ILoveTTATT2

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Posts by ILoveTTATT2

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  8

  How the Churches got the ‘End of the World’ wrong in 1492.

  by fulltimestudent in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  in 1453 constantinople (also known as byzantium), the last remnant of the once mighty roman empire was a christian island in an islamic sea.

  the city had been seriously weakened during the holy fourth crusade (1202-04), when fellow christians of the catholic brand had besieged the city, captured it, and savagely sacked it.. ( who needs enemies when you have christian friends?).

  a miniature of the siege, artist unknown.

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  ILoveTTATT2

  yeah.... "Let's party like it's 1491" just doesn't sound as cool...
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  27

  A step in the right direction: Denmark banning circumcision as a cruel, barbaric and archaic ritual not fit for modern civilised lands

  by Gilbeath Haaraloth in

  1. social
  2. current

  as you may know, this makes me very happy.

  ban on religious circumcision.

  relate to a ban in all probability will not stop the millennium old core tradition in many parts of islam and especially judaism.

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  ILoveTTATT2

  The article talks about the POSSIBILITY of making a ban on circumcision. I wholeheartedly agree with a ban on any sort of circumcision, both male and female.

  There are religious considerations for male circumcision, if there was a ban, it would make a lot of Jewish and Muslim people angry, they would see it as an affront against their religious beliefs.

  So while I respect the 1st amendment and what it stands for, I also think that the government should protect children. I highly doubt that, if given the chance, an adult would voluntarily go through circumcision. When circumcision is done, the future adult's opinion is not taken into consideration.
  
  Unfortunately I cannot go back to being uncircumcised, so I cannot know the difference it makes regarding sexual pleasure. But if the scientific studies are right, then I now feel like I was unnecessarily robbed of something.
  
  I wonder how many adult exJews or exMuslims feel once they know that they have been robbed of something and that they would have made a different choice as adults?
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  16

  UNDERSTANDING money and the history of the Watch Tower

  by Terry in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  today the watch tower corp. is changing a long-standing policy in regard to donations which had been in place a long, long time.. to understand the original policies (about money) and the changed (new policy) we have to take a peek into the past.. .

  i don't want to bog you down in history.

  you can research on your own using google.. here are salient facts.. _________________________________________________.

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  ILoveTTATT2

  It seems like this webpage has also done their research:
  
  http://jwdivorces.bravehost.com/russell.html
  
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  33

  CRA screwup for WT Canada?

  by berrygerry in

  1. watchtower
  2. scandals

  okay, they've posted their 2015 return - i am very confused.. http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/ebci/haip/srch/t3010form23-eng.action?b=119288918rr0001&fpe=2015-08-31&n=watch+tower+bible+and+tract+society+of+canada+%2f+la+tour+de+garde+soci%c3%a9t%c3%a9+de+bibles+et+de+tracts+du+canada&r=http%3a%2f%2fwww.cra-arc.gc.ca%3a80%2febci%2fhaip%2fsrch%2fbasicsearchresult-eng.action%3fk%3dwatch%2btower%26amp%3bs%3dregistered%26amp%3bp%3d1%26amp%3bb%3dtrue.

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/topic/311690001/canada-branch-finances-whats-going-on?.

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  ILoveTTATT2

  Wow OrphanCrow you're amazing at finding scandals!

  If what you are saying is correct, it would be a HUGE deal!
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  62

  Ladies: Circumcision or not?

  by Wonderment in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the topic of circumcision has been brought up a few times recently.

  then i wondered... .

  how do women really view circumcision?

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  ILoveTTATT2

  There may be exceptions, but I guess KateWild hadn't thought of the damage male circumcision does with a Jewish background as JW's have probably not thought of the damage shunning does if they have never seen "apostate" literature. It is "just the thing you do". It is only once you are out and start considering facts, figures, etc... that you realize that what you have thought of as innocuous could actually be very harmful.
  
  I hope this clarifies my point.
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  62

  Ladies: Circumcision or not?

  by Wonderment in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the topic of circumcision has been brought up a few times recently.

  then i wondered... .

  how do women really view circumcision?

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  ILoveTTATT2

  This thread is very interesting because it highlights the differences in thinking between different cultures, backgrounds, sexes, etc.

  Kate wild has a Jewish background, so it makes sense that she has only seen male circumcision as a positive thing. Like most topics, we generally have not researched them and have the opinion that was imposed upon us from our religion or culture.

  Simon and everyone who has a European (but not Jewish) background will likely see male circumcision as abhorrent.

  People who are of an American, born in the 60's or 70's background, will likely see male circumcision as OK, because they have up to a 90% likelihood of being circumcised.

  Most people who have ever watched porn will know that most penises in porn or circumcised, possibly because of the fact that a lot of the porn industry is US-based. Since porn has a great influence on people's sexual expectations, it's likely that American women expect a circumcised man. (I am speculating here).

  I was born in El Salvador, where apparently less than 10% of men are circumcised. My mother was a JW when I was born, and I have a strong suspicion that because of a WT article being very pro-circumcision at that time, that I was circumcised.

  After reading the many reports of how there is so much sexual pleasure lost because of circumcision, I am outraged at the fact my mother chose that for me.

  Also, after watching for a few seconds a video of a circumcision being done, I am firmly opposed to it, it should be banned. The baby was screaming in pain, because of the injections required to put anesthesia. I stopped watching after a few seconds it was very painful to even watch.

  The WHO recommends male circumcision in places where there is a high incidence of HIV because it has been proven that male circumcision reduces by about 60% the probability of transmission from a female to a male of HIV. But this is ridiculous, a condom, properly used, is 100% effective.
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  11

  JW History in Pictures #1

  by Wild_Thing in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  the death of a cult leader.

  the gaudy and ostentatiousness of the proceedings following the death of charles taze russell is really interesting to look at.

  i can't decide if it is further proof of how much of a cult they were, even back then, or how much they are just like other religions, like the catholics.

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  ILoveTTATT2

  Hi Wild thing,

  Thank you so much for posting! I had only seen the first and the third picture, where did you get the second and the fourth? Are they in some other WT publication?
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  6

  Brooklyn Eagle November 12, 1911: Shows that this cult has been breaking up families at least for 105 years

  by ILoveTTATT2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am doing investigation on the early history of the bible students / jehovah's witnesses.

  one resource that is turning out to be extremely useful is the brooklyn eagle.. .

  the brooklyn eagle was a newspaper that had a lot of animosity against the watchtower society.

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  ILoveTTATT2

  By the way, $45,000 in 1911 comes out to $1,110,608.23 in 2016 dollars. So the Russellites managed to swindle at least $1M from this woman. This shows a man worried that his wife was going into a cult!!
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  6

  Brooklyn Eagle November 12, 1911: Shows that this cult has been breaking up families at least for 105 years

  by ILoveTTATT2 in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i am doing investigation on the early history of the bible students / jehovah's witnesses.

  one resource that is turning out to be extremely useful is the brooklyn eagle.. .

  the brooklyn eagle was a newspaper that had a lot of animosity against the watchtower society.

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  ILoveTTATT2

  I am doing investigation on the early history of the Bible Students / Jehovah's Witnesses. One resource that is turning out to be extremely useful is the Brooklyn Eagle.

  
  

  The Brooklyn Eagle was a newspaper that had a lot of animosity against the Watchtower Society. Who knows? Maybe there was an ex-Bible Student there...

  
  

  This appeared in the Brooklyn Eagle of November 12, 1911. It is so sad that even 105 years ago people could see that this cult destroys families (see after the "one more" paragraph)

  
  

  
  

  EACH RELIGIOUS EDITOR ANSWERS RUSSELL ATTACK

  
  

  Franklin P. Sellers Tells How He Presumably Incurred the Dislike of the "Pastor."

  DIDN'T PRINT SERMONS FREE.

  
  

  Tells of Call From Man Whose Tale of Sorrow Was Inspired by Russellism.

  
  

  Editor The Brooklyn Daily Eagle:

  
  

  At the risk of being still further slandered, I must set down two or three things which I know about the "Pastor" Russell outfit. I have been quiet long enough. The first thing I know is that this borough has been literally strewn with a certain copy of the Brooklyn Tabernacle People's Pulpit, in an article in which several slurring references are made to the religious editor of The Eagle by leaving off the last letter of his name and boldly charging that this paper has been sold by him. The writer of the article is well known, but I have no desire to answer such a ridiculous charge in face of the standing which I am proud of having among the clergy of Brooklyn and, in fact, of the United States, who are not purchasing newspaper mention any more than I am receiving pay, except in the way of recognition by my honorable employers. I do possess a watch, highly prized, which was given to me as a testimonial by five ministers of the gospel, whose names are held in high esteem throughout this country and the world.

  
  

  On the other hand, the religious editor of The Eagle has been approached not once, but many times, by agents of "Pastor" Russell, and his time taken up, hours together, in an endeavor to prove to him that the publication of "Pastor" Russell's sermons would add to the circulation of The Eagle at least 10,000 copies a week. I was told that I could have two columns a week at 25 cents a column. I had the temerity to say that that was too cheap, and this I suppose, increased his animus. It is not generally known, as acknowledged by Russell's agent, but it is true, that the only way In which the papers of New York City will print Pastor Russell's sermons, and this has been true for a year or more, is by his syndicate manager paying regular display advertisement rates, even if said sermons are dated Brooklyn, "On the Sea," London or elsewhere. The Eagle has charged for them, too, and probably made a sore spot in the Tabernacle outfit by so doing.

  
  

  Another thing I know. For very good reasons I never attended held by "Pastor" Russell in the Brooklyn Academy of Music, never wrote a [???] about any of his meetings, nor about "Miracle Wheat," and therefore have never written any "snicker" about "Pastor" Russell or any of his followers. I have boldly said to his agents that I did not believe in his doctrines and that I knew his "Millennial Dawn" book had caused many a domestic entanglement. I am a private citizen and have a right to criticise [sic] any public teacher, but I have no right to defame anybody in print, and have never done so, and would be ashamed to pen the "Billingsgate" which "Pastor" Russell's editor has written under the heading "An Eagle Transformed." I am quite sure, also that "'Pastor' Russell Interviewed" was never written by the "pastor" for he was on the sea, I ant given to understand, when it was dictated.

  
  

  Once more. Nearly two years ago a man of education came to see me one Sunday morning. He was from Chicago. His face bore marks of great trouble. He desired me to give him the names of some ministers who had previously held pastorates in Pittsburg, which city was the headquarters of the "Pastor" Russell outfit before finding it probably more comfortable to come to Brooklyn.

  
  

  My visitor, a true gentleman, had no harsh words for any one, but he was greatly distressed and was looking for a way out of it. He said that his married life had been supremely happy up to a year or two previously. There were two sons and two daughters. He had money in his own right; his wife had money in hers, they being about equally rich. It had been the custom, he said, for him to maintain in the household, as he was in a provision business, and, it was agreed that neither was to use the other's surplus, about $45,000 each, but that his should go to the boys and hers to the girls. But the wife through constant visits from one of the Russell agents, became enamored of the doctrines and told him her money would be given to "Pastor" Russell. This distressed him, and he tried to dissaude [sic] her on account of the agreement between them. Several conferences over the matter were held, but to no avail, and finally the wife said that if the husband did not stop talking about it she would give her money to Russell before she died.

  
  

  The man was anxious to know what could be done. The sequel I never learned. I made bold to ask a Russell agent If the "pastor" would take money under such circumstances, and received the evasive answer that it would depend upon how the money was given. This was another way, probably, in which I got myself disliked and for which I am made subject to slanderous attacks. But the whole outfit is welcome. My standing is secure because I try to behave myself, and am succeeding very well and have never been in the courts.
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  63

  Evolution is a Fact #27 - Monkeys, Typewriters, Shakespeare, 747s etc.

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  most creationist arguments can be summarised as "complexity, complexity, complexity - therefore god".

  we have all heard the illustrations about the odds of (insert favourite example) evolving, being less than 10,000 monkeys typing macbeth by pure chance.

  evolution is not like that.

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  ILoveTTATT2

  Now we know who is doing the single "unlike" on this post! Great job Cofty!

  You helped me a while back when I was recently out of the JW's. I had NEVER read anything related to evolution before, and as an engineer, I used to think that ID was a reasonable explanation for things. It does take a lot of effort to understand evolution, but once I started reading the books that you recommended, particularly "The Blind Watchman" by Dawkins, where I believe he mentions this topic of the monkeys, but actually selecting the correct response.
  
  Just a suggestion: If someone doesn't know ANYTHING about evolution, I would suggest that the first book should be "Why Evolution is True". Dawkins was too hard for me to understand, I followed Coyne quite well.