Posts by Pole

53

PROOF OF REBIRTH?

by Dansk in

jw
friends

rebirth, as opposed to reincarnation, is a fascinating topic and the following two stories have been taken from the tibetan book of living and dying by sogyal rinpoche (available from amazon books).

the second story, that of a child, came to the attention of the dalai lama and he sent a special representative to interview her and verify the story.

there have been many other rebirth stories published and the subject holds a special fascination for me.

Pole

Little Toe wrote:

Can you address the subject, or are you too busy being full of your own [low] opinion of others in this life to care?

I think you're overreacting. And you are being judmental about me too, whatever the reason. I can't see how I'm being "full of my own opinion of others". I commented on the opinion of the guy quoted (Sogyal Rinpoche). I had never heard of him, before coming across his words quoted by Dansk. Plus, the comment I made about human megalomania is to some extent valid about myself too (since I'm human too - surpise, surprise). So could you explain how I'm being "full of low opinion of others"?

I wrote a little explanation of my view on the subject, since my English is apparently too obscure to understand in a single attempt, but then I thought it makes little sense to elaborate on my own ironic comment. Ok, whatever, enjoy the discussion, megalomaniacs.

Pole

53

PROOF OF REBIRTH?

by Dansk in

jw
friends

rebirth, as opposed to reincarnation, is a fascinating topic and the following two stories have been taken from the tibetan book of living and dying by sogyal rinpoche (available from amazon books).

the second story, that of a child, came to the attention of the dalai lama and he sent a special representative to interview her and verify the story.

there have been many other rebirth stories published and the subject holds a special fascination for me.

Pole

Sogyal Rinpoche asks a similar question in his book (page 89): “Where does consciousness come from? It cannot arise out of nowhere. A moment of consciousness cannot be produced without the moment of consciousness that immediately preceded it.”

LOL. Human megalomania at its best. How can the Universe ever continue to exist without my noble self?

Pole

24

If You Were Satan, How Would You Destroy the Watchtower?

by metatron in

jw
friends

jehovah's witnesses have survived hitler, stalin, and third world dictators too numerous to count.

126 years of false expectations.

have failed to dissuade them.

Pole

Imagine a total newbie coming across this website by accident and seeing the title of this thread. ;-)

Pole

174

we have the truth there is no doubt

by PMJ in

jehovahs wittnesses have the truth there is no doubt about i.people can say what they like ut there is no other group of people who bring glory to jehovah

Pole

jehovahs wittnesses have the truth there is no doubt about i.people can say what they like ut there is no other group of people who bring glory to jehovah

PMJ,

I could play it nice and pretend that there is some value in your rather blunt statements. Unfortunately, there isn't. Here is why:

1) The existence of Jehovah as an objective entity is so controversial that our opinions on this matter ultimately boil down to inexplicable personal inclinations.

2) I dare say that "bringing glory to Jehovah" is so vague a notion that it cannot constitute unquestionable evidence that a group of people are in the possession of "the Truth", even for religious folks.

3) The value of bringing glory to an entity whose existence is questionable is double-questionable. It's like in probability theory. If you have two dependent events with the probability of occurrance = 0.01 each, then the probability of both of them occurring is 0.01*0.01 = 0.0001.

Oh, and you have to water down the notion of "The Truth", too. Start by examining the Gospel of John, with a special focus on Pilate's famous question to Jesus about the nature of "Truth", which remains unanswered to date.

Pole

201

WTS vs Quotes: Requiem for a Research Web Site

by Quotes in

in compliance with the terms of a settlement agreement, my information and research web site, http://quotes.watchtower.ca, is now "dark".

the domain "watchtower.ca" has been transferred to wts (i assume they will have it pointing to borg.org watchtower.org asap).

my copies of the site have been destroyed, the files deleted, and my wt library cd has been destroyed, in accordance with the settlement agreement which will afford a "discontinuance" of their suit against me.

Pole

:: Quotes now hosted in China too!

Will the rule of law prevail again? ;-).

Pole

19

If Cash Flow Ends, What Then?

by metatron in

jw
friends

it's worth thinking about - what will they do if their cash flow virtually dries up?

would they "turn on" the friends and try to "punish" them by threatening to close assembly halls and drop the awake completely?.

could witnesses in western nations fade away from the "ministry" if there is almost nothing left to offer at the doors?.

Pole

They have already figured out that it's possible to delay cash flow problems by focusing on recruiting immigrants in wealthy countries. Immigrants are relatively easy to convert since, they are typically in need of finding a congregation-like setting with "true friends" caring about them. And once an immigrant finds a job, s/he will onate much more than dozens of JWs in 3d world countries. Jehovah's blessings must be paid off.

Besides the WTS is a classic BCG cash cow, so it won't collapse that easily unless there is an Enron-like internal shake-up.

The best everyone can do to ruin the WTS is stop making donations.

Pole

307

SERVICE REPORT 2005 : WATCHTOWER FEB 1ST 2006

by BluesBrother in

i have had a quick look and found no references to this, so - here goes..as in the mag we picked up on sunday.. worldwide % increase over 2004 = 1.3%.

memorial partakers 8524 (compared to 8570 in 2004).

most european and nth american lands show pretty static figs - britain 1% increase, canada 0%, germany 0%, france 1%, usa 0%... but spare a thought for the inhabitants of zambia where 1 person in 90 is a reporting witness, must be hell going down to the local market!

Pole

observador,

:Brazil had an increase of only 2%, which is a 50% cut from last year (4%).

In real numbers it's not that much of a cut, because we're not talking percentage points here, right? Still I hope the Brazilian 'brothers' are in fact getting smarter, because so far they've been generating the biggest numbers of converts.

P

307

SERVICE REPORT 2005 : WATCHTOWER FEB 1ST 2006

by BluesBrother in

i have had a quick look and found no references to this, so - here goes..as in the mag we picked up on sunday.. worldwide % increase over 2004 = 1.3%.

memorial partakers 8524 (compared to 8570 in 2004).

most european and nth american lands show pretty static figs - britain 1% increase, canada 0%, germany 0%, france 1%, usa 0%... but spare a thought for the inhabitants of zambia where 1 person in 90 is a reporting witness, must be hell going down to the local market!

Pole

Look at what is going on in Western "countries" where there is no influx of immigrants. For example, Puerto Rico, Alaska, Bermuda, etc. All are dropping at a rate faster than -1%.

Without hungry, economically desperate immigrants to swell the ranks, the numbers are dropping precipitously.

Same for Central-Eastern Europe where immigrants are few and wide apart and the JWs have been around for a while (Poland, Czech Rep. Slovakia, Hungary, Romania).

Pole

35

Is Christmas for fun?

by LittleToe in

jw
friends

given that so many practises associated with christmas are blatantly christian in origin but christianity endorses spiritual self-flagellation/crucifixion, moderation, and enough "-isms" to make your eyes water, is christmas truly for fun?

i know that often there are few christian connotations attributed to it nowadays, in such a hedonistic and sensory society, but history is on record in showing that the whole baby jesus thing is definitely a christian element.

would any true hedonist today want to drink such a mixed cup (potentially of poor-grade wine)?

Pole

Bon soir, mon ami!

P

35

Is Christmas for fun?

by LittleToe in

jw
friends

given that so many practises associated with christmas are blatantly christian in origin but christianity endorses spiritual self-flagellation/crucifixion, moderation, and enough "-isms" to make your eyes water, is christmas truly for fun?

i know that often there are few christian connotations attributed to it nowadays, in such a hedonistic and sensory society, but history is on record in showing that the whole baby jesus thing is definitely a christian element.

would any true hedonist today want to drink such a mixed cup (potentially of poor-grade wine)?

Pole

::Would any true hedonist today want to drink such a mixed cup (potentially of poor-grade wine)?

You mean a true hedonist? As opposed to a "nominal" one? What a tough question. Let me think. Hmmm... OK, I know... You're right. A true self respecting hedonist would never induldge in celebrating Christmas. The moment I'd see one buying a Christmas tree, I swear, I'd shout it straight in his/her face: "You miserable f-ing hypocrite of a hedonist!" Ain't that right?

Pole