Posts by ezekiel3

25

The amateur speculations of Ex-Jehovah's Witnesses

by logansrun in

friends,.

there's a trend among us that i find disturbing, if not humerous.

that is the gullibility we sometimes have in believing that the society is close to putting out a "new date" for armageddon.

ezekiel3

Nathan,

I'll see your bet and raise it. The FDS has been pushing hard to eliminate psuedo-anointed in the last year. Elders are authorized to not count partakers who they think are mentally ill (and of course newbies). I predict 2004 will show a great drop from previous figures. It is my theory they are selling this to legitimize the number itself (8000+ has become a laughing stock) and to push the expectancy factor that the end is coming soon - a neo-sign created by the WTBS.

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Jacobs sons & the slaughterfest of Shichem & his tribe

by DaCheech in

jw
friends

was it not a cowardly & devious act of those sons to kill the whole male population of the tribe.. after dinah was taken advantage of, shichem & his own agreed to do the "right" & honorable thing.

& marry dinah, when they agreed to be circumcised like jacob & his family in order to do this..... what did the sons.

of jacob do?

ezekiel3

"If Paul were alive on earth today, what do you think he would say to a Christain who watched immoral or violent movies?" May 1, 2004 WT

Or read the Old Testament?

25

The amateur speculations of Ex-Jehovah's Witnesses

by logansrun in

friends,.

there's a trend among us that i find disturbing, if not humerous.

that is the gullibility we sometimes have in believing that the society is close to putting out a "new date" for armageddon.

ezekiel3

Oh, and one more thing:

A splinter schism by 2007, you heard it here first!

25

The amateur speculations of Ex-Jehovah's Witnesses

by logansrun in

friends,.

there's a trend among us that i find disturbing, if not humerous.

that is the gullibility we sometimes have in believing that the society is close to putting out a "new date" for armageddon.

ezekiel3

Prediction:

By 2010 the anointed count will diminish to be almost nil. This will cause heightened enthusiam through the next 5 years as a neo-sign of the times.

JWs will begin "pa$$ing the plate" by 2010.

Also by this date, large scale world calamity/war can be expected, which will generate zeal and members.

By this time most JW baby-boomers (the pre-'75 bumper crop) will be retired and dying, elimating members. Worldwide access to information will erode the info-bubble that most third-world JWs are insulated by.

The JW organization will whither into a sort of Omish "lost-in-time" cult sponsored by die-hards by 2020.

This generation will by no means pass away until they see the end of the WBTS!

16

The WT and Freedom to choose Evil

by jst2laws in

the wt and freedom to choose evil

augustine taught that evil did not really exits, only love, and that evil is the lack of love.

but the wt society does not agree.

ezekiel3

Thank you for raising this topic. It is my belief that Evil must be present for Good to be defined. Only by having 2 points can you measure time (now and then), space (here and there), or value (good and bad, or evil). If I am "here" (the first point), were is "here"? If "here" is 20 miles from you (the second point) now you can understand where "here" is. Without a second point "here" is simply where I AM. "There" is simply where YOU ARE.

So if we assume that there is a God with a distinct personality, and that God is directly interested in our greatest fulfillment, we HAVE to see that God created both Good and Evil at the same time. Good and Evil are only concepts measured in relation to each other. Before these concepts were created (the option of free-will) God was simply God, for being Good would assume some relation to Evil. For example, does anyone consider animals to be evil? We may say they are Good, but only in realtion to our values. Is a lion Evil for preying on a sick vulnerable antelope? No, the lion is only doing what is natural.

Here is an interesting question: Did Satan create God? By Satan exercising the right to choose what was not God, did Satan produce the actions and premise that cause Jews, Christians, and Moslems to worship the way they do? (I include these religious groups because their doctrinal root "God vs Devil" are the same.) By separating humans from God (through imperfection) did Satan dictate God's limitations with how the "Almighty" could interact with God's own creation? Did Satan create God as we know "God." Yes!

I bring up this point to show that any belief that God is only pure Good and did not create Evil is faulty. A JW would say that God "lovingly" provides free-will to angels and humans so that we are not robots. However anyone choosing Evil is destroyed (at least eventually). I would say that is not free-will, it's the most expensive-will we know - it costs your life! It would be more reasonable to state that Satan is in the employ of God, providing a testing opportunity for all angelic and human creation.

What we all know and agree is that we appreciate how Good God is only because of the Evil that afficts us. Is it not Evil that draws people to religion to get the answers they crave? Thank God for Satan. Indeed, without the Devil who would need God?

The Devil's Advocate

19

Comments You Will Not Hear at the 6-6-04 WT Study (5-1-04)

by blondie in

indeed, in his name nations will hope.

paragraphs 10-12.

paragraphs 16-17.

ezekiel3

Blondie, thank you so much for your comments. Do you think that the comments about Paul also deal with warning JWs about fellow members? Watching R rated movies, football, hockey, video gaming are all widespread habits among the ranks. It seems time for a bout of "conscience".

To quote the article: "Let us, then, train our perceptive powers to identify harmful associations and shun them completely." This easliy applies to congregation members!

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