Village Idiot

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Posts by Village Idiot

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  48

  Evidence based folks: what is your stance on GMO's and why?

  by cappytan in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  so, the anti-gmo movement scored another victory today.

  chipotle has opted to only use non-gmo food items.. hooray for them.

  i'm pretty neutral on the subject, mostly because, other than questionable treatment of farmers, i have seen no evidence to avoid gmo's for health reasons.. basically, my neutrality boils down to the stance that i'll buy non-gmo, so long as the price is reasonable.

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  Village Idiot

  OneEyedJoe,
  

  "It depends on how they're modified."

  Indeed it does depend on how they're modified. Many GMO products are designed to be sterile in order to keep the farmer buying their seeds. That I don't support since it could have major repercussions if there is a loss of crops where these sterile seeds are being grown.

  The peanut gene argument is more of a hypothetical case about the possibility that these genetic alterations will be made by corporations that simply won't care about any negative consequences of their products.

  The bottom line is that GMOs are produced by corporations that do not have the best interests of the consumer in mind. That is bound to create problems.
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  11

  Why the Future of Religion Is Bleak

  by defender of truth in

  1. social
  2. current

  religious institutions have survived by controlling what their adherents know, argues tufts prof. daniel c. dennett, but today that is next to impossible.

  illustration: brian stauffer for the wall street journal.

  by daniel c. dennett.

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  Village Idiot

  defender of truth,

  "If we are unlucky and calamity strikes, our anxiety and misery will provide plenty of fuel for revivals and inventions of religions we have happily learned to live without."

  Expect calamity and misery to strike in the coming decades.
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  18

  Many christian faiths have an EARTHLY resurrection belief.....

  by EndofMysteries in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  i was surprised to learn many other mainstream christian religions believe in a physical earthly resurrection.

  even catholics.

  it seems the belief is that as of now one goes to heaven to wait, then in the future will have an earthly resurrection.

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  Village Idiot

  My understanding was that most of 'Christendom' taught the bodily resurrection would be in heaven with, depending on the denomination, an earthly habitation during the Millennium consisting of Israelites. Depending on the theology the resurrected were understood to be dwelling in heaven with their "glorified bodies".

  In judgment day the wicked were to be damned to hell in their resurrected bodies.

  There seems to be a variety of contradictory teachings on this matter.
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  16

  Do you think you should have the right to decline business on Personal or Religious grounds?

  by PokerPlayerPhil in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  should individual businesses have the right to pick and chose who they serve?

  if a muslim decides he won't bake the cake of a radical zionist that says "reclaim the temple in jerusalem" should the government be allowed to punish the muslim baker?

  maybe you can help me understand the issues more clearly because were becoming hyper-sensitive and soon your going to need a handbook what's the proper thing to say.

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  Village Idiot

  PokerPlayerPhil, your url is probably breaking the page on your post and cutting off the last few words of each line (On IE). You may want to link it to your main text.
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  20

  Why would a Swingers Club Want to Become a Religion?

  by cha ching in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  " a nashville swingers club has undergone a conversion it now says that it is a church in order to win city approval, so that it can open next to a christian school.

  " (associated press).

  the article explains, "a church is something that cannot be defined under the u.s. constitution"..... wt lawyers explain to the court all of the time; 'you can't interfere with our internal church policies, or you will be infringing on our first amendment rights.

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  Village Idiot

  Simon,

  "It highlights how stupid it is to give special rules to religious groups. What exactly is "religion"? Is there a formal definition? Why should a group with some particular crazy beliefs get special treatment vs some other group?"

  
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  13

  What do Lady Gaga, Liberace, and Geoffrey Jackson all have in common?

  by jwleaks in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  left to right: lady gaga, liberace, geoffrey jackson.

  .

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  Village Idiot

  Liberace looks like he's playing the part of some sci fi extraterrestrial.
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  30

  "Evidence" of a "smokelike pall"... This was the last straw for me back in 2008. Fade began with this:

  by DarioKehl in

  1. jw
  2. experiences

  from that nutty red book of insanity, the grand climax at hand book, chapter 22, paragraphs 7 & 8. .

  i had my doubts since childhood.

  i went along with it to please people.

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  Village Idiot

  "It is between fifty and sixty years since I read it (The Book of Revelation), and I then considered it merely the ravings of a maniac, no more worthy nor capable of explanation than the incoherence of our own nightly dreams." - Thomas Jefferson letter to General Alexander Smyth, Jan. 17, 1825.
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  9

  Kind of looking for a quick update

  by free2beme in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i have been out of the religion since 1996. i used to come to former witness boards a lot in the distant past, and then i lost interest in the subject.

  however, with a couple relatives still in and passing the 1914 one hundred year mark, i find myself looking to see what a modern jehovah's witness is believing.

  could i get kind of an update on some things.

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  Village Idiot

  Goodness, free2beme, haven't you been a member of this forum for 10 years with over 4,000 posts?!

  Well here goes,

  Do they still believe the end could come at any moment? I grew up being told that I might wake tomorrow to the end, because of the generation of 1914 (I know that changed). Do they still believe the end is close and how do they account for so much time to have passed?

  Yes, always. They changed the interpretation in the 1990s and then changed it again recently. I'd tell you what they currently teach but it is completely incomprehensible. Something about there being "overlapping generations".

  Are they still saying the preaching work is done, and if so do they still consider China as not included in the world?

  They don't care about China although I'm sure they'll explain it away as they've always have.

  I read some where a while back that 2034 was some how being passed around as a new date, do to something with Noah and some crazy time frame of 120 years past 1914. Is this being taught.

  Nope.

  When I looked at the number of Jehovah's Witnesses worldwide, it does not look like much growth since I left. Maybe a million or so, but not much growth in the United States. I also noticed that countries like Japan were shrinking. How is this being handled?

  They, like most organizations that try to expand, run upon a law of diminishing results where it's harder and harder to just add a few extra to their numbers. Also, because of the stressfulness of being a witness they have a high dropout rate. I'm surprised they're not diminishing in the US but you can't trust their statistics.

  Religion loves misery though, so it's not surprising that they would be growing in impoverished nations.

  I heard through someone that people who faded (Like myself) are now supposed to be treated as DFed to wrap up that loop hole. Is this true?

  Yes but it's not the first time they've done that. They did it in the 1980s and it was the reason Ray Franz was disfelowshipped for having dinner with his employer/landlord who had disassociated himself.

  One last question. What is up with jw.com, as I was in front of a Walmart and the Witnesses had a booth and were heavily promoting it. Did they change their views on the usefulness of the internet (When I was there, it was still aol).

  It's jw.org and they are going full tilt on the Internet. They even have a JW channel at http://tv.jw.org/#home. They also have a children's cartoon featuring a pencil necked boy named Caleb and his pencil necked sister Sophia.
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  30

  Seriously condsidering disasscoiating

  by Ashley L. in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am seriously considering disassociating myself.

  i want to do this because i no longer consider myself one of jehovah's witnesses.

  i no longer consider jehovah as my god and i am in a new religion now.

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  Village Idiot

  Welcome to the forum Ashley.

  Many members here are in a similar predicament as you are. What you can do can depends a lot on the personal circumstances you're in.

  Have you been baptized? How long have you been in? How devoted are your relatives? Tell us a little more about yourself. Otherwise a fade should be the best option.
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  18

  Trapped.

  by trapped28 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  as i write this,im aware of my heart hammering in my chest.ok where shall i start,ill try to keep this as short as possible.ive never been religious before in my life,the occasional wedding or funeral was the only time ive been in a church or viewed a bibles cover.in 2013 my step-dad was diagnosed with cancer and had to go for an operation to remove the tumor.i became close to his nephew and we communicated a lot and had a few strong feelings for each other,but neither of us told anyone,it was just harmless flirting and a few hugs that lasted a bit longer than normal.two days after my dads operation,he died through complications,and my path of self destruct was set.my boss had also been sexually harassing me at work and i was unfairly dismissed and was told by my landlord that i was to pay the rent or be evicted.then out of the blue my cousin tells me he was an unbaptised publisher (he was baptised at the aug convention last year)and to start having faith in god,that it would all work out.so i went to a kh and took up a study.that was a year ago and they now feel im ready to become a publisher.the thing is..i was made homless and am living with a jw of 50 years,a real spiritual person.these last two months ive been researching and i simply like you all disagree with so much of it.for the past twi weeks ive avoided meetings because of work,or pretended im at work and stayed away from the home i have with this witness.i cant afford to leave but at same time im being pushed to go into ministry and meetings.guys what the hell am i going to do?im so trapped scared and i cant believe i wanted to get baptised!

  !my son lives with his dad and there trying to get a hold on him when he visits me!

  !

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  Village Idiot

  Welcome to the forum trapped.

  Have you considered a lawsuit against your former employer?