separate from Judaism?

by fulltimestudent in

this is a subject of some importance, the view of the witnesses, likely inherited from franz's influence, seems to be that early christianity developed as a separate religion to the jews.. the view of most contemporary scholars is that the separation occurred slowly, and that influential early christians (e.g.

such as paul, peter, john and james) still saw themselves as jews.. to those of us that are no longer christians (and, most ex-witnesses here, seem to gradually move to that position) this is not an important issue.. but to an organisation that claims it has "the truth," surely it should know the truth about its origins.

yet the evidence is that the modern day religion of jehovah's witnesses, does not know the "truth" concerning the origins of early christianity.

Village Idiot

The Watchtower, like all fundamentalist Christian religions, view this issue as arising from "Higher Criticism" of the Bible which contradicts their basic premise that the Bible is the literal and true word of God. Jehovah's Witnesses don't even know the truth about the origin of their own religion let alone Christianity.

17

Why only 7 or 8 members on the Governing Body?

by Gilgamesh in

now and then someone hears a rumor that the gb might go with 12 members instead of the 8 (or now 7) they currently have.

the value of 12 is understandable, which might even drive the rumors every time they plan to add another 4 or 5 new persons to the gb helpers list.

of course, a rumor that steals their thunder may also promote a delay, even if true.. i'm sure this quote from the watchtower was previously commented upon as a good explanation for the watch tower's best reason to leave the number at 7 or 8:.

Village Idiot

Are all members of the Governing Body of the 'anointed'? A scarcity of qualified anointed members is probably the reason why they don't have more than 7 on the Governing Body.

9

Natural Selection in Religions

by Victor in

i recently developed an interest in examining the origins of religion.

so what i've gathered so far is this.

the human mind needs to create an explanation and meaning.

Village Idiot

"Brain pain". I like that phrase, it's catchy.

It must have happened at some time in our evolutionary development that our increased capacity to think left an uncomfortable void in our minds as respect to the outward world.

I disagree with certain points like,

"All other gods of other tribes are the false gods and the tribe's god is reason to commit genocide of other tribes"

First, there were many religions in the past that accepted the idea of multiple gods even those of their enemies. Whenever there was a war the strongest god - hopefully theirs - would defeat the other nation's god.

As for genocide, that was bound to occur regardless of religion or lack of religion. It's based on a totally different set of behavior. Any commands for genocide that "the god" gave were just projections of the human imagination which seeks to justify non religious behavior by creating divine decrees.

201

These guys crash a Kingdom Hall on Memorial, video included

by Crazyguy in

jw
friends

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=7mars2mtaui.

to funny nice job....

Village Idiot

Only watched half of the first video and a minute and a half of the second. Very poor taste. Of course I'm the one who tipped over their table sending crackers and wine to the floor so who am I to judge?

74

The Science Is In: God Is The Answer...

by OUTLAW in

the science is in: god is the answer.

research shows kids raised with spirituality are happier and healthier in the vulnerable teen years.

why arent we all signing up?.

Village Idiot

It's part of our evolutionary heritage to live in close, tightly knit groups that rely on each other for survival. It is in villages and tribes that our psyches prosper. We, in the Western World, are an alienated society with very little or no community ties. Almost any well adjusted group could provide the sense of community that most of us crave for.

It's a pity that the Watchtower and other poisonous religions take advantage of that inborn need to belong to something.